Publications

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February 1997 (Revised June 1999)
Background Note

Committed and Flexible Resources

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Stresses the difference between costs committed in advance of knowing actual demand (committed costs) and cost incurred proportional to demand. Committed costs appear fixed since their supply is independent of the amount actually used. Flexible resources are supplied... View Details

Keywords: Cost

Research Summary

Advancing Leadership: Research and Teaching

By: Nitin Nohria

Despite the fact that most business schools' mission statement proclaim their commitment to developing leaders who can contribute in a meaningful way to the betterment of their organizations and society, research and teaching on leadership remains a fragmented and... View Details

April 2025
Case

Campbell's Recipe for Advancing School Nutrition

By: Hise O. Gibson, F. Christopher Eaglin and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

In 2021, The Campbell’s Company launched Full Futures, a collective impact initiative aimed at advancing school nutrition environments in underserved communities. The program started in Camden, NJ—home to Campbell’s headquarters—and later expanded to Charlotte, NC, and... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Leadership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Education; Health; Nutrition; Social Enterprise; Relationships; Business and Community Relations; Decision Making; Operations; Food and Beverage Industry; New Jersey; North Carolina; Pennsylvania

21 Sep 2021
Cold Call Podcast

Why JPMorgan Chase Is Committed to Improving Racial Equity in Banking

Keywords: Re: Joseph L. Bower; Financial Services; Banking

2005
Article

Early Decisions: A Regulatory Framework

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian

We describe a regulatory framework that helps consumers who have difficulty sticking to their own long-run plans. Early Decision regulations help long-run preferences prevail by allowing consumers to partially commit to their long-run goals, making it harder for a... View Details

Keywords: Hyperbolic Discounting; Self-control; Commitment; Consumer Behavior; Taxation; Attitudes

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16 Oct 2023
HBS Case

Advancing Black Talent: From the Flight Ramp to 'Family-Sustaining' Careers at Delta

At the end of 2020—seven months after COVID-19 had sent the airline industry into a tailspin and five months after George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police provoked nationwide protests for racial justice—Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian was moved to take more action... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Air Transportation

Article

Multi-Echelon Inventory Management Under Short-Term Take-or-Pay Contracts

By: Joel Goh and Evan L. Porteus

We extend the Clark–Scarf serial multi-echelon inventory model to include procuring production inputs under short-term take-or-pay contracts at one or more stages. In each period, each such stage has the option to order/process at two different cost rates; the cheaper... View Details

Keywords: Inventory Management; Multi-echelon Inventory Theory; Karush Lemma; Clark-Scarf Model; Convex Ordering Cost; Advance Commitments; Supply Chain

September 2013
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: General Gale Pollock and Services for the Vision Impaired

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Juliane Calingo Schwetz and Patricia Bissett Higgins

In July 2012, retired United States Army Major General Gale Pollock created Elevivo, a venture that worked on developing a comprehensive disease management software system to support the growing number of visually impaired individuals by providing them with tailored... View Details

Keywords: United States; Health Care; Health Care Education; Insurance Companies; Disease Management; Technology; Military; Leadership Skills; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Education; Insurance; Information Technology; Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Information Technology Industry; Health Industry; United States

2013
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: General Gale Pollock and Services for the Vision Impaired

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Juliane Calingo Schwetz and Patricia Bissett Higgins

In July 2012, retired United States Army Major General Gale Pollock created Elevivo, a venture that worked on developing a comprehensive disease management software system to support the growing number of visually impaired individuals by providing them with tailored... View Details

Keywords: Disease Management; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Education; Information Technology; Insurance; Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Information Technology Industry; Health Industry; United States

August 2020
Case

Mary Guerrero and the Advancement of Latinx Talent: Developing an Employee Resource Group at a Top Tier Bank (A)

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Amy Hernandez Turcios

Mary Guerrero was a first-generation Latina and an investment banking analyst at a top tier bank on Wall Street—Bulge Bracket Bank (BBB). She was committed to increasing representation of Latinx talent at her firm. She was already doing a lot of individual work to make... View Details

Keywords: Latin America; Bank; Representation; Scale; Inclusion; Coalition; Resources; Latinx; Talent and Talent Management; Diversity; Ethnicity; Banks and Banking; Leadership

April 2021
Case

JPMorgan Chase's Path Forward

By: Joseph L. Bower, Nien-hê Hsieh and Michael Norris

In 2020, JPMorgan Chase announced a $30 billion Commitment to Advance Racial Equity. The Commitment included investments in housing, small businesses, and financial literacy across the U.S., and diversity, equity, and inclusion within the bank. It was part of a broader... View Details

Keywords: Racial Wealth Gap; Diversity; Race; Financial Institutions; Banks and Banking; Leading Change; Banking Industry; New York (city, NY); Chicago

21 Nov 2023
Cold Call Podcast

Cold Call: Building a More Equitable Culture at Delta Air Lines

Keywords: Re: Linda A. Hill; Air Transportation

April 2003 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance

By: Nancy F. Koehn, Erica Helms and Philip Mead

Provides an opportunity to examine leadership and entrepreneurship in the context of Ernest Shackleton's 1914 Antarctic expedition, a compelling story of crisis, survival, and triumph. Summarizes Shackleton's career as an officer in the British Merchant Marine, his... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; History; Leadership; Crisis Management; Management Practices and Processes; Groups and Teams; Behavior; Antarctica

January 31, 2019
Article

The Backlash to Larry Fink's Letter Shows How Far Business Has to Go on Social Responsibility

By: Mark R. Kramer

Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest investor with $6 trillion under management, evoked heated controversy with his remarks last week that his company would change its hiring and potentially its compensation structure to advance diversity and ensure that... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose

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Research Summary

Microfinance

"Tying Odysseus to the Mast: Evidence from a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines." (with Dean Karlan and Wesley Yin) Quarterly Journal of Economics 121, no. 2, 2006.
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12 Sep 2023
What Do You Think?

Who Gets the Loudest Voice in DEI Decisions?

give greater emphasis to values in the company’s credo supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Evidence cited in support of the changes included: Eighty-one percent of employees would consider leaving their current organization over a lack of View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

January 2020 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Zara: An Integrated Store and Online Model (A)

By: Antonio Moreno

In 2010, amidst the growth of ecommerce and the emergence of new, purely online, fashion players, Zara launched its first online store, Zara.com. Since then, Zara’s online business had grown at a fast pace. By 2018, 12% of Inditex Group’s total sales came from the... View Details

Keywords: Stores; Integration; Operations; Business Model; Strategy; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Fashion Industry; Europe

May–June 2018
Article

Layoffs That Don't Break Your Company: Better Approaches to Workforce Transition

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Shalene Gupta

Today layoffs have become companies’ default response to the challenges created by advances in technology and global competition. Yet research shows that job cuts rarely help senior leaders achieve their goals. Too often, they’re done for short-term gain, but the cost... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Employees; Transition; Strategic Planning

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January 2018
Teaching Note

Still Leading (B1): Hon. Bob McDonald—Profiting from Purpose

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

This case is included in the Still Leading series, which is part of an opening series of cases used in the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard University. This case can also be taught as a standalone case as it is rich with many key leadership lessons that fall... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Personal Development and Career; Values and Beliefs; Transition