Learning By Thinking - Publications - Faculty & Research

19 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Empathy: The Brand Equity of Retail

Harvard Business School, professor Ananth Raman discussed the importance of empathy in customer-facing business. "As we're talking about things like retail efficiency and profitability, this is a topic that I think needs more attention,"... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Health

02 Jul 2014
What Do You Think?

Are Today’s Business Heroes Challenging Our Ideas About Leadership?

to be inconsistent, if not contradictory. "In the ultimate analysis, however everything boils down to perception of the team members or subordinates or followers of the leader concerned." The importance of maintaining an open mind on the subject of leadership... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

01 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

Connecting With Nonprofits

collaborations are characterized by clear purpose, mission congruency, high and mutually balanced value creation, effective communication, and deep reciprocal commitment." —James Austin It is important to note that progression along... View Details

Keywords: by James Austin

12 Jan 2004
Research & Ideas

Does Your HQ Operation Fit With Corporate Strategy?

size of a company's headquarters—it could be that profitable companies waste their money on large headquarters—but it does suggest that companies should not necessarily be looking to minimize the size of their headquarters. Q: The lean and mean approach doesn't seem to... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

05 Feb 2009
What Do You Think?

Why Can’t We Figure Out How to Select Leaders?

about candidates before they start predicts how they'll do once they're hired." Three that he cites in a recent article in The New Yorker are pro football quarterbacks, high-performing financial advisors, and teachers. Learning is... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

17 Jan 2015
News

The Crisis in Worker Engagement & The 2 Things You Should Do About It

30 Sep 2013
Research & Ideas

Do Mergers Hurt Product Quality?

according to a recent study by Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Albert W. Sheen. In The Real Product Impact of Mergers, Sheen finds that mergers generally have little effect on product quality over time, even while product... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Consumer Products

11 Feb 2013
Research & Ideas

Neuroeconomics: Eyes, Brain, Business

why the brain evolved to pay attention to other people.” The problem was that while the film's characters appeared astonishingly human in many ways, their eyes looked lifeless. Viewers were creeped out. Humans are often delighted by... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

30 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

Looking Behind Bad Decisions

African government take a stand against an effective AIDS treatment drug? The inability of government to make wise tradeoffs—give up small losses for much larger gain—has been investigated by HBS professor Max Bazerman and his research... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls

March 2018
Case

Sachem Head's Activism at Autodesk

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Quinn Pitcher

In 2015, activist hedge fund Sachem Head Capital, led by founder Scott Ferguson, launched an activist campaign at computer aided design (CAD) software maker Autodesk. The activist campaign, waged mainly in private, was over Autodesk's lackluster financial performance,... View Details

Keywords: Shareholder Activism; Investing; Activist Investing; Technology; CEO Turnover; Hedge Fund Activism; Benchmarking; Corporate Governance; Information Technology; Investment Activism; Performance Improvement; Management Succession; United States

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20 Sep 2021
Research & Ideas

How Much Is Freedom Worth? For Gig Workers, a Lot.

average driver out of their preferred shift is as bad as cutting their weekly earnings by more than 5 percent. For the California drivers that we study, the ability to start or stop working at any moment and the flexibility to change... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Technology

09 Aug 2013
Research & Ideas

Read All About It: Digital CEO Buys Traditional Media!

focus on digital innovations but kept it organizationally separate from the paper. One of the lab's most famous creations was its Social Reader, a product designed for Facebook and the first by any major paper to experiment with directly... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner; Journalism & News; Publishing

06 Oct 2003
Research & Ideas

The Growth of the Social Enterprise

strongest motivators for expansion, yet the benefits nonetheless exceeded the expectations. By recognizing the potential benefits from brand and organizational learning from the beginning, nonprofit leaders... View Details

Keywords: by Carla Tishler

24 Mar 2008
Research & Ideas

Reducing Risk with Online Advertising

markets, these are the kinds of concerns you should think about when setting payment terms and dealing directly with suppliers. One tool to deter fraud: pay later. Edelman's new research on a major advertising affiliate network... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Video Game; Web Services

19 Nov 2007
Lessons from the Classroom

Teaching The Moral Leader

short course for first-year MBAs on leadership, values, and decision-making. I reasoned that I would learn more about the questions that had troubled me by teaching the course. I became increasingly... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Education

10 Feb 2014
HBS Case

Stressing Safety in South Africa’s Platinum Mines

American," a case study authored by Mukunda with Lisa Mazzanti and Aldo Sesia (both case researchers at HBS). The case follows several key events in the career of Cynthia Carroll (HBS MBA 1989), who from 2007 to 2013 served as chief... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Manufacturing

16 Jul 2024
Op-Ed

Corporate Boards Are Failing in Their No. 1 Duty

appointments go wrong Let’s begin by taking a look at three examples of poor leadership at public companies and addressing what went wrong. Then, I will recommend five ways boards can ensure they appoint the right leader as CEO: General... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

20 Jul 2016
Research & Ideas

Airplane Design Brings Out the Class Warfare in Us All

This scenario may sound familiar, unfortunately: Your flight begins with poking and prodding by the TSA agent, all to wait for the inevitable delayed departure. Boarding extends the indignities: more waiting while your section is called,... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Air Transportation; Sports; Travel

30 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Entering the Age of Alliances

The twenty-first century will be the age of alliances. In this age, collaboration between nonprofit organizations and corporations will grow in frequency and strategic importance. Collaborative relationships will increasingly migrate from the traditionally... View Details