Happy End Problem - Publications - Faculty & Research

27 Aug 2013
First Look

First Look: August 27

simplifies the retirement savings plan participation decision. Individuals received an opportunity to enroll in a retirement savings plan at a pre-selected contribution rate and asset allocation, allowing them to collapse a multidimensional View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

30 Apr 2020
Book

Fighting Climate Change Requires a New Capitalism

Rebecca Henderson spent her young adult years living two lives. At work, she preached the risks of resisting change to MBA students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, drawing on lessons she learned while watching factories close as a management consultant.... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Energy

11 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

Why Budgeting Kills Your Company

holds a three-day meeting to discuss them and then makes its decisions. Of course, at the other end of the spectrum, you have these 200-page budget books that get produced, requiring months of meetings." In some instances, the budget... View Details

Keywords: by Loren Gary

02 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Not All M&As Are Alike—and That Matters

of books and articles published about M&A, no one has ever tried to link strategic intent to the implications for integration that result.— HBS Professor Joseph Bower I will turn now to the problems that arise in different types of... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph L. Bower

18 Apr 2000
Research & Ideas

Learning in Action

months. During the test period, Bean encourages extensive feedback at all times, and formally solicits feedback at three points: when the product is first received, at the midpoint, and at the end of the test. The midpoint evaluations are... View Details

Keywords: by David A. Garvin

28 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Coronavirus Could Create a 'Bankruptcy Pandemic'

couple of years could top what we saw during the 2008-2009 Global Financial Crisis, when there were more than 100,000 business bankruptcies. Some analysts are forecasting that by the end of 2021 up to 20 percent of high-yield corporate... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Financial Services; Banking

06 Sep 2004
Research & Ideas

The Innovator’s Battle Plan

disappointing, ending in either a brutal fight or incumbent co-option How Asymmetries Propel Disruptive Entrants Asymmetries allow disruptive attackers to enter a market, grow without incumbent interference, and mitigate the incumbent's... View Details

Keywords: by Clayton M. Christensen, Scott D. Anthony & Erik A. Roth

28 Aug 2012
First Look

First Look: August 28

of developing its third set of 10‐year goals, with the aim of producing a plan that will ensure the viability of the company 50 years from now. With this end in mind, Dow's leaders understand their obligation to continue investing in the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Apr 2007
Lessons from the Classroom

Making the Move to General Manager

when they have to recreate themselves as generalists. In this new generalist role, they end up knowing less and less about more and more. This is an extremely difficult and potentially very risky transition, and it can easily derail a... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

11 Feb 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

10 Rules Entrepreneurs Need to Know Before Adopting AI

generalized toolkits to business users or get bogged down in custom software consulting engagements that solve nonrepeatable use cases. There are more opportunities today for entrepreneurs to focus on solving vertical problems than... View Details

Keywords: by Rocio Wu

10 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Retailing Revolution: Category Killers on the Brink

were ahead of their time. While sales in stores declined dramatically during the economic downturn, sales on the Internet continued upward, totaling $165 billion by the end of 2010. While still only 5 percent of the overall retail market,... View Details

Keywords: by Rajiv Lal & Jose B. Alvarez; Retail

10 Jan 2022
Research & Ideas

How to Get Companies to Make Investments That Benefit Everyone

whole, and the students won’t have to take on huge debts. But removing that burden for students ends up costing taxpayers up front, which meets resistance. Solving social problems longer term involves... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

03 Dec 2014
What Do You Think?

Can the Brilliant Jerk Be Managed Effectively?

Summing Up Can the Brilliance of the "Jerk" Be Tapped? The best business problem cases are those that divide a class into groups making two or more persuasive arguments. The questions of whether or not and how to make... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

25 Jan 2010
Research & Ideas

A Macroeconomic View of the Current Economy

regardless of the GDP. But if the nation's total output in future years is not sufficiently large, then all those stocks and bonds are going to end up being worth a lot less than expected. Total output is the key to how much we can... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

23 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

Sponsorship Programs Could Actually Widen the Gender Gap

FabioFilzi Key aspects of corporate sponsorship programs, while designed to advance women’s careers, may end up widening the gender gap rather than narrowing it, according to new experimental research. “We’re not trying to say that... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

25 Oct 2022
Research & Ideas

Is Baseball Ready to Compete for the Next Generation of Fans?

the NFL does simply from television contracts, those monies annually dwarf all the numbers you just mentioned, which include everything for baseball. Baseball may be bouncing back to some degree, but at the end of the day, it still... View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette; Media & Broadcasting; Sports

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

18 Jun 2013
First Look

First Look: June 18

Second, pay disparity between managers located in different states decreases relative to that of co-located managers. Third, division productivity falls in dispersed firms, with the effect driven by managers at the low end of the wage... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

04 Feb 2010
What Do You Think?

What’s the Best Way to Make Careful Decisions?

crowds' breeds convenient conformity and creativity is often lost in the process." At the other end of the intuition-analysis spectrum, R. C. Saxena opined, "I believe intuition ought not to play any part . Sincere effort to... View Details