Measurement Problems - Publications - Faculty & Research

05 Jul 2016
First Look

July 5, 2016

conservation problem as a behavior change problem, understand behavioral mechanisms and identify appropriate approaches for behavior change (awareness, incentives, nudges), and evaluate and adapt approaches based on new behavioral... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 May 2017
Research & Ideas

Bad At Your Job? Maybe It's the Job’s Fault

Source: Geber86 When a worker struggles to meet the demands of a particular position, the problem may not be with the employee—maybe it’s the job’s design that is wrong. A poorly designed job can work against even the most dedicated... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

24 Nov 2003
Research & Ideas

Boards and Corporate Governance: A Balanced Scorecard Approach

on the boards that approved these strategies. For example, about two-thirds of acquisitions fail to break even. Because acquisitions require board approval, they are a clear measure of board decision-making. The fact that so many... View Details

Keywords: Re: Robert S. Kaplan & Krishna G. Palepu

20 Oct 2010
Op-Ed

Export Competitiveness: Reversing the Logic

export-led growth strategies are providing the right answer. This note outlines a number of these concerns, ranging from the practical to the conceptual. It argues that an underlying problem has been the misguided interpretation of export... View Details

Keywords: by Christian Ketels

16 May 2000
Research & Ideas

The Simple Economics of Open Source

Incentive But the real advantage of open source, Lerner and Tirole discovered, is in the delayed or signaling incentives, where the visibility of the programmer's contribution counts most. Open source projects measure individual... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Technology

06 Jan 2020
Research & Ideas

Motivate Your High Performers to Share Their Knowledge

“People might be intimidated to approach the sales superstar and reveal that they are having problems because of self-image issues,” Stanton says. “And the best salespeople may want to hold on to their information because it gives them... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

06 Jan 2016
What Do You Think?

Why Do Leaders Get Their Timing Wrong?

culture change came too late. At Zappos, some believe that the change came too early or was even unnecessary. The two cases illustrate challenges that leaders face in getting the timing of their decisions right. How could the problem of... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Auto; Fashion

24 Feb 2022
Op-Ed

Want to Prevent the Next Hospital Bed Crisis? Enlist the SEC

During the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, many US hospitals could not provide enough beds to meet demand. Solving the problem of inadequate capacity is of utmost importance in the “new normal,” which requires recognizing the... View Details

Keywords: by Regina Herzlinger and Richard Boxer; Health

29 May 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, May 29, 2018

more sensitive to losses than gains in terms of economic growth? We find that measures of subjective well-being are more than twice as sensitive to negative as compared to positive economic growth. We use Gallup World Poll data from over... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

28 Apr 2003
Research & Ideas

Supply Chain Risk: Deal With It

capacity, shelf life, and customer demand. Such risks aren't new. In fact, "the underpinnings of problems today started two decades ago," says Craig Holmes, director of business continuity planning for Aon Risk Consultants,... View Details

Keywords: by David Stauffer

12 Oct 2022
Research & Ideas

When Design Enables Discrimination: Learning from Anti-Asian Bias on Airbnb

though they left host photos on the listing pages. In June 2020, Airbnb launched Project Lighthouse, a US-based research effort that aims to identify and measure bias involving names and photos to help the company create better policies,... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds; Technology; Travel

13 Mar 2005
Research & Ideas

The Tricky Business of Nonprofit Brands

should they balance operational activities and advocacy efforts? How can they better measure performance against their missions and improve accountability to stakeholders?" The authors discuss their book in the following Q&A.... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls

21 May 2012
Research & Ideas

OSHA Inspections: Protecting Employees or Killing Jobs?

inspectors find safety problems is not surprising," says Michael W. Toffel, an associate professor and the Marvin Bower Fellow at Harvard Business School. At the same time, when problems are resolved,... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

05 Sep 2018
Research & Ideas

The Hidden Benefit of Giving Back to Open Source Software

operating system. By cross-referencing a large technology-usage dataset with the domain extensions in the contributors’ email addresses, he was able to compare similarly situated companies–all of them medium-sized or large public companies, mainly in the tech sector–to... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Computer

23 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

COVID Was Supposed to Increase Bankruptcies. Instead, They've Gone Down.

stimulus package, known as the CARES Act, also likely helped many unemployed workers stave off bankruptcy. And state and local governments, federal agencies, and companies enacted policies that put a temporary halt to evictions, foreclosures, and other View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

10 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

Commodity Busters: Be a Price Maker, Not a Price Taker

Business is about making money, not measuring macho. The scrap heap of business disasters is littered with managers whose ego drive overwhelmed good business sense. Founder and former chief executive Ray Noorda had a wonderful business in... View Details

Keywords: by Benson P. Shapiro

24 Feb 2020
Research & Ideas

The Hidden Vulnerabilities of Open Source Software

naming conventions. Perhaps the most pressing problem is the lack of a standardized software component naming schema. “Until one exists, strategies for software security, transparency, and more will have limited effect,” the report... View Details

Keywords: by Frank Nagle and Jenny Hoffman; Computer

12 May 2020
Research & Ideas

It’s Time To Relaunch Your Remote Team

times but crucial in times of uncertainty. Hitting the reset button once won’t be enough. It would be self-defeating to put voice to these unprecedented feelings of anxiety and uncertainty only to bury them away and trudge along as though the View Details

Keywords: by Tsedal Neeley

Research Summary

Research

The founding and expansion of new firms is central to innovation and economic growth, but the determinants of a new idea’s success are difficult to ascertain. The decision to form a new firm and its ultimate outcome are impacted by ownership structure, financing... View Details

13 Apr 2021
Book

How Inclusive Managers Create Glass-Shattering Organizations

raises. Review the outcomes of promotion and compensation decisions by race, gender, and other identity characteristics. Retention. Track attrition and tenure by gender. Combat flexibility stigma by focusing on measurable aspects of... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

Publications