Publications

October 2020 (Revised March 2022)
Supplement

The What Works Centre: Using Behavioral Science to Improve Social Worker Well-being (B)

By: Ashley V. Whillans and Shibeal O'Flaherty

This case describes the experiences of Michael Sanders—the Chief Executive of the What Works Center for Children’s Social Care—as he led the design and implementation of a program of research aimed at improving the social care system in the United Kingdom (UK) at the... View Details

Keywords: Non-cash Compensation; Behavioral Science; Employees; Well-being; Compensation and Benefits; United Kingdom

October 2020 (Revised March 2022)
Case

The What Works Centre: Using Behavioral Science to Improve Social Worker Well-being (A)

By: Ashley V. Whillans and Shibeal O'Flaherty

This case describes the experiences of Michael Sanders—the Chief Executive of the What Works Center for Children’s Social Care—as he led the design and implementation of a program of research aimed at improving the social care system in the United Kingdom (UK) at the... View Details

Keywords: Non-cash Compensation; Behavioral Science; Employees; Welfare; Compensation and Benefits; Well-being; United Kingdom

06 Jun 2018
Research & Ideas

Cut Salaries or Cut People? The Best Way to Survive a Downturn

eugeniek Companies looking to shed costs in an economic downturn rarely cut compensation—typically, they slash jobs instead. New research confirms the wisdom of that decision. The study concludes that when a company cuts employee pay the... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

2010
Chapter

Leadership and History

By: Walter A. Friedman

Historians have written a lot about business leaders, especially successful ones. In fact, rags-to-riches stories have come to embody the philosophy of America itself, yet the term "business leadership" was rarely used until the early twentieth century. This chapter... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; History; Leadership

Article

Risk and the Cross-Section of Stock Returns

By: Mark Seasholes, Radu Burlacu, Patrice Fontaine and Sonia Jimenez-Garces

This paper mathematically transforms unobservable rational expectation equilibrium model parameters (information precision and supply uncertainty) into a single variable that is correlated with expected returns and that can be estimated with recently observed data. Our... View Details

Keywords: Risk Premiums; Cross-sectional Asset Pricing; REE Models; Risk and Uncertainty; Asset Pricing; Investment Return

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26 Oct 2021
Research & Ideas

What Companies Want Most in a CEO: A Good Listener

For a better shot at landing the top job at today’s companies, aspiring CEOs should set aside their slide presentations and work on their listening skills instead, new research suggests. Companies are increasingly seeking socially adept... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

01 Apr 2013
Research & Ideas

First Minutes are Critical in New-Employee Orientation

Please fit in accordingly. But research suggests that employee orientation ought to be less about the company and more about the employee. In their paper "Breaking Them In or Revealing Their Best? Reframing Socialization around Newcomers'... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Web Services; Service; Telecommunications

February 2011 (Revised April 2012)
Case

PepsiCo Peru Foods: More than Small Potatoes

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Rakesh Khurana, Rajiv Lal and Matthew Bird

The regional head of supply chain for PepsiCo South America Foods and his team had worked for 10 years to realize their dream of creating an agricultural research center in Peru that could provide more productive and healthier varieties of potatoes for the Frito-Lay... View Details

Keywords: Food; Supply Chain; Planning; Growth and Development Strategy; Leading Change; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Peru

21 Aug 2012
First Look

First Look: August 21

Rank-Order Tournaments Authors:Kevin J. Boudreau, Constance E. Helfat, Karim R. Lakhani, and Michael Menietti Abstract Economic analysis of rank-order tournaments has shown that intensified competition leads to declining performance. Empirical View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

13 Mar 2023
Research & Ideas

The Power of Personal Connections: How Shared Experiences Boost Performance

percentage points higher in patient satisfaction surveys than specialists with whom the primary care doctor didn’t train, finds new research published in JAMA Internal Medicine. PCPs and specialists who spent their early years together... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Health

September 2014
Article

Pollution and Skin: From Epidemiological and Mechanistic Studies to Clinical Implications

By: Jean Krutmann, Wei Liu, Li Li, Xiaochuan Pan, Martha Crawford, Gabrielle Sore and Sophie Seite

In recent years, the health effects associated with air pollution have been intensively studied. Most studies focus on air pollution effects on the lung and the cardiovascular system. More recently, however, epidemiological and mechanistic studies suggest that air... View Details

Keywords: Pollutants; Health Disorders; Medical Specialties

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09 Nov 2021
Research & Ideas

The Simple Secret of Effective Mentoring Programs

Old-fashioned mentoring may be one of the most effective ways to improve job performance, but many mentorship programs don’t reach new hires who need guidance most, new research suggests. Newly hired employees at a United States call... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

Research Summary

The Future of MBA Education

David Garvin, together with Srikant Datar and Patrick Cullen, is examining the future of MBA education and the evolving role of business schools. The research has several components: interviews with business school deans and business executives to identify the... View Details

30 Aug 2016
First Look

August 30, 2016

forthcoming Journal of Marketing Research Incentives versus Reciprocity: Insights from a Field Experiment By: Chung, Doug J., and Das Narayandas Abstract—We conduct a field experiment in which we vary the sales force compensation scheme... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

January 2013 (Revised August 2013)
Case

First Solar: CFRA's Accounting Quality Concerns

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Ian McKown Cornell

The case relates to accounting quality analysis conducted by the leading research firm Center for Financial Research and Analysis (CFRA) on companies in the solar industry with a focus on First Solar Inc. In 2009, CFRA was concerned that First Solar, like much of the... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Accounting Quality; Financial Accounting; Financial Statement Analysis; Accounting Fraud; Accounting Red Flags; Accounting Scandal; Risk and Uncertainty; Quality; Earnings Management; Valuation; Crime and Corruption; Financial Statements; Energy Sources; Green Technology Industry; Accounting Industry; Energy Industry

Article

The Dark Side of Strategic Alliances: Lessons from Volvo-Renault

By: Robert Bruner and Robert Spekman

This article explores sources of failure in strategic alliances drawing on field research into one of the most prominent alliance collapses in recent years. The alliance of Volvo and Renault married the two largest enterprises in their respective countries for economic... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Alliances; Failure; Auto Industry; Europe

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23 Mar 2023
Research & Ideas

As Climate Fears Mount, More Investors Turn to 'ESG' Funds Despite Few Rules

Investor interest in social responsibility has skyrocketed in the past three years, even as US regulations to hold companies accountable remain in flux and the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) label itself draws backlash. Investors are willing to pay a... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services

February 2024
Teaching Note

AB InBev: Brewing Up Forecasts during COVID-19

By: Mark Egan and C. Fritz Foley

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 224-020. In July 2021, the CEO of AB InBev's European operations and his team strategized to position the company for success post-pandemic. As the world's largest beer company, boasting over 500 brands, revenue of $46 billion, and a... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting; Investor Relations; Beverage Industry; Corporate Finance; Decisions; Forecasting and Prediction; Health Pandemics; Analytics and Data Science; Digital Transformation; Crisis Management; Business Model; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Europe