Prospection - Publications - Faculty & Research

26 Sep 2011
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Lady Gaga

such large halls, jumping headfirst into a solo tour would be a huge challenge. On the other hand, with ticket prices averaging $100 to $125 each, the prospect of a sold-out 20,000-seat arena was tempting. By developing a smaller schedule... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Entertainment & Recreation; Music

17 Feb 2022
Book

When Employees Feel a Sense of Purpose, Companies Succeed

starting with recruiting. “We’re very clear that in an interview, and just in general, one of our core beliefs is be yourself,” Wallace says. Relatedly, the company places a strong emphasis on inclusivity. As COO Molly Howard notes, interviewers ask every View Details

Keywords: by Ranjay Gulati

30 Jul 2018
Research & Ideas

Why Ethical People Become Unethical Negotiators

looks like.” Certain triggers can make negotiators vulnerable to acting unethically, he adds: When high-stakes incentives like big dollar amounts are involved, negotiators are more likely to distort the information they provide. If negotiators face the View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

29 Jul 2022
Research & Ideas

Will Demand for Women Executives Finally Shrink the Gender Pay Gap?

executives who are aware of [the scarcity effect] have negotiated remarkable compensation agreements. I think that the phenomenon is very real, and the few women who’ve figured it out have monetized it nicely.” Although the prospect of a... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

20 Oct 2010
Op-Ed

Export Competitiveness: Reversing the Logic

of externalities became additional features of the debate. The introduction of market imperfection arguments actually introduced significant complications: specialization in the "wrong" activities, i.e. those with lower levels of positive externalities, could... View Details

Keywords: by Christian Ketels

11 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

Why Budgeting Kills Your Company

of contract. "And there are usually financial incentives attached: Career prospects and bonuses ride on this contract—incentives for hitting the targets amount to as much as 97 percent of a U.S. manager's annual salary. "There's... View Details

Keywords: by Loren Gary

07 May 2012
Research & Ideas

The Art of Haggling

Let's say a successful businessman is in the process of buying a lakeside cottage from the original owner. The prospective buyer makes a lowball offer. The owner counters with a high demand. Both parties chest their cards, each hoping the... View Details

Keywords: by Katie Johnston

21 Jul 2022
Research & Ideas

Did Pandemic Stimulus Funds Spur the Rise of 'Meme Stocks'?

boom. Retail investors—who buy shares directly through websites like Robinhood rather than investment firms or employer-sponsored plans—snapped up stocks that appeared to have poorer prospects under traditional metrics. Remember the... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services

16 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

Why Technology Alone Can't Solve AI's Bias Problem

human toll to letting algorithms do the work. “Maybe there is a bias from people who have been traditionally hiring men.” Searches on popular recruiting sites might seem like a neutral way to find prospective candidates, but their... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology

24 Jul 2017
Research & Ideas

People Have an Irrational Need to Complete 'Sets' of Things

and your fiancé struggling to write thank-you cards for all those wedding shower gifts? Try batching the unwritten cards into sets of eight. Rather than feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of writing one note at a time, you’ll feel oddly... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

30 Nov 2022
Research & Ideas

Recruiters: Highlight Your Company’s Diversity, Not Just Perks and Pay

Employers are dangling all sorts of sparkling lures to capture hot job candidates in the battle for top talent: Generous compensation. Stock options. Lofty titles. But Harvard Business School research suggests that many companies fail to promote a key draw for many... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

3D Negotiaton

By: James K. Sebenius

In articles and books, often with David Lax, I have been developing a broad approach to effective negotiation that encompasses three "dimensions." In this "3D" approach, our first dimension — "tactics"-- is the most familiar territory. Tactics are the persuasive... View Details

25 Jun 2007
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Beauty Entrepreneur Madam Walker

As the daughter of newly freed slaves on a Louisiana plantation, Sarah Breedlove's prospects at birth in 1867 foretold grinding poverty and toil. Over time, she graduated from the cotton fields to the washtub, marrying at the age of 14... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Beauty & Cosmetics

30 Oct 2019
Research & Ideas

How to Recover Gracefully After Shutting Down Your Startup

“There are many things that entrepreneurs can do to position themselves to bounce back from a failure.” If new funds aren’t forthcoming, the founder will likely put the company up for sale, confronting prospective buyers who’ll play a... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

01 Jun 2015
Research & Ideas

The Surprising Benefits of Oversharing

whether they would admit that they used drugs on a job application; a different set of participants acting as prospective employers were asked whom they'd rather hire, someone who admitted using drugs, or someone who chose not to answer.... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

25 May 2021
Research & Ideas

White Airbnb Hosts Earn More. Can AI Shrink the Racial Gap?

prospective guests. Airbnb could consider preventing guests from knowing the hosts’ race, possibly by masking their profile photos until transactions are completed, the researchers say. That could backfire if guests make stereotyped... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Technology; Accommodations

04 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

When Founders Recruit Friends and Family as Investors

discussed in Chapter 4, taking money from friends and family can put important—even crucial—relationships at risk and, if things go badly, leave them in ruins. Founders who are confident in their startups' prospects and who are passionate... View Details

Keywords: by Noam Wasserman

30 Mar 2018
What Do You Think?

What Should Mark Zuckerberg Do?

company’s user base, developer incentives, the value of information to advertisers, and the ability of the organization to continue to hold and recruit outstanding talent. The US stock market had already begun to weigh in on the company’s View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Web Services; Information Technology

31 Jan 2018
Research & Ideas

American Idle: Workers Spend Too Much Time Waiting for Something to Do

much more time than they needed, they intentionally slowed their work to fill it, preferring the tedious task to the prospect of doing nothing. Their performance, however, did not improve, no matter how much time they took. They simply... View Details