Dominant Individual Rationality - Publications - Faculty & Research

08 Mar 2004
Research & Ideas

Creating Value in Your Business Ecosystem

Wal-Mart's and Microsoft's dominance in modern business has been attributed to any number of factors, ranging from the vision and drive of their founders to the companies' aggressive competitive practices. But the performance of these two... View Details

Keywords: by Marco Iansiti & Roy Levien

16 May 2000
Research & Ideas

The Simple Economics of Open Source

outwardly the situation smells of economic anarchy. Where are the market forces, when thousands of talented programmers—and even many commercial firms—spend inordinate amounts of time writing and sharing computer source code: an activity that apparently gives the View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Technology

20 Oct 2010
Op-Ed

Export Competitiveness: Reversing the Logic

to foreign competition and ideas which in turn will improve your capabilities and push you to make better use of the capabilities you already have. The observation that exports contribute to competitiveness even though they are not a fundamental driver provides a View Details

Keywords: by Christian Ketels

05 May 2011
What Do You Think?

How Ethical Can We Be?

with whom we interact judge us differently than we judge ourselves? Phil Clark commented that "Ethics is in the 'eye of the beholder,' not the person carrying out the action." We may rationalize our behaviors depending on, as R.... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

28 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Coronavirus Could Create a 'Bankruptcy Pandemic'

companies to be sure, but also small- and medium-sized businesses, individual households, and cities and states. And all of these entities (with the exception of US states) can in principle file for bankruptcy protection. But all such... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Financial Services; Banking

18 Dec 2013
HBS Case

Lessons from the Lance Armstrong Cheating Scandal

its emphasis on individual heroes, cycling is very much a team sport, one where the team supports the leader and works for his success. Riders help shield their leader from other cyclists in tight packs, draft in front of him to reduce... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Sports

04 Mar 2019
What Do You Think?

What’s the Antidote to Surveillance Capitalism?

control of human behavior by totalitarian government, replacing human hopes, emotions, and even relationships with an “inside out” dominance over human thought and behavior by an all-seeing entity called Big Brother. In the recent book... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Advertising; Consumer Products

02 Apr 2013
First Look

First Look: April 2

or incentives, but a model of innovation that too often fragments efforts by treatment modality (drugs, devices, diagnostics, and clinical treatment). We may improve individual technologies of health care, but fail to provide integrated... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

30 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Are You Supporting Your B Players?

it's an uphill battle. Once someone is perceived as a star, I'm telling you, the load is lighter," he said. Hiring and socializing people so that they stay is something that takes practice. Organizations such as Southwest Airlines, Cirque du Soleil, and C&S... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

20 Aug 2008
Op-Ed

The Time is Right for Creative Capitalism

he succeeded so convincingly playing the game of market capitalism that first emerged in the late 19th century and grew to great influence during the 20th century. This game or system has been dominated in many industries by large,... View Details

Keywords: by Nancy Koehn

17 Oct 2018
Research & Ideas

Pro Basketball Coaches Display Racial Bias When Selecting Lineups

that coaches demonstrate less racial preference when their team is on a losing streak or in playoff games. More than any other American sport, basketball is dominated by African American players. Three-quarters of athletes running up and... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Sports

08 Sep 2008
HBS Case

The Value of Environmental Activists

There are many methods, most financial, to measure the success of companies in meeting goals. But the question becomes a lot harder at Harvard Business School when MBAs are challenged to measure the efforts of environmental organizations like Greenpeace and the World... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Energy; Utilities

25 Jun 2013
First Look

First Look: June 25

core-periphery architecture under our classification scheme. This architecture is characterized by having a single dominant cyclic group (the Core) that is large relative to other cyclic groups and above a threshold with respect to system... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

26 Oct 2015
Research & Ideas

What’s the Value of a Win in College Athletics?

talking about academic institutions of higher education.” Even though the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) stresses the amateur nature of intercollegiate sports, college programs have grown into a multibillion-dollar industry. Chung focused on the two... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Sports; Education

22 Aug 2005
Research & Ideas

The Hard Work of Failure Analysis

First, individuals experience negative emotions when examining their own failures, and this can chip away at self-confidence and self-esteem. Most people prefer to put past mistakes behind them rather than revisit and unpack them for... View Details

Keywords: by Amy Edmondson & Mark D. Cannon

15 Jan 2014
Research & Ideas

Managing the Family Business: It Takes a Village

system united. Sibling systems have the hardest time working out who should have what leadership role and power. “The one-leader model still dominates everywhere and at all stages” With those few exceptions, the one-leader model still... View Details

16 Apr 2013
First Look

First Look: April 16

raised potential challenges to the dominance of leading firms. Our research tells a fascinating story of an industry that has proved remarkably resilient in resolving economic and regulatory challenges. It provides practitioners and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 Feb 2010
What Do You Think?

What’s the Best Way to Make Careful Decisions?

Summing Up What is the right mix between intuition and analysis? Several clear themes characterized responses to this month's column. Dominant among these was that the best way to reach a decision depends on a number of factors, including... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

04 Aug 2011
What Do You Think?

How Dangerous Is Common Sense to Managers?

Summing Up Does Common Sense Impede Change? Common sense is the decision-maker's friend when the decision has to be made rapidly, with a minimum of research or formal theory, with no more than moderate risk or consequences, and by View Details