Publications

2023
Working Paper

Leadership and the Value of Persistence

By: James J. Anton, Alan Jaske and Dennis Yao

Consider a leader’s decision whether to persist with an unsuccessful R&D project or to terminate the project in favor of a new project with an uncertain value. How does that decision affect the effort exerted by the manager assigned to the project? To study this... View Details

Keywords: Persistence; Project Evaluation; R＆D Project Management; Projects; Decision Choices and Conditions; Leadership

2023
Working Paper

'It Wouldn’t Have Mattered Anyway': When Overdetermined Outcomes Justify Our Sins

By: Stephanie C. Lin, Julian J. Zlatev and Dale T. Miller

We identify and document an “overdetermined outcome defense” which occurs when one learns that circumstances besides one’s own actions were sufficient to produce a negative effect (e.g., deciding not to go to the gym, but later discovering that the gym had been... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Decision Making; Outcome or Result; Behavior

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January 2023
Supplement

Apple: Privacy vs. Safety (B)

By: Henry McGee, Nien-hê Hsieh and Christian Godwin

In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe, Apple and Google partnered to develop a contact tracing application that would collect information about users infected with the disease and notify those who they had been in contact with. While Apple/Google’s... View Details

January 2023 (Revised March 2025)
Supplement

Call of Fiduciary Duty: Microsoft Acquires Activision Blizzard

By: Jonas Heese and Joseph Pacelli

January 2023 (Revised April 2024)
Case

First to Fight? Culture, Tradition, and the United States Marine Corps (USMC)

By: Ranjay Gulati, Akhil Iyer and Joel Malkin

Over a history of more than 240 years, the United States Marine Corps has forged a distinct culture and institutional identity centered on its “warrior ethos.” In the wars of American history, Marines fought with uncommon valor, rising to international prominence for... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Talent and Talent Management; Government Administration; Management Practices and Processes; Management Systems; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Performance Effectiveness; United States

January 2023 (Revised March 2023)
Module Note

Identity, Power, and Influence

By: Lakshmi Ramarajan

January 2023 (Revised February 2025)
Module Note

LCA Module Overview: Customers

By: Nien-hê Hsieh

This note provides an overview of key questions, themes, and concepts to be covered in the module and provides a brief description of each case and how it relates to these questions, themes, and concepts. View Details

January 2023
Teaching Note

Nadine Vogel: Transforming the Marketplace, Workplace, and Workforce for People with Disabilities

By: Lakshmi Ramarajan and Rachel Tropp

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 420-062. View Details

2023
Working Paper

The Link Between Integrative Bargaining and Leadership Evaluations

By: Julian J. Zlatev and Francis J. Flynn

We draw from implicit leadership theory and the dual concern theory of conflict resolution to posit a link between negotiation style and leadership evaluations. Specifically, we propose that individuals who are more skilled at integrative, but not distributive,... View Details

Keywords: Prosocial Behavior; Leadership; Negotiation; Conflict and Resolution; Performance Evaluation

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January 2023 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Zaoui & Co. (A): Consigliere for High Stakes M&A Transactions

By: Ashish Nanda, Alex Kitsberg and Zack Kurtovich

In September 2019, Zaoui & Co.’s close-knit team of professionals convened for their annual off-site. In its nine years of operation, the boutique investment bank founded by the brothers Michael (HBS ’83) and Yoel Zaoui (Stanford GSB ’88), had garnered a track record... View Details

Keywords: Professional Service Firm; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Strategy; Investment Banking; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth and Development Strategy; Europe; United Kingdom

January 2023 (Revised June 2024)
Supplement

Zaoui & Co. (B): Executing the Odyssey SPAC Transaction

By: Ashish Nanda, Alex Kitsberg and Zack Kurtovich

In September 2019, founding partners Michael and Yoel Zaoui decided to add principal investing to Zaoui & Co.’s offerings. The case outlines how, over the next two years, Zaoui & Co. pursued the formation of a SPAC, Odyssey Acquisitions, followed by the identification... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Investment Banking; SPACs; M＆A; Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Europe; United Kingdom

January 2023
Teaching Note

Bankruptcy in the City of Detroit

By: Kristin Mugford and Annelena Lobb

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 215-070. View Details

Keywords: Finance; Restructuring

January 19, 2023
Article

How to Build a Life: Nothing Drains You Like Mixed Emotions

By: Arthur C. Brooks

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January 2023
Supplement

Kwame Owusu-Kesse at the Harlem Children's Zone 'Going for It'

By: Jon M. Jachimowicz

January 2023
Supplement

Kwame Owusu-Kesse at the Harlem Children's Zone 'Navigating Careers'

By: Jon M. Jachimowicz

January 2023
Supplement

Kwame Owusu-Kesse at the Harlem Children's Zone 'On the Decision'

By: Jon M. Jachimowicz

January 2023 (Revised June 2023)
Case

Replika: Embodying AI

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Shweta Bagai and Marilyn Morgan Westner

Replika was a virtual AI companion that provided a way for people to process their emotions, build connections in a safe environment, and get through periods of loneliness. The chatbot fulfilled a user's need for a friend, romantic partner, or purely an emotional... View Details

Keywords: AI; AI and Machine Learning; Applications and Software; Human Needs; California

January 2023
Teaching Note

Call of Fiduciary Duty: Microsoft Acquires Activision Blizzard

By: Jonas Heese and Joseph Pacelli

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 123-011. View Details

January 2023
Case

Gerald Weiss (2023)

By: Brian J. Hall, Carleen Madigan, Andrew Wasynczuk and Caroline Witten

Gerald Weiss left Wall Street for the promise of a CFO position at a well-established corporation. He was given a 10-year options package with a guaranteed floor of $12 million and unlimited upside. To ensure the entire package would be worth at least $12 million after... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Resignation and Termination; Executive Compensation; Organizational Culture; Agreements and Arrangements; Stock Options; Conflict and Resolution; New York (city, NY)