Business Ventures →
- 16 Dec 2013
- HBS Case
D’O: Making a Michelin-Starred Restaurant Affordable
Under the leadership of Chef Davide Oldani, the Italian restaurant D'O balances Michelin-star-level quality with affordable prices. In the following story and video, Professor Gary Pisano explains how Oldani does it. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 11 Mar 2013
- Research & Ideas
Marissa Mayer Should Bridge Distance Gap with Remote Workers
Marissa Mayer's decision to bring work-at-home Yahoo! employees back to the office has set off a firestorm. Lakshmi Ramarajan writes on how to mitigate the problem. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 21 Aug 2012
- Research & Ideas
How to Sink a Startup
Noam Wasserman, author of the recently released book "The Founder's Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup," discusses ill-advised entrepreneurial behavior. From the HBS Alumni Bulletin. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 06 Aug 2012
- Research & Ideas
Strategic Intelligence: Adapt or Die
In his new book, Strategic IQ, Professor of Management Practice John R. Wells explains why adapting to changing circumstances isn't only smart, it's also a matter of survival. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 04 Apr 2012
- Research & Ideas
When Founders Recruit Friends and Family as Investors
In his new book, The Founder's Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup, HBS Associate Professor Noam Wasserman tells readers how to anticipate, avoid, and, if necessary, recover from the landmines that can destroy a nascent company before it has the chance to thrive. In this excerpt, he discusses the pros and cons of recruiting friends and family members as investors. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 28 Mar 2012
- What Do You Think?
Are Factory Jobs Important to the Economy?
Summing Up: The manufacturing field is key to a strong economy, but a renewed focus on the industry will not necessarily lead to significant job growth, Jim Heskett's readers say. What do you think? Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 06 Feb 2012
- Research & Ideas
Kodak: A Parable of American Competitiveness
When American companies shift pieces of their operations overseas, they run the risk of moving the expertise, innovation, and new growth opportunities just out of their reach as well, explains HBS Professor Willy Shih, who served as president of Eastman Kodak's digital imaging business for several years. Key concepts include: Outsourcing ends up chipping away at America's "industrial commons"—the collective R&D, engineering, and manufacturing capabilities that are crucial to new product development. If the United States wants to keep from slipping any further in its ability to compete on the industrial stage, the government must increase its support of scientific research and collaborate with the business and academic world. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 15 Aug 2011
- Research & Ideas
A New Model for Business: The Museum
Looking for a new model to think about business? Look no further than your local art museum, says Assistant Professor Ray Weaver. Some of the most profitable Web businesses and retailers such as Apple succeed by acting like museum curators: providing a very limited amount of choices at a time; offering a brief, engaging description of each choice; and classifying products honestly. Key concepts include: "The firm as curator" is the theme of still-nascent research by HBS Assistant Professor Ray Weaver, who mis seeking feedback on the idea from practitioners. Weaver argues that Web giants Groupon and Facebook are successful not only because they offer great deals and engender social networking, but because of the careful way in which they present and organize information. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 11 Apr 2011
- Lessons from the Classroom
Teaching a ‘Lean Startup’ Strategy
Most startups fail because they waste too much time and money building the wrong product before realizing what the right product should have been, says HBS entrepreneurial management professor Thomas R. Eisenmann. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 07 Mar 2011
- Research & Ideas
Why Companies Fail—and How Their Founders Can Bounce Back
Leading a doomed company can often help a career by providing experience, insight, and contacts that lead to new opportunities, says professor Shikhar Ghosh. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 10 Jan 2011
- Research & Ideas
Is Groupon Good for Retailers?
For retailers offering deals through the wildly popular online start-up Groupon, does the one-day publicity compensate for the deep hit to profit margins? A new working paper, "To Groupon or Not to Groupon," sets out to help small businesses decide. Harvard Business School professor Benjamin G. Edelman discusses the paper's findings. Key concepts include: Discount vouchers provide price discrimination, letting merchants attract consumers who would not ordinarily patronize their business without a major price incentive. These vouchers also benefit merchants through advertising, simply by informing consumers of a merchant's existence via e-mail. For some merchants, the benefits of offering discount vouchers are sharply reduced if individual customers buy multiple vouchers. As a marketing tool, discount vouchers are likely to be most effective for businesses that are relatively unknown and have low marginal costs. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 11 Jan 2010
- Research & Ideas
Mixing Open Source and Proprietary Software Strategies
Open source and proprietary software development used to be competing strategies. Now software firms are experimenting with strategies that mix the two models. Researcher Gaston Llanes discusses recent research into these "mixed source" strategies. Key concepts include: Software companies are taking a "best of both worlds" approach by creating products that use a combination of OS and proprietary software code. The researchers wanted to get a clearer sense of when a profit-maximizing firm should adopt a mixed-source business model and what that model might look like under different circumstances. Results indicate recurring patterns and strategies that managers can take into consideration when setting strategy. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 30 Nov 2009
- Research & Ideas
Tracks of My Tears: Reconstructing Digital Music
Record labels have depended on album sales to boost profits. But in the digital music era, consumers prefer single songs over music "bundles." The result? Harvard Business School professor Anita Elberse says it is time for the industry to rethink its products and prices. Key concepts include: The unbundling of albums into a series of separately sold songs on digital music stores is hurting record label profits. Labels are less likely to get away with selling a bundle based on the strength of one or two tracks if the other songs are far less appealing. A strong artist reputation helps to curb the negative impact of unbundling. Labels might consider pushing for higher prices online and generally more flexibility in setting prices. Giving preference to quality over quantity and designing smaller, more consistent bundles may be beneficial. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 24 Nov 2009
- Working Paper Summaries
From Strategy to Business Models and to Tactics
Drivers such as globalization, deregulation, or technological change, just to mention a few, are profoundly changing the competitive game. Scholars and practitioners agree that the fastest-growing firms in this new environment appear to have taken advantage of these structural changes to compete "differently" and innovate in their business models. However, there is not yet agreement on what are the distinctive features of superior business models. This dispute may have arisen, in part, because of a lack of a clear distinction between the notions of strategy, business model, and tactics. HBS professor Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Joan Enric Ricart present an integrative framework to distinguish and relate the concepts of business model, strategy, and tactics. Key concepts include: An integrative framework that cleanly separates the realm of business model, strategy, and tactics will help guide the search for novel, interesting, and profitable new ways to compete. "Business model" refers to the logic of the firm, the way it operates, and how it creates value for its stakeholders. "Strategy" refers to the choice of business model through which the firm will compete in the marketplace. "Tactics" refers to the residual choices open to a firm by virtue of the business model that it employs. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 16 Nov 2009
- Research & Ideas
The Times Captures History of American Business
"We are not the first to face what seem like overwhelming challenges," says HBS professor and business historian Nancy F. Koehn. A new volume edited and narrated by Koehn, The Story of American Business: From the Pages of The New York Times, presents more than a hundred timely articles from the 1850s to today. Q&A and book excerpt. Key concepts include: If business leaders are to make sense of the financial crisis and its larger significance, they must have access to both depth and breadth in what they read. Big themes of The Story of American Business include Wall Street, leadership, consumption, the workplace, communications, and transportation. Koehn's narrations distill biography and social, economic, cultural, and business history from the 1850s to today. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 07 Oct 2009
- Working Paper Summaries
Specific Knowledge and Divisional Performance Measurement
Performance measurement is one of the critical factors that determine how individuals in an organization behave. It includes subjective as well as objective assessments of the performance of both individuals and subunits of an organization such as divisions or departments. Besides the choice of the performance measures themselves, performance evaluation involves the process of attaching value weights to the different measures to represent the importance of achievement on each dimension. This paper examines five common divisional performance measurement methods: cost centers, revenue centers, profit centers, investment centers, and expense centers. The authors furnish the outlines of a theory that attempts to explain when each of these five methods is likely to be the most efficient. Key concepts include: Each of these methods can be seen as providing an alternative way of aligning corporate decision-making authority with valuable "specific knowledge" inside the organization. Jensen and Meckling's theory suggests that cost and revenue centers work best in cases where headquarters has (or can readily obtain) good information about cost and demand functions, product quality, and investment opportunities. Decentralized profit and investment centers tend to supplant revenue and cost centers when managers of business units have a significant informational advantage over headquarters. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 03 Sep 2009
- What Do You Think?
Are Retention Bonuses Worth the Investment?
There is a time and place for retention bonuses but they should be used sparingly, wrote many respondents to this month's column, says Professor Jim Heskett. Others challenged the value of bonuses, and suggested compelling alternatives. (Online forum now closed; next forum begins October 2.) Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 06 Jul 2009
- Research & Ideas
Conducting Layoffs: ’Necessary Evils’ at Work
"The core challenge for everyone who performs necessary evils comes from having to do two seemingly contradictory things at once: be compassionate and be direct," say Joshua D. Margolis of Harvard Business School and Andrew L. Molinsky of Brandeis University International Business School. Their research sheds light on best practices—typically overlooked—for the well-being of those who carry out these emotionally difficult tasks. Q&A Key concepts include: Most managers who conduct layoffs feel a mix of emotions that may catch them by surprise: sympathy, sadness, guilt, shame, anxiety, and perhaps anger. Best practice for managers includes understanding yourself and recognizing your limitations. Recognize ahead of time the emotional cocktail that you will likely experience when performing a layoff, say the researchers. Companies should focus not only on getting the task done and on ensuring the well-being of victims, but also on the well-being of those who perform the layoff. Conduct training beforehand; have pairs or teams perform the tasks together; provide a good physical environment in a nonpublic, quiet area of the organization; and later allow those who carried out the layoffs to decompress and debrief. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 08 Apr 2009
- Research & Ideas
Clayton Christensen on Disrupting Health Care
In The Innovator's Prescription, Clayton Christensen and his coauthors target disruptive innovations that will make health care both more affordable and more effective. From the HBS Alumni Bulletin. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
Managing the Family Business: It Takes a Village
Is it better to lead a family business with one ultimate leader or a team? John A. Davis, an expert on family business management, kicks off a series of articles with a look at governance models. Open for comment; 0 Comments.