Publications

January – February 2011
Article

Are You a Good Boss-Or a Great One?

By: Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback

Private moments of doubt and fear come even to managers who have spent years on the job. Any number of events can trigger them: an initiative is going poorly; you get a lukewarm performance review; your new assignment is daunting. HBS professor Linda Hill and executive... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Personal Development and Career; Groups and Teams; Power and Influence; Social and Collaborative Networks

12 Apr 2022
Research & Ideas

Swiping Right: How Data Helped This Online Dating Site Make More Matches

them with a premium “who likes you” feature. The control group couldn’t see their potential paramours, only their number of swipes. However, the test group would enjoy a reveal after one month, unblurring the photo of each user who... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

Teaching Interest

Negotiation

By: Kevin P. Mohan

Managerial success requires the ability to negotiate. Whether you are forging an agreement with your suppliers, trying to ink a deal with potential customers, raising money from investors, managing a conflict inside your firm, or resolving a dispute that is headed... View Details

March 2021 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Seeding and Selling Asana

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Susie Ma and Amram Migdal

In December 2019, Oliver Jay, Asana’s Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), was reconsidering his go-to-market (GTM) strategy. Asana was cloud-based work management software that enabled users to break up projects into discrete tasks that could be assigned, scheduled, and... View Details

Keywords: SaaS; Customer Journey; Business Model; Business Organization; Change Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Technology Industry; United States

August 29, 2017
Article

How to Successfully Work Across Countries, Languages, and Cultures

By: Tsedal Neeley

According to a recent McKinsey Global Institute report, the number of people in the global labor force will reach 3.5 billion by 2030. Among the enormous changes this will demand are new skills, attitudes, and behaviors. A five-year study of the global workforce at... View Details

Keywords: Global Range; Globalized Firms and Management; Employees; Competency and Skills; Success

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December 2007 (Revised June 2009)
Background Note

Identifying and Exploiting the Right Entrepreneurial Opportunity...For You

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Shirley Spence

This note provides an analytical framework for assessing potential opportunities in the context of an entrepreneur's life. The framework has two parts -- a business analysis and a personal analysis -- each comprised of a set of yes/no questions for critical assessment... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Opportunities

Teaching Interest

Designing and Executing Corporate Revitalization

By: Ranjay Gulati

Given today's turbulent environment, business leaders are seeking a new path to success for their companies. But while many firms talk about transforming themselves around current trends such as digitization and remote work, most struggle when it comes to... View Details

Teaching Interest

Driving Digital Strategy

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee

Technology, like a relentless force of nature, is reshaping industries at an unprecedented pace. It poses a threat to those who resist and fail to adapt. But it also presents unparalleled opportunities to those audacious enough to harness its... View Details

September 20, 2024
Article

It’s Time to Unbundle ESG

By: Aaron K. Chatterji and Michael W. Toffel

ESG is at an inflection point. It has come to represent a broad and inchoate aspiration for what business should be doing beyond maximizing shareholder value. With ESG advocates on the defensive, business leaders need a new roadmap to determine which factors to... View Details

Keywords: ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; ESG Ratings; ESG Reporting; ESG Disclosure; Sustainability; Climate; Climate Finance; Climate Risk; Social Accounting; Investment; Governance; Safety; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Financial Services Industry

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January 2017
Supplement

Terrapin Laboratory: Exercise

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Christopher Payton

In this exercise, we examine the capital requirements of Terrapin Laboratory as they contemplate entering into a new market segment. The company is faced with two potential financing options which have different effects on the ownership structure of the company.... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth; Entrepreneurial Management; Growth Strategy; Market Entry; Venture Capital; Market Entry and Exit; Entrepreneurship; Health Testing and Trials; Growth and Development Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry

24 Oct 2016
Research & Ideas

Bernie Madoff Explains Himself

recent events in the news. But that evening Soltes led the conversation with a specific question: How would you explain your actions and misconduct to a group of students? Audio File Interviewed in prison, Bernie Madoff reflects on his... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

12 Sep 2023
What Do You Think?

Who Gets the Loudest Voice in DEI Decisions?

seemed small, but you’ve seen your counterparts in other organizations brought to task over DEI issues. Do you approve making the proposed orientation program mandatory for new employees? Or, alternatively, would you alter the material to... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

April 2019 (Revised June 2019)
Case

Western Governors University: 10x Vision

By: William R. Kerr and Susie L. Ma

Western Governors University (WGU) was a nonprofit institution of higher education whose online learning model served more than 100,000 students in 2019 and was scaling rapidly. President Scott Pulsipher wanted to expand WGU’s reach to millions more with a plan called... View Details

Keywords: Online Education; Enrollment; Scaling; Higher Education; Internet and the Web; Business Model; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Education Industry; United States

10 Dec 2021
Research & Ideas

Truth Be Told: Unpacking the Risks of Whistleblowing

enough to encourage an employee to report it. At the same time, we know that thousands of workers still die or get injured due to workplace safety violations. But in securities fraud or tax fraud, where the penalties can be in the millions, it makes more sense. White:... View Details

Keywords: by April White

2020
Book

Healthy Buildings: How Indoor Spaces Drive Performance and Productivity

By: Joseph Allen and John D. Macomber

By the time you reach 80, you will have spent 72 years of your life indoors. Like it or not, humans have become an indoor species. This means that the people who design, build, and maintain our buildings can have a major impact on our health.
Ever feel tired... View Details

Keywords: Architecture; Real Estate Development; Air Pollution; Air Quality; Public Health; Productivity Gains; Buildings and Facilities; Health; Pollutants; Performance Productivity; Construction Industry

11 Feb 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Goals Gone Wild: The Systematic Side Effects of Over-Prescribing Goal Setting

Keywords: by Lisa D. Ordóñez, Maurice E. Schweitzer, Adam D. Galinsky & Max H. Bazerman

15 Oct 2007
Research & Ideas

Businesses Beware: The World Is Not Flat

view of such differences, to figure out the ones that matter the most in your industry, and to look at them not just as difficulties to be overcome but also as potential sources of value creation. Q: You say... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

March 2022
Case

In Data We Trust: Be Mobile Africa and Furthering Financial Inclusion Across the African Continent

By: Lauren Cohen, Grace Headinger and Pierre Marchesseault

To Cédric Jeannot, leveraging technology to promote financial inclusion was personal. After no established financial institution would accept his technology platform to lower transaction costs for free, Jeannot launched FinTech company Be Mobile Africa in May 2020.... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Fintech; Emerging Market; Fundraising; Financial Inclusion; Strategy; Expansion; Management; Entrepreneurship; Personal Finance; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry; Africa; Togo; Nigeria; Ghana

2012
Chapter

Problem Solving and Search in Networks

By: David Lazer and Ethan Bernstein

This chapter examines the role that networks play in facilitating or inhibiting search for solutions to problems at both the individual and collective levels. At the individual level, search in networks enables individuals to transport themselves to a very different... View Details

Keywords: Network Organizations; Search; Problem Solving; Individual; Individuals And Teams; Collective; Cognitive Search; Network Search; Search Typology; Networks; Social and Collaborative Networks; Theory; Knowledge Sharing