Articles

The Store Isn't Dead-but the Merchant Model Is

The decline of many retailers reflects not the death of the physical store but the failure of the traditional merchant model, which requires retailers to forecast demand, own inventory, and absorb...

How Much Should You Be Investing in Growth?

One of the biggest strategic challenges companies face is how much they should invest in growth. Drawing on an analysis of a decades worth of performance data on 2,900 U.S. public companies, the...

Is Our Subscription Program Really Working? (HBR Case Study and Commentary)

Hohenbruck Motoren, a German luxury automaker, launched a car subscription service in 2021 called Hohenbruck Access. The monthly fee is higher than that of a typical lease, but a subscription is...

The 5 Types of AI Investment-and How to Capture Their Value

There are five types of AI investments—two tactical to maintain market position and three strategic to build durable advantage—and none can be measured against traditional ROI calculation tools...

The Comeback of the Physical Store-and What It Means for Your Business

Brick-and-mortar retail is not declining but evolving, as stores take on new roles as logistics hubs, experiential destinations, and powerful drivers of demand and brand equity. Rising digital...

How AI Is Threatening Platforms' Revenue Streams

Digital platforms have long dominated the economy by capturing attention, data, and transactions-but that model is now under direct threat. As consumers increasingly delegate decisions to AI agents,...

What the Best Private Equity-Backed CEOs Do Differently

A two-year study of CEOs at private equity-backed companies that consistently deliver outsized returns found that they excel by mastering five behaviors: 1) They create strategic clarity; 2) They...

Should a Funeral Company Shift Its Business Model? (HBR Case Study and Commentary)

Javier Montoya, the 76-year-old CEO of Chiles Monteverde Memorial Group (MMG), confronts a strategic inflection point for his burial park business. For decades MMG has prospered by offering burial...

Lessons from China's Short-Drama Boom

Chinese short-drama platforms have built a content machine that inverts Hollywood's logic entirely-testing story concepts through thousands of micro-ads before greenlighting production, engineering...

What to Do When Your Board Is Meddling in Operational Work

Todays uncertain environment-marked by economic instability, tough competition, and growing demands related to AI-has prompted many board members to take on more operational roles, which can be...

Research Reveals a Fundamental Shift in How Investors View ESG

ESG investing has not disappeared, but it has changed. Longitudinal survey data from U.S. retail investors and large institutional asset managers show that early enthusiasm-especially among younger...

The Management Practices That Make Employee Ownership Pay Off

While many companies try to foster an "ownership culture" to boost engagement and performance, true success comes when employees are given actual equity stakes. However, financial ownership alone is...

How Corporate Venture Capital Helps Firms Explore New Territory

What Every Company Can Learn from Private Equity

Private-equity-backed companies consistently deliver faster, more substantial gains than their public or family-owned peers, often transforming their performance within just a few years. Their...

Does Bitcoin Belong on Your Balance Sheet?

As crypto increasingly goes mainstream, CEOs, CFOs, and treasurers need a strategy for where assets like Bitcoin belong on their balance sheet. The important thing to understand is that Bitcoin is...

Boards Can Continue to Lead the Way on Climate Governance

Corporate boards have a critical role to play in addressing climate change, not only by overseeing risk and compliance but also by guiding strategy and innovation. As climate-related challenges...

How CEOs Can Build a Better Relationship with the Board

Avoid the pitfalls of badly timed interactions, poorly defined boundaries, and subtle but critical shifts in power.

Boards Need a More Active Approach to Cybersecurity

Many boards overestimate their companys cybersecurity readiness while underestimating the strategic importance of their own role in shaping it. New survey data reveals a gap between perceived cyber...

Don't Be Distracted by the Trade War. Here's What Should Inform Your China Strategy Instead.

Allen J. Morrison, a professor of global business, explains the three major objectives of Chinas economic strategy-and what companies should really focus on.

How to Monetize Volunteer-Driven Platforms

Digital platforms whose original business model heavily depended on volunteers ran into trouble when they tried to scale and monetize their businesses. Cases in point include Huffington Post and...

Research: How Boards Can Increase CEO Accountability

CEOs are seldom dismissed when the company they lead underperforms, in part because they wield considerable power over the board. So how can boards more effectively enforce CEO accountability in the...

To Increase Your Shareholders' Loyalty, Understand What Matters to Them

Executives today face a challenging dilemma: balancing an increased focus on shareholder engagement with the reality of declining shareholder loyalty. Too often, companies fail to understand their...

Research: Why Your Board Should Include a Long-Tenured Director

The presence of long-tenured independent directors on corporate boards can be an effective governance mechanism that leads to greater performance and reduced exposure to outside risks. However, there...

The CEO Suffered a Breakdown. Now What? (HBR Case Study)

Alex Reinhardt was brought in to turn around a renewable-energy company that had been on the verge of bankruptcy until the German government bailed it out. After he fainted from overwork and burnout...

The CEO Suffered a Breakdown. Now What? (HBR Case Study and Commentary)

Alex Reinhardt was brought in to turn around a renewable-energy company that had been on the verge of bankruptcy until the German government bailed it out. After he fainted from overwork and burnout...

How the Best Boards Engage with Management

Boards today face a thorny challenge: how to provide proper oversight of management while allowing it the autonomy it needs to be effective. Too often, boards maintain a single mode of engagement at...

How Robust Is Your Climate Governance?

During the past few years, as evidence of climate change and its effects has mounted, many corporate boards have added climate governance to their agendas. But the maturity of boards...

How Proposed SEC Disclosure Requirements Could Help Workers

The SEC has an opportunity to increase transparency, efficiency, and fairness in the U.S. labor market.

To Incentivize Companies to Address Climate Change, Measure Their Broader Impact

Recognizing system-level efforts can mobilize some of the most creative and influential people inside companies.

How Europe's New Gold Standard Undermines Democracy

Belle Epoque elitism is back.

The Business Roundtable's Stakeholder Pledge, Five Years Later

Leaders of top U.S. companies promised a new way of doing business. What happened?

The Race to Dominate Stablecoins

The companies that control the stablecoin market will wield substantial influence over the future of money.

Unlocking Value in Commercial Disputes

Why Canadian companies are increasingly utilizing litigation financing to transform legal disputes into assets.Paul Rand is affiliated with Omni Bridgeway Canada

U.S. Commercial Real Estate Is Headed Toward a Crisis

More than $1 trillion in loans will come due over the next two years. Here's how companies can protect themselves.

It's Time to Change How ESG Is Measured

Estimates suggest ESG investing could surpass $50 trillion by 2025, as investors around the world look for opportunities for their investment capital to have a broader social impact. However,...

When and How Family Businesses Should Use Shareholder Agreements

Two studies by the authors demonstrate that the presence of robust shareholder agreements in publicly traded family firms in France adds 18% in market value to shareholders because they protect...

How to Respond to Shareholder Activism

Activist shareholders are often seen as villains by managers and boards. Their demands for strategic and organizational shifts-which can feel personal to managers-often challenge the soundness of a...

Want to Start Saving? Follow This Game Plan.

Finance educator Tori Dunlap lays out which financial goals are best to prioritize.

Money Won't Make Your Life Meaningful

Develop a purpose-driven relationship with personal finance.

How to Manage Your Money During a Recession

If you want to come out of a recession more financially stable than before, here are some options: Reassess your expenses and increase your savings. An emergency fund of six months will help you face...

A Beginner's Guide to Socially Responsible Investing

If youre new to investing and interested in putting your money into causes you care about, socially responsible investing (SRI) may be a good option. Over the past few years, a heightened public...

5 Ways to Manage Your Personal Finances

Talking about money can feel awkward, uncomfortable, and even scary. Here are five pieces of advice from our authors on how to feel in control of your personal finances. Let go of your limiting...

4 Behaviors That Can Land You in a Credit Card Debt Trap

While credit cards may seem scary at first glance, you can manage them in ways that serve your short and long-term goals. This starts by learning to recognize the early signs or behaviors that can...

Managing Your Money: Our Favorite Reads

Everything you need to know about saving, budgeting, and investing.

How to Build Wealth When You Don't Come from Money

The first step to attaining wealth - at least for people who are not born into it - is much more personal than building millionaire habits or investing wisely. Such approaches often fail to address...

When Should You Cash in Your Stock Options?

Company stock options have the potential to be incredibly valuable. They can also conjure complicated emotions. Many of us fall into the trap of linking our financial investment to our professional...

A Proven Model to Combat U.S. Drug Shortages

By leaning into transparency, eschewing rebate schemes, and cutting out middlemen, this nonprofit is able to significantly lower the market price of insulin.

Research: Boards Still Have an ESG Expertise Gap - But They're Improving

The role of U.S. public boards in managing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues has significantly evolved over the past five years. Initially, boards were largely unprepared to handle...

AI Is Testing the Limits of Corporate Governance

The turmoil at OpenAI offers five lessons - and one dire warning.

Is Crypto Cleaning Up Its Act?

New research suggests that the market's recent self-regulation efforts are more than a PR stunt.

Don't Wait for a Crisis to Reduce Costs

Leaders who respond decisively to cost creep can use freed-up resources to invest in strategic priorities and growth.