Congestion And Delays - Publications - Faculty & Research

Research Summary

The Panama Canal

The Big Ditch is the first quantitative economic history of the Panama Canal and its effect on Panama, the United States, and the world economy. It makes three general arguments. First, that the Panama Canal was very important to... View Details

06 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

Four Strategies for Making Concessions

on an unsurprising outcome. In this case, a deal at 2.5 percent, the midpoint of the two parties' opening positions, seemed likely to be agreeable to both sides. This time things would be different, he resolved. He would save everyone hassle View Details

Keywords: by Deepak Malhotra

13 Dec 2021
Research & Ideas

The Unlikely Upside of Mergers: More Diverse Management Teams

Employees often feel stressed when their firms are bought by other companies, fearing they could face layoffs, demotions, or lousy working conditions. While it’s true that organizations tend to restructure their workforce following mergers View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

18 Sep 2017
Research & Ideas

'Likes' Lead to Nothing—and Other Hard-Learned Lessons of Social Media Marketing

Seventeen years after the dawn of social media marketing, this medium continues to be an intriguing puzzle—a place where brands are investing more time and money, but are still struggling to determine what works well View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Advertising; Technology

31 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

The Most Powerful Workplace Motivator

take advantage of the accelerating commission schedule. However, making the sale right away, before the end of the year, could help the salesperson achieve special recognition as a member of the club. Thus, the salesperson faces a choice: View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

15 Dec 2021
Research & Ideas

The 10 Most Popular Articles of 2021

forward to taking delayed vacations. HBS faculty members shared books they planned to read during their downtime, pulling from the worlds of technology, history, and science fiction. 4. How to Learn from the... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

22 Apr 2022
Research & Ideas

Companies Can Expand Their Talent Pool by Giving Ex-Convicts a Second Chance

conditions are being met now, or could be met with low-cost policies.” Do ‘Ban the Box’ laws backfire? In recent years, 35 states and 150 cities and counties have adopted so-called “Ban the Box” laws that... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

16 Mar 2009
Research & Ideas

When the Internet Runs Out of IP Addresses

The Internet is running out of room. Experts predict that in two or three years we will run out of Web addresses, so-called IP addresses, that can be assigned to new Internet-based sites and services. Each site is assigned a unique number... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Telecommunications

01 Jun 2007
What Do You Think?

How Should Pay Be Linked to Performance?

Summing Up Pay for performance: Why do we assume so much and know so little? Pay for performance is an important element of good management, judging from responses to this month's column. The question of what kind of pay for what kind of... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

08 Mar 2019
Research & Ideas

Seven Negotiation Lessons from Amazon's HQ Disaster in Queens

new employer coming to town. Wouldn’t all these new employees cause traffic congestion and overwhelm the rickety subway lines that serve Long Island City? (It didn’t help that Amazon didn’t pledge to invest... View Details

Keywords: by James K. Sebenius; Real Estate; Construction

29 Sep 2021
Research & Ideas

For Entrepreneurs, Blown Deadlines Can Crush Big Ideas

understand why that constantly happens.” Three steps to avoid delays So, what’s a first-time entrepreneur to do in the meantime? Try to think non-linearly. Founders should consider what they know, what they don’t know, View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

16 May 2000
Research & Ideas

The Simple Economics of Open Source

when they derive a net benefit from the work, with net benefit based on both immediate and delayed rewards. Immediate rewards include monetary compensation, as well as the opportunity to fix a bug or... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Technology

21 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

Are You Sabotaging Your Own Company?

time to get all of their people together, so the meetings kept getting delayed and delayed,” he says. “The intent of these processes is often good, but the results are not. You have to walk a fine line View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

27 Feb 2019
Research & Ideas

The Hidden Cost of a Product Recall

device industry. That allowed the researchers to evaluate how a recall’s severity and proximity—the degree of product market overlap between recalled and competing products—may stall or speed innovation in a... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Manufacturing; Consumer Products; Auto; Medical Devices & Supplies

02 Oct 2006
Research & Ideas

Negotiating in Three Dimensions

Tactics, deal design, and set-up are three crucial components of the most effective negotiations. Yet many negotiators focus only on the tactical part, running the risk of undermining their own best interests. How can you negotiate more... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

10 Aug 2015
Research & Ideas

New Medical Devices Get To Patients Too Slowly

While the US Food and Drug Administration has chiseled away pharmaceutical review times over the years to speed innovative drugs to market, the opposite seems to have occurred in the agency's approval of medical devices. Instead of... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health; Technology

21 May 2012
Research & Ideas

OSHA Inspections: Protecting Employees or Killing Jobs?

as one could with randomized deployment. "There is a perceived cost in doing a portion of the work in a randomized fashion," Toffel says. "But if you want to learn, it requires an investment and some patience. You have to be willing to... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

20 Dec 2017
Lessons from the Classroom

How to Design a Better Customer Experience

customer’s champion and own the problem. “We landed after a delayed 12-hour flight and learned that our connecting flight was gone. Our expectations were low because we flew on... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Health; Entertainment & Recreation

15 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

What You Don’t Know About Making Decisions

Competing arguments become difficult to judge, since advocates will suggest using those measures (net income, return on capital, market presence, share of mind, and so on) that favor their preferred alternative. Fuzzy thinking View Details

Keywords: by David A. Garvin & Michael A. Roberto

04 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Is Web Surfing Distracting Your Workers?

A number of studies have suggested that US workers waste between one and two hours a day web surfing, costing their companies billions in lost productivity. In response, some employers have banned private Internet use at the office, a... View Details