Publications

Find at Harvard

November 2010 (Revised August 2012)
Case

The Indego Africa Project

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Rachel Gordon

Two young attorneys found and begin to build the Indego Africa Project, an NGO partnering with women's cooperatives in Rwanda. Indego connects the cooperatives to the international retail market for handmade artisan products, helps the cooperatives build their business... View Details

Keywords: Cooperative Ownership; Nonprofit Organizations; Business Growth and Maturation; Corporate Finance; Non-Governmental Organizations; Growth and Development Strategy; Rwanda

09 Nov 2018
News

Mainstreaming Sustainability: What Banks And Business Schools Should Do Next

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

The Power of Stars: Do Stars Drive Success in Creative Industries?

Keywords: by Anita Elberse; Entertainment & Recreation; Motion Pictures & Video; Financial Services

2025
Working Paper

Blockchain-Induced Supply Chain Transparency and Firm Performance: The Role of Capacity Utilization

By: ShinWoo Lee Lee, Jedson Pinto, Daniel Rabetti and Gil Sadka

This study empirically investigates how blockchain adoption affects firm profitability. Employing a quasi-experimental design triggered by regulatory changes across the United States, we provide novel empirical evidence to recent theory, proposing that blockchain... View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Supply Chain; Technology Adoption; Profit; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; United States

SSRN

2022
Working Paper

On the Estimation of Demand-Based Asset Pricing Models

By: Philippe van der Beck

A growing literature uses portfolio holdings data to quantify the impact of investor demand on equilibrium prices via counterfactual experiments. The key parameter in relating demand and equilibrium prices is investors’ elasticity of demand with respect to the price.... View Details

Keywords: Price; Investment Portfolio; Institutional Investing; Financial Instruments

SSRN

October 2024
Case

Estímulo: Blended Finance in Brazil

By: Vikram S. Gandhi, James Barnett, Maxim Pike Harrell and Marina Osborn

In December 2022, Estímulo—a Brazilian impact investment fund supporting small businesses—found itself at a crossroads. The fund was established in 2020 to provide emergency relief through accessible credit and financial education. When low default rates from borrowers... View Details

Keywords: Credit; Financial Management; Financing and Loans; Investment; Social Enterprise; Business Model; Financial Services Industry; Brazil; South America; Latin America

Research Summary

Overview

I am interested in the individual experience of learning in organizational settings, particularly how employees learn to learn from the challenging work they do. I am currently researching the role of reflection for raising awareness of learning opportunities that... View Details

Keywords: Learning; Learning And Development; Learning Organizations; Intrinsic Motivation; Reflection; Goal Setting; Performance Measurement; Innovation; Job Design; Biotechnology Industry; Consulting Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

February 2012
Case

Henkel: Building a Winning Culture

By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred

This case illustrates a CEO-led organizational transformation driven by stretch goals, performance measurement, and accountability. When Kasper Rorsted became CEO of Henkel, a Germany-based producer of personal care, laundry, and adhesives products, in 2008, he was... View Details

Keywords: Performance Measurement; Performance Appraisals; Human Resource Management; Values; Organizational Transformations; Pay For Performance; Strategy Execution; Values and Beliefs; Work-Life Balance; Organizational Culture; Human Resources; Performance Evaluation; Compensation and Benefits

November 2021 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Nicole M. Jones and The Hangar℠: Delta Air Lines' Global Innovation Center

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2016, Nicole M. Jones was hired to lead The Hangar, Delta Air Lines’ new innovation center in Atlanta, Georgia. Delta’s leadership had intended for The Hangar to catalyze a new approach to innovation at the company. After conducting three months of research on... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Lab; Breakthrough Innovation; Biometric Technology; Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Innovation and Management; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Georgia (state, US)

March 2025
Case

Fostering Community at Airbnb (A)

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer, Heather Whiteman and Sarah Mehta

Set in November 2020, this case explores Airbnb’s efforts to foster a culture of belonging, particularly given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company’s workforce. It details how Airbnb used employee surveys and organizational network analysis (ONA)—a... View Details

Keywords: Change; Communication; Competency and Skills; Human Resources; Surveys; Information Technology; Health Pandemics; Organizational Culture; Networks; Accommodations Industry; Technology Industry; Travel Industry; United States; California

01 Aug 2011
News

Immigrant Innovators: Job Stealers or Job Creators?

Research Summary

Overview

According to McKinsey & Company, social interactions impact up to a third of all consumer purchases which accounts for US$940 billion in annual consumption in the US and Europe alone. Understanding social influence is important meeting consumer needs. In my research,... View Details

Keywords: Social Networks; Social Influence; Homophily; CRM; Mobile Gaming; Customer Lifetime Value; Forestry; Banking; Retail Banks

March 2023
Teaching Note

Ransomware Attack at Colonial Pipeline Company

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan Ni

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 123-069. On the morning of May 7, 2021, Colonial Pipeline Company became aware that the company had been the victim of a malicious ransomware attack that had stolen and locked up company data. The extortionists demanded 75 bitcoins (worth... View Details

02 Jul 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Inflation with COVID Consumption Baskets

Keywords: by Alberto Cavallo

April 1988 (Revised January 1989)
Case

Korea's Technology Strategy

Describes Korea's efforts to improve its technological capability and learn to produce and export high technology goods. The roles of government policy, domestic firms, and foreign firms are explored. Special attention is paid to how technology flows across borders,... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Strategy; North Korea