Publications

October 2015 (Revised November 2016)
Background Note

'World-Class' Universities: Rankings and Reputation in Global Higher Education

By: William C. Kirby and Joycelyn W. Eby

Discussions of "world-class" universities have become an academic cottage industry in the 21st century, and definitions of the term are complex and at times contradictory. This background note traces the origins of university ranking systems and their evolution from a... View Details

Keywords: Rankings; University Faculty; University Curriculum; University Administration; Higher Education; Education Industry

Article

Why A Behavioral Theory of Labor Negotiations Remains a Triumph at Fifty but the Labels 'Distributive' and 'Integrative' Should Be Retired

By: James K. Sebenius

Richard Walton and Robert McKersie's closeness to practice, disciplinary rigor, and successful search for powerful generalizations help explain the lasting impact of the Behavioral Theory of Labor Relations. Ironically, the names they chose for the fundamental... View Details

Keywords: Bargaining; Integrative Bargaining; Distributive Bargaining; Negotiation; Labor Unions

Article

How Beliefs about Self-creation Inflate Value in the Human Brain

By: Raphael Koster, Tali Sharot, Rachel Yuan, Benedetto De Martino, Michael I. Norton and Raymond J. Dolan

Humans have a tendency to overvalue their own ideas and creations. Understanding how these errors in judgement emerge is important for explaining suboptimal decisions, as when individuals and groups choose self-created alternatives over superior or equal ones. We show... View Details

Keywords: fMRI; Amygdala; Hippocampus; Medial Temporal Lobe; Caudate Nucleus; Values and Beliefs

2015
Article

The Nobel Prize: The Identity of a Corporate Heritage Brand

By: Mats Urde and Stephen A. Greyser

Purpose—The purpose of this study is to understand the identity of the Nobel Prize as a corporate heritage brand and its management challenges.
Design/methodology/approach—An in-depth case study analysed within a heritage brand model and a corporate... View Details

Keywords: Nobel Prize; Brand Stewardship; Corporate Brand Identity; Corporate Heritage Brand; Heritage Brand Identity Process; Networked Brand; Organizations; Brands and Branding

Article

The Price Impact of Joining a Currency Union: Evidence from Latvia

By: Alberto Cavallo, Brent Neiman and Roberto Rigobon

Does membership in a currency union matter for a country’s international relative prices? The answer to this question is critical for thinking about the implications of joining (or exiting) a common currency area. This paper is the first to use high-frequency... View Details

Keywords: Currency Union; Exchange Rate; Law Of One Price; Currency Exchange Rate; Price; Latvia

August 2015 (Revised January 2017)
Background Note

Evolving Trends in Global Trade

By: Dante Roscini and Annelena Lobb

The note, while not intended to be historically comprehensive, explores the regulation of international trade from the period after World War II to developments in 2010, focusing on shifts in trade theory and policy as well as economic benefits and disadvantages... View Details

Keywords: Trade Negotiations; Development Economics; Developing Countries and Economies; Governance; Negotiation; Globalization; Trade; Policy; History; Europe; Latin America; North and Central America; Asia; Africa; China

August 2015 (Revised October 2023)
Case

Eastman Kodak Company: Restructuring a Melting Ice Cube

By: Stuart C. Gilson, John D. Dionne and Sarah L. Abbott

In May 2013, senior managers of GSO Capital Partners, an $80 billion credit-oriented investment firm owned by The Blackstone Group, are considering what to do next with their investment in the senior secured debt of Eastman Kodak Company. Once a great company and an... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Finance; Strategy; Investment; United States

March 2015 (Revised March 2016)
Background Note

Note: Industry Self-Regulation: Sustaining the Commons in the 21st Century?

By: Rebecca Henderson, Amram Migdal and Tony He

Industry self-regulation has, in general, a lousy track record. Many studies have shown that it is often ineffective unless backed by the power of the state, and that in some cases it serves rather to forestall government intervention or to reduce competition than as... View Details

March 2015
Article

Signaling to Partially Informed Investors in the Newsvendor Model

By: William Schmidt, Vishal Gaur, Richard Lai and Ananth Raman

We investigate a puzzling phenomenon in which firms make investment decisions that purposefully do not maximize expected profits. Using an extension to the newsvendor model, we focus on a relatively common scenario in which the firm's investor has imperfect information... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment

March 2015
Article

Vulnerable Banks

By: Robin Greenwood, Augustin Landier and David Thesmar

We present a model in which fire sales propagate shocks across bank balance sheets. When a bank experiences a negative shock to its equity, a natural way to return to target leverage is to sell assets. If potential buyers are limited, then asset sales depress prices,... View Details

Keywords: Financial Liquidity; Financial Crisis; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Europe

January 2015 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Curriculum Associates: Turning the Page from Tradition to Innovation

By: John J-H Kim and Christine S. An

Set in Fall 2014, the traditional textbook publishing industry is being transformed by technological innovations and new student achievement standards. This case chronicles how Rob Waldron, CEO, and his team bring Curriculum Associates (CA), a traditional supplemental... View Details

Keywords: Education Technology; SaaS; Turnaround; Textbook Publishing; Innovation; Sales Cycle; HR Strategy; Privately-funded Businesses; Sustainable Growth; Product Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Technological Innovation; Competitive Advantage; Publishing Industry

January 2015 (Revised April 2015)
Case

Zeal: Launching Personalized and Social Learning

By: John J-H Kim and Christine S. An

Set in 2014, this case follows John Danner and his team at Zeal as they consider their product development strategy. In February 2013, serial entrepreneurs John Danner and Sanjay Noronha co-found Zeal, an education technology start up providing a web-based, mobile... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Education Technology; MVP; Product Development; Product Market Fit; Monetization Strategy; SaaS Business Models; Education; Personalized Learning

2015
Chapter

Negotiations: Statistical Aspects

By: James K. Sebenius

'Negotiation analysis' seeks to develop prescriptive theory and useful advice for negotiators and third parties. It generally emphasizes the parties' underlying interests, alternatives to negotiated agreement, approaches to productively manage the inherent tension... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Preparation; Negotiation Tactics; Negotiation Participants

2015
Conference Presentation

The Strategic Bystander: Recursive Theory of Mind and Common Knowledge in Decisions to Help

By: J. De Freitas, K. A. Thomas, P. DeScioli and S. Pinker

Article

Time-driven Activity-based Costing of Multivessel Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting across National Boundaries to Identify Improvement Opportunities: Study Protocol

By: F. Erhun, B. Mistry, T. Platcheck, A. Milstein, V.G. Narayanan and R. S. Kaplan

Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery is a common treatment for coronary artery disease—a disease that affects over 10% of US adults and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. In 2005, the mean cost for a CABG procedure among Medicare beneficiaries in the... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Health Disorders; Health Care and Treatment; United States; India

2014
Book

Retail Revolution: Will Your Brick & Mortar Store Survive?

By: Rajiv Lal, Jose B. Alvarez and Dan Greenberg

In Retail Revolution, the authors go beyond the common belief of retail as a monolithic industry and provide a framework that any brick-and-mortar retailer can use to respond to the eCommerce threat. Through six examples, this book demonstrates how this... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Internet and the Web; Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Retail Industry