Motivation and Incentives - Publications - Faculty & Research

04 Oct 2011
First Look

First Look: October 4

environmental protection was decoupled from regulation. These mechanisms include (a) the intense emphasis on economic growth leading to misaligned incentives and regulatory competition across regions, (b)... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

03 May 2004
What Do You Think?

How Much Is Enough?

Summing Up The concept of "just enough" triggered the sensitivities of many of us, judging from the quantity of responses to this month's column. Respondents divided themselves not into the usual pro and con camps, but into... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

22 Apr 2016
Blog Post

Working With Organizations That Recruit at HBS: An Interview with Mary-Kate Johnson

agenda but many don’t realize it. Students want to: 1) perform well in class 2) conduct endless research and create several excel sheets to determine what the next best step is for their career, and 3) work... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail

23 Apr 2014
HBS Case

Are Electronic Cigarettes a Public Good or Health Hazard?

health," one health advocate said. Consisting of a small barrel-shaped design that mimics an actual cigarette, the devices vaporize a liquid nicotine solution, which is then inhaled without the tar and carcinogens found in smoke.... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Food & Beverage; Advertising

13 Dec 2011
First Look

First Look: Dec. 13

donate. In some equilibria of the model, poor people give little because they expect donations to come mainly from richer individuals. In others, donations by poor individuals constitute a large fraction of donations, and this raises the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

16 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

Delivering the Digital Goods: iTunes vs. Peer-to-Peer

restrictions and differential metadata add little strategic insight. Q: One motivation for using iTunes that you identify is the fast download time provided by Apple—you can enjoy the music you download... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Music

18 Sep 2006
Research & Ideas

When Words Get in the Way: The Failure of Fiscal Language

accounting does, and in terms that are the same no matter what labeling convention one adopts. "We aren't being nihilistic," says Kotlikoff. "There are real government policies that affect the distribution of spending power... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

19 May 2003
Research & Ideas

Expensing Options Won’t Hurt High Tech

companies might benefit from picking other forms of incentive compensation that arguably do a better job of aligning executive and shareholder interests than conventional stock options do. Indexed or... View Details

Keywords: by Zvi Bodie, Robert S. Kaplan & Robert C. Merton

Article

The Psychological Costs of Pay-for-Performance: Implications for the Strategic Compensation of Employees

By: Ian Larkin, L. Pierce and F. Gino

Keywords: Cost; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Strategy; Employees

Citation

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September 1998 (Revised June 1999)
Case

Discovery Health (A)

A South African health insurance company undertakes a redesign of its prescription drug coverage policy in light of its experiences with Prozac. View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Service Delivery; Insurance; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance Industry; South Africa

Citation

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30 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 31, 2006

Entrepreneur's Dilemma Author:Noam Wasserman Periodical:The Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings (August 2006) Abstract The two major motivations to start a new venture are the profit motive View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

27 Apr 2009
Research & Ideas

Building Businesses in Turbulent Times

Battered by contracting markets and frozen credit, many businesses today are fighting for survival. Indeed, the current global financial crisis provides a mandate for restructuring. But survival is not the end goal, says Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

20 Dec 2004
Research & Ideas

The U.S. Patent Game: How to Change It

applications to be granted! Furthermore, the new orientation creates strong incentives for the patent office to process applications as quickly as possible, and at the lowest possible cost. As a result,... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen

07 Sep 2010
Research & Ideas

Mindful Leadership: When East Meets West

to one's reactions to stressful situations. Leaders who are mindful tend to be more effective in understanding and relating to others, and motivating them toward shared goals.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

14 Sep 2007
Research & Ideas

How to Profit from Scarcity

Second, VW factories "fully loaded" the New Beetles with options to maximize the unit margin that VW and the dealers extracted on each vehicle. Third, VW incented its dealers to stock up on... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Consumer Products; Advertising

19 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Empathy: The Brand Equity of Retail

very dumb things. And it's always tempting to say, 'Can we just tweak the incentives and hope the problem goes away?' But that can come back and... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Health

12 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

Buy-In from Black Patients Suffers When Drug Trials Don’t Include Them

coauthored the study with Marcella Alsan, a professor at Harvard Kennedy School; Heidi Williams, a professor at Stanford University; and Harsh Gupta and Maya Durvasula, doctoral candidates at Stanford. Why... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis; Pharmaceutical; Health

07 Nov 2016
Research & Ideas

Corporate Tax Strategies Mirror Personal Returns of Top Execs

dividends. “The decision to accelerate that dividend was driven in large part by the executives’ preferences,” Pérez Cavazos says. While executives with a large stake in the company had added incentive to minimize taxes, that “doesn’t... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland

17 Dec 2020
Research & Ideas

The 10 Most Popular Stories of 2020

Values, and Damages Great Companies Performance hacking means overzealous advocacy of positive interpretations to the point of detachment from actuals. In business as in research there are strong incentives... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

September 1998 (Revised July 1999)
Case

Discovery Health (B)

By: Samuel S. Chun and Shaun Matisonn

A South African health insurance company grapples with designing a financially viable coverage solution for a new prescription drug treatment for male impotence. View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Service Delivery; Insurance; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance Industry; South Africa

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