Publications

16 Jul 2007
Research & Ideas

Understanding the ‘Want’ vs. ’Should’ Decision

that the receipt of a $10 discount would cause people to "splurge" on some extra goodies they might not otherwise have purchased. This is exactly what we observed, and this finding contradicts standard economic theory. View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Retail; Entertainment & Recreation

February 2011 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Aquion Energy

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and David Kiron

Leaders at Aquion Energy, a Pittsburgh-based battery start-up, are deciding on a market entry strategy. Should they pursue the large but unproven grid utility market or a smaller, but higher margin market? View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Production; Business Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Performance Capacity; Energy Industry

Article

Learning by Thinking: The Role of Reflection in Individual Learning

By: Giada Di Stefano, Francesca Gino, Gary P. Pisano and Bradley R. Staats

It is common wisdom that practice makes perfect. And, in fact, we find evidence that when given a choice between practicing a task and reflecting on their previously accumulated practice, most people opt for the former. We argue in this paper that this preference is... View Details

Keywords: Learning; Cognition and Thinking; Practice; Experience and Expertise

31 Oct 2018
News

Dialysis Giant DaVita Defends Itself In Court And At The Polls

23 Nov 2021
Research & Ideas

The Vinyl Renaissance: Take Those Old Records Off the Shelf

now for whom music has always been a free commodity. The more that we talk to college students and teenagers about why they buy vinyl, the common thread is that having vinyl in your dorm room or your house says something about you and who... View Details

Keywords: by Christine Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette; Music

March 2020 (Revised April 2020)
Case

CarTrade

By: Rajiv Lal and Shreya Ramachandran

Vinay Sanghi, the founder and CEO of CarTrade, had been trying different business strategies to keep the company, which he founded in 2010 as an online marketplace for used and new cars, profitable and on track for growth. In a crowded and disorganized dealer... View Details

Keywords: Online Marketplace; Automobiles; Customer Base; Internet and the Web; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Financing and Loans; E-commerce; Digital Platforms; Digital Marketing; Auto Industry; Retail Industry; India; Mumbai

2021
Article

Designing, Not Checking, for Policy Robustness: An Example with Optimal Taxation

By: Benjamin B. Lockwood, Afras Sial and Matthew C. Weinzierl

Economists typically check the robustness of their results by comparing them across plausible ranges of parameter values and model structures. A preferable approach to robustness—for the purposes of policymaking and evaluation—is to design policy that takes these... View Details

Keywords: Optimal Taxation; Income Tax; Social Welfare; Elasticity; Income; Taxation; Policy

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September 2010 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Gazelle in 2012

By: Andrei Hagiu and James Weber

Gazelle has pioneered a reCommerce intermediation model: it buys used electronics from consumers and resells them on eBay or to wholesalers. Going forward, its two main strategic challenges are 1) deciding how much to rely on partnerships with large retailers for... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Markets; Two-Sided Platforms; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy; Retail Industry; Service Industry

31 Jan 2023
Op-Ed

Can Insurance Technology Solve the Uninsured Driver Problem?

designed to be big enough that forgoing the bulk purchase to buy a smaller number of days implied a cost of credit at least as high as a typical payday loan. Seeing a lot of drivers who prefer to buy smaller... View Details

Keywords: by Ray Kluender; Insurance

March 2012 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Boston Children's Hospital: Measuring Patient Costs

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Mary L. Witkowski and Jessica A. Hohman

The case describes two pilot projects on applying activity-based costing to measuring the cost of treating patients. It presents process maps and financial data relating to the processes used during (1) an office visit to a plastic surgeon for three different diagnoses... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing; Costing; Hospitals; Activity Based Costing and Management; Mathematical Methods; Health Industry

2020
Working Paper

Designing, Not Checking, for Policy Robustness: An Example with Optimal Taxation

By: Benjami Lockwood, Afras Y. Sial and Matthew C. Weinzierl

Economists typically check the robustness of their results by comparing them across plausible ranges of parameter values and model structures. A preferable approach to robustness—for the purposes of policymaking and evaluation—is to design policy that takes these... View Details

Keywords: Optimal Taxation; Robust Optimization; Taxation; Income; Policy; Design

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February 1991 (Revised October 1991)
Case

Fenchel Lampshade Co.

By: William A. Sahlman

Describes the proposed purchase of a lampshade manufacturer by Steven and Michele Rogers, recent graduates of the Harvard Business School. Focuses on their plans to raise the capital necessary to buy the company. Among the issues raised are how to structure the deal... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Negotiation Deal; Business or Company Management; Cost vs Benefits; Manufacturing Industry

October 1992 (Revised September 1993)
Case

L.L. Bean, Inc.: Item Forecasting and Inventory Management

By: Arthur Schleifer Jr.

L.L. Bean must make stocking decisions on thousands of items sold through its catalogs. In many cases, orders must be placed with vendors twelve or more weeks before a catalog lands on a customer's doorstep, and commitments cannot be changed thereafter. As a result,... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Risk Management; Cost Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Demand and Consumers; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Retail Industry; United States

December 2021 (Revised February 2022)
Case

Bed Bath & Beyond: The New Strategy to Drive Shareholder Value

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel W. Fisher

At one time, Bed Bath & Beyond was one of the most successful specialty retailers in the United States—its growth and profit margins far exceeded both peer retailers in the home goods market as well as many other discount retailers. But in 2014, its stock price peaked,... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Value Creation; Diversification; Corporate Governance; Leading Change; Performance Evaluation; Valuation; Investment Activism; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

2021
Book

Sales Management That Works: How to Sell in a World That Never Stops Changing

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Selling is changing, but the impact on sales of megatrends like ecommerce, big data, and AI is often misunderstood and not supported by empirical data. Managers who fail to separate fact from hype will make decisions based on bad assumptions and, in a competitive... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Strategy; Salesforce Management; Change; Adaptation