Publications

June 2014
Article

The Red Sneakers Effect: Inferring Status and Competence from Signals of Nonconformity

By: Silvia Bellezza, Francesca Gino and Anat Keinan

We examine how people react to nonconforming behaviors, such as entering a luxury boutique wearing gym clothes rather than an elegant outfit or wearing red sneakers in a professional setting. Nonconforming behaviors, as costly and visible signals, can act as a... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Consumer Behavior

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March 2022
Case

BTS & ARMY

By: Doug J. Chung and Kay R. Koo

The South Korean K-pop band, BTS, is shattering linguistic boundaries and reshaping the global music industry. BTS became the first band in Billboard history to simultaneously top the Billboard Artist 100, Billboard Hot 100, and Billboard 200; and the sixth act to have... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment; Music Entertainment; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Social and Collaborative Networks; Social Enterprise; Consumer Behavior; Music Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

16 Jul 2014
HBS Case

Marketing Obamacare

It's safe to say that the rollout of the Affordable Care Act was not pretty. Plagued by technical problems on Healthcare.gov, and stymied by a lack of political support in around half of the 50 states, the federal healthcare exchange set... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health

08 Feb 2010
HBS Case

Looking Behind Google’s Stand in China

evil" pillar. But others note the company is turning its back on its Chinese employees, users, partners, and an incredibly large market opportunity that would benefit Google shareholders. What's your view? John A. Quelch: Google View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology

June 2004 (Revised April 2005)
Background Note

Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions

By: Arthur I Segel, Jeff Mandelbaum and Armen Panossian

Summarizes several of the major federal environmental statutes, most notably the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act ("CERCLA" or "Superfund"). Also discusses several state and local regulations. View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Laws and Statutes; Real Estate Industry

Research Summary

Debt Redemption and Reserve Accumulation

By: Laura Alfaro

In the past decade, foreign participation in local-currency bond markets in emerging countries increased dramatically. We revisit sovereign debt sustainability under the assumptions that countries can accumulate reserves and borrow internationally using their own... View Details

May 31, 2016
Article

Memories of Unethical Actions Become Obfuscated over Time

By: Maryam Kouchaki and Francesca Gino

Despite our optimistic belief that we would behave honestly when facing the temptation to act unethically, we often cross ethical boundaries. This paper explores one possibility for why people engage in unethical behavior over time by suggesting that memory for their... View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Ethics; Cognition and Thinking

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August 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Case

C&S Wholesale Grocers: Self-Managed Teams

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Tejal Mody and David Ager

Rick Cohen, president and CEO of C&S Wholesale Grocers, is trying to decide whether and how to implement the self-managed teams concept in his warehouse. Eight months earlier, C&S had begun to act as principal wholesaler to A&P throughout New England, a decision that... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Decision Making; Labor Unions; Growth and Development Strategy; Distribution Channels; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Groups and Teams; New England

18 Dec 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 18, 2018

2018 Innovation Policy and the Economy The Orphan Drug Act at 35: Observations and an Outlook for the Twenty-First Century By: Bagley, Nicholas, Benjamin Berger, Amitabh Chandra, Craig Garthwaite, and Ariel Dora Stern Abstract—On the 35th... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

January 1998 (Revised December 2001)
Case

Fitzpatrick Hotel Group (A)

By: Paul A. Gompers and Catherine M. Conneely

Examines the issues raised in the financing of the Fitzpatrick Hotel Group, an Irish hotelier. The perspective of Paddy Fitzpatrick, founder and CEO at Fitzpatrick Group, and Niall Carroll, founder of ACT Venture Capital, are contrasted. View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Venture Capital; Perspective; Accommodations Industry; Republic of Ireland

October 2012 (Revised August 2013)
Case

Global Unichip Corporation (A)

By: Willy Shih and Chen-Fu Chien

Global Unichip Corporation (GUC) is a design services company that acts as a front-end to TSMC, the world's largest semiconductor foundry. In so doing, it masked the complexity of the latest process technologies, and reduced the entry barriers for small firms to... View Details

13 Mar 2019
Research & Ideas

Ignore This Advice at Your Own Peril

Employees regularly turn to managers and other higher-level co-workers to seek advice about job-related issues and next steps for their careers. Yet people don’t always take the advice they receive; they may accept some suggestions and ignore others. Here’s a word of... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

2024
Book

The Ritual Effect: From Habit to Ritual, Harness the Surprising Power of Everyday Actions

By: Michael Norton

Our lives are filled with repetitive tasks meant to keep us on track—what we come to know as habits. Over time, these routines (for example, brushing your teeth or putting on your right sock first) tend to be performed automatically. But when we’re more mindful about... View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Happiness; Performance Productivity; Attitudes

13 Nov 2000
Research & Ideas

Managing to Learn: How Companies Can Turn Knowledge into Action

alone do not a learning organization make. The necessary complement is a mind-set of inquiry and experimentation, plus a knowledge-sharing process that enables everyone in a company to act in an informed way upon what's been learned... View Details

Keywords: by Laurie Joan Aron

2020
Chapter

Reserve Accumulation, Sovereign Debt, and Exchange Rate Policy

By: Laura Alfaro and Fabio Kanczuk

In the past decade, foreign participation in local-currency bond markets in emerging countries increased dramatically. Additionally, emerging countries are increasingly deviating from inflation targeting regimes, managing their exchange rate and engaging in... View Details

Keywords: Reserves; Exchange Rate; Sovereign Finance; Currency Exchange Rate; Policy

2016
Working Paper

Standardized Color in the Food Industry: The Co-Creation of the Food Coloring Business in the United States, 1870–1940

By: Ai Hisano

This working paper examines how, starting in the 1870s, food manufacturers in the United States began to use standardized color, achieved by synthetic dyes, as part of their marketing strategies. Food manufacturers along with dye makers and regulators co-created the... View Details

Keywords: Food; Supply and Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

SSRN

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2009
Other Unpublished Work

The Pecora Hearings

By: David Moss, Cole Bolton and Eugene Kintgen

In 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression, the Senate Banking Committee began a much-publicized investigation of the nation's financial sector. The hearings, which came to be known as the Pecora hearings after the Banking Committee's lead counsel Ferdinand... View Details

Keywords: Financial History; Financial Crisis; Financial Markets; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government Legislation; Laws and Statutes; Business and Government Relations; Financial Services Industry

May 2001
Case

Free Trade vs. Protectionism: The Great Corn-Laws Debate (Abridged)

By: David A. Moss

Examines the extended conflict between free traders and protectionists in 19th century Britain. It culminates with Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel's decision at the end of 1845 about whether to repeal the Corn Laws, a series of acts that had protected British... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Change Management; Trade; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Government Legislation; Market Entry and Exit; Conflict of Interests; Competitive Advantage; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Great Britain