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New research on business and management strategy from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including strategy development, execution, and gauging effectiveness.
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In America, Immigrants Really Do Get the Job Done

by Michael Blanding

Far from being a drain on the US economy, William Kerr’s research finds immigrants are a driver of innovation and entrepreneurship. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Complex Disclosure

by Ginger Zhe Jin, Michael Luca, and Daniel Martin

This study shows that companies looking to hide unfavorable information might strategically be making contract terms unnecessarily complex, harming consumers and undermining the effectiveness of disclosure. These results highlight a role for regulation that would encourage simpler forms of disclosure.

Should Intellectual Property be Protected in International Trade?

by James Heskett

SUMMING UP To do business in China, American firms often lose some of their intellectual property. James Heskett's readers think that price is too high. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Should Retailers Match Their Own Prices Online and in Stores?

by Dina Gerdeman

For multichannel retailers, pricing strategy can be difficult to execute and confusing to shoppers. Research by Elie Ofek and colleagues offers alternative approaches to getting the price right. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

How a Coal Polluter Became a Renewable Energy Leader

Re: Mark R. Kramer

Enel, Italy’s state-owned power company, was one of Europe’s largest coal users and polluters. Now it is recognized as a leader in renewable energy services. Mark Kramer discusses how CEO Francesco Starace drove the huge strategy shift. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

The Airbnb Effect: Cheaper Rooms for Travelers, Less Revenue for Hotels

by Dina Gerdeman

Hotels enjoy their highest profits when rooms are most in demand, like during holidays and big events. Unfortunately for them, Airbnb is taking away some of that pricing power, according to new research by Chiara Farronato and Andrey Fradkin. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

When a Competitor Abandons the Market, Should You Advance or Retreat?

by Rachel Layne

Companies pay close attention when a competitor drops out of the market, according to new research by Joshua Lev Krieger. Too often, though, they come to the wrong conclusion. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Amazoned: Is Any Industry Safe?

by Sean Silverthorne

Like the Amazon River itself, Jeff Bezos's company cuts a powerful, meandering channel through the business landscape, changing every industry it touches. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Subjectivity in Tournaments: Implicit Rewards and Penalties and Subsequent Performance

by Wei Cai and Susanna Gallani

Analyzing data from a Chinese manufacturing company, this study explores side effects of subjective performance evaluations in a setting where workers are rewarded based on performance rankings and subject to both rewards and penalties. Among other contributions the paper highlights factors that could impact the overall effectiveness of incentive systems.

Come Together: Firm Boundaries and Delegation

by Laura Alfaro, Nick Bloom, Paola Conconi, Harald Fadinger, Patrick Legros, Andrew F. Newman, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen

The study develops a simple model and provides new data to examine the relationship between vertical integration and delegation of decision-making, two critical aspects of a firm organizational design that are typically studied in isolation. The results show that delegation and vertical integration are positively correlated.

Is It Time To Break Up Amazon, Apple, Facebook, or Google?

by James Heskett

SUMMING UP Would breaking up tech giants like Facebook and Google be good antitrust policy or bad for capitalism? James Heskett's readers join the conversation. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Trials and Terminations: Learning from Competitors' R&D Failures

by Joshua Lev Krieger

When companies terminate R&D projects, it has ripple effects on the project selection decisions of rival firms and the broader competitive environment. Examining firm responses to others’ failures, this paper introduces a new model of R&D investment decisions, and empirically investigates when knowledge generated by rivals directly enters specific project investment decisions.

How Independent Bookstores Have Thrived in Spite of Amazon.com

by Carmen Nobel (with video by Amelia Kunhardt)

Ryan Raffaelli set out to discover how independent bookstores managed to survive and even thrive in spite of competition from Amazon and other online retailers. His initial findings reveal how much consumers still value community and personal contact. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Why Politics is Failing America, and What Business Can Do To Help

by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette

How could a country that epitomized the success of modern democracy have fallen into such a state of failure? Michael Porter and Katherine Gehl find a rigged American political system that limits competition and works against the public interest. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Structural Transformation: A Competitiveness-based View

by Christian Ketels

A critical challenge for many economies is how to accelerate structural change when market forces alone seem insufficient. This paper explores the relationship between two approaches. The Structural Transformation framework argues for identifying and supporting target sectors in line with ‘latent’ competitive advantages. The competitiveness framework emphasizes the need to systematically strengthen competitive advantages, with new sectors the outcome rather than the driver of competitiveness upgrading.

Should Industry Competitors Cooperate More to Solve World Problems?

by Sean Silverthorne

George Serafeim has a theory that if industry competitors collaborated more, big world problems could start to be addressed. Is that even possible in a market economy? Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Why Global Investments Are Still a Good Bet

by Michael Blanding

International markets often move together, so does a global investment portfolio even make sense anymore? Luis Viceira still sees plenty of advantages in looking beyond home markets. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Can Amazon Do What Walmart Couldn’t, Stop the 'Wheel of Retailing'?

by James Heskett

SUMMING UP Is Amazon's growing retail power capable of breaking the "wheel of retailing" theory? James Heskett's readers weigh in. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Turbulence, Firm Decentralization and Growth in Bad Times

by Philippe Aghion, Nicholas Bloom, Brian Lucking, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen

What makes some firms more resilient than others to large negative macro shocks? This paper finds that the internal organization of firms—specifically, the extent to which decision-making is decentralized from headquarters to plant managers—is an important mediating factor through which macroeconomic shocks affect firm performance and, ultimately, growth.

Leading a Team to the Top of Mount Everest

Re: Amy C. Edmondson

In a podcast, Amy Edmondson describes how students learn about team communication and decision making by making a simulated climb up Mount Everest. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.