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- HBS Book
American Business History: A Very Short Introduction
By: Walter FriedmanBy the early twentieth century, it became common to describe the United States as a "business civilization." President Coolidge in 1925 said, "The chief business of the American people is business." More recently, historian Sven Beckert characterized Henry Ford's massive manufactory as the embodiment of America: "While Athens had its Parthenon and Rome its Colosseum, the United States had its River Rouge Factory in Detroit..." How did business come to assume such power and cultural centrality in America?

- HBS Book
American Business History: A Very Short Introduction
By: Walter FriedmanBy the early twentieth century, it became common to describe the United States as a "business civilization." President Coolidge in 1925 said, "The chief business of the American people is business." More recently, historian Sven Beckert characterized Henry Ford's massive manufactory as the embodiment of America: "While Athens had its Parthenon and...
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- American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 13, no. 1 (January 2021): 133-169.
Turbulence, Firm Decentralization and Growth in Bad Times
By: Philippe Aghion, Nicholas Bloom, Brian Lucking, Raffaella Sadun and John Van ReenenWhat is the optimal form of firm organization during “bad times”? We present a model of delegation within the firm to show that the effect is ambiguous. The greater turbulence following macro shocks may benefit decentralized firms because the value of local information increases (the “localist” view). On the other hand, the need to make tough decisions may favor centralized firms (the “centralist” view). Using two large micro datasets on firm decentralization from ten OECD countries and U.S. administrative data, we find that firms that delegated more power from the Central Headquarters to local plant managers prior to the Great Recession outperformed their centralized counterparts in sectors that were hardest hit by the subsequent crisis.

- American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 13, no. 1 (January 2021): 133-169.
Turbulence, Firm Decentralization and Growth in Bad Times
By: Philippe Aghion, Nicholas Bloom, Brian Lucking, Raffaella Sadun and John Van ReenenWhat is the optimal form of firm organization during “bad times”? We present a model of delegation within the firm to show that the effect is ambiguous. The greater turbulence following macro shocks may benefit decentralized firms because the value of local information increases (the “localist” view). On the other hand, the need to make tough...
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- Digital Initiative
JOANN: Joannalytics Inventory Allocation Tool
By: Kris Ferreira and Srikanth JagabathulaMichael Joyce, Vice President of Inventory Management at JOANN, championed an effort to develop and implement an inventory allocation analytics tool that used advanced analytics to predict in-season demand of seasonal items for each of JOANN’s nearly 900 stores and optimize store-specific inventory allocation decisions guided by these predictions. After the analytics tool had been in use for a full season of products, Joyce was surprised to hear that not everyone was pleased with its outcomes. With all of the concerns raised, should Joyce halt the use of the analytics tool for the next season?

- Digital Initiative
JOANN: Joannalytics Inventory Allocation Tool
By: Kris Ferreira and Srikanth JagabathulaMichael Joyce, Vice President of Inventory Management at JOANN, championed an effort to develop and implement an inventory allocation analytics tool that used advanced analytics to predict in-season demand of seasonal items for each of JOANN’s nearly 900 stores and optimize store-specific inventory allocation decisions guided by these predictions....
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- Featured Case
The Tulsa Massacre and the Call for Reparations
By: Mihir A. Desai, Suzanne Antoniou and Leanne FanHow should historic social injustices be addressed? Survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and their descendants believe they should be addressed through reparations and have consequently continued to push the government of Tulsa to pay reparations for the massacre. In 2020, after no direct reparations and largely symbolic governmental efforts, Representative Regina Goodwin of Tulsa, the descendant of massacre survivors, wondered if that call would finally be answered.
- Featured Case
The Tulsa Massacre and the Call for Reparations
By: Mihir A. Desai, Suzanne Antoniou and Leanne FanHow should historic social injustices be addressed? Survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and their descendants believe they should be addressed through reparations and have consequently continued to push the government of Tulsa to pay reparations for the massacre. In 2020, after no direct reparations and largely symbolic governmental efforts,...
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- Featured Case
Surviving Venezuela's Hyperinflation: Automercados Plaza's
By: Alberto Cavallo, Mariana Cal and Carla LarangeiraUnder the rule of presidents Hugo Chávez and Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela experienced one of the worst economic and political meltdowns in modern history, culminating with a massive hyperinflation. Remarkably, during this dramatic times Automercados Plaza's had grown to become one of the most successful supermarket retailers in the country. Its management team had faced all kinds of challenges, including price indexation, price controls, scarcity and stockouts, informal competitors, and an ever-shifting set of government interventions. Showing resourcefulness and the flexibility needed to quickly adapt, Plaza’s had managed to survive and even thrive. The future, however, looked very uncertain.
- Featured Case
Surviving Venezuela's Hyperinflation: Automercados Plaza's
By: Alberto Cavallo, Mariana Cal and Carla LarangeiraUnder the rule of presidents Hugo Chávez and Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela experienced one of the worst economic and political meltdowns in modern history, culminating with a massive hyperinflation. Remarkably, during this dramatic times Automercados Plaza's had grown to become one of the most successful supermarket retailers in the country. Its...
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- HBS Working Knowledge
Biased Sampling of Early Users and the Direction of Startup Innovation
By: Ruiqing Cao, Rembrand Koning, and Ramana NandaNew ventures catering to female customers should be aware that the underrepresentation of women among early users on digital platforms can reduce the venture’s growth and chances of survival. As a result of gaining fewer early users, these ventures reduce future product development and are less likely to raise VC funding.


- HBS Working Knowledge
Biased Sampling of Early Users and the Direction of Startup Innovation
By: Ruiqing Cao, Rembrand Koning, and Ramana NandaNew ventures catering to female customers should be aware that the underrepresentation of women among early users on digital platforms can reduce the venture’s growth and chances of survival. As a result of gaining fewer early users, these ventures reduce future product development and are less likely to raise VC funding.
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- HBS Working Paper
The Value of Descriptive Analytics: Evidence from Online Retailers
By: Ron Berman and Ayelet IsraeliDoes the adoption of descriptive analytics impact online retailer performance, and if so, how? We use the synthetic control method to analyze the staggered adoption of a retail analytics dashboard by more than 1,000 e-commerce websites, and find an increase of 13–20% in average weekly revenues post-adoption. We demonstrate that only retailers that adopt and use the dashboard reap these benefits. The increase in revenue is not explained by price changes or advertising optimization. Instead, it is consistent with the addition of prospecting and personalization technologies to retailer websites.

- HBS Working Paper
The Value of Descriptive Analytics: Evidence from Online Retailers
By: Ron Berman and Ayelet IsraeliDoes the adoption of descriptive analytics impact online retailer performance, and if so, how? We use the synthetic control method to analyze the staggered adoption of a retail analytics dashboard by more than 1,000 e-commerce websites, and find an increase of 13–20% in average weekly revenues post-adoption. We demonstrate that only retailers that...
Initiatives & Projects
Entrepreneurship
Seminars & Conferences
- 12 Feb 2021
Dev Patel, Harvard Business School
Recent Publications
Does Observability Amplify Sensitivity to Moral Frames? Evaluating a Reputation-Based Account of Moral Preferences
- 2021 |
- Working Paper |
- Faculty Research
The Impact of the General Data Protection Regulation on Internet Interconnection
- March 2021 |
- Article |
- Telecommunications Policy
Do Household Wealth Shocks Affect Productivity? Evidence from Innovative Workers During the Great Recession
- February 2021 |
- Article |
- Journal of Finance
Platform Diffusion at Temporary Gatherings: Social Coordination and Ecosystem Emergence
- February 2021 |
- Article |
- Strategic Management Journal
Testing the Waters: Behavior across Participant Pools
- February 2021 |
- Article |
- American Economic Review
Health Care Measurements That Improve Patient Outcomes
- February 2021 |
- Article |
- NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery
A Dynamic Theory of Multiple Borrowing
- February 2021 |
- Article |
- Journal of Financial Economics
Variety of Innovation in Global Value Chains
- Article |
- Journal of World Business