Filter Results:
(1,019)
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(2,348)
- People (22)
- News (636)
- Research (1,019)
- Events (32)
- Multimedia (17)
- Faculty Publications (519)
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(2,348)
- People (22)
- News (636)
- Research (1,019)
- Events (32)
- Multimedia (17)
- Faculty Publications (519)
Sort by
- September 12, 2017
- Article
What's the Right Kind of Bonus to Motivate Your Sales Force?
By: Doug J. Chung and Das Narayandas
Companies typically compensate their sales force by using some combination of salary, commission, and bonuses, but executives are often unsure which incentives provide the best motivation. Should bonuses be tied to quotas or should they be given unconditionally? Is it... View Details
Chung, Doug J., and Das Narayandas. "What's the Right Kind of Bonus to Motivate Your Sales Force?" Harvard Business Review (website) (September 12, 2017).
- Research Summary
Overview
I am currently a Principal or Co-Principal Investigator of five field-based randomized controlled trials, each of which examines the management of lay health workers in developing countries, with an eye toward generating theoretical insights and policy guidance on how... View Details
- Research Summary
Overview
I am currently a Principal or Co-Principal Investigator of five field-based randomized controlled trials, each of which examines the management of lay health workers in developing countries, with an eye toward generating theoretical insights and policy guidance on how... View Details
- March–April 2013
- Article
Unlocking Innovation Through Business Experimentation
By: Stefan Thomke
There is a downside to businesses that focus heavily on standardization, optimization, and driving out variability: Such organizations leave themselves vulnerable to underinvesting in experimentation and variation, which are the lifeblood of innovation. Good... View Details
Keywords: Experimentation; Innovation Management; Learning And Development; Research; Innovation and Management; Business Processes
Thomke, Stefan. "Unlocking Innovation Through Business Experimentation." European Business Review (March–April 2013): 55–58.
- Research Summary
Overview
I am currently a Principal or Co-Principal Investigator of five field-based randomized controlled trials, each of which examines the management of lay health workers in developing countries, with an eye toward generating theoretical insights and policy guidance on how... View Details
- Article
The Effect of Providing Peer Information on Retirement Savings Decisions
By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian and Katherine L. Milkman
Using a field experiment in a 401(k) plan, we measure the effect of disseminating information about peer behavior on savings. Low-saving employees received simplified plan enrollment or contribution increase forms. A randomized subset of forms stated the fraction of... View Details
Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and Katherine L. Milkman. "The Effect of Providing Peer Information on Retirement Savings Decisions." Journal of Finance 70, no. 3 (June 2015): 1161–1201.
- January 2013
- Article
Barriers to Household Risk Management: Evidence from India
By: Shawn A. Cole, Xavier Gine, Jeremy Tobacman, Petia Topalova, Robert M. Townsend and James Vickery
Why do many households remain exposed to large exogenous sources of non-systematic income risk? We use a series of randomized field experiments in rural India to test the importance of price and non-price factors in the adoption of an innovative rainfall insurance... View Details
Cole, Shawn A., Xavier Gine, Jeremy Tobacman, Petia Topalova, Robert M. Townsend, and James Vickery. "Barriers to Household Risk Management: Evidence from India." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 5, no. 1 (January 2013): 104–135.
- 05 Dec 2011
- Research & Ideas
It’s Alive! Business Scholars Turn to Experimental Research
tools like an infrared eye tracker to measure eye movements and special vision software that analyzes facial expressions to gauge emotional responses. Experiments in the field are gaining popularity too,... View Details
Keywords: by Carmen Nobel
- Article
Diversity and Team Performance in a Kenyan Organization
By: Benjamin Marx, Vincent Pons and Tavneet Suri
We present the results from a field experiment on team diversity. Individuals working as door-to-door canvassers for a non-profit organization were randomly assigned a teammate, a supervisor, and a list of individuals to canvass. This created random variation within... View Details
Keywords: Ethnic Diversity; Organizational Behavior; Labor Management; Groups and Teams; Diversity; Performance
Marx, Benjamin, Vincent Pons, and Tavneet Suri. "Diversity and Team Performance in a Kenyan Organization." Art. 104332. Journal of Public Economics 197 (May 2021).
- 2024
- Working Paper
Anytime-Valid Inference in Linear Models and Regression-Adjusted Causal Inference
By: Michael Lindon, Dae Woong Ham, Martin Tingley and Iavor I. Bojinov
Linear regression adjustment is commonly used to analyze randomized controlled experiments due to its efficiency and robustness against model misspecification. Current testing and interval estimation procedures leverage the asymptotic distribution of such estimators to... View Details
Lindon, Michael, Dae Woong Ham, Martin Tingley, and Iavor I. Bojinov. "Anytime-Valid Inference in Linear Models and Regression-Adjusted Causal Inference." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 24-060, March 2024.
- October 2021
- Article
Changing Gambling Behavior through Experiential Learning
By: Shawn A. Cole, Martin Abel and Bilal Zia
This paper tests experiential learning as a debiasing tool to reduce gambling in South Africa, through a randomized field experiment. The study implements a simple, interactive game that simulates the odds of winning the national lottery through dice rolling.... View Details
Keywords: Debiasing; Experiential Learning; Behavioral Economics; Financial Education; Learning; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Behavior; Decision Making
Cole, Shawn A., Martin Abel, and Bilal Zia. "Changing Gambling Behavior through Experiential Learning." World Bank Economic Review 35, no. 3 (October 2021): 745–763.
- Article
Marketing Complex Financial Products in Emerging Markets: Evidence from Rainfall Insurance in India
By: Sarthak Gaurav, Shawn A. Cole and Jeremy Tobacman
Recent financial liberalization in emerging economies has led to the rapid introduction of new financial products. Lack of experience with financial products, low levels of education, and low financial literacy may slow adoption of these products. This article reports... View Details
Keywords: Literacy; Insurance; Marketing; Decisions; Demand and Consumers; Financial Instruments; Emerging Markets; Education; Personal Finance; Agribusiness; Developing Countries and Economies; Innovation and Invention; Gujarat
Gaurav, Sarthak, Shawn A. Cole, and Jeremy Tobacman. "Marketing Complex Financial Products in Emerging Markets: Evidence from Rainfall Insurance in India." Journal of Marketing Research (JMR) 48, no. SPL (November 2011): S150–S162.
- Research Summary
Health
"Can Higher Prices Stimulate Product Use? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Zambia." (with James Berry and Jesse Shapiro) August 2008, American Economic Review, December 2010.
- 2024
- Working Paper
The Uneven Impact of Generative AI on Entrepreneurial Performance
By: Nicholas G. Otis, Rowan Clarke, Solène Delecourt, David Holtz and Rembrand Koning
Scalable and low-cost AI assistance has the potential to improve firm decision-making and economic performance. However, running a business involves a myriad of open-ended problems, making it difficult to know whether recent AI advances can help business owners make... View Details
Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Performance Improvement; Small Business; Decision Choices and Conditions; Kenya
Otis, Nicholas G., Rowan Clarke, Solène Delecourt, David Holtz, and Rembrand Koning. "The Uneven Impact of Generative AI on Entrepreneurial Performance." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 24-042, December 2023.
- December 2014
- Article
The Discipline of Business Experimentation
By: Stefan Thomke and Jim Manzi
The data you already have can't tell you how customers will react to innovations. To discover if a truly novel concept will succeed, you must subject it to a rigorous experiment. In most companies, tests do not adhere to scientific and statistical principles. As a... View Details
Thomke, Stefan, and Jim Manzi. "The Discipline of Business Experimentation." Harvard Business Review 92, no. 12 (December 2014): 70–79.
- 11 Apr 2014
- Working Paper Summaries
Learning By Thinking: How Reflection Improves Performance
- February 2023
- Article
Increasing the Demand for Workers with a Criminal Record
By: Zoë Cullen, Will Dobbie and Mitchell Hoffman
State and local policies increasingly restrict employers’ access to criminal records, but without
addressing the underlying reasons that employers may conduct criminal background checks.
Employers may thus still want to ask about a job applicant’s criminal record... View Details
Cullen, Zoë, Will Dobbie, and Mitchell Hoffman. "Increasing the Demand for Workers with a Criminal Record." Quarterly Journal of Economics 138, no. 1 (February 2023): 103–150.
- September 2013
- Article
Converging to the Lowest Common Denominator in Physical Health
By: Leslie K. John and Michael I. Norton
Objective: This research examines how access to information on peer health behaviors affects one's own health behavior. Methods: We report the results of a randomized field experiment in a large corporation in which we introduced walkstations (treadmills... View Details
John, Leslie K., and Michael I. Norton. "Converging to the Lowest Common Denominator in Physical Health." Special Issue on Health Psychology Meets Behavioral Economics. Health Psychology 32, no. 9 (September 2013): 1023–1028.
- Teaching Interest
Overview
Strategic Management is about efficient and effective management and the challenges arising from an ever-changing world. The field of Strategy is one of application, as a source of thinking and experience that creates value for society by making organizations better.... View Details
Keywords: Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; Europe; Croatia; Germany; Canada; United States
- April 2019 (Revised January 2025)
- Case
Clear Link Technologies, LLC: Driving Sales with Peer Effects
By: Christopher Stanton, Richard Saouma and Olivia Hull
The importance of a good peer or coworker is widely discussed, but understanding the glue that makes coworkers valuable is less understood. This case sheds light on the importance of peers and the practices and environments that make a group greater than the sum of its... View Details
Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Interactive Communication; Experience and Expertise; Decision Making; Training; Design; Compensation and Benefits; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Sharing; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Measurement and Metrics; Outcome or Result; Performance; Performance Improvement; Research; Sales; Salesforce Management; Motivation and Incentives; Telecommunications Industry; Utah; United States
Stanton, Christopher, Richard Saouma, and Olivia Hull. "Clear Link Technologies, LLC: Driving Sales with Peer Effects." Harvard Business School Case 819-072, April 2019. (Revised January 2025.)