Filter Results:
(457)
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(594)
- News (75)
- Research (457)
- Events (6)
- Multimedia (2)
- Faculty Publications (242)
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(594)
- News (75)
- Research (457)
- Events (6)
- Multimedia (2)
- Faculty Publications (242)
Sort by
- 2002
- Book
Searching for a Corporate Savior: The Irrational Quest for Charismatic CEOs
By: Rakesh Khurana
Corporate CEOs are headline news. Stock prices rise and fall at word of their hiring and firing. Business media debate their merits and defects as if individual leaders determined the health of the economy. Yet we know surprisingly little about how CEOs are selected... View Details
Keywords: Managerial Roles; Selection and Staffing; Personal Characteristics; Experience and Expertise; Investment Activism; Corporate Strategy
Khurana, Rakesh. Searching for a Corporate Savior: The Irrational Quest for Charismatic CEOs. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002.
- 24 Oct 2016
- Research & Ideas
Bernie Madoff Explains Himself
remorseful in the recording, but he displays some self-recognition. “It wasn’t like I was being blackmailed into doing something, or that I was afraid of getting caught doing it,” he continues. “I, sort of, you know, I sort of View Details
- 31 Oct 2023
- Research & Ideas
Beyond the 'Business Case' in DEI: 6 Steps Toward Meaningful Change
you can still profit while marginalizing groups of workers.” “It's about the fact that there are barriers to inclusion and there has been a history of exclusion and continuing race and gender hierarchies,” Williams said. “It's not a View Details
- September 2011 (Revised July 2012)
- Case
Building Watson: Not So Elementary, My Dear!
By: Willy Shih
This case is set inside IBM Research's efforts to build a computer that can successfully take on human challengers playing the game show Jeopardy! It opens with the machine named Watson offering the incorrect answer "Toronto" to a seemingly simple question during the... View Details
Keywords: Technological Innovation; Standards; Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mathematical Methods; Research and Development; Information Technology
Shih, Willy. "Building Watson: Not So Elementary, My Dear!" Harvard Business School Case 612-017, September 2011. (Revised July 2012.)
- 12 Apr 2022
- Book
Racism, Colonialism, and Britain's Legacy of Violence
In Britain’s case, colonial subjects wouldn’t have representation in London, except the Irish for a time. No matter how rational and civilized subjects became, they would never be British. Violence was endemic in both empires, yet it was... View Details
Keywords: by Avery Forman
- 06 Jun 2011
- Research & Ideas
Why Leaders Lose Their Way
nothing wrong, or they rationalize that their deviations are acceptable to achieve a greater good. During the financial crisis, Lehman CEO Richard Fuld refused to recognize that Lehman was undercapitalized. His denial turned balance sheet... View Details
Keywords: by Bill George
- 07 Mar 2011
- Research & Ideas
Why Companies Fail—and How Their Founders Can Bounce Back
rationalize away the proverbial problem of the dogs not eating the dog food. When you don't have money you reformulate the dog food so that the dogs will eat it. When you have a lot of money you can afford to argue that the dogs should... View Details
Keywords: by Carmen Nobel
- Article
Values, Purpose, Meaning, and Expectations: Why Culture and Context Matter
The "rational person" standard, based on assumptions of economic self-interest, has long prevailed in legal reasoning. But understanding of decision making, behavioral choices, and possibilities for action must be enlarged to include a variety of factors that give... View Details
Keywords: Standards; Interests; Decision Making; Behavior; Value; Groups and Teams; Performance Expectations; Organizational Culture; Leadership; Business Cycles; Forecasting and Prediction; Motivation and Incentives
Kanter, Rosabeth M. "Values, Purpose, Meaning, and Expectations: Why Culture and Context Matter." Alabama Law Review 62, no. 5 (2011).
- 04 Sep 2001
- Research & Ideas
Is Government Just Stupid? How Bad Decisions Are Made
evaluating business leaders, most people judge them primarily by results: profitability, return to shareholders, innovation and so on. This is the more rational measure of effectiveness. An organization's overall health will generally... View Details
- 10 Jan 2024
- Research & Ideas
Technology and COVID Upended Tipping Norms. Will Consumers Keep Paying?
whether they should be tipping at all. “Asking for higher tip levels felt appropriate during COVID as we understood or could rationalize the ‘why’ behind them,” she says. “It feels less fine in the current environment and could be... View Details
Keywords: by Anna Lamb, Harvard Gazette
- 18 Apr 2023
- Research & Ideas
What Happens When Banks Ditch Coal: The Impact Is 'More Than Anyone Thought'
Consumers who are eager to mitigate climate change can take many actions, such as reducing the number of airline flights they take or installing solar panels on their homes. But the planet is in a race against time, and individual action alone won’t help most countries... View Details
- 31 Oct 2018
- What Do You Think?
What is the Function of Fear in Leadership?
achieved by appeals to rational reasoning?” Wildebeest, finding this argument persuasive, suggested that the use of fear combined with respect for a leader among those being led is defensible. He reminded us that, “Patton said ‘God help... View Details
Keywords: by James Heskett
- 30 Jan 2014
- Working Paper Summaries
Modularity and Intellectual Property Protection
Keywords: by Carliss Y. Baldwin & Joachim Henkel
- 28 Nov 2023
- Book
Economic Growth Draws Companies to Asia. Can They Handle Its Authoritarian Regimes?
world of rational actors destroying their own firms’ balance sheets in late Suharto-era Indonesia and in contemporary China was fascinating and surprising. Once I understood the phenomenon, I saw it everywhere. You Might Also Like: Will... View Details
Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne
- 04 Jan 2022
- Research & Ideas
Scrap the Big New Year's Resolutions. Make 6 Simple Changes Instead.
terms, but issues are rarely so clear-cut, Takeuchi says. “This intellectual tradition,” Takeuchi and Nonaka write, “is reflected in the debates over dualism—such as mind versus body, subject versus object, rationality versus empiricism,... View Details
Keywords: by Kristen Senz
- 23 Sep 2015
- Research & Ideas
Men Want Powerful Jobs More Than Women Do
the researchers note that their findings are “descriptive, not prescriptive.” “Based on these data, we cannot make value judgments about whether men and women’s differing views of professional advancement are good or bad, rational or... View Details
Keywords: by Carmen Nobel
- 16 Jul 2007
- Research & Ideas
Understanding the ‘Want’ vs. ’Should’ Decision
are affected by the receipt of a coupon for $10 off their bill. A rational actor model suggests that people without extreme wealth constraints (meaning anyone who can afford to shop for groceries online) should buy the same items they... View Details
- Research Summary
Why Do Consumers Contribute to Connected Goods? A Dynamic Game of Competition and Cooperation in Social Networks
Social network platforms and media rely on the voluntary contributions of individual users to stay relevant. Consumers (users) contribute content such as photographs, videos, tweets etc.: these are available to any of their friends or peers, but not... View Details
- 24 Jan 2005
- Research & Ideas
Rethinking Activity-Based Costing
profit-enhancement opportunities through the repricing of unprofitable customer relationships, process improvements on the shop floor, lower-cost product designs, and rationalized product variety. Its potential on a larger scale... View Details
Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan & Steven R. Anderson
- 30 Jun 2014
- Lessons from the Classroom
The Role of Emotions in Effective Negotiations
which was a recipe for disaster." Wasynczuk learned to enter into contract talks with a smile—and to rationalize away his own anger when a deal couldn't be struck. "If an agent was being greedy with me, they were probably being... View Details