Publications

October 2019
Teaching Note

Managing the Future of Work

By: William R. Kerr and Carl Kreitzberg

This teaching note has been prepared to assist instructors with teaching HBS Case Study 818-128 "Managing the Future of Work.' This case has been designed to introduce leaders from various sectors to the Future of Work, and to give them the analytical tools and... View Details

Keywords: Future Of Work; Employment; Technological Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Problems and Challenges; Opportunities

September 2019
Case

Starling Trust Sciences: Measuring Trust in Organizations

By: Aiyesha Dey, Jonas Heese and James Weber

Stephen Scott needed to decide whether to keep his behavioral analytics startup in the people analytics sector or shift his company into the RegTech sector. Starling had develop technology that enabled its customers to anticipate and shape the behavior of their... View Details

Keywords: Behavioral Analytics; Financial Institutions; Banks and Banking; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Banking Industry; Consulting Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States; United Kingdom

August 2019 (Revised September 2021)
Background Note

Analytical Tools in Private Equity: Return Bridge

By: Victoria Ivashina and Abhijit Tagade

This note explains the rationale and derivation behind “return bridge,” a key analytical tool used in the private equity industry to understand sources of value-add. The note elaborates on the advantages and the shortcomings of the return bridge. View Details

Keywords: Return Bridge; Private Equity; Value Creation; Analysis

August 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Teaching Note

Sidewalk Labs: Privacy in a City Built from the Internet Up

By: Leslie John and Mitch Weiss

Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.

The case serves as a microcosm of issues of digital privacy: the availability of data – personal data in particular – has tremendous potential to improve people’s lives... View Details

Keywords: Privacy; Privacy By Design; Privacy Regulation; Platforms; Data; Data Security; Behavioral Science; Analytics and Data Science; Safety; Entrepreneurship; Business and Government Relations; Consumer Behavior; Digital Platforms

August 2019
Case

Bark Gift Shop Ltd.

By: Susanna Gallani, Jan Bouwens and Peter Kroos

This case describes a setting in which the CFO of Bark Gift Shop Ltd., a gift items retailer, discovers an undesired pattern in the performance data suggesting that her shop managers that perform well during the first part of the year, purposely reduce their effort in... View Details

Keywords: Data Analytics; Employees; Behavior; Performance; Management; Goals and Objectives; Motivation and Incentives; Analysis

2019
Article

History, Micro Data, and Endogenous Growth

By: Ufuk Akcigit and Tom Nicholas

The study of economic growth is concerned with long-run changes, and therefore, historical data should be especially influential in informing the development of new theories. In this review, we draw on the recent literature to highlight areas in which study of history... View Details

Keywords: Economic Development; Growth; Innovation; Economic Growth; History; Analytics and Data Science; Innovation and Invention

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July 2019
Case

Christmas Inc. (A)

By: Susanna Gallani, Gregory Sabin, Lexor Adams and Nicholas Haberling

Santa Claus is facing increasing pressures to contain costs. The economic model that has worked for centuries is starting to show some cracks, to the point that he is considering outsourcing part of its toy production. Evaluating the bids his team collected from... View Details

Keywords: Costing; Production; Cost; Analysis; Decision Making; Strategy

June 2019
Case

ClearLife: From Prospect to Platform

By: Alexander Braun, Lauren Cohen, Mauro Elvedi and Jiahua Xu

ClearLife’s first product was a trading and analytics platform for participants in the U.S. life settlement market, the secondary market for life insurance. ClearLife played a key role in facilitating transactions and devising a common language for expressing value and... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Insurance; Entrepreneurship; Expansion; Diversification; Strategy

June 2019
Supplement

Improving Worker Safety in the Era of Machine Learning: Introduction to Predictive Analytics

By: Michael W. Toffel and Dan Levy

June 2019
Teaching Note

Improving Worker Safety in the Era of Machine Learning: Introduction to Predictive Analytics

By: Michael W. Toffel and Dan Levy

Teaching Note for HBS No. 618-019. View Details

June 2019
Supplement

Improving Worker Safety in the Era of Machine Learning: Practicum in Predictive Analytics

By: Michael W. Toffel and Dan Levy

June 2019
Supplement

Improving Worker Safety in the Era of Machine Learning: Practicum in Predictive Analytics

By: Michael W. Toffel and Dan Levy

June 2019
Teaching Note

Improving Worker Safety in the Era of Machine Learning: Practicum in Predictive Analytics

By: Michael W. Toffel and Dan Levy

Teaching Note for HBS No. 618-019. View Details

June 2019
Article

Learning to Become a Taste Expert

By: Kathryn A. Latour and John A. Deighton

Evidence suggests that consumers seek to become more expert about hedonic products to enhance their enjoyment of future consumption occasions. Current approaches to becoming expert center on cultivating an analytic mindset. In the present research the authors explore... View Details

Keywords: Learning; Experience and Expertise; Analysis; Perception

2019
Article

Can Big Data Improve Firm Decision Quality? The Role of Data Quality and Data Diagnosticity

By: Maryam Ghasemaghaei and Goran Calic

Anecdotal evidence suggests that, despite the large variety of data, the huge volume of generated data, and the fast velocity of obtaining data (i.e., big data), quality of big data is far from perfect. Therefore, many firms defer collecting and integrating big data as... View Details

Keywords: Big Data; Analytics and Data Science; Decisions; Quality

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2019
Article

Time-Driven Activity-Based Cost Analysis for Outpatient Anticoagulation Therapy: Direct Costs in a Primary Care Setting with Optimal Performance

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Rohit A. Bobade, Richard A. Helmers, Thomas M. Jaeger, Laura J. Odell and Derek A. Haas

Objectives: To determine how overall cost of anticoagulation therapy for warfarin compares with that of Novel Oral Anticoagulants (NOACs). Also, to demonstrate a scientific, comprehensive, and an analytical approach to estimate direct costs involved in monitoring and... View Details

Keywords: Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing; Activity Based Costing and Management; Health Care and Treatment; Analysis

2019
Book

Fintech, Small Business & the American Dream: How Technology Is Transforming Lending and Shaping a New Era of Small Business Opportunity

By: Karen G. Mills

Fintech, Small Business & the American Dream describes the needs of small businesses for capital and demonstrates how technology—novel data sources, artificial intelligence, machine learning—will transform the small business lending market. This market has been... View Details

Article

Four Things No One Will Tell You About ESG Data

By: Sakis Kotsantonis and George Serafeim

As the ESG finance field and the use of ESG data in investment decision-making continue to grow, the authors seek to shed light on several important aspects of ESG measurement and data. This article is intended to provide a useful guide for the rapidly rising number of... View Details

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March 2019
Case

HOPI: Turkey's Shopping Companion

By: Sunil Gupta, Donald Ngwe and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in 2017 as Onur Erbay, CEO of HOPI, a multi-vendor loyalty platform, is contemplating a critical decision. The case chronicles the origins of Boyner Group, the parent company of HOPI and a major retailer in Turkey, and development of retail and customer... View Details

Keywords: Loyalty Programs; Multi-vendor Platform; Retail; Big Data; Customer Relationship Management; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Business Model; Analytics and Data Science; Competitive Strategy; Decision Making; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; Technology Industry; Retail Industry; Turkey