Publications

Article

Statistical Physics of Human Cooperation

By: Matjaž Perc, Jillian J. Jordan, David G. Rand, Zhen Wang, Stefano Boccaletti and Attila Szolnoki

Extensive cooperation among unrelated individuals is unique to humans, who often sacrifice personal benefits for the common good and work together to achieve what they are unable to execute alone. The evolutionary success of our species is indeed due, to a large... View Details

Keywords: Human Cooperation; Evolutionary Game Theory; Public Goods; Reward; Punishment; Tolerance; Self-organization; Pattern Formation; Cooperation; Behavior; Game Theory

2022
Working Paper

Rethinking Explainability as a Dialogue: A Practitioner's Perspective

By: Himabindu Lakkaraju, Dylan Slack, Yuxin Chen, Chenhao Tan and Sameer Singh

As practitioners increasingly deploy machine learning models in critical domains such as healthcare, finance, and policy, it becomes vital to ensure that domain experts function effectively alongside these models. Explainability is one way to bridge the gap between... View Details

Keywords: Natural Language Conversations; AI and Machine Learning; Experience and Expertise; Interactive Communication; Business and Stakeholder Relations

November 1999 (Revised June 2000)
Case

AGENCY.COM (B): Managing Rapid Growth

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Ashish Nanda and Scot H. Landry

AGENCY.COM continues on its path of rapid growth, emerging as a leading interactive consulting firm. Its growth leads to new challenges related to the integration of diverse operations and the financing of future growth. View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Problems and Challenges; Entrepreneurship; Internet; Consulting Industry

Educators

2017
Module Note

Financial Accounting Reading: Analyzing Financial Statements

By: Suraj Srinivasan and V.G. Narayanan

Core Curriculum Readings in Financial Accounting cover the fundamental concepts in financial accounting. Many Readings include videos and Interactive Illustrations to help students master complex concepts.
This reading helps students understand that financial... View Details

Keywords: Financial Ratios; Financial Statements; Analysis; Accounting

October 2015
Article

Agglomerative Forces and Cluster Shapes

By: William R. Kerr and Scott Duke Kominers

We model spatial clusters of similar firms. Our model highlights how agglomerative forces lead to localized, individual connections among firms, while interaction costs generate a defined distance over which attraction forces operate. Overlapping firm interactions... View Details

Keywords: Agglomeration; Clusters; Industrial Organization; Silicon Valley; Technology Flows; Patents; Networks; Information Technology; Industry Clusters; Entrepreneurship; California

Find at Harvard

Research Summary

A historical study of the international NGO industry in the US

This project, joint with Eric Werker, aims to build a new dataset on government-funded NGOs with overseas programs to understand the development, funding, and goals of these organizations as well as their interactions with the private sector. View Details

Research Summary

Ray's current research is on technology platforms - how technology companies can platformize their technology offerings, how platforms impact competitive strategy and create pricing power, and how technology consumers interact with technologies that are platforms. View Details

2023
Working Paper

Navigating the Jagged Technological Frontier: Field Experimental Evidence of the Effects of AI on Knowledge Worker Productivity and Quality

By: Fabrizio Dell'Acqua, Edward McFowland III, Ethan Mollick, Hila Lifshitz-Assaf, Katherine C. Kellogg, Saran Rajendran, Lisa Krayer, François Candelon and Karim R. Lakhani

The public release of Large Language Models (LLMs) has sparked tremendous interest in how humans will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to accomplish a variety of tasks. In our study conducted with Boston Consulting Group, a global management consulting firm, we examine... View Details

Keywords: Large Language Model; AI and Machine Learning; Performance Efficiency; Performance Improvement

SSRN

April 2011 (Revised July 2014)
Case

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.: Driving Change Through Internal Communication

By: Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind

Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL), confronted in 2003 with an urgent need to change how it operated externally, adopted a highly innovative approach to communicating internally. This case, set in 2010, presents an overview of the new, more interactive model of employee... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Interpersonal Communication; Employee Relationship Management; Innovation and Management; Leading Change; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Corporate Strategy; India

Educators

2010
Working Paper

Agglomerative Forces and Cluster Shapes

By: William R. Kerr and Scott Duke Kominers

We model spatial clusters of similar firms. Our model highlights how agglomerative forces lead to localized, individual connections among firms, while interaction costs generate a defined distance over which attraction forces operate. Overlapping firm interactions... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Geographic Location; Patents; Labor; Industry Clusters; Industry Structures; Relationships; Competitive Advantage; Technology Industry; California

April 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Case

IBM: Design Thinking

By: Srikant M. Datar, Amram Migdal and Paul Hamilton

This case describes the 2012-2020 effort at IBM to implement design thinking throughout the company and hire thousands of designers to serve on every product team alongside technical engineers and developers and product managers. IBM’s design transformation is told... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Business Divisions; Business Units; Business Organization; Change; Change Management; Transformation; Competency and Skills; Talent and Talent Management; Design; Human Resources; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Innovation and Invention; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Jobs and Positions; Job Design and Levels; Leading Change; Management; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Operations; Product; Product Design; Product Development; Organizations; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Strategy; Adaptation; Adoption; Technological Innovation; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States

Educators

01 Feb 2021
Working Paper Summaries

Learning with People Like Me: The Role of Age-Similar Peers on Online Business Course Engagement

Keywords: by Laura R. Huber, Jacqueline N. Lane, and Karim R. Lakhani; Education

Research Summary

Overview

My research examines the processes, mechanisms and institutions that influence the effectiveness of organizational interactions between societal sectors (business, government and civil society). My work is motivated by the belief that more study of what makes... View Details

May 2014
Article

Cynicism in Negotiation: When Communication Increases Buyers' Skepticism

By: Eyal Ert, Stephanie J. Creary and Max H. Bazerman

The economic literature on negotiation shows that strategic concerns can be a barrier to agreement, even when the buyer values the good more than the seller. Yet behavioral research demonstrates that human interaction can overcome these strategic concerns through... View Details

Keywords: Trust; Information Asymmetry; Perspective Taking; Reactive Devaluation

March 2017
Teaching Note

Showpad

By: Frank Cespedes

Showpad is a startup that provides a sales enablement platform and tools. The venture has grown 100% annually since its founding four years ago, and the founders are evaluating growth options and decisions in three areas: adding product features, possible pricing... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Sales

Research Summary

Personal Selling and Sales Management

By: Das Narayandas

Das is currently investigating benchmark practices in personal selling and sales management across a variety of industries. He is also conducting field studies to understand how firms are leveraging interactive technologies to support their field sales efforts. View Details

Research Summary

Overview

Jenny is broadly interested in interpretable machine learning (ML), identity and inequality, and improving existing methods used to answer social and policy-relevant questions. Her recent projects have focused on developing tools that explore how LLMs are reshaping... View Details

Keywords: Machine Learning; Fairness; Information Technology; Decision Making; AI and Machine Learning

April 1983
Supplement

Dansk Designs Ltd.: The Administration of Creativity, Video I

By: Hugo Uyterhoeven

Presents various members of the Dansk organization during conversations and meetings concerning issues arising in the design, production, and marketing of Dansk's product line. Focuses on the individual's role in the company, and on the interaction between marketing... View Details

Keywords: Independent Innovation and Invention; Leadership Development; Marketing; Production; Organizational Design; Creativity

September – October 2009
Article

Critical Decisions in Software Development: Updating the State of the Practice

By: Alan MacCormack, Michael A. Cusumano, Chris Kemerer and Bill Crandall

This article focuses on how to choose the "right" software development process, how to structure global software design chains, how to manage the interaction of project structure and software design, and how to balance innovation and efficiency in a software business. View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Product Development; Projects; Innovation and Management; Performance Efficiency; Information Technology Industry