Publications

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October 2000 (Revised December 2000)
Exercise

Participant and Leader Behavior: Group Decision Simulation (B)

This series provides the instructions for a group decision-making simulation in which students experience four different methods for leading a group decision process. In the simulation, all students work in groups, with one person designated as the team leader. All... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Decision Making

October 2000 (Revised December 2000)
Exercise

Participant and Leader Behavior: Group Decision Simulation (A)

This series provides the instructions for a group decision-making simulation in which students experience four different methods for leading a group decision process. In the simulation, all students work in groups, with one person designated as the team leader. All... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Decision Making

13 Aug 2012
News

When Good Incentives Lead to Bad Decisions

June 2021
Article

The Role of Beliefs in Driving Gender Discrimination

By: Katherine B. Coffman, Christine L. Exley and Muriel Niederle

While there is ample evidence of discrimination against women in the workplace, it can be difficult to understand what factors contribute to discriminatory behavior. We use an experiment to both document discrimination and unpack its sources. First, we show that, on... View Details

Keywords: Gender Discrimination; Behavioral Decision Making; Gender; Attitudes; Prejudice and Bias; Economics; Behavior; Decision Making

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February 2014
Article

Gender Differences in Willingness to Guess

By: Katherine Baldiga Coffman

We present the results of an experiment that explores whether women are less willing than men to guess on multiple-choice tests. Our test consists of practice questions from SAT II subject tests; we vary whether a penalty is imposed for a wrong answer and the salience... View Details

Keywords: Behavioral Decision Making; Microeconomic Behavior; Education Systems; Behavior; Decision Choices and Conditions; Gender; Economics

December 2001
Case

Sarah Vickers-Willis: Career Decisions (A)

By: Myra M. Hart, Lynda M. Applegate, Sarah Harden and Susan Saltrick

Sarah Vickers-Willis, HBS MBA 1999, faces a critical career decision: Does she redirect the Internet start-up she helped found or join in shaping a for-profit firm with a social mission? Sarah, a young Australian business executive, has always strived to "find space"... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Leadership; Internet and the Web; Social Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Gender; Business Startups

2023
Working Paper

The Complexity of Economic Decisions

By: Xavier Gabaix and Thomas Graeber

We propose a theory of the complexity of economic decisions. Leveraging a macroeconomic framework of production functions, we conceptualize the mind as a cognitive economy, where a task’s complexity is determined by its composition of cognitive operations. Complexity... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Complexity; Perception; Consumer Behavior; Production

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October 2017 (Revised September 2022)
Teaching Note

Fuyao Glass America: Sourcing Decision

By: Willy Shih

This case is about globalization: a Chinese company has decided to locate a production facility close to its customers in the U.S., but a recent contract bid means it will lose money, at least initially, by supplying product from that factory. The purpose of this case... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chains; Labor Market; Labor Supply; Arbitrage; Tradable Sector; Supply Chain Management; Supply Chain; Labor; Globalization; Globalized Markets and Industries; Geographic Location; Auto Industry; United States; China

November 1980 (Revised August 1986)
Case

Progressive Corp.'s Divisionalization Decision (A)

By: Robert G. Eccles Jr.

Describes a company that is considering whether to establish an experimental division as a relatively independent profit center under a general manager. Data relevant to this decision include the company's strategy, markets, products, current structure, size, and the... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Decision Making; Data and Data Sets; Managerial Roles; Organizational Design; Situation or Environment

April 2004 (Revised September 2004)
Case

Hewlett-Packard-Compaq: The Merger Decision

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Jonathan Barnett

Hewlett-Packard's proposed $24 billion acquisition of rival Compaq marked the largest merger in the history of the computer industry. The merger was Hewlett-Packard's response to sweeping changes impacting the technology industry. The severity of the stock market's... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business and Shareholder Relations; Computer Industry; Technology Industry

October 1980 (Revised June 1993)
Background Note

Introduction to Decision Analysis

By: Paul A. Vatter

Keywords: Decision Making; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques

02 Feb 2016
News

The Antidote to HiPPOs

Keywords: crowd voting; decision making; strategy

March 2006
Module Note

Financing Decisions within the Firm

By: Mihir A. Desai and Kathleen Luchs

Describes a core module in the International Finance course at Harvard Business School. The module focuses on the financial and managerial issues that confront managers who make financial decisions within multinational firms: how subsidiaries should be financed and... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; International Finance; Taxation; Business Subsidiaries; Multinational Firms and Management; Framework; Performance Evaluation; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques

May 2004 (Revised May 2006)
Case

AsiaInfo: The IPO Decision

The cofounder and CEO of AsiaInfo, a Chinese system integrator that built 70% of China's Internet backbone, must decide whether to list equity in the United States to fund future growth. Describes the company and the decision. A rewritten version of a previous case. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Initial Public Offering; Growth Management; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Equity; Information Technology Industry; China; United States

October 2000 (Revised June 2017)
Case

Vyaderm Pharmaceuticals: The EVA Decision

By: Robert Simons and Indra A. Reinbergs

In 2016, the new CEO of Vyaderm Pharmaceuticals introduces an Economic Value Added (EVA) program to focus the company on long-term shareholder value. The EVA program consists of three elements: EVA centers (business units), EVA drivers (operational practices that... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Employee Relationship Management; Economic Growth; Economic Systems; Management; Motivation and Incentives; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Performance Evaluation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Pharmaceutical Industry; Washington (state, US)

March 2018 (Revised September 2023)
Case

X: The Foghorn Decision

By: Robert S. Huckman, Karim R. Lakhani and Kyle R. Myers

In February 2016, Kathy Hannun—a project leader at X, Alphabet Inc.'s so-called "moonshot factory"—had to prepare a recommendation for the senior leadership of X regarding the future of Foghorn, a project she was leading to develop a carbon-neutral process for... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; R＆D Project Management; Radical Innovation; Clean Technology; Innovation and Management; Technological Innovation; Energy; Research and Development; Projects; Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technology Industry; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; California

1988
Other Unpublished Work

Structure of the U.S. Government Decision Making Process - HBS Technical Note - See professor

By: J. Ronald Fox

Keywords: Decision Making; Government and Politics; United States

1 Feb 2008
Lecture

The Devil Wears Prada: The Effect of Exposure to Luxury Goods on Ethical Decision Making

By: Roy Y.J. Chua and X. Zou

Keywords: Luxury; Ethics; Decision Making