Business Performance - Publications - Faculty & Research

19 Jun 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, June 19, 2018

identical resumes. Using a novel control condition, we document that this discrimination is not specific to gender and is instead driven by beliefs. Employers are simply less willing to hire a worker from a group that performs worse on... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

20 Aug 2007
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Using Investor Relations Proactively

upgrades. This partly explains, I believe, why they have been among the first European companies to build strong IR departments. Now they can use IR to explain their business to stockholders as well as communicate to their many other... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Energy; Utilities

09 Aug 2011
First Look

First Look: August 9

answers—and more often about asking the right questions. The challenge lies in being able to step back, reflect, and ask the key questions that are critical to your performance and your organization's effectiveness. In What to Ask the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

16 Nov 2010
First Look

First Look: November 16, 2010

International Criminal Court Rafael Di Tella and Natalie KindredHarvard Business School Case 710-060 This Case describes a controversial 2010 decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and alludes to some of the broader challenges... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

Overview

By: Roberto Verganti

Roberto’s research focuses on how to create innovations that are meaningful for people, for society, and for their creators. He explores how leaders and organizations generate radically new visions, and make those visions come real. His studies lie at the intersection... View Details

Keywords: Integrated Design; Strategy; Design Thinking; Innovation; Artificial Intelligence; Design; Technology; Leadership; Innovation Strategy

06 Aug 2019
Cold Call Podcast

Super Bowl Ads Sell Products, but Do They Sell Brands?

The signature song in the show is “Advertising Ruins Everything”, the tongue and cheek nature of it. This was all on social media, and then coupled with the actual live performance was one of the most interesting and creative strokes of... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Sports; Entertainment & Recreation; Media & Broadcasting

December 2009
Article

Restructuring Within an Academic Health Center to Support Quality and Safety: The Development of the Center for Quality and Safety at the Massachusetts General Hospital

By: Richard Bohmer, Jonathan David Bloom, Elizabeth Mort MD, Akinluwa Demehin and Gregg Meyer MD

Recent focus on the need to improve the quality and safety of health care has created new challenges for academic health centers (AHCs). Whereas previously quality was largely assumed, today it is increasingly quantifiable and requires organized systems for... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Performance Improvement; Quality; Safety; Massachusetts

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March–April 2025
Article

Strategy in an Era of Abundant Expertise: How to Thrive When AI Makes Knowledge and Know-How Cheaper and Easier to Access

By: Bobby Yerramilli-Rao, John Corwin, Yang Li and Karim R. Lakhani

The AI era is in its early stages, and the technology is evolving extremely quickly. Providers are rapidly introducing AI "copilots," "bots," and "assistants" into applications to augment employees' workflows. Examples include GitHub Copilot for coding, ServiceNow... View Details

Keywords: AI; AI and Machine Learning; Performance Productivity; Experience and Expertise; Technology Adoption

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03 Oct 2017
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First Look at Research and Ideas, October 3, 2017

Reenen Abstract—We investigate the link between hospital performance and managerial education by collecting a large database of management practices and skills in hospitals across nine countries. We find that hospitals that are closer to... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

May–June 2015
Other Article

HRM at a Crossroads: Comments on 'Evolution of Strategic HRM Through Two Founding Books: A 30th Anniversary Perspective on Development of the Field'

By: Michael Beer

I agree with Bruce Kaufman's evaluation of the HRM field and the danger to its relevance if change does not take place in the field's almost exclusive use of normal science, lack of focus on organizational change and development and indifference to the development of... View Details

Keywords: Management; Performance; Human Resources

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11 Mar 2008
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First Look: March 11, 2008

simulated agents and human bidders that mechanism designers should take into account before placing too much faith in simulations to test the performance of mechanisms intended for human use. Go-Shop Provisions in Private Equity Deals:... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

19 Jun 2012
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First Look: June 19

making complex decisions. Under some circumstances, unconscious thought improves decisions even more than conscious thought. Executive functioning depends on energy provided by glucose, and we know from previous research that the View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

30 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 30, 2019

Harvard Business School Case 319-013 Jackie Taylor: The Black Ensemble Theater Jackie Taylor, an African American social entrepreneur, founded the Black Ensemble Theater in 1976. Since the ensemble’s inception, she has rented spaces where... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

24 Jul 2007
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First Look: July 24, 2007

processes were already equipped for the challenge. Successful firms, by contrast, developed an explicit strategy for collaboration and made organizational changes to aid performance in these efforts. Ultimately, these actions allowed them... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

July 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors: Bringing Systematic Investment to Philanthropy

By: Lauren Cohen, Hao Gao, Alexander Bischoff and Sophia Pan

Melissa Berman, CEO of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), evaluated her client’s philanthropy project and its mediocre performance. RPA was a segment of the Rockefeller Family Office’s Philanthropy Department, becoming an independent charity in 2002. Consistently... View Details

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10 Apr 2007
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First Look: April 10, 2007

extraordinary performance and achieve its goal of growing to 20,000 financial advisors by 2017. Purchase this case: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=707497 Introduction to the RC Strategy Course Harvard View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

17 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

How ‘Hybrid’ Nonprofits Can Stay on Mission

curing societal ills. In reality, though, the line between the two is growing blurrier. "In the not-for-profit sector, a number of organizations are trying to be less dependent on donations and grants," says Julie Battilana, an associate professor at Harvard View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

17 Sep 2007
Research & Ideas

Broadband: Remaking the Advertising Industry

Foundation Professor at Harvard Business School. Bradley and coauthor Nancy Bartlett are in the midst of writing a book looking at how broadband technologies are reshaping industries. We asked him to take a few minutes to talk about the... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Advertising; Media & Broadcasting; Publishing

15 Nov 2016
First Look

November 15, 2016

entail a countercyclical fiscal policy. A simple debt rule that limits the maximum amount of debt is analyzed and compared to a simple deficit rule that limits the maximum amount of deficit per period. Whereas the deficit rule does not View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 1996 (Revised April 1998)
Case

Mobil USM&R (B): New England Sales and Distribution

By: Robert S. Kaplan

The general manager of a local gasoline/distillate sales and distribution business unit must communicate a new strategy to the unit's 300 employees. An initial strategic planning exercise identified a high-priority list of opportunities that blended the parent... View Details