Belief Systems - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Jan 2008
News

James D. Wolfensohn, MBA 1959

strengthened his belief that those who prosper in business are obligated to serve the greater good. His decadelong presidency of the World Bank provided the ultimate opportunity to pursue that mission on a global scale. Wolfensohn’s... View Details

26 Feb 2008
First Look

First Look: February 26, 2008

correlated with several features of the economic system (taxation, social insurance, etc). Our objective is to study the joint determination of these three features (beliefs, punitiveness, and economic system) in a way that replicates the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

26 Sep 2024
HBS Case

If a Car Can Drive Itself, Can It Make Life-or-Death Decisions?

What would Aristotle think about self-driving cars? As the abilities of artificial intelligence systems to automate complex tasks accelerate, warnings about the dangers of outsourcing life-and-death decisions to machines are pumping the... View Details

Keywords: by Tom Quinn; Auto; Technology

07 Apr 2003
Research & Ideas

XTV: Xerox’s Attempted Recovery From “Fumbling the Future”

his partners began reviewing the company's inventions. The first opportunity they uncovered was Advanced Workstation Products (AWP). Xerox's high-end printers actually were complex computer systems that contained extensive networking... View Details

Keywords: by Henry Chesbrough

01 Dec 2003
News

Business Answers the Call

to get inside the system.” Nielsen decided to run for the Seattle school board and was elected in 1993. For the next eight years, he and other reformers on the board pushed through some remarkable changes, making Seattle one of the most innovative urban school View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Educational Support Services; Educational Services

14 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Rewriting the Rules of Service Competition

coordinating with others, working in teams, or being denied “star” status. These leaders know that the best uses of technology and other support systems create frontline service heroes and heroines. They use it to elevate important... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett, W. Earl Sasser & Leonard A. Schlesinger; Retail

01 Jun 2010
News

$how Me the Money

Baker: With a strong belief in change within the system, working to reduce corruption so that free markets will function better, to the benefit of rich and poor nations alike. Photos by Katherine Lambert Corruption. Said slowly, even the... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Administration of Economic Programs; Government; Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support; Government; Legal Services; Professional Services; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

25 Nov 2008
First Look

First Look: November 25, 2008

Working Papers Reality versus Propaganda in the Formation of Beliefs about Privatization Authors: Rafael Di Tella, Sebastian Galiani, and Ernesto Schargrodsky Abstract Argentina privatized most public utilities during the 1990s but... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

02 Mar 2017
What Do You Think?

Is China About to Overtake the US for World Trade Leadership?

reluctance to open up the banking system and promote the yuan as a global reserve currency. These were the conclusions of nearly all respondents to this month’s column. Nevertheless, there was an undertone to the comments suggesting that... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

01 Oct 1998
News

A Community Investment

inspired to address inconsistencies in society by working from within the system rather than pursuing more radical approaches. Joseph Schell: As we turn fifty, many of us finally have time to reflect on our life's ambitions. It's a great... View Details

30 Jul 2024
Research & Ideas

Do Social Movements Sway Voters? Not Really, Except for One

3 points. The percentage of people who planned to vote in the presidential election also ticked up. Breaking down voter views This research is just a slice of Pons’ larger research agenda aimed at understanding what makes people vote a certain way, how democratic View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

17 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: January 17

specifically express interest in a suitable product are more likely to receive an appropriate recommendation, though most still receive bad advice. Agents cater to the beliefs of uninformed consumers, even when those View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 Oct 2013
News

Searching for a Better Society

business from the École Supérieure de Commerce de Grenoble in 1992. Following military service, he took a consulting position with Bossard Consultants, a Zurich, Switzerland-based firm that had him working with technology clients throughout Europe. "Most assignments... View Details

Keywords: Robert S. Benchley; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

18 Feb 2015
First Look

First Look: February 18

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 framework... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

07 Jan 2008
Research & Ideas

Pursuing a Deadly Opportunity

raising instinctive fears of bodysnatchers looking for a quick payday. It's just these kinds of gray zones that HBS assistant professor Michel Anteby likes to research, areas where questions of legitimacy and moral beliefs are raised.... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Health

13 Jun 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, June 13

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52729 May 2017 Judgment and Decision Making Is Saving Lives Your Task or God's? Religiosity, Belief in God, and Moral Judgment By: Barak-Corren, Netta, and Max Bazerman Abstract—Should a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

05 Feb 2001
Research & Ideas

The Ten Deadly Mistakes of Wanna-Dots

incentives to cooperate in cyberspace. (Maintain your belief that conflict is a healthy spur to higher performance; let the victor get the spoils.) Keep reminding divisions that they are separate businesses because they are different, and... View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Web

Diversity on Teams: Our Own Harvest - Race, Gender & Equity

complexity? Pipeline problems Max Bazerman on Reducing Discrimination Charlice Hurst on The Just Wage Tool The premise of our work is this core belief that racism and inequity are products of design. And, if they are products of design,... View Details

01 Dec 2000
News

Vivek Ranadivé

precedence over individual religions. A strong belief in the advantages of open, accepting systems — whether technological or theological — underlies much of Ranadivé's philosophy, particularly when he... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Finance; Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Telecommunications; Information; Air Transportation; Transportation

March 2021 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Ayn Rand: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Max Saffer

This case traces the life of Ayn Rand from Russia to Hollywood to New York City. The case describes how Rand fled communist Russia and, in reaction to the deprivations she experienced under communism, developed a philosophy idealizing free will and personal... View Details