Publications

March 2006
Background Note

Influencing Customer Behavior in Service Operations

By: Frances X. Frei and Amy C. Edmondson

Explores ways in which service firms can influence the behavior of their customers. Drawing from research on employee motivation and applying it to customer motivation, the note describes two levels of managerial control: instrumental control, which shapes behavior... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Governance Controls; Consumer Behavior; Service Operations; Emotions; Motivation and Incentives; Power and Influence; Service Industry

Educators

20 Mar 2025
Blog Post

IFC India 2025: Illuminating India’s Solar Future: Reflections on Tata Solar Manufacturing Plant Visit

Professor Vikram Gandhi’s Immersive Field Course (IFC) “Development while Decarbonizing: India’s Path to Net-Zero" delved into the critical aspect of decarbonization and sustainability goals amid India's rapid development. The course presented an opportunity for... View Details

10 Apr 2025
Blog Post

IFC India 2025: SELCO - Decentralized Renewable Energy to Develop While Decarbonizing

across the country. On the final day of the India IFC, we visited a rural public health clinic powered by SELCO’s decentralized renewable energy (DRE) solutions. The SELCO team also graciously organized a gathering of local entrepreneurs... View Details

Portrait Project

Emily Slota

speak truth to power was a gift, and that it could have important consequences. I am committed to helping people build businesses in challenging economic and political landscapes. As I do so, I'll keep in mind a few guiding principles: Be... View Details

21 Sep 2015
News

Funding Progress Back Home

“Harvard gives you powerful tools for getting things done in the world,” observes Eric-Vincent Guichard (MBA 1990). “Over time, you more fully appreciate the responsibility that goes with that education.” Guichard, who grew up in rural... View Details

May 2024
Teaching Note

The Meteoric Rise of Skims

By: Ayelet Israeli, Jill Avery and Leonard A. Schlesinger

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 524-023, "The Meteoric Rise of Skims." View Details

04 Dec 2000
What Do You Think?

Have We Overdone Deregulation and Privatization?

consumers were that deregulation: (1) unleashes the power of a self-correcting free market (Jeff Struck), giving customers services at prices they are willing to pay and quality levels that they are willing to pay for (at least in the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

01 Dec 2017
News

Alumni and Faculty Books for December 2017

tells her full story for the first time. Where Past Meets Present: The Amazing People, Places & Stories of Southern Oregon by Dennis Powers (MBA 1969) (Hellgate Press) Powers has collected 140 stories about... View Details

01 Dec 2018
News

From Das’s Desk

attending advanced learning programs alongside other experienced business leaders, we chose a diverse set of programs aimed at distinct cohorts. It is, perhaps, the greatest proof of the power of HBS lifelong learning that these alumni... View Details

Keywords: Das Narayandas

08 Apr 2002
Research & Ideas

How to Negotiate “Yes” Across Cultural Boundaries

international negotiations, I've seen numerous promising deals fail because people ignored or underestimated the powerful differences in processes across cultures... . . . What are the informal influences that can make or break a deal?... View Details

Keywords: by James K. Sebenius

December 2024
Article

Can Activists Change Business for Good?

By: Hiske Arts, Geoffrey Jones, Sarah Soule and Lora Verheecke

Leading experts debate the ability of activists to successfully challenge unsustainable corporate behavior. Includes a discussion of the role of business leaders as actvivists. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Responsibility; Activism; Spirituality; Power and Influence; Social Issues; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

Register to Read

2011
Working Paper

Temptation at Work

By: Alessandro Bucciol, Daniel Houser and Marco Piovesan

To encourage worker productivity, offices prohibit Internet use. Consequently, many employees delay Internet activity to the end of the workday. Recent work in social psychology, however, suggests that using willpower to delay gratification can negatively impact... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Performance Productivity; Behavior; Power and Influence; Internet

01 Dec 2017
News

2017 in Energy: A Future of Lower Energy Prices

hand, it creates all kinds of interesting opportunities for energy-intensive manufacturing. You will also see restructuring in the power generation sector, as low oil and natural gas prices reduce power... View Details

Keywords: Sarah Wright (MBA 1997), founder, Hull Street Energy

15 Feb 2017
Op-Ed

What Africa Can Teach the United States About Funding Infrastructure Projects

bridges, water, power and more? It’s not because they don’t aspire to. It’s because they lack the money and the expertise (in African cities) or because they can’t get to political consensus (in the United States)—or because there are... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Construction

05 Jun 2019
Research & Ideas

If Your Customers Don't Care What You Charge, What Should You Charge?

effects of competition have an advantage within their markets, says Alexander J. MacKay, assistant professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, who coauthored the study Consumer Inertia and Market Power with Marc... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Energy

April 8, 2025
Other Article

Commentary: How Financial Influencers Can Make or Break Investment Platforms like Chocolate Finance

By: Daniel Rabetti

Keywords: Power and Influence; Public Opinion; Social Media; Financial Services Industry

Article

Imprinting: Toward A Multilevel Theory

By: Christopher Marquis and Andras Tilcsik

The concept of imprinting has attracted considerable interest in numerous fields—including organizational ecology, institutional theory, network analysis, and career research—and has been applied at several levels of analysis, from the industry to the individual. This... View Details

Keywords: History; Situation or Environment; Research; Organizations; Power and Influence

Book Review

Negotiating with Iran: Cultural and Historical Insights

By: James K. Sebenius

In a vitally important relationship famously caricatured as the "Mad Mullahs" v. the "Great Satan," the fraught negotiating history and future of Iran and the United States demands historical, cultural, and psychological insight if there is to be any prospect of... View Details

Keywords: National Security; Negotiation; Power and Influence; Iran; United States

October 2024
Article

Racial Inequality in Organizations: A Systems Psychodynamic Perspective

By: Sanaz Mobasseri, William A. Kahn and Robin J. Ely

This paper uses systems psychodynamic concepts to develop theory about the persistence of racial inequality in U.S. organizations and to inform an approach for disrupting it. We treat White men as the dominant group and Black people as the archetypal subordinate group... View Details

Keywords: Equality and Inequality; Race; Prejudice and Bias; Organizational Culture; Gender; Power and Influence; Employees; Attitudes