Individual - Publications - Faculty & Research

22 Sep 2014
Op-Ed

Online Banks Fill Funding Needs for Small Business

about $40,000. Lending Club, Prosper, Funding Circle and Fundation are using a peer-to-peer (P2P) model. Backed by individual investors, these companies make loan decisions based on proprietary credit models and typically target mid-prime... View Details

Keywords: by Karen Mills; Banking; Financial Services

17 Jun 2013
Research & Ideas

Advertising Symbiosis: The Key to Viral Videos

advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy then created and uploaded 185 short videos where Mustafa responded personally to individual Twitter users, a mix of celebrities, politicians, and average fans. Inevitably, they supposedly shared the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Advertising

03 Dec 2012
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Against the Grain

if paying a bribe makes the difference between waiting years or mere days for a permit or license, it is tempting to many individuals to just pay up. As the "Against the Grain" case suggests, pervasive corruption entails a... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Food & Beverage

25 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Chasing Stars: Why the Mighty Red Sox Struck Out

have," he says. "Can this person be a good fit based on the team dynamics created by the other players already?" He notes that the New England Patriots have a good reputation for recruiting players based on how they will fit into the team, rather than on... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Sports; Banking

06 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

The Power of Leadership Groups for Staying on Track

times. How True North Groups Work In a True North Group you gain experience in giving and receiving feedback in nonjudgmental ways without taking it personally. This approach is more likely to enable individuals to absorb the feedback and... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

31 Aug 2009
Research & Ideas

Why Competition May Not Improve Credit Rating Agencies

reserves when investing in bonds of lower ratings. Ratings are also used in private contracts, for example to define the investment objectives of bond mutual funds. Ratings are a concise and well-understood metric of credit quality. Ratings firms spread this... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

20 Feb 2007
First Look

First Look: February 20, 2007

change. In particular, we examine how banking professionals resisted efforts of larger banks to expand their domains by acquiring smaller banks within individual communities. Drawing on a detailed community-level dataset of U.S.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

12 Feb 2001
Research & Ideas

John Irving’s Lessons for Business

as well as how to nurture creativity, both in individuals and in organizations. Amabile interviewed John Irving in 1986, when he agreed to share memories of his childhood as part of a research project Amabile was conducting on children... View Details

Keywords: by Mallory Stark & Martha Lagace

01 Nov 2024
In Practice

Layoffs Surging in a Strong Economy? Advice for Navigating Uncertain Times

push individuals into starting ventures out of necessity. When this happens, aspiring entrepreneurs often lower the threshold for the quality of the business ideas they pursue. Companies founded during such periods often display weaker... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology; Information Technology

14 Feb 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: February 14

line of research examines how best to schedule work to improve operational performance. This literature typically takes the perspective of a central planner who directs individuals to execute tasks in a prescribed order. In many settings,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 Dec 2016
First Look

December 20, 2016

development, (2) the meaningfulness of the work to those carrying it out, (3) affect, and (4) synergistic extrinsic motivation. Throughout, we propose ways in which the components underlying individual and team creativity can both... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

12 May 2015
Research & Ideas

How Crowds and Experts Kickstart the Arts

information. They then distributed a set of three project successes and three failures to a group of individuals that had previously judged for organizations like the NEA and other funding bodies. "The idea was quite simple: to render the... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment & Recreation

30 Sep 2013
Research & Ideas

Do Mergers Hurt Product Quality?

companies own which brands, especially when each brand operates an individual retail outlet. Whirlpool Corporation, for example, owns the Whirlpool brand, of course, but it also owns KitchenAid, Maytag, and Jenn-Air. "We found that... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Consumer Products

02 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

The Success of Persistent Entrepreneurs

expansion of venture-capital firms. How and when do venture-capital firms open up new offices? How do the strategic choices related to opening up those offices affect the success of investments? Finally, we are also beginning to explore how the experience and... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

31 Oct 2004
What Do You Think?

Should the Wisdom of Crowds Influence Our Thinking About Leadership?

into a collective decision." In a variety of situations researchers have found that the median view of members of a crowd is more accurate than all but a handful of individuals, and that no individual is able consistently to make... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

03 May 2004
What Do You Think?

How Much Is Enough?

emphasis needs to be on process, on the journey, not on end points." Marc Michaelson reminded us that "when individuals manage their lives well, they make better teams and stronger organizations." Respondents also provided... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

08 Apr 2002
Research & Ideas

How to Negotiate “Yes” Across Cultural Boundaries

interact—everything from how people view the role of the individual versus the group to their attitudes, say, about the importance of time or relationships. In response to these challenges, a great body of literature has emerged to help... View Details

Keywords: by James K. Sebenius

23 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

How Relationships are Building Biotech

on the individual level, or on tracing a line from the macro to the micro level, Higgins is taking a separate yet complementary path for exploration: examining large-scale organizational dynamics from the direction of individuals'... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace & Mallory Stark

29 May 2001
Research & Ideas

Good News, Not Blues, For the Inner City

advantage of the inner city, though, comes not through the income of residents but rather what he called "income density"—a high population living in close quarters within any individual area. Inner cities can also boast... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

25 Apr 2000
Research & Ideas

Adjusting the Fit for Government

skills development." Other essentials for governments, Donovan said, are a willingness to privatize businesses, and to follow the rule of law "as opposed to the rule of individual parties and special interests." Another is... View Details