Learning By Doing - Publications - Faculty & Research

07 Aug 2017
Research & Ideas

'Be Yourself (Within Reason)' and Other Job Search Survival Tips

kept getting longer, and I finally realized I might be able to do a service by putting all this information into one package. Silverthorne: Is the academic job market for accounting PhDs a difficult field to... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Accounting; Education

14 Mar 2018
Blog Post

The 2+2 Program: Finding the Freedom to Take Risks

share his journey to Harvard Business School and how the 2+2 Program helped him. Room to ExploreWhen I learned about the 2+2 Program, it seemed interesting, but initially brought on more questions than answers: “Do I even want to View Details

12 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

Operations and the Competitive Edge

"Companies too often treat decisions about operations on an ad hoc basis, regarding them as a series of technical problems that can be surmounted one by one without regard for the interactions among them." How should senior... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

12 Jan 2004
Research & Ideas

Does Your HQ Operation Fit With Corporate Strategy?

sizes because companies are not required to report that level of detail. As a result, a survey is the only way to collect the data. Corporate headquarters need to be carefully designed to fit with the strategy. We were really trying to do... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

30 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

COVID Not Slowing VC Investment

The COVID-19 pandemic has battered industries around the world, but one sector's prospects aren’t so bleak: venture capital. Startup backers—and private-equity managers in general—say that half of their portfolio companies haven’t been harmed View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Financial Services; Banking

07 Apr 2011
What Do You Think?

When Should the Public Sector Take Over in a Meltdown?

accurate information?, (2) later, or (3) not at all? What are the criteria that should govern public intervention in a meltdown faced by a private organization? Do they apply equally to one government's... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Energy; Utilities

29 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Work 3.0: Redefining Jobs and Companies in the Uber Age

Are Uber drivers and HourlyNerd consultants independent contractors or employees? Interesting question, but the wrong one. Better to ask: Are we stifling innovation across the digital economy by forcing a simplistic choice, contractor vs.... View Details

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu; Transportation; Web Services

02 Jul 2014
What Do You Think?

Are Today’s Business Heroes Challenging Our Ideas About Leadership?

to be inconsistent, if not contradictory. "In the ultimate analysis, however everything boils down to perception of the team members or subordinates or followers of the leader concerned." The importance of maintaining an open mind on the subject of leadership... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Throwing Your Opponent: Strategies for the Internet Age

advise entrepreneurs not to ignore some of the old rules of doing business. "Companies still have to build competitive advantage and concentrate on efficient processes and quality products," they note. But View Details

Keywords: by Daniel Penrice

26 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

A Clear Eye for Innovation

preparing for the innovations that will define the future. This mental balancing act can be one of the toughest of all managerial challenges—it requires executives to explore new opportunities even as they work diligently to exploit existing capabilities—and it's no... View Details

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

30 Jan 2019
What Do You Think?

Who Will Measure up to These Two Remarkable Leaders?

(the) future going to come from? Which schools, if any, business or otherwise, are teaching these skills?” One way to respond to his questions is to look into the educational backgrounds of those cited as potential candidates by other... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Air Transportation; Financial Services

22 Apr 2002
Research & Ideas

Profits and Prophets: The Role of Values in Investment

few" examples of shareholder actions resulting in an outcome such as the South African divestitures. "So, how do we operate in an imperfect society?" he asked. While clearly his committee wouldn't invest in a company owned... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

19 May 2014
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Should Compete for Your Privacy

365 learn from consumer usage patterns and documents, personalizing their user interfaces by selecting which quick-access functions to display and incorporating new words and expressions into their... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Consumer Products

28 Mar 2004
Research & Ideas

HBS Celebrates Social Enterprise Initiative

significant challenges to overcome? A: It was refreshing and encouraging to experience the strong positive response to the SEI from HBS students, alums, faculty, and staff. By providing support, encouragement, and intellectual legitimacy,... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls

14 Mar 2016
Research & Ideas

The Surprising Connection between 1930s Weather and Today's Labor Unions

members lived in just seven states: California, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, and New Jersey. Yet these states accounted for only one-third of paid employment nationally. And those same states have held the highest unionization rates for decades. So... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

22 Apr 2015
Op-Ed

Reforming Greece: Myths and Truths

totaling 950 million euros to the International Monetary Fund by May 12. However, major confusion exists about what has happened in this period and why we are still talking about Greece being at the Eurozone's exit door and at the brink... View Details

Keywords: by George Serafeim

13 Jun 2014
Op-Ed

World Cup Soccer: 770 Billion Minutes of Attention

they do on 50 million viewers. So FIFA drives up the value of those eyeballs by selling exclusive broadcasting rights to only one broadcaster per country rather than splintering attention among multiple... View Details

Keywords: by Thales Teixeira; Sports

27 Jul 2019
Op-Ed

Does Facebook's Business Model Threaten Our Elections?

co-worker; with 150, it can do better than a family member; and with 300, better than a spouse. But then came the Cambridge Analytica fiasco, when that firm got 250,000 Facebook users to voluntarily give them access to their personal data... View Details

Keywords: by George Riedel

04 Jan 2012
What Do You Think?

Income Inequality: What’s the Right Amount?

productivity flourishes where income disparity exists to a greater extent." Susan Rushworth offered "food for thought" in citing research that led her to conclude that "the faster the economy grew (as measured by GDP),... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

30 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

Looking Behind Bad Decisions

African government take a stand against an effective AIDS treatment drug? The inability of government to make wise tradeoffs—give up small losses for much larger gain—has been investigated by HBS professor Max Bazerman and his research... View Details