Publications

April 2020 (Revised May 2021)
Case

Middlebury College: Energy2028

By: Brian Trelstad, Michael Norris and John McKinley

In 2018, Middlebury College’s board of trustees is considering a proposal called Energy2028 that would push the small, liberal arts and sciences college in Vermont to become a net zero carbon emitter, decrease energy usage by 25%, divest fossil fuels from its... View Details

Keywords: Divestment; Energy; Higher Education; Energy Conservation; Climate Change

June 2007 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Zoots - Financing Growth (A)

By: Michael J. Roberts, William A. Sahlman and Todd Krasnow

Traces the genesis and founding of Zoots, the largest chain of dry cleaning establishments in the U.S. Founded by some of the founders of the very successful Staples chain, the company raises a very large amount of capital without fully proving its business model, and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Financial Strategy; Investment Return; Growth and Development Strategy; Valuation; United States

December 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

21Seeds: Taking Shots at Breakout Growth

By: Elie Ofek, Julian De Freitas, Michael Moynihan and Nicole Tempest Keller

21Seeds, a female-founded flavor-infused tequila startup launched in 2019, had made inroads into the alcoholic beverage industry by focusing on an underserved consumer segment in spirits—women, primarily in their 30s and 40s, many of whom were moms—and by following a... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Distribution Channels; Sales; Food and Beverage Industry

September 21, 2013
Other Article

Redefining Global Health-care Delivery

By: Jim Yong Kim, Paul E. Farmer and Michael E. Porter

Initiatives to address the unmet needs of those facing both poverty and serious illness have expanded significantly over the past decade. But many of them are designed in an ad-hoc manner to address one health problem among many; they are too rarely assessed; best... View Details

Keywords: Health

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December 2016
Article

Fake It Till You Make It: Reputation, Competition, and Yelp Review Fraud

By: Michael Luca and Georgios Zervas

Consumer reviews are now part of everyday decision making. Yet, the credibility of these reviews is fundamentally undermined when businesses commit review fraud, creating fake reviews for themselves or their competitors. We investigate the economic incentives to commit... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Marketing Reference Programs

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2015
Working Paper

Fake It Till You Make It: Reputation, Competition, and Yelp Review Fraud

By: Michael Luca and Georgios Zervas

Consumer reviews are now part of everyday decision-making. Yet, the credibility of these reviews is fundamentally undermined when businesses commit review fraud, creating fake reviews for themselves or their competitors. We investigate the economic incentives to commit... View Details

Keywords: Information; Competition; Internet and the Web; Ethics; Reputation; Social and Collaborative Networks; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

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June 2020
Article

How Scheduling Can Bias Quality Assessment: Evidence from Food Safety Inspections

By: Maria Ibanez and Michael W. Toffel

Accuracy and consistency are critical for inspections to be an effective, fair, and useful tool for assessing risks, quality, and suppliers—and for making decisions based on those assessments. We examine how inspector schedules could introduce bias that erodes... View Details

Keywords: Assessment; Bias; Inspection; Scheduling; Econometric Analysis; Empirical Research; Regulation; Health; Food; Safety; Quality; Performance Consistency; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

01 Oct 2000
News

Silent Killers: Overcoming Barriers to Organizational Learning

In their HBS working paper "Overcoming the 'Silent Killers' to Strategy Implementation and Organizational Learning," HBS professor Michael Beer and Russell A. Eisenstat, president of the Center for... View Details

Keywords: Judith A. Ross

04 Nov 2013
News

Surprise raises are more effective than higher salaries from the start, study finds

Web

General Management Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

Sourcing at Nike” (HBS Case 619-008) with Michael Toffel and Olivia Hull. Hubert Joly : Recipient of the 2023 Greenhill Award for Outstanding Service to the HBS Community. Hubert Joly : Included on the 2023 Thinkers50 list—a list of the... View Details

September 1994 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Forging the New Salomon

By: Lynn S. Paine and Michael Santoro

Describes Salomon Brothers' recovery from the August 1991 Treasury auction scandal. Details the impact of the firm's disclosure of bidding improprieties and describes how the new management team, led by Warren Buffett and Deryck Maughan, guided the company through the... View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Ethics; Organizational Culture; Law; Business or Company Management

Web

Ludcke House | About

headquarters for the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness . Led by Bishop William Lawrence University Professor Michael E. Porter, the institute is dedicated to the study of competition and its... View Details

July 2024 (Revised December 2024)
Background Note

District Heating: An Overview

By: Willy Shih and Michael W. Toffel

This note provides an overview of district heating: systems in which central plants generate heat that is conveyed by steam or water through a set of insulated pipes to send heat to residential and/or commercial buildings. It describes key elements of the system (heat... View Details

Keywords: Decarbonization; Climate Change; Energy Efficiency; Energy Storage; Energy Transmission; Construction; Energy; Buildings and Facilities; Energy Industry; Denmark; Europe; United States

June 2001 (Revised September 2010)
Exercise

Deal-crafting Toolkit

By: Michael A. Wheeler

Illustrates the potential sources of value creation as well as practical barriers to its achievement. Students analyze five brief scenarios that would yield efficient trades over valuation, discount rates, expectations, and risk tolerance, but that might be thwarted by... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Deal; Negotiation Process; Behavior; Valuation; Value Creation