Publications

Article

Learning by Thinking: The Role of Reflection in Individual Learning

By: Giada Di Stefano, Francesca Gino, Gary P. Pisano and Bradley R. Staats

It is common wisdom that practice makes perfect. And, in fact, we find evidence that when given a choice between practicing a task and reflecting on their previously accumulated practice, most people opt for the former. We argue in this paper that this preference is... View Details

Keywords: Learning; Cognition and Thinking; Practice; Experience and Expertise

24 Feb 2021
Blog Post

My HBS Student Loan Story: Les Williams (MBA 2005)

Business school is a valuable investment in your future. HBS supports that investment through generous need-based scholarships. In addition to scholarships, many HBS students utilize student loans to help... View Details

07 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

Innovation Corrupted: How Managers Can Avoid Another Enron

the rewards were great. This initial success prompted Enron to extrapolate its business model to other markets. In 1994, Enron officials started trading wholesale electricity after Congress deregulated the industry; Enron analysts... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Energy; Utilities

2018
Working Paper

Quantile Forecasts of Product Life Cycles Using Exponential Smoothing.

By: Xiaojia Guo, Kenneth C. Lichtendahl Jr. and Yael Grushka-Cockayne

We introduce an exponential smoothing model that a manager can use to forecast the demand of a new product or service. The model has five features that make it suitable for accurately forecasting product life cycles at scale. First, the trend in our model follows the... View Details

Keywords: New Product Development; Demand Forecasting; Product Adoption; Innovation Diffusion; Product Development; Demand and Consumers; Forecasting and Prediction; Adoption

SSRN

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18 Apr 2016
HBS Seminar

Felipe Caro, UCLA Anderson School of Management

Article

Optimal Taxation When Children's Abilities Depend on Parents' Resources

By: Alexander Gelber and Matthew Weinzierl

Empirical research suggests that parents' economic resources affect their children's future earnings abilities. Optimal tax policy therefore treats future ability distributions as endogenous to current taxes. We model this endogeneity, calibrate the model to match... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Family and Family Relationships; Welfare

2010
Working Paper

Agglomerative Forces and Cluster Shapes

By: William R. Kerr and Scott Duke Kominers

We model spatial clusters of similar firms. Our model highlights how agglomerative forces lead to localized, individual connections among firms, while interaction costs generate a defined distance over which attraction forces operate. Overlapping firm interactions... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Geographic Location; Patents; Labor; Industry Clusters; Industry Structures; Relationships; Competitive Advantage; Technology Industry; California

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October 1990
Case

Manufacturers Hanover Corp.: Customer Profitability Report

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Banking company noting declining profitability from its traditional lending activities has started to measure the total profitability of its lending relationships. A loan pricing model estimates the profit and return-on-equity from commercial loans. Additional work was... View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Revenue; Commercial Banking; Banks and Banking; Customer Value and Value Chain; Banking Industry

January 2014 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Nivea (A)

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Johann Fuller, Volker Bilgram and Greta Friar

The case describes the efforts of Beiersdorf, a worldwide leader in the cosmetics and skin care industries, to generate and commercialize new R&D through open innovation using external crowds and "netnographic" analysis. Beiersdorf, best known for its consumer brand... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Innovation Management; Crowdsourcing; Big Data; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Knowledge Management; Knowledge Sharing; Research and Development; Social and Collaborative Networks; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Analytics and Data Science; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Consumer Products Industry

November 2017 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Redfin: Redefine Real Estate

By: Hong Luo and Huafeng Yu

Founded in 2004, Redfin envisioned a light-touch model in which clients self-served using the digital platform in exchange for a significantly lower fee than traditional agents. Realizing the narrow appeal of its initial model, Redfin had made significant changes to... View Details

Keywords: Adaptation; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Real Estate Industry; North America

September 1998
Case

Anheuser-Busch and the U.S. Brewing Industry

Presents an analytical report on the company's competitive position and on the industry structure in 1991. Used to show how a company can generate value through steady, incremental investment over a long period in a business model tailored to the industry context. Also... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Industry Structures; Growth and Development Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

Professor Christopher A. Bartlett received an economics degree from the University of Queensland, Australia (1964), and both the masters and doctorate degrees in business administration from Harvard University (1971 and 1979).

As a practicing manager prior... View Details

Keywords: consulting; health care; management consulting; manufacturing; medical supplies; wine

06 Dec 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Trials and Terminations: Learning from Competitors' R&D Failures

Keywords: by Joshua Lev Krieger

09 Jan 2024
In Practice

Harnessing AI: What Businesses Need to Know in ChatGPT’s Second Year

contexts demonstrated that generative AI has the potential to enhance productivity (speed and efficiency of task completion), quality (precision in execution), and creativity (albeit with limitations). Notably, the simulation of synthetic... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Information Technology

October 2022
Article

Sovereign Risk, Currency Risk, and Corporate Balance Sheets

By: Wenxin Du and Jesse Schreger

We provide a comprehensive account of the evolution of the currency composition of sovereign and corporate external borrowing by emerging markets from 2003 to 2017. We show that a higher reliance on foreign currency debt by the corporate sector is associated with... View Details

Keywords: Currency; International Finance

Find at Harvard

August 1999 (Revised February 2000)
Case

Cisco Systems, Inc.: Acquisition Integration for Manufacturing (A)

By: Steven C. Wheelwright, Charles A. Holloway, Nicole Tempest and Christian G. Kasper

Describes the procedures and processes used by Cisco Systems in its acquisition of high-technology firms. Its goal is to retain key engineering talent and to leverage existing product development efforts, but to quickly merge acquired companies its own systems and... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Leveraged Buyouts; Acquisition; Integration; Mergers and Acquisitions; Production; Activity Based Costing and Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Management; Technological Innovation; Talent and Talent Management; Human Resources; Manufacturing Industry; Technology Industry; England

Article

Variance-Minimizing Monetary Policies with Lagged Price Adjustment and Rational Expectations

By: Jerry R. Green and Seppo Honkapohja

This paper considers a macroeconomic model with rational expectations in which prices are incompletely flexible. Markets therefore fail to clear. In such a model monetary policy is not neutral. The variance of real and nominal quantities and interest rates is sensitive... View Details