Publications

Due to network effects and switching costs in platform markets, entrants generally must offer revolutionary functionality. Platform envelopment offers a second entry path: one that does not rely upon Schumpeterian innovation. Examples of successful envelopment... View Details

21 Jan 2014
First Look

First Look: January 21

these features may also facilitate discrimination based on sellers' race, gender, age, or other aspects of appearance. In this paper, we test for racial discrimination against landlords in the online rental... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2023
Working Paper

Black-box Training Data Identification in GANs via Detector Networks

By: Lukman Olagoke, Salil Vadhan and Seth Neel

Since their inception Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) have been popular generative models across images, audio, video, and tabular data. In this paper we study whether given access to a trained GAN, as well as fresh samples from the underlying distribution, if... View Details

Keywords: Cybersecurity; Copyright; AI and Machine Learning; Analytics and Data Science

March 2001 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Ginzel et al v. Kolcraft Enterprises et al (A)

By: Michael A. Wheeler

Examines the wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of an infant who died after a portable crib collapsed. The manufacturer, Kolcraft, licensed the Playskool brand name from the co-defendant, Hasbro Industries. Raises difficult questions about what the two... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Product; Negotiation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Lawsuits and Litigation; Legal Liability; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; United States

October 2017
Case

Still Leading (B10): Louis Gossett Jr.— A New Role Erasing Racism

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Louis (Lou) Gossett Jr.’s exemplary life included a groundbreaking career in entertainment and a bold and audacious goal to erase racism. From the Broadway stage to television and the movie screen, Gossett earned major accolades in his field, notably becoming the first... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Advanced Leadership Initiative; Advanced Leadership; Change; Transition; Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Prejudice and Bias

November 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Starbucks: Reaffirming Commitment to the Third Place Ideal

By: Francesca Gino, Katherine B. Coffman and Jeff Huizinga

On April 12, 2018, two African American entrepreneurs had scheduled a business meeting at a Starbucks in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square neighborhood. They sat without ordering, waiting for a local businessman to show up for the meeting. The store manager called 911... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Values and Beliefs; Prejudice and Bias; Crisis Management; Employees; Training

March 2016
Article

To Groupon or Not to Groupon: The Profitability of Deep Discounts

By: Benjamin Edelman, Sonia Jaffe and Scott Duke Kominers

We examine the profitability and implications of online discount vouchers, a relatively new marketing tool that offers consumers large discounts when they prepay for participating firms' goods and services. Within a model of repeat experience good purchase, we examine... View Details

Keywords: Voucher Discounts; Groupon; Experience Goods; Repeat Purchase; Internet and the Web; Marketing Strategy; Marketing Communications

2014
Working Paper

~To Groupon or Not to Groupon: The Profitability of Deep Discounts

By: Benjamin G. Edelman

We examine the profitability and implications of online discount vouchers, a relatively new marketing tool that offers consumers large discounts when they prepay for participating firms' goods and services. Within a model of repeat experience good purchase, we examine... View Details

Keywords: Voucher Discounts; Groupon; Experience Goods; Repeat Purchase; Online Advertising; Price; Profit; Marketing Strategy; Retail Industry

SSRN

1989
Article

The Creative Environment Scales: The Work Environment Inventory

By: T. M. Amabile and N. Gryskiewicz

The Creative Environment Scales Work Environment Inventory (WEI) is a new paper-and-pencil instrument designed to assess stimulants and obstacles to creativity in the work environment. Unlike many instruments that are designed as comprehensive descriptions of the work... View Details

Keywords: Creativity; Innovation and Invention; Working Conditions; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques

May 2021
Case

Megan Ming Francis: Leadership and Racial Injustice

By: Francesca Gino and Frances X. Frei

In this multimedia case, Megan Ming Francis, a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Washington (UW) and a visiting professor at the Harvard Kennedy School, discusses the roots of racial injustice and the need for change. Through... View Details

Keywords: Racial Injustice; Race; Prejudice and Bias; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership

2024
Working Paper

Social Movements and Public Opinion in the United States

By: Amory Gethin and Vincent Pons

Recent social movements stand out by their spontaneous nature and lack of stable leadership, raising doubts on their ability to generate political change. This article provides systematic evidence on the effects of protests on public opinion and political attitudes.... View Details

Keywords: Attitudes; Social Issues; Voting; Public Opinion; Social Media

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policy, Harvard Business School does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age, national or ethnic origin, political beliefs, veteran status, or disability in... View Details

17 May 2017
Research & Ideas

Minorities Who 'Whiten' Job Resumes Get More Interviews

about their race ended up inadvertently hurting their chances of being considered: Employers claiming to be pro-diversity discriminated against resumes with racial references just as much as employers who didn’t mention diversity at all... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

Forthcoming
Article

Gender and Preferences for Performance Feedback

By: Katherine Baldiga Coffman and David Klinowski

Across multiple studies, we investigate whether there are gender differences in preferences for receiving performance feedback. We vary many features of the feedback context: whether the performance task is a cognitive test or a mock interview, whether the feedback is... View Details

Keywords: Feedback; Gender; Cognition and Thinking; Motivation and Incentives; Behavior

2022
Working Paper

Why Do Index Funds Have Market Power? Quantifying Frictions in the Index Fund Market

By: Zach Y. Brown, Mark Egan, Jihye Jeon, Chuqing Jin and Alex A. Wu

Index funds are one of the most common ways investors access financial markets and are perceived to be a transparent and low-cost alternative to active investment management. Despite these purported virtues of index fund investing and the introduction of new products... View Details

Keywords: Mutual Funds; Passive Investing; Asset Management; Financial Markets; Investment Funds; Financial Management; Financial Services Industry; United States

28 Apr 2011
Working Paper Summaries

When Smaller Menus are Better: Variability in Menu-Setting Ability and 401(k) Plans

Keywords: by David Goldreich & Hanna Halaburda

February 2000 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Priceline WebHouse Club

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Jon K Rust

Priceline empowered consumers to "name their own price" for airline tickets and hotel rooms; then it shopped these offers to marketers. Priceline's founder Jay Walker described the resulting transactions as a new ecosystem, that helped consumers realize lower prices... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Retail Industry