Publications

September 1994 (Revised January 1997)
Case

This Case Sucks: Beavis, Butt-head, and TV Content (A)

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Jerry Useem

Beginning in 1992, "Beavis and Butt-head," an animated series on MTV about two uncivilized teenaged misfits, became both a runaway popular sensation and the symbol of a heated national debate about violent and inappropriate programming on television. Especially after... View Details

Keywords: Debates; Decision Choices and Conditions; Animation Entertainment; Fairness; Governance Controls; Media; Outcome or Result; Social Issues; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

14 Dec 2010
First Look

First Look: Dec. 14

social comparison, overconfidence, and loss aversion reduce the viability of individual performance-based compensation systems and provides a framework that integrates insights from psychology and decision research into the traditional... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Program

Strategic Negotiations

provide wide-ranging insights into your business challenges and career decisions Who Should Attend Senior executives who face complex and challenging negotiations, such as CEOs, entrepreneurs, board members, general managers, business... View Details

February 2016 (Revised February 2017)
Case

The Climate Corporation

By: David E. Bell, Forest Reinhardt and Mary Shelman

Climate Corporation is a San Francisco–based data analytics company focused on agricultural applications. It was acquired by Monsanto in 2013. In 2015, Climate's decision support platform was used on 75 million acres of farmland in the U.S.; however, most of those... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness Industry; Farming; Big Data; Data Analytics; Agriculture; Agribusiness; Decision Making; Analytics and Data Science; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

Program

Rising Generation in the Family Enterprise

wide-ranging insights into your business challenges and career decisions Who Should Attend Members of the rising generation of a family enterprise—including descendants and in-laws—who may or may not be currently involved in managing the... View Details

Program

Launching New Ventures

Pitch your business to potential investors and other stakeholders Evolve your leadership approach to manage ongoing innovation, radical change, and growth Address competitive challenges Make sound investment and resource allocation View Details

August 1996 (Revised February 2000)
Exercise

Decision-Making Exercise (C)

By: David A. Garvin and Michael Roberto

Provides questionnaires so students can compare their experiences with different decison-making processes. Students read "Growing Pains," a Harvard Business Review (HBR) case study, and then work in teams to come up with recommendations using a consensus approach to... View Details

Keywords: Conflict Management; Decision Making; Management Skills

25 Jun 2019
Blog Post

Learning the Language of Business and Science – The MS/MBA Biotechnology: Life Sciences Program

introduction of the new MS/MBA Biotechnology: Life Sciences Program and I’m excited for the students who will matriculate. This program will be well focused to teach students to manage the development of biotechnology. They will learn to analyze situations and View Details

2020
Chapter

Climate Change Is Going to Transform Where and How We Build

By: John D. Macomber

As fires, floods, and droughts increasingly threaten homes, businesses, and other institutions, climate risk has become financial risk. This implies that homeowners and investors have been making location decisions without properly pricing the cost of potential peril,... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Housing; Mortgages; Geographic Location; Real Estate Industry

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February 2024
Case

Nuwa Capital: Investing During Uncertainty

By: Paul A. Gompers and Fares Khrais

Nuwa Capital (Nuwa) was a venture capital firm based in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. The business was founded in 2020 by Khaled Talhouni and his partners Sarah Abu Risheh, and Stephanie Nour Prince (they were later joined by Nitin Reen... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Disruption; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Decisions; Middle East; Saudi Arabia; United Arab Emirates; Dubai; Bahrain

05 Oct 2016
Research & Ideas

Why Don't More People Get Flu Shots at Work?

professor in Harvard Business School’s Negotiation, Organizations & Markets Unit. Beshears is an expert in behavioral economics, which uses insights from psychology and economics to explain individual decision View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Health

April 2019 (Revised June 2019)
Case

Voatz

By: Mitchell Weiss and Maddy Halyard

Nimit Sawhney scrolled through the tweet stream on his phone, unsure of what to make of it on August 6, 2018 or how to respond. Voatz, the Boston-based startup he co-founded and led, provided a mobile-voting platform. In March of 2018, had successfully piloted the new... View Details

Keywords: Mobile App; Business Startups; Voting; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Safety; Cybersecurity

January 2021
Article

Turbulence, Firm Decentralization and Growth in Bad Times

By: Philippe Aghion, Nicholas Bloom, Brian Lucking, Raffaella Sadun and John Van Reenen

What is the optimal form of firm organization during “bad times”? We present a model of delegation within the firm to show that the effect is ambiguous. The greater turbulence following macro shocks may benefit decentralized firms because the value of local information... View Details

Keywords: Decentralization; Growth; Turbulence; Great Recession; Organizational Design; System Shocks; Economic Growth; Performance