Publications

15 Aug 2023
HBS Case

(Virtual) Reality Check: How Long Before We Live in the 'Metaverse'?

the case with HBS professor David B. Yoffie, the Max and Doris Starr Professor of International Business Administration at HBS, and Matt Higgins, now a senior researcher at the HBS California Research... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Technology; Computer; Information Technology

November 2001 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Taking Charge at Dogus Holding (A)

By: Rakesh Khurana, Gina Carioggia and Simon Johnson

Describes 37-year-old Ferit Sahenk's challenges in taking over his father's traditionally managed $14 billion Turkish conglomerate in a period of economic instability. Leading the large holding company into the 21st century will require the establishment of a more... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Trade; Competitive Strategy; Decision Making; Leadership; Performance Effectiveness; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Family Business; Change Management; Turkey

June 2011 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Wal-Mart Update, 2011

By: David B. Yoffie and Renee Kim

In 2011, Wal-Mart was the world's largest company with $420 billion in sales and operations in 14 countries. Yet it found itself searching for the right growth strategy moving forward. U.S. same-store sales had declined for eight consecutive quarters and Wal-Mart was... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Global Range; Business Strategy; Retail Industry

21 Apr 2009
First Look

First Look: April 21, 2009

businesses outperform both single-unit firms and multi-unit firms composed of unrelated businesses. Explanations for this relationship between focus and firm performance have largely centered on economies of scope achieved by sharing... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

16 Jun 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Does Diversification Create Value in the Presence of External Financing Constraints? Evidence from the 2008-2009 Financial Crisis

Keywords: by Venkat Kuppuswamy & Belén Villalonga

April 2021 (Revised January 2022)
Case

SA Taxi: A Vehicle for Empowerment? (A)

By: Nien-he Hsieh, Dilyana Karadzhova Botha and F. Christopher Eaglin

SA Taxi was a vertically integrated business that operated in South Africa’s distinctive taxi industry. Despite being plagued by violence, informal structures, unsafe road practices and lack of government support, the taxi industry had grown to become South Africa’s... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Accountability; Ownership; Ownership Stake; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Equality and Inequality; Race; Situation or Environment; Transportation Industry; South Africa; Africa

2007
Text Book

Teaching the Moral Leader: A Literature-Based Leadership Course

By: Sandra J. Sucher

This book is a comprehensive, practical manual to help instructors integrate moral leadership in their own courses, drawing from the experience and resources of the Harvard Business School course "The Moral Leader," an MBA elective taken by thousands of HBS students... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Curriculum and Courses; Moral Sensibility; Body of Literature; Books; Leadership; Personal Development and Career

Find at Harvard

September 2014
Article

OSHA Inspections Should Be Welcome: Results from a Natural Field Experiment in California

By: David I. Levine and Michael W. Toffel

For companies with strong internal occupational safety and health auditing programs, OSHA inspections might seem a formality that risk uncovering, at most, nitpicky deviations from the thousands of pages of safety regulations. For those with poor safety practices, OSHA... View Details

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Operations; Safety; Governance Compliance; United States; California

Read Now

December 1992 (Revised March 1993)
Case

Dan Gordon

Describes Dan Gordon's first month on the job as Chief Operating Officer of Club Sports International (CSI), a chain of 7 health and fitness clubs. Describes the company's strategy and organization. The company needs Dan to tighten up its operations and create a base... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Governance Controls; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Design; Health Industry

23 Jan 2019
Sharpening Your Skills

Sports: Lessons for Managers

“Sports is a metaphor for overcoming obstacles and achieving against great odds. Athletes, in times of difficulty, can be important role models.” -Bill Bradley, former pro basketball player and United States senator. When scholars discuss what makes a great View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Sports

February 2009 (Revised June 2011)
Background Note

A Note on the Legal and Tax Implications of Founders' Equity Splits

By: Noam T. Wasserman and Lauren Barley

This note summarizes key legal and tax issues that founders should consider as they contemplate an equity split and ownership structure. Specific issues covered include why founders should not delay splitting the equity and whether they should involve an attorney or... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Equity; Taxation; Intellectual Property; Law; Ownership; Partners and Partnerships

May 2010
Article

Does Product Market Competition Lead Firms to Decentralize?

By: Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun and John Van Reenen

There is a widespread sense that over the last two decades firms have been decentralizing decisions to employees further down the managerial hierarchy. Economists have developed a range of theories to account for delegation, but there is less empirical evidence,... View Details

Keywords: Product; Markets; Competition; Business Ventures; Geographic Location; Employees; Research; Programs; Decisions

Find at Harvard

Read Now

03 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

HBS Faculty on Revolution in the Middle East and North Africa

From Tunisia to Egypt, Bahrain to Yemen, as a number of nations in North Africa and the Middle East go through cataclysmic changes, the world watches and wonders what the future may hold as myriad protestors risk their lives for revolutionary change. Three Harvard... View Details

Keywords: Re: Deepak Malhotra; Energy; Utilities

07 Feb 2022
Research & Ideas

Digital Transformation: A New Roadmap for Success

must constantly attend to both top and bottom lines by launching new products, services, and experiences consistently. Leaders from software-as-a-service (SaaS) business models, for example, described how delivering at the price points... View Details

Keywords: by Linda A. Hill, Ann Le Cam, Sunand Menon, and Emily Tedards

05 Aug 2022
Research & Ideas

Why People Crave Feedback—and Why We’re Afraid to Give It

most people don’t,” says Francesca Gino, the Tandon Family Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. “People overestimate the negative consequences giving feedback for themselves, as... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

May 2021
Article

Preparing for a Pandemic: Accelerating Vaccine Availability

By: Amrita Ahuja, Susan Athey, Arthur Baker, Eric Budish, Juan Camilo Castillo, Rachel Glennerster, Scott Duke Kominers, Michael Kremer, Jean Lee, Canice Prendergast, Christopher M. Snyder, Alex Tabarrok, Brandon Joel Tan and Witold Wiecek

Vaccinating the world’s population quickly in a pandemic has enormous health and economic benefits. We analyze the problem faced by governments in determining the scale and structure of procurement for vaccines. We analyze alternative approaches to procurement, arguing... View Details

Keywords: Vaccines; Procurement; Health Pandemics; Health Care and Treatment; Acquisition; Cooperation

Find at Harvard

Read Now

18 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

Central Banks Missed Inflation Red Flags. This Pricing Model Could Help.

model, is a more responsive and adaptive framework than a “time-dependent” model, and can track changing prices better in times of crisis, says Harvard Business School Professor Alberto Cavallo, one of the study’s authors. “Central banks... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services; Banking

June 2001 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Madison Avenue: Digital Media Services (B)

In late 1999, Madison Avenue was experiencing phenomenal growth in sales, clients, employees, and services provided. The stress and strain on the firm's employees was considerable and threatened to jeopardize the high-quality, active-ad management for which the firm... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth Management; Service Operations; Digital Marketing; Business Processes; Advertising Industry