by Michael Pirson - Publications - Faculty & Research

18 Jul 2019
News

Apollo 11 Astronaut Michael Collins Reflects on the 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of 1969’s successful Apollo 11 voyage, Michael Collins (AMP 69, 1974) has been sharing his memories of the famous, three-man moon mission. Collins played a critical support role while Buzz Aldrin and... View Details

05 Jun 2013
Op-Ed

Corporate Leaders Need to Step Up on Climate Change

Green initiatives are ubiquitous these days, implemented with zeal at companies like Dupont, IBM, Walmart, and Walt Disney. The programs being rolled out—lighting retrofits, zero-waste factories, and carpool incentives—save money and provide a green glow. Most large... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Toffel & Auden Schendler

18 Aug 2010
Working Paper Summaries

The Role of Organizational Scope and Governance in Strengthening Private Monitoring

Keywords: by Lamar Pierce & Michael W. Toffel

09 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Why Entrepreneurs Should Go Work for Government

Mitchell B. Weiss has heard it too many times: government doesn't work. Too slow. Too bureaucratic. Too burdened by procurement rules and performance measures. "Some of that is fair, and some of that is unfair, but it adds up over... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

16 Nov 2016
Research & Ideas

Turning One Thousand Customers into One Million

soliciting feedback from its most loyal and vocal customers” As impressive as that accomplishment was, 1,000 customers is hardly enough to ensure long-run success. For that, these companies had to scale up dramatically, from 1,000 to over 1 million, which is the... View Details

Keywords: by Thales S. Teixeira and Michael Blanding; Retail; Transportation; Accommodations

16 Oct 2017
News

750 Gun Deaths a Year Are Prevented by Waiting Periods, Study Finds

October 2009
Article

Shaping Online Consumer Choice by Partitioning the Web

By: Jolie M. Martin and Michael I. Norton

This research explores how partitioning attributes in online search interfaces changes the valuations of those attributes-and impacts subsequent choice-such that attributes that are displayed as separate categories tend to receive greater decision weight than... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Information Management; Demand and Consumers; Research; Internet and the Web; Valuation

Citation

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15 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

What You Don’t Know About Making Decisions

Unfortunately, superior decision making is distressingly difficult to assess in real time. Successful outcomes—decisions of high quality, made in a timely manner and implemented effectively—can be evaluated only after the fact. But by the... View Details

Keywords: by David A. Garvin & Michael A. Roberto

09 Feb 2004
Research & Ideas

Got a New Strategy? Now Make it Happen

Technologies' Systems Generation and Delivery Unit (SGDU), was charged with creating a single global company from a set of fragmented businesses in Asia, Europe, and the United States. To gain control over product decisions being made by... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Beer & Russell A. Eisenstat

10 Apr 2019
HBS Case

How Entrepreneurs Can Turn Lead Into Gold

through narratives and storytelling, or by seeking out members of a common group. One company that has succeeded in this regard, says Wu, is Cotopaxi, a Salt Lake City–based creator of outdoor apparel that Wu explored in a case study for... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

21 Jan 2020
Research & Ideas

Lessons for Retailers from the Rebirth of Indie Bookstores

values that include community, curation, and convening. (Video by Amelia Kunhardt) About the Author Michael Blanding is a writer based in Boston. [Image: georgeclerk] Related Reading Technology Re-Emergence:... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Entertainment & Recreation

01 Mar 2017
Research & Ideas

A Good Thing Happens When Doctors Start Talking to Their Patients

Kaplan, who has been working on a multiyear project with HBS Professor Michael E. Porter on improving value in health care, has found that often the most effective medical procedure is one that costs the least: talking. In a recent... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health

11 Mar 2024
News

In Harmony

Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Spotify More Skydeck episodes Hi, my name is Julia Hanna; I’m an associate editor at the HBS Alumni Bulletin. Last November I flew to Seoul, South Korea to interview Michael Kim (MBA 1990) of MBK Partners. Often referred to as one of... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; photograph by Jun Michael Park

16 Jul 2008
Op-Ed

What Should Employers Do about Health Care?

of health insurance obligations. But by disengaging, employers lose much of their ability to influence the costs of poor health. This is what many European companies have discovered. In Sweden, for example, excessive rates of absenteeism... View Details

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter, Elizabeth O. Teisberg & Scott Wallace; Health

July 2023
Supplement

Sian Flowers: Fresher by Sea? – PowerPoint Supplement

By: Willy C. Shih and Michael W. Toffel

Citation

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26 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

A Clear Eye for Innovation

the key to creating breakthrough innovations. Still others have claimed that a company may be able to shift back and forth between different organizational models, focusing on exploitation for a period and then moving into exploration mode. We recently decided to test... View Details

Keywords: by Charles A. O'Reilly III & Michael L. Tushman

22 Mar 2016
News

Harvard Business School and BBC Radio 4 work together to produce first debate of Michael Sandel’s The Global Philosopher via HBX Live

03 Dec 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Creating Leaders: An Ontological Model

Keywords: by Werner Erhard, Michael C. Jensen & Kari L. Granger

23 Dec 2013
Research & Ideas

Just How Independent are ‘Independent’ Directors?

In theory, a board of directors protects the rights of shareholders. Independent directors are supposed to be just that—independent—free to dissent from a decision of the majority. The reality is more complex. Directors are tied to one another View Details