Optimism - Publications - Faculty & Research

11 Oct 2013
HBS Seminar

Sen Chai, Post-Doc Labor & Worklife Program at the Harvard Law School, and NBER

25 May 2021
Research & Ideas

White Airbnb Hosts Earn More. Can AI Shrink the Racial Gap?

fluctuations. Zhang and her coauthors were curious whether the algorithm might help reduce racial inequalities by optimizing nightly rates for both white and Black hosts, so everyone could benefit financially. Narrowing Airbnb’s racial... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Technology; Accommodations

Portrait Project

Cali Tran

pangs of self-doubt; to challenge myself to be a better person and contribute, meaningfully, to the Common Good; to relish in the rich relationships unselfishly offered by my family and friends; to let optimism guide me; and to invite... View Details

21 Aug 2017
Lessons from the Classroom

Companies Love Big Data But Lack the Strategy To Use It Effectively

possible. “Most organizations today use data analytics to optimize or improve their existing businesses. But to take full advantage of data analytics, it will be important for them to consider the following two strategic questions: 1) Can... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

11 Aug 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Decision Making Under Information Asymmetry: Experimental Evidence on Belief Refinements

Keywords: by William Schmidt & Ryan W. Buell

Research Summary

Searching for a Corporate Savior: The Irrational Quest for Charismatic CEOs ( Princeton University Press, October 2002)

By: Rakesh Khurana

In this book, I argue that the external CEO labor market was born in a burst of rhetoric about wresting control of corporations away from a group of self-interested insiders, as senior managers in the era of managerial capitalism had come to be portrayed. The rationale... View Details

Research Summary

Overview

I am currently a Principal or Co-Principal Investigator of five field-based randomized controlled trials, each of which examines the management of lay health workers in developing countries, with an eye toward generating theoretical insights and policy guidance on how... View Details

21 Feb 2005
Op-Ed

Is Business Management a Profession?

medicine in recent years.) This shortcoming, we believe, has a direct bearing on society's ability to demand and obtain responsible conduct from executives, as well as on management's ability to maintain the public trust required for the View Details

Keywords: by Rakesh Khurana, Nitin Nohria & Daniel Penrice

06 Feb 2013
What Do You Think?

Is ‘Conscious Capitalism’ an Antidote to Income Inequality?

exceeding the optimal point of inequality and descending into an era of a vanishing middle class and, with it, the spending power and inclination with which it fuels an economy? A growing number of observers are saying yes, pointing to... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

Web

Rare Disease Day – Small Numbers, Big Challenges… and Big Opportunities - Blog: Health Supplement

pharma – but the tides are changing. The underserved nature of the rare disease population combined with increases in federal funding, biotech and medical advancements are spurring optimism for the future. Growth in the markets for... View Details

03 Jun 2020
Blog Post

How to Thrive as a Remote Manager and Employee

proactive about asking questions to best understand company norms and the optimal ways of getting work done. You won’t be looking over the shoulder of your manager or sitting next to your peers so if the company is not explicit about... View Details

19 May 2021
Op-Ed

Why America Needs a Better Bridge Between School and Career

Over a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, there are hints of optimism as more people gain access to vaccines and the federal government injects more stimulus money into the economy. Yet, the outlook for workers remains mixed. The crisis has... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph B. Fuller and Rachel Lipson

01 Apr 2020
Blog Post

The Product Design Sprint - 5 Things I Learned in Launch Lab 1

interacted with the product and learn about how they received it. After these interviews, it was clear that the optimal product was a blend of the two solutions. 3. Find a problem first, then start solving it. When conducting initial... View Details

Web

Courses by Faculty Unit - Course Catalog

listed under Strategy) Ramon Casadesus-Masanell Tomomichi Amano January 2026 J 3.0 Innovation and Renovation: Optimizing Product Line Architecture Tomomichi Amano Spring 2026 Q4 1.5 Managing Customers for Growth Eva Ascarza Fall 2025 Q2... View Details

24 Sep 2018
Research & Ideas

How Cost Accounting is Improving Healthcare in Rural Haiti

for an individual patient. Ideally, this will help ministries of health in impoverished countries decide how to allocate their limited resources to optimize the quantity, quality, and access to care. “In low-income resource countries,... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Health

20 Oct 2010
Op-Ed

Export Competitiveness: Reversing the Logic

exports provide positive externalities and thus should be encouraged by government, the policy question is how to do so most effectively. One large body of thinking is devoted to identifying general barriers to exports that reduce trade below its socially View Details

Keywords: by Christian Ketels

Web

Student Spotlight: 2023 HCC Co-Presidents Reflect on Their Time at HBS and the Current Health Care Systems - Blog: Health Supplement

of mixed pessimism regarding how much work there is still to be done, and optimism at the incredible minds that continue to enter the space. There is no one root cause of all the problems that we see, and like any chronic condition, is... View Details

11 Oct 2006
What Do You Think?

How Do We Respond to the “Dependency Ratio” Dilemma?

recognize that there is an optimal dependency ratio range beyond which increasingly urgent action is needed to stabilize social costs and attract investment." Several interesting actions were suggested. Many involved the way in which... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

03 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Transforming Manufacturing Waste into Profit

It's been said that "one man's trash is another man's treasure." HBS Assistant Professor Deishin Lee, however, has taken that old adage a step further in her recent working paper Turning Waste into By-Product by showing how it's possible for companies to turn... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Manufacturing

01 Sep 2023
News

The Exchange: Where Ethics Meet Economics

Max Bazerman and Mike Luca (Image by John Ritter) What makes people behave the way they do—and to what degree are design choices influencing that? Associate Professor Mike Luca studies the design of online platforms, while Professor Max Bazerman’s work focuses on... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services; Information

Publications