by Debora L. Spar - Publications - Faculty & Research

Debora L. Spar

Debora Spar is the Jaime and Josefina Chua Tiampo Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and Senior Associate Dean for Business and Global Society. Her current research focuses on issues of gender and technology, and the interplay between... View Details

Keywords: biotechnology; broadcasting; communications; entertainment; federal government; health care; information; internet; music; pharmaceuticals

24 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

Five Questions for Debora L. Spar

In the long run, even the most fundamental innovations have a way of being influenced by government, says Harvard Business School professor Debora Spar. That's why business leaders need political skills,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

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Debora L. Spar | About

Debora L. Spar Senior Associate Dean, Business in Global Society , Unit Head, General Management Unit General Management Contact Phone Bio Debora... View Details

24 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

Why the Internet Doesn’t Change Everything

As the technology wave breaks over us, some think the Internet looks to many about to wash out the established order of everything from vacation booking to the nation-state itself. But hold on a minute, Debora View Details

Keywords: by Debora L. Spar

15 Oct 2001
Op-Ed

Lessons from the Rubble

whose knowledge and expertise may prove irreplaceable. People resent the United States for its prosperity, for its power, and for the presumption that prosperity and power give it the right to judge and advise others. —Debora L. View Details

Keywords: by Debora L. Spar

11 Feb 2022
News

Professor Debora Spar: Symphonic

17 Nov 2003
Research & Ideas

The Business of Babies

We prefer to think of babies as cuddly bundles of joy, but they are also products at the center of a multibillion-dollar market in adoptions and scientific conception, a market that few people acknowledge and that functions like no other. Harvard Business School... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Health

01 Dec 2013
News

Batteries and Chocolates

Illustration by Adam Niklewicz/theispot.com by Debora L. Spar In 1991, when I joined the HBS faculty, men... View Details

Keywords: Spar, Debora; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

24 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

In Troubled Africa, Botswana Flowers

Debora L. Spar's research in Africa has looked at the diamond industry, the AIDS crisis, and the democratization of South Africa since apartheid. Now she has turned her attention to Botswana, where an era of... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

23 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Historically Speaking: A Roundtable at HBS

their work. Joining the discussion was Professor Debora Spar, a political scientist who recently traced the historical development of several pioneering technologies. Leading Research: Let's begin by talking... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner

09 Mar 2021
News

Addressing education inequities exacerbated by the pandemic

20 Aug 2020
Book

From the Plow to the Pill: How Technology Shapes Our Lives

For centuries, the creation of innovative technology—from steam engines and automobiles to computers and smartphones—has dramatically changed the nature of our work. Less deeply understood has been the impact of technology on the inner currents of our personal lives,... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

22 Sep 2003
Research & Ideas

When Protestors Knock at Your Door

As globalization trends increase, so does the ability of non-governmental organizations such as Greenpeace, Oxfam International, and the World Wildlife Fund to shape public and corporate policy on everything from human rights to labor conditions. The result, say HBS... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

14 Feb 2023
HBS Case

Is Sweden Still 'Sweden'? A Liberal Utopia Grapples with an Identity Crisis

of how difficult it’s going to be.” Spar says the Social Democrats “tried to do the right thing,” by welcoming migrants. “But there is a tacit consensus that they went faster and farther than the country... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

13 Feb 2006
Research & Ideas

The Hidden Market for Babies

"It is difficult to conceive of a child as commerce," writes Harvard Business School professor Debora L. Spar in her new book, The Baby Business: How Money, Science,... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls; Biotechnology; Health; Technology

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Courses by Faculty Unit - Course Catalog

State (CATS) (also listed under General Management) Debora L. Spar Fall 2025 Q1Q2 3.0 Capitalism: Past, Present, Future Sophus A. Reinert Fall 2025 Q1Q2 3.0 Creating the Modern... View Details

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Courses by Title - Course Catalog

Caroline Elkins Fall 2025 Q2 1.5 ^ back to top C Area Faculty Name Term Quarter Credits Capitalism and the State (CATS) Business, Government & the International Economy, General Management Debora L. View Details

24 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Linking the Globe: The Role of Media and Communications

CEO Peter Job from the U.K. and the panel's moderator, HBS Professor Debora Spar, for a look at the critical role of the media industry in how today's global information revolution plays out. "The media industry," said View Details

Keywords: by Kenneth Liss; Information; Publishing; Journalism & News; Media & Broadcasting

23 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

AIDS in Africa—What’s the Solution?

illneses take a financial and emotional toll on businesses operating in Africa. "This is not just a disease we're talking about. This is a disease that has the power to destroy economies," said Harvard Business School Professor View Details

Keywords: by Julie Jette

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Courses by Faculty - Course Catalog

Influential Leaders Accounting & Management, General Management Fall 2025 Q1Q2 3.0 Strategy Execution Accounting & Management Spring 2026 Q4 1.5 Emil Siriwardane Investment Management and Capital Markets Finance Fall 2025 Q1Q2 3.0 Debora... View Details

Publications