Publications

December 2007 (Revised July 2008)
Supplement

MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (B)

Selling an intangible like advertising services is a difficult task. The first step is to understand how brands buy these services. What are they looking for? What do they need to learn? How do they go about assessing things like creativity, trust, and loyalty? This... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Acquisition; Service Operations; Sales; Strategy; Advertising Industry

2014
Chapter

Bringing Agency Back Into Network Research: Constrained Agency and Network Action

By: Ranjay Gulati and Sameer Srivastava

We propose a framework of constrained agency grounded in the actors' resources and motivations within their structurally constrained context. Structural positions influence the resources available to actors and color the motivations that shape their actions. Resources... View Details

Keywords: Networks; Agency Theory

06 Oct 2010
News

Rating agency multiplicity

09 Jun 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Agency Costs, Mispricing, and Ownership Structure

Keywords: by Sergey Chernenko, C. Fritz Foley & Robin Greenwood

October 2011 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Kroll Bond Rating Agency

The established credit raters were criticized for inflating the mortgage credit bubble that imploded in 2008. A new rating agency, KBRA, is considering how to capitalize on the opportunity this presents and how to enter the industry. A small group of managers have to... View Details

Keywords: Financial Instruments; Financial Management; Financial Services Industry

June 2016
Case

Big Spaceship: The Evolving Agency

By: Boris Groysberg and Matthew G. Preble

This case discusses the evolution of Big Spaceship, an advertising and marketing agency, from a product-focused business to a relationship-oriented one as clients seek deeper and more meaningful long-term partnerships. The 15-year-old company had already evolved... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Marketing; Organizational Structure; Organizational Design; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Social Media; Advertising Industry; United States; New York (city, NY)

22 Oct 2015
News

There's an Agency for That

March 2017
Article

Institutional Ownership and Corporate Tax Avoidance: New Evidence

By: Mozaffar N. Khan, Suraj Srinivasan and Liang Tan

We provide new evidence on the agency theory of corporate tax avoidance (Slemrod, 2004; Crocker and Slemrod, 2005; Chen and Chu, 2005) by showing that increases in institutional ownership are associated with increases in tax avoidance. Using the Russell index... View Details

Keywords: Tax Avoidance; Agency Costs; Institutional Ownership; Private Ownership; Crime and Corruption; Taxation; Agency Theory

SSRN

Find at Harvard

09 Nov 2010
Working Paper Summaries

The Unbundling of Advertising Agency Services: An Economic Analysis

Keywords: by Mohammad Arzaghi, Ernst R. Berndt, James C. Davis & Alvin J. Silk; Advertising

25 Nov 2019
News

Former Agency Administrator Karen Mills Discusses SBA Lending

Fast Answer

Securitization process and credit rating agencies

What resources are available on the securitization process, credit rating agencies and European covered bonds? Databases Bloomberg - Use Mortgages function to get information on various forms of secured loans Standard &... View Details

03 Feb 2012
HBS Seminar

Dr. Regina Dugan, Director, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

31 Aug 2009
Research & Ideas

Why Competition May Not Improve Credit Rating Agencies

In the run-up to the global financial crisis, credit rating agencies gave high marks to such risky financial vehicles as collateralized debt obligations, which few people understood. It has been argued that these ratings misled investors... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

January 1983 (Revised July 1985)
Case

Cable News Network

By: John A. Quelch

The vice president of advertising and promotion is reviewing his advertising program for 1982. In particular, he is assessing an agency proposal for a new advertising campaign for cable news network. View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Management Teams; Journalism and News Industry; Journalism and News Industry

Find at Harvard

Research Summary

New Venture Growth

Young and no Money? Never Mind: Strategies for New Venture Growth. Being revised (R&R) for Organization Science.

Mukti's dissertation, "Great Oaks from Little Acorns Grow: Strategies for New Venture Growth," explored how intangible resources such... View Details

April 2006 (Revised October 2008)
Case

Marketing New York City

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Anita Elberse and Marie Bell

New York City is a pioneer in the emerging field of municipal marketing. The city's first chief marketing officer must develop a marketing organization with a self-funded business model that creates value for the city by leveraging the city's assets, including physical... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Government and Politics; Goals and Objectives; Marketing Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Value Creation; New York (city, NY)

November 2004 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Launching the New MINI

By: Douglas B. Holt and John A. Quelch

Focuses on how strategy is transformed into creative branding materials. Reports on the development of a wide variety of brand communication materials produced to support the MINI launch in the United States. MINI USA executives worked with their ad agency Crispin... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Creativity; Auto Industry; United States