Publications

2016
Chapter

User-Generated Content and Social Media

By: Michael Luca

This paper documents what economists have learned about user-generated content (UGC) and social media. A growing body of evidence suggests that UGC on platforms ranging from Yelp to Facebook has a large causal impact on economic and social outcomes ranging from... View Details

Keywords: User-generated Content; Crowdsourcing; Design Economics; Internet and the Web; Marketing; Economics; Media; Social Media

February 1986 (Revised June 1988)
Supplement

Donna Dubinsky and Apple Computer, Inc. (E)

Presents a description of two management style assessment questionnaires that were completed by Donna Dubinsky: the Influence Style Questionnaire and the Leadership Practices Inventory. Dubinsky's results are summarized and presented in two exhibit graphs. This data... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Computer Industry; United States

August 2024 (Revised December 2024)
Case

Influencer-Led Brand Building: Hairitage and the McKnights

By: William R. Kerr, Daniel O'Connor and James Palano

Longtime hairstyle influencer Mindy McKnight had been building her “Cute Girls Hairstyles” audience across numerous online platforms for nearly two decades. Brand incubator Maesa took an innovative approach to producing successful brands: identifying white space in the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Customer Focus and Relationships; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Product Development; Partners and Partnerships; Power and Influence; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Consumer Products Industry

March 2000 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Robert Moses

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Alexis Lefort

Robert Moses was Park Commissioner in New York City for nearly 50 years. In this position, he had more influence on the face of urban New York than anyone before or after. View Details

Keywords: Power and Influence; New York (city, NY)

09 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Moving From Bean Counter to Game Changer

management level.” If only they could be heard. Often these individuals remain buried in hierarchy, impacting only their isolated areas of influence. In the working paper Organizational Toolmaking: Transformations in the Influence of... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Banking

June 2009
Article

How Concepts Affect Consumption

By: Dan Ariely and Michael I. Norton

Duke behavioral economist Ariely and Harvard Business School professor Norton explore how our consumption of concepts influences physical consumption, both positively and negatively. View Details

Keywords: Spending; Marketing Communications; Consumer Behavior; Power and Influence

September–October 1998
Article

How to Kill Creativity

By: T. M. Amabile

The article addresses the topic of business creativity, its benefits, and how managers can inspire it. The author's research shows that it is possible to develop the best of both worlds: organizations in which business imperatives are attended to and creativity... View Details

Keywords: Creativity; Situation or Environment; Motivation and Incentives; Organizational Culture; Management Practices and Processes

2014
Working Paper

Agenda Setting at the FASB: Evidence from the Role of the FASAC

By: Abigail Allen

I examine the extent to which the FASB's agenda determination is a function of the contemporaneous preferences of its primary constituents: auditors, preparers, and financial statement users. Using the FASB's consultation with the FASAC as a lens through which to view... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Accounting Industry; United States

SSRN

February 2006 (Revised September 2007)
Background Note

Winner-Take-All in Networked Markets

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Discusses platform structure in new networked markets, that is, whether a market that exhibits network effects will be served by a single platform or by rival platforms. Defines "platforms" and "platform structure"; describes factors that influence the odds that a... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Growth Management; Network Effects; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web

Article

The Global Rise of Democracy: A Network Account

By: Magnus Thor Torfason and Paul Ingram

We examine the influence of an interstate network created by intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) on the global diffusion of democracy. We propose that IGOs facilitate this diffusion by transmitting information between their member states and by interpreting that... View Details

Keywords: International Relations; Networks; Society; Transformation; Power and Influence; Country; Globalization

2016
Working Paper

Delay as Agenda Setting

By: James J. Anton and Dennis A. Yao

We examine a dynamic decision-making process involving unrelated issues in which a decision may be endogenously delayed by the allocation of influence resources. Delay is strategically interesting when decision makers with asymmetric preferences face multiple issues... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Resource Allocation; Conflict of Interests; Power and Influence; Strategy

27 Jul 2009
Research & Ideas

Social Network Marketing: What Works?

it's important to understand both who influences purchase decisions in online communities and which groups of users can be influenced. “Viral campaigns truly leverage the network aspect of these social networking sites.” "By understanding... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Advertising; Publishing; Retail

2012
Working Paper

Componential Theory of Creativity

By: Teresa M. Amabile

The componential theory of creativity is a comprehensive model of the social and psychological components necessary for an individual to produce creative work. The theory is grounded in a definition of creativity as the production of ideas or outcomes that are both... View Details

Keywords: Creativity; Theory; Social Psychology; Organizational Culture

20 Sep 2007
Research & Ideas

How to be a Customer

Harvard Business School professor John Quelch writes a blog on marketing issues, called Marketing Know: How, for Harvard Business Online. It is reprinted on HBS Working Knowledge.99 percent of marketing focuses on how to sell to customers. Very little attention is paid... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

March 2001 (Revised July 2007)
Background Note

Power and Influence: Achieving Your Objectives in Organizations

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Elizabeth Long Lingo

Power is the potential to mobilize energy. This rather neutral definition does not address the issues of how to exercise power or to what ends. The answers to these questions determine the ultimate value of an individual's power. This note is written to help readers... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Personal Development and Career; Power and Influence; Social and Collaborative Networks; Value