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    April 26

    First Look

    26 Apr 2016

    Among the highlights included in new research papers, case studies, articles and books released this week by Harvard Business School faculty:

    The value of intermediaries in getting that first job

    In the online world, it’s easy for needy companies and hungry contractors to get together to fill temporary work needs. Even so, a new market for intermediaries has arisen. The research described in a new paper, Landing the First Job: The Value of Intermediaries in Online Hiring by Christopher Stanton and Catherine Thomas, finds that workers affiliated with an agency have a leg up when it comes to finding work and receiving the best wages.

    Is Weather Company a good fit for IBM?

    In the updated case study Whither the Weather (Company): Forecasting 2016, the authors look at major strategic decisions made by CEO David Kenny before and, more recently, leading up to IBM’s acquisition of the company’s digital assets. One question: How would Weather Company’s fast, innovative culture fit at giant IBM? The case was written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen.

    When Gap Inc. said goodbye to traditional performance reviews

    Many organizations rely on an annual performance method to rate employees, but Gap Inc. in 2014 decided to create a new system to evaluate and motivate performance. Now employees meet with managers informally at least once a month, and bonuses reflect business performance more closely. How is the new system working? The case study, Gap Inc.: Refashioning Performance Management, was written by Joshua D. Margolis and Paul D. McKinnon.

    A complete list of new research and publications from Harvard Business School faculty follows.

    —Sean Silverthorne
    LinkedIn
    Email
    • April 2016
    • Review of Economic Studies

    Landing the First Job: The Value of Intermediaries in Online Hiring

    By: Stanton, Christopher, and Catherine Thomas

    Abstract—Online markets for remote labor services allow workers and firms to contract with each other directly. Despite this, intermediaries—called outsourcing agencies—have emerged in these markets. This paper shows that agencies signal to employers that inexperienced workers are high quality. Workers affiliated with an agency have substantially higher job-finding probabilities and wages at the beginning of their careers compared to similar workers without an agency affiliation. This advantage declines after high-quality non-affiliated workers receive good public feedback scores. The results indicate that intermediaries have arisen endogenously to permit a more efficient allocation of workers to jobs.

    Publisher's link: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49804

    Economic Transition and Private-Sector Labor Demand: Evidence from Urban China

    By: Iyer, Lakshmi, Xin Meng, Nancy Qian, and Xiaoxue Zhao

    Abstract—This paper studies the policy determinants of economic transition and estimates the elasticity demand for labor in the infant private sector in urban China. We show that a reform that untied access to housing in urban areas from working for the state sector accounts for more than a quarter of the overall increase in labor supply to the private sector during 1986–2005. We do not find any increase in self-employment. Using the reform to instrument for private-sector labor supply, we find that private-sector labor demand is very elastic, with elasticity estimates ranging between -3.1 and -5.3.

    Download working paper: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=45973

    Executive Compensation and Environmental Harm

    By: Minor, Dylan

    Abstract—We explore the relationship between managerial incentives and environmental harm. We find that high-powered executive compensation packages can increase the odds of environmental law breaking by 40%–60% and the magnitude of environmental harm by over 100%. We document similar results for the setting of executive compensation and financial accounting misconduct. Finally, we outline some managerial and policy implications to blunt these adverse incentive effects.

    Download working paper: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=50417

    • Harvard Business School Case 216-023

    Models of Endowment Management: King's College, Cambridge

    One of the University of Cambridge's Colleges evaluates different asset management options for its endowment fund.

    Purchase this case:
    https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/216023-PDF-ENG

    • Harvard Business School Case 316-042

    Greening Walmart: Progress and Controversy

    In 2005, Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, launched a sustainability initiative aimed at reducing waste and making the company more environmentally and socially conscious. By 2015, the company had made progress on multiple dimensions: energy efficiency in its stores and its supply chain, lower levels of greenhouse gas emissions, safer products for customers and manufacturers, and better treatment of its workers. The company promoted the idea that its size gave it significant influence in the economy and that if it took steps to operate more sustainably, and demanded its suppliers do the same, this would have an impact on its own bottom line and make the world a better place for everyone. Students can explore whether Walmart is making these changes to improve its battered public image, improve its bottom line, or because it is the right thing to do.

    Purchase this case:
    https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/316042-PDF-ENG

    • Harvard Business School Case 315-006

    La Ribera Health Department

    La Ribera was a privately managed, publicly funded health department in the Valencia region of Spain. The model began in 1999, when a new hospital was opened to cover the secondary health-care needs of the health department's inhabitants. In 2003, the model was extended to also cover primary care. The health department received a capitation fee for each registered inhabitant of the health department and provided health services at a 25% lower cost than public hospitals in the region. However, profits for the private operators remained low, in the region of 1%. In order for La Ribera to remain a viable option the hospital began working with a consulting firm to look into future options for growth and potentially higher returns. A key factor for any of the options considered was the public perception that tax-financed access to care was a longstanding public good in Spain, and allowing private operators to profit from health-care delivery was a thorny issue.

    Purchase this case:
    https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/315006-PDF-ENG

    • Harvard Business School Case 316-143

    Whither the Weather (Company): Forecasting 2016

    CEO David Kenny led the transformation of the Weather Company from a television business to a Big Data technology company from 2012 until 2016, when IBM acquired its digital assets. This case discusses major decisions taken by Kenny starting in 2014 as he sought to reorient the company amidst changes in media, digital, and mobile technologies. Kenny balances promoting new stream digital business growth with managing difficult legacy television industry realities. He faces key strategic decisions about whether to integrate businesses or separate them completely; whether to pursue business partners, and if so, what those partners should look like; and whether IBM, a large, established technology company, is the right partner for Weather Company. Finally, how would Weather Company’s fast, innovative culture fit at giant IBM?

    Purchase this case:
    https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/316143-PDF-ENG

    • Harvard Business School Case 416-019

    Gap Inc.: Refashioning Performance Management

    In 2014, clothing retailer Gap Inc. rolled out a new performance management process for headquarters staff that did away with a traditional rating and ranking system. The new process involved informal monthly meetings between managers and their reports, and it more closely tied bonuses to business performance. Would it serve to motivate employees? Could its framework be used in Gap Inc.'s thousands of stores?

    Purchase this case:
    https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/416019-PDF-ENG

    • Harvard Business School Case 116-015

    IKEA in Saudi Arabia (A)

    A Swedish newspaper reveals that IKEA has erased all images of women from its catalog for Saudi Arabia. The article sparks criticism of IKEA from the Swedish government and its customers in the West. Critics contend that IKEA is not living up to its own commitments to gender equality. Some threaten a boycott. IKEA must respond. Reissuing the catalog with women included risks running afoul of Saudi censors who can impose harsh penalties. The company has had a presence in Saudi Arabia for nearly 30 years.

    Purchase this case:
    https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/116015-PDF-ENG

    • Harvard Business School Case 116-016

    IKEA in Saudi Arabia (B)

    Supplements the (A) case.

    Purchase this case:
    https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/116016-PDF-ENG

    • Harvard Business School Case 116-017

    IKEA in Saudi Arabia (C)

    Supplements the (A) Case.

    Purchase this case:
    https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/116017-PDF-ENG

    • Harvard Business School Case 216-026

    The Vanguard Group, Inc. in 2015: Celebrating 40

    No abstract available.

    Purchase this case:
    https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/216026-PDF-ENG

    • Harvard Business School Case 916-036

    Honoring the Contract: Role for YOUReka

    No abstract available.

    Purchase this case:
    https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/916036-PDF-ENG

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