Publications

SSRN

Research Summary

Research Focus

By: Anita Elberse

My research focuses on "creative industries," defined as industries that supply goods that we commonly associate with artistic, cultural, or entertainment value -- including book and magazine publishing, film, music, television, video games, the performing... View Details

Article

Thin Slices of Workgroups

By: Patricia Satterstrom, Jeffrey T. Polzer, Lisa Kwan, Oliver P. Hauser, Wannawiruch Wiruchnipawan and Marina Burke

In this paper, we explore whether perceivers can accurately assess the effectiveness of groups, how perceivers use group properties to inform their judgment, and the contextual and individual differences that allow some perceivers to be more accurate. Across seven... View Details

Keywords: Group Perception; Group Effectiveness; Thin Slices; Social Sensitivity; Attentional Focus; Groups and Teams; Performance Effectiveness; Perception

14 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

Pay Attention To Your ‘Extreme Consumers’

people who are very unlike you." The Difference Between Saying And Doing As former marketing manager for female shaving products at Gillette, Avery often utilized principles of "design thinking," moving beyond surveys and focus groups to... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Article

When Hiring CEOs, Focus on Character

By: Aiyesha Dey

The author, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, has studied the ways in which the lifestyle behaviors of CEOs—in particular, materialism and a propensity for rule breaking—may spell trouble for a company. Her research, which includes looking at... View Details

Keywords: CEOs; Lifestyle; Risk Management; Recruitment; Ethics

Register to Read

06 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

After Germanwings, More Attention Needed on Employee Mental Health

the one hand, it focuses tremendous attention on mental health in the workplace. " But an overreaction to the issue could result in costly ramp-ups of mental health screening of questionable effectiveness. Such screenings may do more harm... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health; Air Transportation

November 30, 2020
Editorial

Don't Focus on the Most Expressive Face in the Audience

By: Amit Goldenberg and Erika Weisz

Research has shown that when speaking in front of a group, people’s attention tends to gets stuck on the most emotional faces, causing them to overestimate the group’s average emotional state. In this piece, the authors share two additional findings: First, the larger... View Details

Keywords: Bias; Emotions; Perception

27 Jan 2017
Working Paper Summaries

The Microstructure of Work: How Unexpected Breaks Let You Rest, but Not Lose Focus

Keywords: by Pradeep Pendem, Paul Green, Bradley R. Staats, and Francesca Gino

2020
Working Paper

(When) Does Appearance Matter? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Tarun Khanna, Christos A. Makridis and Subhradip Sarker

While there is evidence about labor market discrimination based on race, religion, and gender, we know little about whether physical appearance leads to discrimination in labor market outcomes. We deploy a randomized experiment on 1,000 respondents in India between... View Details

Keywords: Behavioral Economics; Coronavirus; Discrimination; Homophily; Labor Market Mobility; Limited Attention; Resumes; Personal Characteristics; Prejudice and Bias

July 1997 (Revised September 2004)
Case

Depreciation at Delta Air Lines and Singapore Airlines (A)

By: William J. Bruns Jr. and Jeremy Cott

Depreciation policies at Delta Air Lines and Singapore Airlines are compared and contrasted against a summary of operating data from each airline. Questions focus attention on differing depreciation policies. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Policy; Financial Statements; Air Transportation Industry

20 Aug 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Spatial Agglomeration and Superstar Firms: Firm-level Patterns from Europe and US

Keywords: by Laura Alfaro, Maggie X. Chen, and Harald Fadinger

21 Nov 2023
Research & Ideas

Employee Negativity Is Like Wildfire. Manage It Before It Spreads.

the organization to spread those ideas and maximize their impact. How to help people reframe negative experiences Reappraisal involves reinterpreting a negative situation to focus on the prospect of a positive outcome, explains... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

October 2004 (Revised July 2010)
Case

Product Team Cialis: Getting Ready to Market

By: Elie Ofek

Lilly and ICOS are preparing for the launch of a new drug, Cialis, to compete against Viagra. To position against the incumbent firm Pfizer, which developed and markets Viagra, and other newcomers into the erectile dysfunction market, they must determine how best to... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Segmentation; Pharmaceutical Industry

Article

Adam Smith, Behavioral Economist

By: Nava Ashraf, Colin Camerer and George Loewenstein

Adam Smith's psychological perspective in The Theory of Moral Sentiments is remarkably similar to "dual-process" frameworks advanced by psychologists, neuroscientists, and more recently by behavioral economists, based on behavioral data and detailed observations... View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Economics

21 Feb 2018
Research & Ideas

When a Competitor Abandons the Market, Should You Advance or Retreat?

test results, changing market conditions, deteriorating financials of the host company, or escalating project costs. Krieger chose to focus on drug development, in part, because in the United States companies follow a well-defined,... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Pharmaceutical; Health

March 2021
Article

The Crowd Emotion Amplification Effect

By: Amit Goldenberg, Erika Weisz, Timothy D. Sweeney, Mina Cikara and James Gross

How do people go about reading a room or taking the temperature of a crowd? When people catch a brief glimpse of an array of faces, they can only focus their attention on some of the faces. We propose that perceivers preferentially attend to faces exhibiting strong... View Details

Keywords: Crowds; Social Cognition; Intergroup Dynamics; Emotions; Perception; Judgments; Analysis

July 1996
Case

Trans National Group

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Takia Mahmood

Starting as a classic entrepreneur,Steve Belkin, CEO of Trans National (TN), drives the company through two businesses--one in group travel and another in financial services--before deciding to step back and act as a general manager whose focus and attention is on... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Management; Growth Management

November 2006 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Habitat for Humanity International in South Africa

By: Nicolas P. Retsinas, Arthur I Segel and Nelson Hioe

In March 2006, Larry English, Director of Program Design and Innovation for Habitat for Humanity International Africa and the Middle East, was reflecting on a large development project in Durbin that had stalled. Notwithstanding global attention led by former President... View Details

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Investment; Innovation Strategy; Emerging Markets; Social Entrepreneurship; Poverty; Property; Projects; South Africa; Middle East

June 2010 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Continental Media Group: Business Highlights

By: Robert L. Simons and Kathryn Rosenberg

Continental Media Group has a series of business reviews struggling to achieve profitability. This case focuses on the use of management control systems to identify emerging opportunities and the formulation of new strategies. The interactive system used by top... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Governance Controls; Management Systems; Risk Management; Business Strategy; Publishing Industry