Measurement Problems - Publications - Faculty & Research

07 Jun 2016
First Look

June 7, 2016

May 2016 American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings International Data on Measuring Management Practices By: Bloom, Nicholas, Renata Lemos, Raffaella Sadun, Daniela Scur, and John Van Reenen Abstract—We examine methods used to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2011 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Building Watson: Not So Elementary, My Dear!

By: Willy Shih

This case is set inside IBM Research's efforts to build a computer that can successfully take on human challengers playing the game show Jeopardy! It opens with the machine named Watson offering the incorrect answer "Toronto" to a seemingly simple question during the... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Standards; Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mathematical Methods; Research and Development; Information Technology

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2017
Working Paper

The Use and Misuse of Patent Data: Issues for Corporate Finance and Beyond

By: Josh Lerner

Patents and citations are powerful tools for understanding innovative activity inside the firm and are increasingly used in corporate finance research. But due to the complexities of patent data collection and the changing spatial and industry composition of innovative... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Analytics and Data Science; Corporate Finance; Research; Problems and Challenges

Citation

26 Feb 2013
First Look

First Look: Feb. 26

acquisition (CPA). However, these standard online advertising metrics are plagued with attribution problems and do not account for dynamics. These issues can easily lead firms to overspend on some actions and thus waste money, and/or... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

The Value of Family Ownership, Control, and Management

In collaboration with Professor Raphael Amit of Wharton, Belén Villalonga is investigating how family ownership, control, and management affect firm value. Their forthcoming Journal of Financial... View Details

29 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 29

http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/bgjs13_84709dcc-425f-4fe2-8600-0f8cbb50be16.pdf August 2013 The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management The Case Method By: Bower, Joseph L. Abstract—The case method was developed concurrently with the emergence of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

28 Nov 2018
HBS Case

On Target: Rethinking the Retail Website

past. Measure success in narrow terms A successful customer interaction on Target.com was narrowly defined: Only when a customer searched for a product, received recommendations, and actually purchased the product would the company bother... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail

07 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Fail—and How Their Founders Can Bounce Back

there was not enough customer demand for its grocery delivery service. Next, there's the matter of timing, a huge issue that can determine whether a company gets funding and whether it achieves the start-up's elusive measure of success:... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

17 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

Are Companies Getting Away with 'Cheap Talk' on Climate Goals?

Companies regularly set ambitious climate goals, but these plans often end up like many people’s New Year’s resolutions: unmet aspirations that quietly fizzle out. While companies often gain positive media attention by trumpeting plans for reducing greenhouse gas... View Details

Keywords: by Tim Gray

03 Oct 2023
Research Event

Build the Life You Want: Arthur Brooks and Oprah Winfrey Share Happiness Tips

we've been coming at the same problem from different angles using the same mission, the same philosophy, the same moral understanding of what we're trying to do, which is to, look, you don't get very much time in the world.” Brooks:... View Details

Keywords: by HBS Staff

30 Mar 2010
First Look

First Look: March 30

and industry-level evidence. We find a positive robust correlation between de jure and de facto measures of international financial integration and proxies for entrepreneurial activity such as entry, size, and skewness of the firm-size... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

09 Nov 2011
Working Paper Summaries

CEO Bonus Plans: And How to Fix Them

Keywords: by Kevin J. Murphy & Michael C. Jensen

13 Jan 2003
Research & Ideas

The Subconscious Mind of the Consumer (And How To Reach It)

reveal that they don't even look at alternatives to the chosen brand. Another option uses physiological or response latency measures. These often reveal that what consumers actually believe or think, as measured by unconscious physical... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Mahoney

13 Dec 2006
Research & Ideas

Improving Public Health for the Poor

government as their partner because government has the potential to provide scale and permanence. But the problem is that you also need efficacy and efficiency, and the constancy of both. And for many reasons the public sector is not very... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Health

22 May 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Hidden Structure: Using Network Methods to Map System Architecture

Keywords: by Carliss Y. Baldwin, Alan MacCormack & John Rusnak

August 2021
Article

Don't Take Their Word for It: The Misclassification of Bond Mutual Funds

By: Huaizhi Chen, Lauren Cohen and Umit Gurun

We provide evidence that bond fund managers misclassify their holdings, and that these misclassifications have a real and significant impact on investor capital flows. In particular, many funds report more investment grade assets than are actually held in their... View Details

Keywords: Mutual Funds; Economics; Finance; Measurement and Metrics; Risk and Uncertainty; Financial Services Industry

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January 2005 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Gobi Partners: October 2004

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

The general partners of Gobi Partners, a venture fund located in Shanghai, are trying to decide the best way to raise money for their first fund. Their strategy of investing in early-stage digital media companies in China was well-received by strategic investors--IBM... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Investment; Goals and Objectives; Emerging Markets; Problems and Challenges; Conflict Management; Shanghai

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February 2009 (Revised March 2013)
Supplement

Messer Griesheim (B)

By: Josh Lerner, Ann-Kristin Achleitner, Eva Lutz and Kerry Herman

In 2001, Allianz Capital Partners and Godlman Sachs acquired a majority stake in Messer Greisheim, a European industrial gas concern held by Hoeschst. The dealmakers faced several challenges, including delicate corporate governance issues due to partial family... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Stock Options; Stock Shares; Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Family Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Energy Industry; Europe

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01 Nov 2017
What Do You Think?

What Are the Real Lessons of the Wells Fargo Case?

SUMMING UP Respondents to this month’s Wells Fargo “case study” identified problem symptoms, diagnosed causes, proposed remedies, and even suggested a title for a follow-on case. Mitch says that when one company is consistently more... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Banking

April 2008
Case

Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston and Dr. Bradford J. Shingleton (2004)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Marcelo Pancotto

Dr. Bradford Shingleton has developed some of the highest quality eye surgery techniques in the industry. He involves his nurses and technicians in creating a surgical service that is constantly improving. The case has many details about how Dr. Shingleton works with... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Independent Innovation and Invention; Service Operations; Performance Productivity; Practice; Problems and Challenges; Health Industry; Boston

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