Business and society

The widely held notion of “Japan, Inc.” is exaggerated; there is no monolithic business-government link. Even so, the cooperation (without incorporation) between the large corporate combines and the government bureaucracy is impressive in its strength and focus on the common economic good—especially in view of its achievements worldwide. As the economic power of the United […]

Comments for this Make Your Case installment are now closed. Thanks to all who participated. This week’s guest commentator, Marshall Goldsmith, has posted his response to your comments and shared some thoughts of his own below. The opening to your cube is darkened by the familiar figure of a longtime colleague. Though you’re his immediate […]

We don’t need to prove it because we can all see it.

Questions that every board should be asking itself right now.

By pooling the resources of the poor and by sharing information, religious and financial institutions can work together to change inner-city economies.

We’ve been sharing thoughts in this blog about how the rapid growth of the emerging economies, along with other modern realities, will reshape the practice — and thus rewrite the rules — of capitalism. Many readers are aware that these are ideas in development for our forthcoming book on the topic. This week we decided […]

The best change agents almost never realize when it’s time to stop. That’s what makes them so good.

Network groups for black and Hispanic employees had been an unqualified success. Now a Christian group was forming—and Bill Thompson didn’t know what to think about it.

Editor’s note: For an opposing viewpoint on this topic, see Robert E. Litan’s and Hal J. Singer’s entry “Why Business Should Oppose Net Neutrality.” In business school, where I teach, students are often predisposed to see legal concepts as impenetrable and foreign. I watch the lightbulbs go on as they see that Microsoft’s antitrust woes, […]

But more schooling isn’t the answer.

The International Baccalaureate tried it. Here are the results.

And it’s changing the way they do science.

It’s a better predictor than economic self-interest.

Between waves of layoffs and evaporating job opportunities, we’re in a climate that naturally breeds an every-woman-for-herself mentality. A recent study by the Workplace Bullying Institute found that female bullies were alive — and, more than 70 percent of the time, kicking other women. But I’ve also seen companies encouraging their smart women to help […]

Modern capitalism can be broken down into two major eras. The first, managerial capitalism, began in 1932 and was defined by the then radical notion that...

An entire generation’s prosperity vanishing, food stamp use exploding. Welcome to the jobless future. This month’s jobs numbers drive home the point. The unemployment rate fell at the fastest rate for years — great news, right? Wrong. The lion’s share of the gains came from (wait for it) “temporary help services.” See what just happened? […]

When Ben Franklin wrote Poor Richard’s Almanac and the words, “A little neglect may breed great mischief,” he did not have price fixing in mind. To the 47 executives in companies in the folding-box industry convicted of price fixing, however, the words seem tailored to fit. In those companies convicted under antitrust laws in 1976, […]

Anecdotal evidence is at odds with the data.

Surprised by a gender stereotype? React calmly, directly, and move on.

It was Barack Obama who got me thinking a lot about race in the workplace lately and wondering just how much progress we’ve made — at least here in the U.S. I began with a somewhat optimistic point of view and things just went downhill from there. Obama, of course, has been heralded for his […]

Susan Johnson, founder and CEO of Medfield Pharmaceuticals, is faced with conflicting recommendations for extending the patent life of the company's flagship...

This note is designed to introduce students to the fundamental concepts of leading innovation in established organizations. Reinvention is a process whereby...

Under the direction of President Museveni, much of the world has heaped praise on Uganda for transforming its economy from devastation to growth and managing...

Alltech was a Lexington, Kentucky-based producer of supplements for animal feed, with revenues of over $2 billion (projected to reach $3 billion in 2018),...

The Berline-based start-up, Lytt, was founded in late 2019 with the aim of offering employees a means to speak up about misconduct at work through a digital...

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. David Ansell, Darlene Hightower, and Ayesho Jaco, leaders of West Side United (WSU), a coalition of Chicago hospitals,...

An abstract is not available for this product.

Describes Autodesk's engagement in Integrated Project Delivery-a new model of risk management, inter-firm teamwork, and multi-objective (aesthetic, cost,...

A new political appointee with years of volunteer experience takes over a highly responsible job in the state government and is met with bureaucratic...

B Case to case UV7765 This case represents an amalgam of commonly reported experiences people have when interacting with others from different social...

A year's worth of management wisdom, all in one place. We've reviewed the ideas, insights, and best practices from the past year of Harvard Business Review...

Pratham is a non-governmental organization, focusing on high-quality, low-cost and replicable interventions to address gaps in the Indian education system....

Details Nike Football's marketing efforts in the lead up to and during the World Cup in South Africa (2010). Allows students to reflect on the implementation...

Living PlanIT is a start-up company that has developed a new, innovative business model for sustainable urbanization. This model reflects the software...

The case follows Erica Mackey, CEO of early childhood education impact venture MyVillage, as she determines the growth path of the company after a recent...

Nike's Football division needs to devise a strategy to excel at the 2010 World Cup games in South Africa. Nike has gone from a niche player in the market...

This case starts by exploring the brief history of Alibaba from 1999 to 2020 from the perspective of strategy and values. The case shows how a company's...

Supplement for HKS794

Examines an acquisition in the highly competitive new media advertising industry in China in late 2005. The transaction leads to eventual consolidation...

The widely held notion of “Japan, Inc.” is exaggerated; there is no monolithic business-government link. Even so, the cooperation (without incorporation) between the large corporate combines and the government bureaucracy is impressive in its strength and focus on the common economic good—especially in view of its achievements worldwide. As the economic power of the United […]

Comments for this Make Your Case installment are now closed. Thanks to all who participated. This week’s guest commentator, Marshall Goldsmith, has posted his response to your comments and shared some thoughts of his own below. The opening to your cube is darkened by the familiar figure of a longtime colleague. Though you’re his immediate […]

We don’t need to prove it because we can all see it.

Questions that every board should be asking itself right now.

By pooling the resources of the poor and by sharing information, religious and financial institutions can work together to change inner-city economies.

We’ve been sharing thoughts in this blog about how the rapid growth of the emerging economies, along with other modern realities, will reshape the practice — and thus rewrite the rules — of capitalism. Many readers are aware that these are ideas in development for our forthcoming book on the topic. This week we decided […]

The best change agents almost never realize when it’s time to stop. That’s what makes them so good.

Network groups for black and Hispanic employees had been an unqualified success. Now a Christian group was forming—and Bill Thompson didn’t know what to think about it.

Editor’s note: For an opposing viewpoint on this topic, see Robert E. Litan’s and Hal J. Singer’s entry “Why Business Should Oppose Net Neutrality.” In business school, where I teach, students are often predisposed to see legal concepts as impenetrable and foreign. I watch the lightbulbs go on as they see that Microsoft’s antitrust woes, […]

But more schooling isn’t the answer.