Publications

January 2017
Article

Should You Sleep on It? The Effects of Overnight Sleep on Subjective Preference-based Choice

By: Uma R. Karmarkar, Baba Shiv and Rebecca M.C. Spencer

Conventional wisdom and studies of unconscious processing suggest that sleeping on a choice may improve decision-making. Though sleep has been shown to benefit several cognitive tasks, including problem solving, its impact on everyday choices remains unclear. Here we... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Choice; Sleep; Choice Sets; Confidence; Consumer Psychology; Consumer Preferences; Decision Choices and Conditions; Consumer Behavior

06 Sep 2021
News

Tom Eisenmann: Startups and their Wrong Decisions

July 1999 (Revised March 2000)
Teaching Note

Walker and Company: Profit Plan Decisions TN

By: Robert L. Simons and Indra Reinbergs

Teaching Note for (9-197-084). View Details

Keywords: Profit; Decision Making

fall 1989
Article

How Do Investors Interpret Firms' Financial Decisions

By: Paul M. Healy and Krishna G. Palepu

Keywords: Finance; Decision Making; Investment

10 Oct 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Harnessing Our Inner Angels and Demons: What We Have Learned About Want/Should Conflicts and How That Knowledge Can Help Us Reduce Short-Sighted Decision Making

Keywords: by Katherine L. Milkman, Todd Rogers & Max H. Bazerman

January 2013
Case

Cabot Corporation: The Fuel Cell Decision (A)

By: Willy Shih and Ying Zhou

Managers at Cabot Corporation are faced with deciding the future of its fuel cell program. The (A) case recounts the view of the business manager and the technical project lead, and the (B) case describes the perspective of a senior manager who is the head of the New... View Details

Research Summary

Overview

By: John Beshears

In his research, Professor Beshears shows how managers can influence the behavior of customers and employees by changing the decision-making environment to call attention to a decision, to use psychological framing to shape assessments of options, or to help... View Details

Keywords: Behavioral Economics; Consumer Finance; Household Finance; Health Care; Organizational Economics; Decision Making; Economics; Negotiation; Behavioral Finance

2022
Working Paper

When Do Individuals Give Up Agency? The Role of Decision Avoidance

By: Holly Dykstra, Christine L. Exley and Muriel Niederle

A common policy problem is that individuals reject recommended options and insist on making their own choices. Via a large-scale experiment, we document and investigate what factors contribute to this preference for agency. Our main results show that individuals’... View Details

Keywords: Choice; Decision Making; Policy; Cognition and Thinking

Read Now

March 2003 (Revised August 2005)
Case

Making SMaL Big: SMaL Camera Technologies

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Scott Duncan Anthony

SMaL Camera Technologies CEO Maurizio Arienzo was trying to decide what market opportunities SMaL should target. The company had developed a revolutionary imaging technology that powered small digital still and video cameras. Its first-generation product--a kit to... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Decision Making; Disruptive Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Electronics Industry; Computer Industry; Massachusetts

September 2005
Case

Martha Goldberg Aronson: Leadership Decisions at Mid-Career

By: William W. George and Andrew N. McLean

In 2005, Martha Goldberg Aronson must decide whether to accept an overseas posting in a functional role with Medtronic Corp. The move would be a professional stretch, but would entail leaving a position with a plan half completed and moving her young family overseas.... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Work-Life Balance; Personal Development and Career; Motivation and Incentives; Opportunities; Leadership

06 Sep 2016
Blog Post

What Makes the HBS MBA unique?

lecture. Each class, you read a case about a protagonist and a decision that he/she is facing. You’re put into the shoes of the protagonist and forced to make a decision on... View Details

20 Sep 2014
News

Making Big Data Think Bigger

October 2015 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Ozark Feed and Ag Corporation: The ERP Decision

By: Jan Hammond, Paul Kalmbach and Eric Bernstein

This case describes a medium-sized business that manufactures animal feed for commercial and companion animals. The company has been growing rapidly and is considering whether or not to implement an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Ozark currently uses an IT... View Details

Keywords: ERP Systems; Information Technology; Supply Chain Management; Growth Management; Performance Improvement; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Decision Choices and Conditions; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Information Technology Industry; Missouri; Oklahoma; Texas; Arkansas

Article

Leaders as Decision Architects: Structure Your Organization's Work to Encourage Wise Choices

By: John Beshears and F. Gino

Everyone from CEOs to frontline workers commits preventable mistakes—for example, underestimating how long it will take to finish a project or focusing too much on information that supports their current view. It is extraordinarily difficult to rewire the human brain... View Details