Attentional Focus - Publications - Faculty & Research

12 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

Rocket Science Retailing: A Practical Guide

describes how investors can—and do—pay closer attention to retailers' inventory levels. “When it comes to implementing science in retailing, the 'missionary' is more important than the scientist.” Raman, who specializes in operations... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Retail; Auto

14 Jan 2008
Research & Ideas

Mapping Polluters, Encouraging Protectors

information themselves. Besides managers, the site's creators hope MapEcos will grab the attention of members of the public, including environmental activists. Users can track factories' pollution activity over time, compare factories in... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Manufacturing; Chemical

10 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

Disruption: The Art of Framing

a still-viable business model while simultaneously trying to develop a new platform for growth, it gets pulled in two directions, and both efforts underperform. Kodak, for example, needs to continue to focus on traditional competitors... View Details

Keywords: by Clark Gilbert & Joseph L. Bower

01 Feb 2008
What Do You Think?

How Sustainable Is Sustainability in a For-Profit Organization?

given the issue new visibility alongside Al Gore's Nobel Peace Prize. At the same time, it raised some eyebrows among investment analysts who asked what sustainability has to do with Google's core business of making the world's information universally available. Will... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

26 Nov 2007
Research & Ideas

Best Practices of Global Innovators

work? A: Many firms adopt what we call a "production outsourcing" mindset to collaboration. This is typified by a focus on lowering cost at the expense of other potentially more valuable benefits. These firms view collaboration as a form... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

05 Aug 2024
Research & Ideas

Watching for the Next Economic Downturn? Follow Corporate Debt

focused on housing and household debt for good reason: In the United States, a residential housing loan collapse touched off the deep financial crisis of 2008. But in the decade-plus since, the focus on household debt may mean... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

29 Jan 2014
Research & Ideas

Super Bowl Ads for Multitaskers

phone or laptop during halftime or commercials. That trend has advertisers, who paid an average of $4 million per 30-second Super Bowl spot last year, worried. "Advertisers are paying based on the audience watching a program," says Teixeira. "If people... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Advertising; Sports

29 May 2006
Research & Ideas

Why CEOs Are Not Plug-and-Play

one of America's best-managed companies. By the 1990s, GE's Appliance and Lighting businesses required careful attention to costs given mature industries and highly unionized labor forces. Its Aircraft Engines, Power Systems, Industrial... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Andrew N. McLean & Nitin Nohria; Employment

04 Mar 2002
Research & Ideas

Don’t Lose Money With Customers

disciplined firms are at the market and segment levels if the same focus and precision don't exist in customer choice.— Narakesari Narayandas Accomplishing this requires finely tuned approaches that target individual and/or small groups... View Details

Keywords: by Peter K. Jacobs

03 Feb 2018
Op-Ed

How to Heed BlackRock's Call for Corporate Social Responsibility

Larry Fink recently created a shockwave. As cofounder, chairman, and CEO of BlackRock, one of the world’s largest global asset management firms, in an open letter to CEOs he caught the attention of financial markets and beyond by insisting on the importance of... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Battilana

27 Oct 2008
Lessons from the Classroom

Achieving Excellence in Nonprofits

actions that are aligned with producing them. Fundamentally, that is the focus of our work in the Social Enterprise Initiative. Board and executive leaders today are confronted by a confusing landscape of conflicting demands, rapidly... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

20 Sep 2007
Research & Ideas

How to be a Customer

Harvard Business School professor John Quelch writes a blog on marketing issues, called Marketing Know: How, for Harvard Business Online. It is reprinted on HBS Working Knowledge.99 percent of marketing focuses on how to sell to customers. Very little View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

31 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

The Dow at 20,000: What's That All About?

own account but who are not paying attention to the market all the time, the Dow at 20,000 is clearly an event that does catch their attention. The news around it will make them turn their attention to the... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner

30 Aug 2011
First Look

First Look: August 30

PublicationsEmotion-induced Engagement in Internet Video Ads Authors:Thales S. Teixeira, Michel Wedel, and Rik Pieters Publication:Journal of Marketing Research (forthcoming) Abstract This study shows how advertisers can leverage emotion and View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

10 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 10

managers—the Friday Packet-—is described and illustrated in exhibits. Top managers use this system to focus organizational attention on the critical uncertainties of the business. Provides examples of how... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Jun 2016
Op-Ed

Companies Need to Start Marketing Security to Customers

undercut a positive message about a product's benefits with safety warnings. That might make you feel uncomfortable and even dissuade you from buying the brand. You might instead buy a competitive product that doesn't flag safety issues quite as much. "Risk... View Details

Keywords: by John A. Quelch; Entertainment & Recreation

16 Nov 2010
Lessons from the Classroom

Data.gov: Matching Government Data with Rapid Innovation

wasted, and take action to stem the tide. A third said that Data.gov should focus less attention on data acquisition than on encouraging private industry to develop applications. "Brand them as 'powered... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Technology

11 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

The Future of Boards

maximizing shareholder value as the primary focus and motivation for a corporation's existence” Topics tackled include how boards can most effectively oversee company strategy, CEO succession, and executive compensation. Also considered... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

18 Jun 2013
First Look

First Look: June 18

managers' influence activities. An explicit focus on toolmaking extends accounting research that has hitherto focused attention on the structural arrangements and interpersonal connections when explaining... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

19 Jun 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, June 19, 2018

discrimination. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53686 Channeled Attention and Stable Errors By: Gagnon-Bartsch, Tristan, Matthew Rabin, and Joshua Schwartzstein Abstract—A common critique of models... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

Publications