Research & Ideas: Articles
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The Great Wallop
November 15, 2009 - New York Times
Niall Ferguson , Moritz Schularick
In this opinion piece, Ferguson and Schularick see the end of "Chimerica," which "consisted largely of the combination of Chinese development, led by exports, and American overconsumption," and discuss President Obama's visit to Asia.
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Can Public Aid Really Help Business?
November 15, 2009 - New York Times
"Boulevard of Broken Dreams," Josh Lerner's recent book, is profiled, discussing public and private aid to small businesses in innovative ideas.
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Lessons From History
November 12, 2009 - Boston Herald
Niall Ferguson recently spoke at Boston's International Place Executive event outlining his thoughts on what caused the financial crisis, and the outstanding issues which are still evident today.
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Q&A: Josh Lerner on Innovation's Role in the Economy
November 11, 2009 - Wall Street Journal Online
Josh Lerner discusses his new book "The Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and the governments role in fostering innovation.
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Fixing the Financial System
November 10, 2009 - MSNBC.com
Bob Pozen is interviewed on MSNBC, discussing strategies and initiatives to help fix the U.S. financial system.
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Ex-Goldman Sachs Partner Kaplan Expects Populist Rage to Swell
November 5, 2009 - Bloomberg
Speaking at a panel at the Aspen Institute, Kaplan comments on the anger towards Wall Street, the possibility of regulatory reform, and investment banking compensation.
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TWIB: The Meltdown of the Nation's Financial System
November 2, 2009 - NECN
In this discussion on the economic crisis, Robert Pozen previews his upcoming book: "Too big to save? How to fix the U.S. Financial system."
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Five Questions for Bill George
November 2, 2009 - USA Today
Bill George answers questions on leadership in the wake of the financial crisis.
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Is It Fair to Blame Fair Value Accounting for the Financial Crisis?
November, 2009 - Harvard Business Review
Investors and corporate executives don't agree on how to value distressed assets. But maybe they don't have to.
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Stop Pining for Glass-Steagall
October 27, 2009 - McClatchy Newspapers
This Q&A with Robert Pozen visits themes of his upcoming books, "Too Big to Save."
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Sitting Down With Jay Light
October 26, 2009 - Harbus
Jay Light comments on the economy and the influence it has had on the HBS curriculum.
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Lessons From History
October 26, 2009 - CNN.com
CNN interviews Niall Ferguson on what we can learn from previous financial crises.
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Let's Stop Vilifying the Bankers
October 20, 2009 - New York Times
Americans have targeted banks and other financial institutions in the blogosphere as a response to the financial crisis. Bill George discusses how the rebuilding of the economy is going to rely on learning to trust banks again.
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Profit-based Growth Wiser than Increasing Size of Companies
October 15, 2009 - The Korea Herald
Michael Porter discusses market conditions in the post-economic crisis world, highlighting the importance of strategy and creativity in producing positive financial results.
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Seven Lessons for Navigating the Storm
October 13, 2009 - HBS Working Knowledge
Leading in crisis requires a combination of skills and behaviors--personal and professional--that can be mastered. A crisis, difficult as it is, also presents an opportunity to develop and grow.
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Workers of the World, Your Plight: Beware the 'Doom Loop'
October 8, 2009 - Kansas City Star
The concept of the "doom loop" is discussed, meaning that employees won't speak up with new ideas for fear of being laid off. According to Amy Edmondson, "When it really matters and you really want to say something, you don't. Instead it's 'yes, boss.'"
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HBS Curriculum Adapts to Meltdown
October 5, 2009 - Harvard Crimson
The changes that Harvard Business School has made to its curriculum in response to the financial crisis are explained here.
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The World Bank Must Fix Its Business Model
October 5, 2009 - FT.com
In the wake of the global financial crisis, the need to deliver aid effectively is more urgent than ever. A new United Nations report finds that the working poor in developing countries have been hardest hit. Yet the World Bank is falling short of its potential. At the heart of the matter is a tension between its mission and its business model. Reconciling this tension, one of the most challenging in its 65-year history, is the critical task for its leaders.
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HBS Study Goes Inside the Boardroom
October 1, 2009 - Harvard Gazette
"What about the role of boards of directors in the recession?" is the question posed by the HBS Corporate Governance Initiative. This profile of Jay Lorsch looks at the recently released study "Perspectives from the Boardroom - 2009."
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Over the Top: What's Wrong with Executive Pay?
September 2009 - HBS Alumni Bulletin
Roger Thompson, Brian Hall, Jay Lorsch, Rakesh Khurana
Now that the worst fears about economic meltdown are receding, what should be done about lingering issues such as over-the-top executive compensation? Does government have a role? Is it time we rethink corporate governance?
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As a Storm Approached, a Few Bankers Acted Wisely
September 16, 2009 - New York Times
Bill George is interviewed about Wall Street, Lehman Brothers, and his recent book Seven Lessons for Leading in Crisis.
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Lehman in Context: A Historical Perspective
September 16, 2009 - Harvard Business Publishing
Koehn compares the current financial crisis and Lehman Brothers to other historical economic crises dating back to the Civil War. "In past crises, individual leaders from different sectors stepped up to the plate to seize this opportunity before the window for such change closed. Remember Abraham Lincoln in the waning days of the Civil War; he used that pivot point to abolish slavery and guarantee citizenship and the right to vote to African-Americans."
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Stop Pining for Glass-Steagall
September 16, 2009 - Forbes
Robert Pozen discusses the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 which was created to "separate commercial banking from the securities business." Pozen argues "The repeal of Glass-Steagall was at most a minor factor in leading up to the financial crisis, and its repeal was instrumental in resolving the liquidity squeeze on Wall Street."
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Wall Street's New Gilded Age
September 11, 2009 - Newsweek
In this article, Niall Ferguson reflects on the financial crisis by discussing the 1-year anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the government bailing out financial institutions, and the financial regulation on Wall Street.
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An Ounce of Prevention: Financial Regulation, Moral Hazard, and the End of 'Too Big to Fail'
September/October 2009 - Harvard Magazine
Moss explains some the financial crises of the past, and points out that the role of the government as regulator in terms of financial risk should be increased in order to avoid future disasters.
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John Kotter's Urgent Message for Entrepreneurs
September 1, 2009 - Inc.
This interview with John Kotter, author of A Sense of Urgency, discusses the challenges and opportunities of leading in a recession.
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How Cash For Clunkers Failed American Taxpayers
August 21, 2009 - Harvard Business Publishing
Commenting on the Cash for Clunkers plan, Quelch asks, "Did the C4C sell more cars? Maybe in the short term but, in reality, the promotion stole largely from future sales with taxpayers subsidizing over half a million new car sales that would have occurred anyway."
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Disclose the Fair Value of Complex Securities
August 18, 2009 - Financial Times
This opinion piece states "no system of disclosing the fair value of complex securities is perfect. Models can be misused or misinterpreted. But reasonable and auditable methods exist today to incorporate the information in the most recent market prices."
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MBAs Gone Wild (subscription required)
July/August, 2009 - The American Interest
Professor Khurana takes a look at business education in light of the recent economic crisis.
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A Runaway Deficit May Soon Test Obama's Luck
August 11, 2009 - Financial Times
This article discusses President Obama's popularity after six months in office and takes a look at some success in fixing the economy and reforming health care.
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Chatter About a New Global Currency is Overblown
July 29, 2009 - Financial Times
Robert Pozen comments on the discussion around SDRs (Special Drawing Rights) replacing the U.S. Dollar as the global currency.
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Systemic Risk and the Fed
July 9, 2009 - Wall Street Journal
Pozen writes on U.S. Treasury proposals where the Federal Reserve is to be the sole regulator of managing the financial institutions that are considered a systemic risk.
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The Descent of Finance
July 6, 2009 - Washington Post
Robert Samuelson profiles Niall Ferguson's "Ascent of Money" and how looking back historically can point out the inevitable systemic risks found in the financial markets.
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Conducting Layoffs: 'Necessary Evils' at Work
July 6, 2009 - HBS Working Knowledge
Joshua D. Margolis, Andrew L. Molinsky
"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 HBS and Andrew L. Molinsky of Brandeis University International Business School.
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The Descent of Finance
July/August 2009 - Harvard Business Review (subscription required)
What if the current recession turns out to be like the Great Depression of 1929-1933? Four years from now, the United States might find itself with a still-shrinking economy, half as many banks as in 2009, a third as many hedge funds, and retail banking resembling a public utility. The federal debt could be at $20 trillion, the top income tax rate at 45%, and the S&P 500 at 418. The Breakdown, as Ferguson calls it, would alter the international economic order too, with China's GDP rising to half that of the U.S. by 2013 and the IMF's Special Drawing Rights replacing the dollar as the international reserve currency. Ferguson analyzes the roots of the crisis as well as the measures taken by the Obama administration to tackle it.
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Internet Economy Valuing the Web's Economic Impact
June 24, 2009 - Advertising Age
Deighton and Quelch write on the impact the internet has on the economy in relation to employment and the amount of money exchanged via the web.
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Echo Boomers a Lifeline for Embattled U.S. Housing
June 22, 2009 - Reuters
The "echo boomers" [aka millennials] are in a good position to revive the housing situation in the United States. According to Nicolas Retsinas, "echo boomers are larger than the baby boomer population. Couple that with immigration and you have the seeds, the possibility of a housing recovery."
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The State of Venture Capital
June 22, 2009 - Wall Street Journal
Laura Kreutzer interviews Josh Lerner about his forthcoming book, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, and the state of venture capital in the U.S.
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Business Looks in Mirror and Winces
June 17, 2009 - Toronto Star
Michael Porter recently received an honorary doctorate from the Rotman School at the University of Toronto. When speaking at the school's conference on lifelong learning, Porter tackled the topic "Restoring the credibility of business."
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Too Big to Fail
June 2009 - HBS Bulletin
David Moss is profiled here, observing that new regulations are required in order to restore some moral hazard in the financial system.
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GM and the World We Have Lost
June 3, 2009 - Boston Globe
Richard Tedlow, David Ruben
Tedlow and Ruben comment on the profound American loss that is the collapse of General Motors.
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How GM Wasted 'a Good Crisis'
June 2, 2009 - Wall Street Journal
Bill George discusses the demise of General Motors and the opportunities they missed.
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Why I Don't Want to Own General Motors
June 1, 2009 - Harvard Business Publishing
Rosabeth Moss Kanter comments on the bankruptcy of GM, and calls this a "dangerous precedent."
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HBS Faculty Comment on General Motors
June 1, 2009 - Harvard Business School
Robert Austin, Joseph Bower, Daniel Heller, Nancy Koehn, Malcolm Salter , Daniel Snow, Dennis Yao
HBS Faculty members share their insights on the bankruptcy of General Motors.
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Improving Market Research in a Recession
May 26, 2009 - HBS Working Knowledge
At the same time that marketers must pare research expenditures, they face added pressure to secure high-quality data and insights. What's a Chief Marketing Officer to do?
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The Upside of Economic Carnage
May 21, 2009 - U.S. News and World Report
In this interview, Tom Nicholas observes that this is an opportune time for some companies and industries to invest in research and development, as DuPont and IBM did during the Great Depression.
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Mid-level Jobs Key to Recovery
May 19, 2009 - Boston Globe
Porter comments on the threat of Massachusetts losing mid-level jobs in this economy and in the long term.
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Diminished Returns
May 15, 2009 - New York Times
Ferguson, while looking back at historical financial bubbles and our recent crisis, argues that bad regulation, as more so than deregulation contributed to our economic downturn.
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Schumer's Shareholder Bill Misses the Mark
May 12, 2009 - Wall Street Journal
Jay Lorsch, Martin Lipton, Theodore N. Mirvis
This opinion piece speaks out against the Shareholder Bill of Rights legislation recently proposed in Congress, stating "excessive stockholder power is precisely what caused the short-term fixation that led to the current financial crisis."
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Change is in the Offing
May 7, 2009 - Harvard Business Publishing
Dean Jay Light comments on changes at Harvard Business School and opportunities for innovation and change at business schools moving forward in response to the financial crisis.
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In a Recession, Put Everyone in Marketing
May 4, 2009 - Harvard Business Publishing
Kanter gives five suggestions on where to focus marketing efforts in a recession, and how to "leverage the creativity of the people on your team."
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The Definitive Guide to Recruiting in Good Times and Bad
May 2009 - Harvard Business Review
Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, Boris Groysberg and Nitin Nohria
Few companies are thinking about hiring in the current economic environment, but that's a mistake. If history is any guide, staffing will become a front-burner issue once the upheaval eases. Even now companies are running into staffing problems in emerging markets, and many will have to find talented replacements for baby-boom retirees. Will they be able to meet their needs?
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Obama's First 100 Days: Economic Recovery
April 29, 2009 - Harvard University Gazette
As part of a package of "memos" to President Obama from Harvard University faculty, David Scharfstein writes that financial regulation reform needs to be one of the primary focuses for the new administration.
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Building Businesses in Turbulent Times
April 27, 2009 - HBS Working Knowledge
An economic crisis is a charter for business leaders to rewrite and rethink how they do business, says Lynda Applegate. The key: Don't think retrenchment; think growth.
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How Companies Survived Earlier Economic Storms
April 23, 2009 - Wall Street Journal
Nancy Koehn is interviewed on how companies are weathering the current recession and speaks about how the Heinz Co. survived a credit shortage in 1875, and also mentions the importance of entrepreneurship, stating, "One of my colleagues here at Harvard Business School, Howard Stevenson, once defined entrepreneurship as 'the relentless pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled.'"
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Give the Big Three Another Chance
April 23, 2009 - Boston Globe
American car buyers need to give Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors a second chance because the companies have made major improvements in safety, fuel efficiency, and interior comfort. Heller states that, "While it may be unrealistic in the current economic slump to expect the Big Three's vehicle sales to suddenly increase by the millions, even a few hundred thousand more sales would be enough to save an assembly plant or two. It would also go a long way toward reviving the sagging fortunes - and public perceptions - of GM, Ford, and Chrysler."
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In Finance, Too, Learning Entails Risk
April 20, 2009 - Wall Street Journal
Robert Merton and his recent speech at MIT are profiled, where he explained that the tension "between financial innovation and crisis" contributed to the economic crisis.
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President Obama: Please Create a Financial Truth & Reconciliation Commission
April 17, 2009 - Harvard Business Publishing
Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Rakesh Khurana
Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Rakensh Khurana recommend the U.S. appoint a committee in order to investigate what went wrong, and allow the public a platform to discuss the anger and issues that has arisen out of this economic downturn.
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A Genuinely Stunning Graph for Your Consideration
April 14, 2009 - The Guardian
This article from The Guardian profiles David Moss's working paper on how the financial crisis has changed the future of financial institution regulation.
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The Past and Future of General Motors
April 9, 2009 - Huffington Post
Christensen writes on how foreign auto companies disrupted the U.S. auto industry back in the 1960's by attacking the low end market with compact cars.
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Harvard Business School Evaluates Past Performance
April 9, 2009 - Harvard Crimson
This article discusses the in-progress case study which takes a look at HBS's preparation of students on the lead-up to the economic crisis.
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Report: Bank Bailout a Bad Deal for U.S.
April 8, 2009 - Boston Herald
Joshua Coval and Erik Stafford
A recent working paper by Joshua Coval and Erik Stafford is profiled. The paper states that "banks overpriced the mortgage assets - and are still doing so."
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Why Obama and Geithner Should Find a Bank Czar
April 7, 2009 - Business Week
Bill George writes that President Obama needs to appoint a "czar" to oversee the $1 trillion bailout of financial institutions.
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Q&A With Venture-Capital Vet Bob Higgins
April 2, 2009 - Wall Street Journal Online
WSJ's Venture Capital Dispatch blog spoke with Robert Higgins about venture capital in the current economic climate, and his work at Highland Capital Partners.
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Harvard Begins Case Study as Tainted MBAs Reveal Damaged Brand
April 2, 2009 - Bloomberg News
Paul Healy discusses the HBS brand, and the case study an HBS task force is now undertaking to "scrutinize whether the school is failing to teach students to understand and manage risk in the current environment."
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How to Market in a Downturn
April 2009 - Harvard Business Review
Katherine Jocz and John Quelch
Qulech and Jocz identify and discuss the "patterns in consumers' behavior and firms' strategies that either propel or undermine performance," specifically in the context of an economic downturn.
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Why Rick Wagoner Had to Go
March 30, 2009 - Harvard Business Publishing
Rosabeth Moss Kanter comments on Rick Wagoner's departure from GM.
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Letting Ed Liddy Twist in the Wind
March 23, 2009 - Business Week
Bill George writes on how the public has been blaming Ed Liddy for the AIG bonus payouts, and states that Liddy "is the one person in the country who can get AIG turned around and recoup a significant portion of the $173 billion in bailout funds the government has injected."
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Companies Making Profit Through Greed Hurt All
March 20, 2009 - Economic Times
Rosabeth Moss Kanter is interviewed for her views on the economic crisis.
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How to Innovate in a Downturn
March 18, 2009 - Wall Street Journal
Bhaskar Chakravorti discusses that now is the time for innovative managers and entrepreneurs to discover the idea that will lead us out of recession. Also see this Q&A on HBS Working Knowledge, Creative Entrepreneurship in a Downturn.
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Why CMOs are Gaining Ground in the Recession
March 10, 2009 - Advertising Age
John Quelch comments on the four top issues on which CEOs look to Chief Marketing Officers for guidance.
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Man of Integrity
March 9, 2009 - theBatt.com
In this profile, Michael Jensen states, "We are in some very difficult circumstances at the moment. The world is sinking into a depression that is likely to be worse than that of the 1930s…Yet we will survive, and we will learn, and we will come out the other side of this stronger than when we went in."
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Seven Lessons for Leading in Crisis
March 5, 2009 - Wall Street Journal
George discusses the failure of leadership as a root cause of the financial crisis, and shares the lessons to be learned from the recent mistakes made.
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Credit is Not the Bogey
March 4, 2009 - HBS Working Knowledge
Nicolas P. Retsinas, Eric S. Belsky
"As we attempt to jump-start the economy of 2009, we should recognize both the risks and the advantages inherent in a robust credit industry," write HBS lecturer Nicolas P. Retsinas and Eric S. Belsky. The director and executive director, respectively, of Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies, they offer a prescription for making credit neither too easy nor too hard to get.
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Regulate, Baby, Regulate
March 4, 2009 - The New Republic
Professor Emeritis Thomas McCraw writes on President Obama's stimulus package and how it is similar to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal.
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US Senate Hearing - Where Were the Watchdogs? Systemic Risk and the Breakdown of Financial Governance: Robert Pozen Testimony
March 4, 2009 - US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Pozen shares his views on the best way the government can monitor systemic risk in the financial markets.
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'There Will Be Blood'
February 23, 2009 - Globe and Mail
This interview with Niall Ferguson discusses the global recession and how it is affecting Canada, the U.S., and China.
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The Bailout Is Robbing the Banks
February 17, 2009 - New York Times
David S. Scharfstein, John C. Coates
Coates and Scharfstein point out that TARP funds are distributed to bank holding companies, rather than the underlying banks, and the problems with distribution of funds at this level.
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Simplicity: The Next Big Thing
February 12, 2009 - Harvard Business Publishing
After a global economic meltdown that stemmed from too much complexity, companies that simplify their structures and their customers lives will emerge the strongest.
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Staying Focused on Your Career Goals in Today's Turmoil
February 11, 2009 - Harvard Business Publishing
This interview with Tim Butler emphasizes staying focused on your long term career goals during these difficult economic times.
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You Can Cap The Pay, But The Greed Will Go On
February 8, 2009 - Washington Post
Rakesh Khurana, Andy Zelleke
HBS's Rakesh Khurana and Harvard Kennedy School's Andy Zelleke write on the future of compensation for CEOs and how the structure of compensation is changing
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Tasting the fruits of effective innovation
February 6, 2008 - Financial Times
Ranjay Gulati and Nitin Nohria
"Recessions bring cuts in the size of the labour force, in capital expenditures, in advertising budgets, in travel, even in the loss of coffee and donuts from our meetings. Sadly, investments in research and development and innovation, the seed-corns of our future, are not insulated from these realities either. Over the past four quarters, the total R&D expenditures of S&P 500 companies (based on the approximately 200 companies that report them quarterly) declined 13 per cent - from a total of $43.1bn in the fourth quarter of 2007 to $37.4bn in the third quarter of 2008 - with more cuts almost certain in the near future."
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Keeping a keen eye on consumer behaviour
February 6, 2008 - Financial Times
Katherine Jocz and John Quelch
"What promises to be the longest and deepest global recession since the 1930s took many marketers by surprise. What appeared first as a crisis affecting the US home mortgage market soon morphed into a global financial meltdown and the evaporation of consumer credit. Given an average household debt in the US of 130 per cent of annual household income, it was inevitable that a downturn in consumer confidence would follow, along with a substantial reduction in consumer spending, which accounts for 72 per cent of US gross domestic product. How should marketers, few of whom are experts in macroeconomics, respond to these conditions?"
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Keynes can't help us now
February 6, 2009 - Los Angeles Times
It began as a subprime surprise, became a credit crunch and then a global financial crisis. At last week's World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Russia and China blamed America, everyone blamed the bankers, and the bankers blamed you and me. From where I sat, the majority of the attendees were stuck in the Great Repression: deeply anxious but fundamentally in denial about the nature and magnitude of the problem.
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Obama stimulus package questioned
February 6, 2009 - BBC
Michael Porter discusses in this article and podcast his "concern that the US government's economic stimulus package has not targeted the right areas."
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How Corporate America Can Help Obama
February 3, 2009 - Business Week
Bill George details how business leaders in the healthcare, finance, and education sectors can assist President Obama and "contribute to the nation's long-term problems."
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Surviving the Recession
February 3, 2009 - The Women on the Web
Professor Kanter is profiled in this article, which summarizes her "Four Actions to Survive the Recession and Emerge Triumphant."
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Giving the Crisis Perspective
January 12, 2009 - Metro
Niall Ferguson comments on the economic crisis and looks to financial history to explain how it happened.
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Four Actions to Survive the Recession and Emerge Triumphant
January 9, 2009 - Harvard Business Publishing
Kanter encourages action during the recission, and gives four examples that she has seen work in the past.
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Czar Power
January 7, 2009 - Forbes
This opinion piece from Ranjay Gulati discusses how government leaders and organizations have failed to work together. "We saw these patterns during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Rather than consider the suffering people on the ground and pool forces to deliver the relief they so desperately needed, the disparate government agencies involved argued over jurisdictional overlaps and fought to protect, not share, the products and services each was charged with delivering."
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A Long Winter
January 5, 2009 - Publisher's Weekly
Olson writes on how revenues in the book industry struggled in 2008 and also states, "One-time adjustments by retailers and underlying shifts in the structure of the book industry will make 2009 the worst year for publishing in decades, and could lead to long-term fundamental changes in the business."
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Blockbuster or Bust
January 3, 2009 - Wall Street Journal
Elberse writes on how the struggling book industry is cutting back on staff and taking gambles on blockbuster manuscripts to deal with the economic downturn.
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How General Motors Violated Your Trust
December 18, 2008 - Washington Post
John Quelch gives eight reasons why GM's marketing efforts have failed.
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America's Needed Economic Strategy
December 16, 2008 - CNBC
Michael Porter is interviewed about how the U.S. needs to develop a strategy to get the economy moving again and how financial institutions are going to be regulated in the future.
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The Innovation Economy
December 16, 2008 - Business Week
Bill George outlines an "eight-step plan" that "will jump-start the innovation economy by providing built-in long-term growth, redistributing wealth without punishing the wealthy, and creating millions of well-paying jobs."
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How Hard Times Can Drive Innovation
December 15, 2008 - Wall Street Journal
An interview with Clayton Christensen discusses how he thinks the economic crisis is the best time for break through innovations and how private companies will be the innovators on such issues as healthcare. According to Christensen, "One great benefit of the current economic crisis is that it will create pressure to find a real solution to the health-care problem."
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Today's Mistakes Can Teach Tomorrow's Leaders
December 15, 2008 - Globe & Mail (subscription or purchase required)
Rob Kaplan is interviewed on his time at Goldman Sachs, his transition to becoming a professor at Harvard Business School, and the root causes of the economic crisis.
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Expert: Auto Rescue Plans Lack Credibility
December 10, 2008 - Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Interview with Rosabeth Moss Kanter, which discusses the plans that the" Big 3" presented to Congress. This includes how GM needs to cut back on models, Chrysler needs to be a small manufacturer with strategic partners, and how Ford is not asking for a loan but is restructuring itself. Kanter also comments on the situation with "green cars", executive compensation, and keeping employee moral up.
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Professor: Auto Bailout Won't Work
December 9, 2008 -Day to Day (National Public Radio)
Interview with Malcolm Salter on the auto bailout. "I have some very serious questions about oversight, and I think we're moving awfully quickly on this because, obviously, the events are forcing us to do so. But I have some concerns about this so-called car czar. I'm not quite sure I know what it means. I'm not quite sure I know what decision rights the car czar will have."
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Since Enron, Little Has Changed
December 5, 2008 - Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Bill George and Malcolm Salter
HBS professors Salter and George write that the breakdown of corporate governance led to the downfall of Enron as well as the recently failed financial institutions, and also state that "executives received outsized cash bonuses for closing deals and selling securities without evidence of future profitability. All this encouraged deception and carelessness in the management of firm-wide risk."
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Rebuilding America - Now
December 5, 2008 - Boston Business Journal
The election victory for Barack Obama means that there will be "congressional approval of a major investment in infrastructure." Quelch also lists six things that need to be done including conducting an audit of the transportation infrastructure and development of a transportation strategy.
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Auto CEOs Aren't Making Their Case
December 4, 2008 - Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Malhotra writes about his 30 year "love/hate" relationship with the auto industry, and discusses how Detroit is not in the same situation as the financial industry when it comes to bailouts.
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In Defense of American Cars
December 3, 2008 - Forbes.com
Professor Snow discusses how General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler have learned from their mistakes and now produce world-class vehicles. The auto industry needs support from the American consumer.
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The Credit Crisis of 2008: Causes, Consequences and Implications for India.
December 2008 - The Chartered Accountant
V.G. Narayanan, Lisa Brem
This article looks at the causes of the crisis, its impact on India, and the lessons that can be learned.
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Unconventional Wisdom in a Downturn
December 1, 2008 - Harvard Business Review
Robert S. Kaplan, David P. Norton, Stewart D. Friedman, BV Krishnamurthy, Tamara J. Erickson, Jeffrey M. Stibel, Peter Delgrosso
"What best practice challenges the conventional wisdom about what to do in a downturn?" This article provides an edited selection of provocative responses to the question from mangement bloggers at harvardbusiness.org.
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Stimulus for Skeptics
November 28, 2008 - New York Times
David Brooks speaks with Michael Porter about what the government needs to do (and not do) to efficiently stimulate the economy.
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Foundations to be Laid Before Bridging Gap
November 19, 2008 - Financial Times
This article argues against giving large U.S. companies the option of adopting international accounting standards for their 2009 financial statements since it will take at least five years to resolve key issues in converting from the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles standard.
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The Leadership Imperative
November 19, 2008 - Forbes
Dean Light states how Harvard Business School is adapting to the crisis by adjusting curriculum. He also explains that business schools have accepted some of the blame for the current situation, but remain focused on producing business leaders for the future.
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There's a Better Way to Prevent 'Bear Raids'
November 18, 2008 - Wall Street Journal
Robert Pozen and Yaneer Bar-Yam
This op-ed piece argues that the temporary ban on short selling was ineffective and that a better approach would be to bring back the "uptick" rule, which the SEC repealed in 2007 after 70 years.
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'Team Chimerica'
November 17, 2008 - Washington Post
Professor Niall Ferguson discusses President Bush's decision not to create new international regulation for financial markets and also states that "the partnership between the big saver (China) and the big spender (U.S.)" is a factor in the economic crisis
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What Harvard Says About Israeli VC
November 9, 2008 - Globes - Israel (registration required)
Batya Feldman interviews Paul Gompers about whether the international venture capital industry is going to survive the economic crisis.
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The Flawed Architecture of the Financial System
November 5, 2008 - Op-Ed
The architecture of the financial system is a disastrous "hairball," in which everything is linked to everything else via counterparties and collateral. This architecture allows shocks to propagate, so that failures in one part of the system inflict "collateral damage" on other distant and unrelated parts. The hairball is a catastrophe that threatens us all. We should redesign the system based on the principles of limited propagation and modularity
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Redefining the American Dream
October 31, 2008 - Washington Times
John Quelch writes "underpinning the collapse of the housing bubble is a demand-side problem - the American Dream - that has been hijacked in countless political speeches from an embodiment of America's core values into a crass appeal to materialism and easy gratification.
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Why America Needs an Economic Strategy
October 30, 2008 - BusinessWeek
The U.S. lacks a long-term economic strategy to ensure prosperity, says Michael E. Porter. Here is what the next president must do to keep America competitive.
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An Astonishing Lack of Urgency (And What You Can Do About It)
October 28, 2008 - Harvard Business Publishing
John Kotter provides a series of suggestions on "what can you do" when facing the anxiety from the economic realities within your company.
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Just Keep Our Money
October 21, 2008 - Washington Post
Peter Tufano suggests offering US savings bonds as an alternative to stimulus package tax refund checks.
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Management must become a profession
October 20, 2008 - Financial Times
Rakesh Khurana and Nitin Nohria
In the face of the recent institutional breakdown of trust in business, managers are losing legitimacy. To regain public trust, management needs to become a true profession in much the way medicine and law have, argue Khurana and Nohria of Harvard Business School.
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This Bailout Doesn't Pay Dividends
October 20, 2008 - New York Times
David S. Scharfstein and Jeremy C. Stein
This opinion piece discusses the $125 Billion on preferred shares in 9 US banks bought by the US government, and the effects of allowing these banks to continue to pay out dividends to stockholders.
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How Recession Will Accelerate Consumer Downsizing
October 15, 2008 - Harvard Business Publishing - Marketing KnowHow Blog
John Quelch looks at the growing consumer market, "the simplifier" who looks to downsize their number of possessions, while continuing to collect "experiences" such as travel and leisure.
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Reverse auctions are useful to buy assets but no panacea
October 9, 2008 - Financial Times
This article explains the challenges of reverse auctions in the context of thousands of unique pools of mortgage backed securities (MBS). It recommends that the Treasury focus on buying control of all tranches of a MBS pool in order to modify the mortgages underlying the pool and that the SEC make clear that the sales in reverse auction will be deemed "distressed sales", and therefore do not require mark downs by all the losers in the reverse auctions.
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The End of the Any Breathing Borrower Era
October 8, 2008 - Boston Globe
Nic Retsinas explains the short history of subprime loans, and the devastating aftereffects, along with a recommendation to better regulate in the future.
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How to Unfreeze Bank Lending
October 8, 2008 - Wall Street Journal
Robert Pozen on how to melt the freeze on short-term loans by banks and create a new pool of liquidity.
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Wall Street's Latest Crisis of Leadership
October 3, 2008 - Business Week
HBS professor Bill George looks at both the failure of some Wall Street Leaders and the prudent leadership of those who "prepared for this crisis by anticipating the impact of systemic risks and emphasizing the long-term health of their firms."
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The End of Prosperity?
October 2, 2008 - Time Magazine
Professor Niall Ferguson discusses the historical parallels between our current financial crisis and the Great Depression, commenting "a Congress-approved bailout may be just a short-term fix. But a short-term fix is better than no fix. If nothing else, it would signal to the world that—unlike in 1930—the U.S. is doing what it can to avoid financial calamity and sidestep Depression 2.0."
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Workout or Bailout: Should Government Take Advantage of the Buffett Effect?
October 2, 2008 - HBS Working Knowledge
Join the discussion on HBS Working Knowledge! Given the unfolding financial crisis, HBS professor Jim Heskett asks: To what degree should the U.S. government take advantage of free markets to ununclog them up when they become frozen? Can it employ the "Buffett Effect" to do so? Is the analogy even appropriate?
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Financial Crisis Caution Urged by Faculty Panel
September 26, 2008 - Working Knowledge
Dean Jay Light and a group of Harvard Business School faculty explore the origins and possible outcomes of the U.S. financial crisis at a recent "Turmoil on the Street" panel. Participants: Dean Jay Light, Robert Merton, David Moss, Nicolas Retsinas and Clayton Rose.
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Financial Crisis Faculty Perspectives, Part I and II
September 26, 2008 - Harvard Magazine
This set of articles from Harvard Magazine summarizes the viewpoints from both the HBS panel and the Harvard University on the crisis.
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A Long Shadow
September 22, 2008 - Financial Times
HBS Professor Niall Fergusson comments on how we arrived at the financial crisis and its possible outcomes. He states that "the Great Repression is upon us. On one side can be seen the chain reaction of deleveraging as banks, other companies and households all battle to stabilize balance sheets that became much too highly geared in the days of easy money; as the resulting credit contraction and forced asset sales create a vicious downward spiral; as the slowdown spreads to Main Street and from Main Street to the world. On the other side are the Fed and the Treasury, desperately manning the monetary and fiscal pumps while trying to decide who is too big to fail and who is not."
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Building Sandcastles: The Subprime Adventure
September 22, 2008 - HBS Working Knowledge
The early days of the subprime industry seemed to fulfill a market need-and millions of renters became homeowners as a result. But rapidly escalating home prices masked cracks in the subprime foundation. HBS professor Nicolas P. Retsinas, who is also director of Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies, lays out what went wrong and why.
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Marketing Your Way Through a Recession
March 3, 2008 - HBS Working Knowledge
In a recession, consumers become value oriented, distributors are concerned about cash, and employees worry about their jobs. But a downturn is no time to stop spending on marketing. The key, says professor John Quelch, is to understand how the needs of your customers and partners change, and adapt your strategies to the new reality.
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How to strengthen Wall Street's global share
April 26, 2007 - Financial Times (subscription required)
This article looks at the reasons behind the declining role of the US in the capital markets.
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Reporting for Duty
March 3, 2007 - New York Times
Robert Pozen comments on the detrimental effects of public company quarterly reporting.
Faculty Interests
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