Publications

May 2022 (Revised June 2024)
Case

LOOP: Driving Change in Auto Insurance Pricing

By: Elie Ofek and Alicia Dadlani

John Henry and Carey Anne Nadeau, co-founders and co-CEOs of LOOP, an insurtech startup based in Austin, Texas, were on a mission to modernize the archaic $250 billion automobile insurance market. They sought to create equitably priced insurance by eliminating pricing... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Technological Innovation; Equality and Inequality; Prejudice and Bias; Growth and Development Strategy; Customer Relationship Management; Price; Insurance Industry; Financial Services Industry

2024
Working Paper

Human-Computer Interactions in Demand Forecasting and Labor Scheduling Decisions

By: Caleb Kwon, Ananth Raman and Jorge Tamayo

We investigate whether corporate officers should grant managers discretion to override AI-driven demand forecasts and labor scheduling tools. Analyzing five years of administrative data from a large grocery retailer using such an AI tool, encompassing over 500 stores,... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Forecasting and Prediction; Working Conditions; Performance Productivity

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02 Jan 2019
What Do You Think?

SUMMING UP: Do We Need an Artificial Intelligence Czar?

AI oversight and regulation. At least that’s the impression created by a small sample of comments on this month’s column. Sandeep made the case for an AI czar. “Any public... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Technology

21 Oct 2024
Research & Ideas

What Happens in Vegas Could Shape the Metaverse

a virtual world than a video game: Millions of users have gathered on the platform for online concerts headlined by Ariana Grande, Travis Scott, and other stars. Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Fortnite parent company Epic Games, has likened the... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Nover; Computer; Information Technology

08 Jul 2024
Research & Ideas

The Critical Computer Science Principles Every Strategic Leader Needs to Know

ChromeOS as the user-facing operating system.” You Might Also Like: Harnessing AI: What Businesses Need to Know in ChatGPT’s Second Year How Will the Tech Titans Behind ChatGPT, Bard, and LLaMA Make Money? How Humans Outshine AI in... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Technology; Information Technology

2023
Other Unpublished Work

Visions of Vision Pro

By: Randolph B. Cohen

Daily ups and downs of the market are often driven by changes in interest-rate expectations and investor risk aversion. But over the long run, it's often technological change that is the primary driver of value. A decade ago, Tyler Cowen argued in his book The Great... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Disruptive Innovation; Product Launch

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May 2023
Article

Where Sales Technology (Really) Helps

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Interest in Sales Enablement (SE), the catch-all term for attempts to increase sales productivity with AI and other technologies, is driven by multiple factors. One is the declining costs of the tools. Also, selling is now data-hungry work and not just in tech sectors.... View Details

16 Aug 2017
Research & Ideas

Researchers Use Google Street View to See the Future of Cities

extra boost in development. A new tool by Harvard and MIT researchers promises to do just that, with the help of machine learning and the biggest library of urban images on the Internet: Google Street View. View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Real Estate

09 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

Warring Algorithms Could Be Driving Up Consumer Prices

antitrust authorities, who fear they could ultimately harm consumers by raising prices above typical competitive levels. It doesn’t seem too long ago when a price change was a major strategic decision for companies, requiring extensive... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Retail

19 Feb 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, February 19, 2019

deductibles. We show how choice difficulties or biases may lead patients to respond to such increases in patient cost-sharing by reducing demand for high-value care, muddying the traditional argument that the price elasticity of demand... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2024
Working Paper

Private Equity and Digital Transformation

By: Brian K. Baik, Wilbur Chen and Suraj Srinivasan

We study the role which private equity (PE) plays in digital transformation. We find that PE investment is associated with greater investments into portfolio firm’s digital technologies, as measured by IT expenditures and the hiring demand for AI skills. This... View Details

Keywords: Digital Transformation; Private Equity; Selection and Staffing; Investment Portfolio; Value Creation

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April 2018 (Revised November 2019)
Case

JD: Envisioning the Future of Retail (A)

By: Feng Zhu and Shirley Sun

JD, China’s second largest e-commerce company by gross merchandise volume (GMV) after Alibaba, had expanded rapidly from 2012 to 2016. When the company celebrated its 13th birthday in 2017, Richard Liu, its founder, deliberated on the company’s growth strategies. The... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; E-commerce; Retail Industry; China

01 Nov 2024
In Practice

Layoffs Surging in a Strong Economy? Advice for Navigating Uncertain Times

support, benefits continuation, and visa support are all indications to remaining employees and future hires of how they might be treated in the future. Intuit managed communication well: By 9 a.m. PT, all employees impacted View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology; Information Technology

January 2023 (Revised April 2023)
Case

Cobalt Robotics: Scaling Workplace Robotics

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Nicole Tempest Keller and Kyung Keun Park

Founded in 2016, Cobalt Robotics, based in Fremont, California, was a Robot-as-a-Service (RaaS) company that built autonomous workplace robots that were designed to replace or supplement human security guards. Outfitted with over 60 sensors, Cobalt robots patrolled... View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Invention; Marketing Strategy; Marketing Channels; Customers; Technology Industry; United States; California