Publications

Research Summary

Mobile web advertising: maximum entropy banner allocation

The worldwide mobile advertising market, currently $3 billion in size, is expected to grow to $20 billion by 2011. Online and mobile advertising employs two main pricing models: pay-per-click (CPC) and pay-per-impression (CPM). To date, most of the... View Details

October 2000 (Revised December 2000)
Exercise

Participant and Leader Behavior: Group Decision Simulation (D)

This series provides the instructions for a group decision-making simulation in which students experience four different methods for leading a group decision process. In the simulation, all students work in groups, with one person designated as the team leader. All... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Decision Making

October 2000 (Revised December 2000)
Exercise

Participant and Leader Behavior: Group Decision Simulation (F)

This series provides the instructions for a group decision-making simulation in which students experience four different methods for leading a group decision process. In the simulation, all students work in groups, with one person designated as the team leader. All... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Decision Making

Teaching Interest

Strategy For Entrepreneurs

By: Rembrand M. Koning

Strategy for Entrepreneurs (SFE) helps students develop better strategies for the ventures they start, the startups they will join, and the new companies they might invest in. The course pushes students to write down a theory of value and then design and run... View Details

October 2000 (Revised December 2000)
Exercise

Participant and Leader Behavior: Group Decision Simulation (B)

This series provides the instructions for a group decision-making simulation in which students experience four different methods for leading a group decision process. In the simulation, all students work in groups, with one person designated as the team leader. All... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Decision Making

October 2000 (Revised December 2000)
Exercise

Participant and Leader Behavior: Group Decision Simulation (A)

This series provides the instructions for a group decision-making simulation in which students experience four different methods for leading a group decision process. In the simulation, all students work in groups, with one person designated as the team leader. All... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Decision Making

December 24, 2019
Article

Why It's So Hard to Change People's Commuting Behavior

By: Ariella S. Kristal and A. V. Whillans

Car commuters report higher levels of stress and lower job satisfaction compared to train commuters—in large part because car commuting can involve driving in traffic and navigating tense road situations. Some employers are trying to get involved and reduce car... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Motivating People; Time And Wellbeing; Time Stress; Commuting; Behavior; Change; Motivation and Incentives

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December 24, 2019
Editorial

Why It’s So Hard to Change People’s Commuting Behavior

By: Ariella Kristal and Ashley Whillans

Car commuters report higher levels of stress and lower job satisfaction compared to train commuters—in large part because car commuting can involve driving in traffic and navigating tense road situations. Some employers are trying to get involved and reduce car... View Details

Keywords: Satisfaction; Behavior; Employees

April 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Wayfair

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Susie L. Ma and Matthew G. Preble

In 2016 Niraj Shah and Steve Conine, founders of online home goods retailer Wayfair, are faced with a decision about how to improve user experience on their e-commerce sites. A key driver of consumer interest and conversion to purchase in the home category is visual... View Details

Keywords: Visual Assets; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Decision Making; Business or Company Management; Growth Management; Innovation and Invention; Operations; Strategy; Technology; Retail Industry; Service Industry; United States; Massachusetts

June 2014
Case

Starbucks Coffee Company: Transformation and Renewal

By: Nancy F. Koehn, Kelly McNamara, Nora N. Khan and Elizabeth Legris

Starbucks Coffee Company: Transformation and Renewal analyzes the turnaround and reconstruction of Starbucks Coffee Company from 2008 to 2014 as led by CEO and co-founder Howard Schultz. The case offers executives and students an opportunity to examine in depth how... View Details

February 2019
Technical Note

Can Multiunit Organizations Remain Agile as They Grow?

By: Tatiana Sandino

This note discusses how multiunit organizations incorporate flexibility into their management control systems, some by authorizing all or a select number of their dispersed units to make input and process decisions, some by investing in data-analytic technologies to... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Flexibility; Management Systems; Business Units; Decision Making

June 2023 (Revised October 2024)
Teaching Note

Clash of Two Giants Simulation Exercise Teaching Note

By: Feng Zhu

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 623-092. Many markets are organized around platforms that connect consumers with complimentary applications and services. These platforms are two-sided because both sides—consumers and those providing applications or services—need access... View Details

Keywords: Platform Strategy; Customer Acquisition; Technology Platform; Competitive Strategy; Network Effects; Digital Platforms; Management Skills

19 Oct 2009
Research & Ideas

Why Are Web Sites So Confusing?

Do you sometimes get the feeling that Internet portals, search pages, social networks, e-commerce, and other Web sites are not necessarily designed in order to maximize user convenience and benefits? We do,... View Details

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu & Bruno Jullien

Research Summary

Overview

By: Iavor I. Bojinov

Over the last decade, technology companies like Amazon, Google, and Netflix have pioneered data-driven research and development processes centered on massive experimentation. However, as companies increase the breadth and scale of their experiments to millions of... View Details

03 Jun 2013
Research & Ideas

The Power of Rituals in Life, Death, and Business

Norton, an associate professor in the Marketing unit at Harvard Business School. "But we didn't know if the ritual caused the healing." “We see in every culture—and throughout history—that people who perform rituals report feeling better." What followed... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

Research Summary

Overview

Over the last decade, technology companies like Amazon, Google, and Netflix have pioneered data-driven research and development processes centered on massive experimentation. However, as companies increase the breadth and scale of their experiments to millions of... View Details

March 2020
Case

A Tower for the People: 425 Park Avenue

By: John Macomber, Joseph G. Allen and Emily Jones

Healthy buildings and superior air quality are increasingly important since people now spend so much time indoors. Indoor spaces drive performance and productivity. Commercial real estate landlords and investors are responding to the demands of sophisticated tenants... View Details

Keywords: Health And Wellness; Real Estate; Sustainability; Health; Pollution; Buildings and Facilities; Performance Productivity; Finance; Real Estate Industry; New York (city, NY)

2021
Working Paper

Does Social Media Cause Polarization? Evidence from Access to Twitter Echo Chambers during the 2019 Argentine Presidential Debate

By: Rafael Di Tella, Ramiro H. Gálvez and Ernesto Schargrodsky

We study how two groups, those inside vs. those outside echo chambers, react to a political event when we vary social media status (Twitter). Our treatments mimic two strategies often suggested as a way to limit polarization on social media: they expose people to... View Details

Keywords: Political Polarization; Political Elections; Internet and the Web; Attitudes; Social Media; Argentina

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June 2023
Exercise

Clash of Two Giants Simulation Exercise Instructions

By: Feng Zhu and Marco Iansiti

Many markets are organized around platforms that connect consumers with complimentary applications and services. These platforms are two-sided because both sides - consumers and those providing applications or services - need access to the same platform to interact. A... View Details

Keywords: Platform Strategies; Technology Platform; Customer Acquisition; Network Effects; Digital Platforms; Marketplace Matching; Strategy