Publications

August 2015 (Revised January 2022)
Case

George Washington and the Foundations of American Democracy

By: Tom Nicholas and Matthew G. Preble

George Washington is perhaps the most well-known of the U.S.'s founding fathers because of his political and military achievements. However, Washington also operated a number of successful business ventures out of his Mount Vernon estate, and he became a landowner on... View Details

Keywords: Government; History; George Washington; Democracy; Decision Making; Entrepreneurship; Government and Politics; Business History; Leadership; United States

May 24, 2016
Article

Build a Culture of Health

By: John A. Quelch

Every company, large and small, has an impact on health. It does so in four ways: first, through the healthfulness and safety of the products and services it sells; second, through its attention to employee health and well-being in its work practices and benefits;... View Details

January 2002 (Revised March 2006)
Background Note

Democracy

By: Rawi E. Abdelal

Surveys scholarship on democracy and democratization. Describes the relationship between democracy and the environment of business, including capitalist economic institutions, economic growth, economic reform, and international relations. View Details

Keywords: Economic Systems; Situation or Environment; Business and Government Relations; Economic Growth; International Relations; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

Democracy

To all who declare that American democracy is broken—riven by partisanship, undermined by extremism, and corrupted by wealth—history offers hope. In nearly every generation since the nation’s founding, critics have made similar declarations, and yet the nation is... View Details

2016
Blog

Building A Culture of Health - John A. Quelch: Creating A Culture of Health

By: John A. Quelch

All American companies are in the health business whether they like it or not. The private sector directly pays for one-fifth of the whopping 17.5% of GDP spent on healthcare in the United States. Rather than viewing health merely as an insurance expense to be... View Details

The Global Rise of Democracy

We examine the influence of an interstate network created by intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) on the global diffusion of democracy. We propose that IGOs facilitate democracy’s diffusion by transmitting information between member states and by interpreting... View Details

September 2022 (Revised August 2023)
Case

Audrey Tang: Using Technology to Strengthen Democracy in Taiwan

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai

Since the early days of the internet, Taiwan had a vibrant community of civic hackers and open-source programmers who engaged with social issues. Audrey Tang was one of them. She spearheaded the 2014 Sunflower Student Movement in Taiwan, where protestors peacefully... View Details

Keywords: Democracy; Internet; Web Technology; Digital Transformation; Digital Platform; COVID; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Governance; Entrepreneurship; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Innovation and Invention; Taiwan; China; Asia

March–April 2020
Article

Building A Culture of Experimentation

By: Stefan Thomke

Why don’t organizations test more? After examining this question for several years, I can tell you that the central reason is culture. As companies try to scale up their experimentation capacity, they often find that the obstacles are not tools and technology but... View Details

Keywords: Experimentation; Culture; Innovation; Online; Customer Experience; Organizational Culture; Innovation and Invention; Internet and the Web; Attitudes; Decision Making; Change; Leadership

May 2016
Case

Implementing a Culture of Health

By: John A. Quelch and Emily C. Boudreau

Keywords: Change Management; Strategy; Culture; Health; Change; Organizational Culture

21 Jan 2016
News

The perils of building democracy in Africa

12 PM – 1 PM EDT, 21 Mar 2017
Webinars: Trending@HBS

Is American Democracy in Trouble? Thoughts on the Perils (and Promise) of an Aging Democracy

Is American democracy in trouble? What could this mean for the nations economy and business environment? Professor Moss will take up these questions from an historical perspective, exploring the strengths and weaknesses of the nations political system as it has evolved... View Details

Article

Representative Democracy and the Implementation of Majority-Preferred Alternatives

By: Katherine Baldiga Coffman

In this paper, we contrast direct and representative democracy. In a direct democracy, individuals have the opportunity to vote over the alternatives in every choice problem the population faces. In a representative democracy, the population commits to a candidate ex... View Details

Keywords: Economic Systems; Voting; Decision Choices and Conditions

11 Jan 2021
News

Strengthening Democracy

Image credit: Dan Bejar ALUMNI One Paramount Priority Diane Hessan (MBA 1977) on how to preserve the republic after the election A More Perfect Union America’s faith in democracy is fading. Daniella Ballou-Aares (MBA 2001) is leading a... View Details

06 Jun 2025
Video

The Future of Democracy

January 2022 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Expanding the Culture of Learning at Kraft Heinz

By: Ashley V. Whillans and Carolyn Watson

The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC) was an American food company formed in 2015 by the merger of Kraft Foods Group, Inc and the H.J. Heinz Company. The company sold food products like Heinz Ketchup, Kraft Mac & Cheese, Kool-Aid, and Philadelphia cream cheese to supermarkets,... View Details

Keywords: Learning; Culture; Work Culture; Workplace Practices; Mergers; Mergers and Acquisitions; Competitive Advantage; Human Capital; Training; Performance Evaluation; Growth and Development; Personal Development and Career; Employee Relationship Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Food and Beverage Industry

Article

Corporate Culture and Analyst Catering

By: Joseph Pacelli

This study examines the relation between financial institutions’ corporate culture and the quality of analysts’ research services. Using data collected from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, I measure the weakness of financial institutions’ corporate culture... View Details

Keywords: Analysts; Corporate Culture; Global Settlement; Financial Institutions; Organizational Culture; Conflict of Interests; Performance; Quality

March 2024
Article

The Political Effects of Immigration: Culture or Economics?

By: Alberto Alesina and Marco Tabellini

We review the growing literature on the political economy of immigration. First, we discuss the effects of immigration on a wide range of political and social outcomes. The existing evidence suggests that immigrants often, but not always, trigger backlash, increasing... View Details

Keywords: Political Backlash; Cultural Beliefs; Immigration; Political Elections; Outcome or Result; Social Issues; Perception

May 2018
Supplement

Transformation at ING (C): Culture

By: William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell

In 2016, ING Group began an overhaul of its company culture, culminating in a code of conduct dubbed "The Orange Code." View Details

Keywords: ING; Company Culture; Cultural Change; Change; Organizational Culture; Change Management; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Netherlands