Publications

Collaborating across cultures

We propose that managers adept at thinking about their cultural assumptions (cultural metacognition) are more likely than others to develop affect-based trust in their relationships with people from different cultures, enabling creative collaboration. Study 1, a... View Details

Teaching Interest

Overview

I am passionate about teaching across a number of topics, most recently Data Science and Probability. Details on my graduate teaching experience can be found on my personal webpage. View Details

February 2011 (Revised November 2012)
Case

PatientsLikeMe: An Online Community of Patients

By: Sunil Gupta and Jason Riis

PatientsLikeMe (PLM) is an online community where patients share their personal experiences with a disease, find other patients like them, and learn from each other. The company was founded by Jamie and Ben Heywood when their 29-year-old brother was diagnosed with ALS... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Health Disorders; Knowledge Sharing; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Launch; Digital Platforms; Social and Collaborative Networks; Health Industry

October 1988 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Siemens Electric Motor Works (A): Process-Oriented Costing

Explores how a cost system can help support a firm's decision to change strategies. In the process, the students are introduced to a simple activity-based cost system. Siemens Electric Motor Works found itself facing an increasingly competitive environment and so made... View Details

Keywords: Production; Activity Based Costing and Management; Manufacturing Industry

Article

Why Grit Requires Perseverance and Passion to Positively Predict Performance

By: Jon M. Jachimowicz, Andreas Wihler, Erica R. Bailey and Adam D. Galinsky

Prior studies linking grit—defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals—to performance are beset by contradictory evidence. As a result, commentators have increasingly declared that grit has limited effects. We propose that this inconsistent evidence has... View Details

Keywords: Grit; Perseverance; Passion; Motivation; Personal Characteristics; Emotions; Performance; Motivation and Incentives

Read Now

September 2001 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Siebel Systems: Partnering to Scale

Describes the founding and rapid growth of Siebel Systems. Focuses on how Siebel's alliance program enabled rapid growth. Explores the challenges CEO Tom Siebel faces in serving smaller customers. View Details

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Alliances; Entrepreneurship

February 2001 (Revised May 2001)
Case

Balance, Inc. (A)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Michele Lutz

Focuses on an entrepreneur who founded a successful health-food store and seeks to expand his retail concept. Illustrates the challenges he faces as he recruits his top management team. View Details

Keywords: Distribution Channels; Executive Compensation; Agreements and Arrangements; Outcome or Result; Recruitment; Management Teams; Selection and Staffing; Food and Beverage Industry

Find at Harvard

12 Nov 2019
Video

Sizwe Nxasana

Sizwe Nxasana, the founding partner of SizweNtsalubaGobodo, the largest Black accounting firm in South Africa, as well as the former CEO of Telkom and FirstRand Group,describes the growth of... View Details

January 2014
Case

Emirates Airline: Connecting the Unconnected

By: Juan Alcacer and John Clayton

Narrates the story of Emirates, an airline founded in 1985 in Dubai that by 2013 was among the three largest commercial airlines in the world. The case emphasizes how Emirates capitalized on its location—a small city–state strategically located to reach ¾ of the world... View Details

Keywords: Sustainable Competitive Advantage; Airlines; Multinational; Location Strategies; Geographic Location; Multinational Firms and Management; Air Transportation; Competitive Advantage; Business Strategy; Air Transportation Industry; Middle East; Dubai

August 2007 (Revised July 2008)
Case

HCL Technologies (A)

By: Linda A. Hill, Tarun Khanna and Emily Stecker

When Vineet Nayar became president of HCL Technologies, a global IT services business, in April 2005, he knew the company needed drastic change. Since its founding as a hardware company in the 1970s, HCL had grown into an enterprise with $3.7 billion in revenues and a... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Employee Relationship Management; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competition; Information Technology Industry; Service Industry; India

12 Dec 2015
News

Best or Keegan?

02 May 2014
Video

Busbud: 2014 Alumni New Venture Competition Best Investment

Flipkart: Transitioning to a Marketplace Model

Founded in 2007 as an online book retailer, Flipkart rapidly became the largest e-commerce player in India, valued at almost $15 billion. However, it faced intense competition from other e-commerce players like Amazon and Snapdeal. Over the years Flipkart was slowly... View Details

2022
Article

The Ordinary Concept of a Meaningful Life: The Role of Subjective and Objective Factors in Third-Person Attributions of Meaning

By: Michael Prinzing, Julian De Freitas and Barbara L. Fredrickson

The desire for a meaningful life is ubiquitous, yet the ordinary concept of a meaningful life is poorly understood. Across six experiments (total N = 2,539), we investigated whether third-person attributions of meaning depend on the psychological states an agent... View Details

Keywords: Experimental Philosophy; Folk Theories; Meaning In Life; Moral Psychology; Positive Psychology; Moral Sensibility; Satisfaction

July 2012
Article

Collaborating Across Cultures: Cultural Metacognition and Affect-Based Trust in Creative Collaboration

By: Roy Y.J. Chua, Michael W. Morris and Shira Mor

We propose that managers' awareness of their own and others' cultural assumptions (cultural metacognition) enables them to develop affect-based trust in their relationships with people from different cultures, enabling creative collaboration. Study 1, a multi-rater... View Details

Keywords: Management; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Relationships; Trust; Social and Collaborative Networks; Creativity

Read Now

August 2015 (Revised January 2022)
Case

George Washington and the Foundations of American Democracy

By: Tom Nicholas and Matthew G. Preble

George Washington is perhaps the most well-known of the U.S.'s founding fathers because of his political and military achievements. However, Washington also operated a number of successful business ventures out of his Mount Vernon estate, and he became a landowner on... View Details

Keywords: Government; History; George Washington; Democracy; Decision Making; Entrepreneurship; Government and Politics; Business History; Leadership; United States

05 Mar 2015
Video

EiR Jim Sharpe, former president of Extrusion Technology

November 2008 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Savage Beast (A)

By: Noam Wasserman and LP Maurice

For several months, things had been spiraling downwards at Savage Beast, the music-recommendation company started three years before by Tim Westergren. The company's founder-CEO recently left due to pressures both at home and within the venture. Dozens of investors... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Lawsuits and Litigation; Leadership; Groups and Teams

September 2008 (Revised December 2011)
Case

Frank Addante, Serial Entrepreneur

By: Noam T. Wasserman and Antony Uy

Frank Addante is a 28-year-old serial entrepreneur who is in the process of building his fifth venture. Of his first four ventures, two were sold, one went public, and in the last he decided to close the venture and return unused capital to his investors. With the... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Equity; Selection and Staffing; Groups and Teams