Publications

Read Now

November 2021 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Hitting Home: Amazon and Mary's Place

By: Paul M. Healy, Debora L. Spar and Amy Klopfenstein

In 2020, Amazon, the $386 billion online retail behemoth, built an eight-story shelter for women and families experiencing homelessness on its expanding headquarters in Seattle, Washington. The shelter, operated in partnership with a non-profit organization known as... View Details

Keywords: Business Ethics; Homelessness; Business And Society; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Issues; Corporate Accountability; Urban Development; Society; Information Technology; Ethics; Technology Industry; Seattle; United States; North America

Educators

2014
Chapter

Clusters of Entrepreneurship and Innovation

By: Aaron Chatterji, Edward Glaeser and William R. Kerr

This chapter reviews recent academic work on the spatial concentration of entrepreneurship and innovation in the United States. We discuss rationales for the agglomeration of these activities and the economic consequences of clusters. We identify and discuss policies... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Agglomeration; Clusters; Place Making; Industry Clusters; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; United States

Read Now

June 2014 (Revised May 2020)
Supplement

Busse Place (B): Hannah's Dilemma

By: Arthur I. Segel and John H. Vogel, Jr.

Marisa Sanchez, a new Associate at Douglas Private Equity Advisors, confronts a dilemma when she is asked by a Senior Vice President (SVP) to do due diligence on a deal he wants to bring before the investment committee which will include the SVP, Douglas' owner and... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Financial Analysis; Property; Finance; Analysis; Ethics; Real Estate Industry; United States

August 2014
Article

Friends in High Places

By: Lauren Cohen and Christopher Malloy

We demonstrate that personal connections amongst U.S. politicians have a significant impact on Senate voting behavior. Networks based on alumni connections between politicians are consistent predictors of voting behavior. We estimate sharp measures that control for... View Details

Keywords: Vote Trading; Networks; Legislation; Logrolling; Earmarks; Voting; Government Legislation; Social and Collaborative Networks; United States

Read Now

Article

Organizational Emplacement as a Response to Digital Threat: The Novel Resurgence of Independent Bookstores

By: Ryan Raffaelli and Ryann Noe

This study reveals how incumbent actors leverage physical place as source of differentiation in response to the threat of digital commoditization. Through a longitudinal, qualitative analysis of the U.S. independent bookselling industry from 1995 to 2019, we outline... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Place Making; Bookstores; Industry Evolution; Digital; Commoditization; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Digital Transformation; E-commerce; Distribution Channels; Civil Society or Community; Value Creation; Retail Industry

Register to Read

August 2021
Supplement

Shorefast: A Strange and Familiar Way to Reimagine Capitalism: Zita Cobb, Founder and CEO

By: Brian Trelstad

Video Supplement for HBS Case No. 320-098. In 2006, Zita Cobb and two of her brothers, Alan Cobb and Tony Cobb, native Newfoundlanders, launched Shorefast to help grow another leg of Fogo Island’s economy. Like so many rural communities, Fogo Island’s fate was tied... View Details

Keywords: Place Making; Nonprofit; Hotel; Economic Development; Tourism; Social Entrepreneurship; Nonprofit Organizations; Development Economics; Economic Systems; Tourism Industry; Canada

09 Jan 2012
Research & Ideas

Location, Location, Location: The Strategy of Place

places to open up shop; Alcácer says it's a mistake to allow low costs to completely override other factors. "You should not only think about whether there's a market there or cheaper labor," he says. "You also have to... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

06 Sep 2005
Research & Ideas

The Best Place for Retirement Funds

behavioral finance: How rational are individual investors? It touches on the quality of advice that investors get, and the relationships between investors and their financial advisers. As we potentially shift our Social Security system toward one where households will... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen

July 2021
Teaching Plan

Shorefast: A Strange and Familiar Way to Reimagine Capitalism

By: Brian Trelstad, Wendy Smith and Natalie Slawinski

Teaching Plan for HBS Case No. 320-098. In 2006, Zita Cobb and two of her brothers, Alan Cobb and Tony Cobb, native Newfoundlanders, launched Shorefast to help grow another leg of Fogo Island’s economy. Like so many rural communities, Fogo Island’s fate was tied... View Details

Keywords: Place Making; Non-profit; Hotel; Economic Development; Tourism; Social Entrepreneurship; Nonprofit Organizations; Development Economics; Economic Systems; Tourism Industry; Canada

April 2020 (Revised May 2025)
Case

Shorefast: A Strange and Familiar Way to Reimagine Capitalism

By: Brian Trelstad, Wendy Smith and Natalie Slawinski

In 2006, Zita Cobb and two of her brothers, Alan Cobb and Tony Cobb, native Newfoundlanders, launched Shorefast to help grow another leg of Fogo Island’s economy. Like so many rural communities, Fogo Island’s fate was tied directly to one primary resource—in this case... View Details

Keywords: Place Making; Non-profit; Hotel; Economic Development; Tourism; Social Entrepreneurship; Nonprofit Organizations; Development Economics; Economic Systems; Tourism Industry; Canada

Educators

October 2007
Article

Opinion: Place Your Bets on the Future You Want

By: Forest Reinhardt

This piece posits that success in a carbon-constrained world will be determined by innovation and acumen, requiring companies to make bold moves. View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Innovation and Invention; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Leadership; Success; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Competitive Advantage

03 Nov 2016
Op-Ed

Forget About Making College Affordable; Make it a Good Investment

education leaders espouse when making the case for undergraduate education. A 2013 survey of executives commissioned by the Association of American Colleges & Universities, for instance, suggested that four out of five employers want... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph Fuller; Education

16 Nov 2015
Research & Ideas

Does Competition Make Us More Creative?

Competition can bring out the best in salespeople, athletes, and participants in hot dog eating contests—but can it make employees more creative? A recent working paper by Daniel P. Gross finds that competition can motivate creative types... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Advertising

2014
Book

Managerial Accounting: Making Decisions and Motivating Performance

By: Srikant M. Datar and Madhav Rajan

Managerial Accounting: Making Decisions and Motivating Performance enables future managers and business owners to attain the core skills they need to become integral members of their company’s decision-making teams. This new program from established authors... View Details

01 Apr 2014
Research & Ideas

When Do Alliances Make Sense?

good for the investment projects it is pursuing, and the solo firm is probably particularly good for its projects." But just because a firm decides to form an alliance in one case and not in another doesn't mean it's making the most... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Energy; Utilities

20 Mar 2017
Book

Why Companies Are Placing Users at the Core of Their Innovation Strategies

number of companies are placing users at the core of their business strategies. Take MUJI, a leading Japanese design retailer, which has created a range of products designed by customers including a car, light fixtures, and sofas. The... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

30 May 2005
Research & Ideas

Six Steps for Making Your Threat Credible

suggest that you wouldn't swerve even to save your life. Once the game begins, however, your threat simply may not be credible. Now consider this strategy: Once the cars are headed directly toward each other, you unscrew your steering wheel and throw it out the window,... View Details

Keywords: by Deepak Malhotra

October 2005 (Revised February 2006)
Case

ICEX: Making a Market in Iceland

Examines the impact of increased performance on the international visibility and positioning of the Icelandic Stock Exchange. Allows consideration of various options for stock exchange growth that are created by Iceland's strong economic performance in recent years.... View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Stocks; Financial Markets; Globalization; Economy; Iceland