by John Deighton - Publications - Faculty & Research

19 Apr 2011
First Look

First Look: April 19

Facebook John Deighton and Leora KornfeldHarvard Business School Case 511-110 In late 2008, executives at Coca-Cola had to decide what to do with a fan-created page on Facebook that had amassed over one... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

10 Jul 2023
In Practice

The Harvard Business School Faculty Summer Reader 2023

Book of Living and Dying. In my own Catholic tradition, I am finally reading Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross, a 16th century Spanish mystic. It is a poem that comments on how our spirits are... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

21 Nov 2019
Research & Ideas

Do TV Debates Sway Voters?

pinpoint exactly when a voter decided on a candidate—before or after a debate—without having to rely on voters’ memories. They found: A large fraction of voters change their minds during the campaign. The percentage of voters who had settled on a candidate rose View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

31 Oct 2018
What Do You Think?

What is the Function of Fear in Leadership?

leader’s role should involve reducing fear among associates to a minimum. Beatriz commented that, “quite often, team members paralyze due to fear and start delegating upward New KPIs, action plans, and strategies that don’t decipher the bad organizational habits and... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

27 Jun 2016
Research & Ideas

These Management Practices, Like Certain Technologies, Boost Company Performance

Along with colleagues Nicholas Bloom, Stanford University, and John Van Reenen, London School of Economics, Sadun challenges this view in a new National Bureau of Economic Research working paper, Management as a Technology? They argue... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

09 Feb 2024
HBS Case

Slim Chance: Drugs Will Reshape the Weight Loss Industry, But Habit Change Might Be Elusive

what may at first blush appear to be an easier fix: new drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro, says Harvard Business School Professor Regina E. Herzlinger, who has studied the American health care system for decades. Wegovy has been approved View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Health; Pharmaceutical

25 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Chasing Stars: Why the Mighty Red Sox Struck Out

Anaheim Angels starting pitcher John Lackey, signed in December 2009 to a five-year $85 million deal; San Diego Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, lured in 2011 by a seven-year deal at $154 million; and... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Sports; Banking

06 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

Latest Isn’t Always Greatest: Why Product Updates Capture Consumers

idea, showing that the less time they gave people to examine a choice, the more likely they were to go for the newer option. “When you are under time pressure, you are even less likely to scrutinize the options, and particularly likely to take the revised label at face... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Consumer Products; Retail

06 Aug 2021
Book

Steve Jobs and the Rise of the Celebrity CEO

successively by John Sculley, who was kicked out in 1993, Michael Spindler, fired in 1996, and Gil Amelio, a member of the board who took over from Spindler and was fired five hundred days later, the company... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

Research Summary

Overview

By: John A. Deighton

Professor Deighton conducts research at the intersection of information technology and marketing. He is interested in the complementary uses of human and artificial intelligence and creativity in areas such as advertising, content creation, and online retailing. He... View Details

24 Jul 2017
Research & Ideas

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

Credit: Martin Barraud Here’s a tip for persuading people to finish more tasks, buy more products, or donate more money: Simply present assignments, requests, or items as arbitrary sets, rather than as individual units. New research reveals that people are... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

19 Jul 2017
News

Why Government 'Nudges' Motivate Good Citizen Behavior

22 Apr 2024
Research & Ideas

When Does Impact Investing Make the Biggest Impact?

that, then that company has more capital and can do things that it couldn't otherwise do.” Doing well by doing good is an important trend in business generally and venture capital specifically, with the sphere of impact investing no... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

22 Mar 2021
Research & Ideas

How to Learn from the Big Mistake You Almost Make

and express the value of resilience to their teams, the likelihood that workers will report such incidents increases. That was the main finding of Resilience vs. Vulnerability: Psychological Safety and Reporting of Near Misses with Varying Proximity to Harm in... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Health

15 Mar 2022
Research & Ideas

This Workplace Certification Made Already Safe Companies Even Safer

the Senator John Heinz Professor of Environmental Management. He partnered on the research with HBS doctoral student Kala Viswanathan and Duke University professor Matthew Johnson. Widespread adoption, but does the standard work? Some 2.8... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

28 Feb 2023
Research & Ideas

Can Apprenticeships Work in the US? Employers Seeking New Talent Pipelines Take Note

is pursuing a Master of Public Administration degree at Harvard Kennedy School; and Rachel Snyder, a candidate for a Master of Public Policy degree at Harvard Kennedy School. Employers have sometimes balked at the apprenticeship programs, scared off View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

06 Jun 2005
What Do You Think?

Is a “Level Playing Field” a Good Thing?

Summing Up This month's column seems to have struck a sore spot with many respondents who question whether the term, "level playing field" even serves a useful purpose. John Forsyth asks, "Is the playing field ever level in... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

23 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

Sam Walton: Great From the Start

store business in a serious way. He bought the lease to prevent his "friendly" rival John Dunham from acquiring the property and expanding his Sterling Store. Newport already had a couple of department stores. One of these was... View Details

Keywords: by Richard S. Tedlow; Retail

13 Nov 2013
Research & Ideas

Should Men’s Products Fear a Woman’s Touch?

after the launch of the Cayenne. While she hadn't set out to focus on gender specifically, she found that gender dominated the discussions about the new vehicle. (The Cayenne launch became the basis of an HBS teaching case that Avery cowrote with Professor View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Consumer Products; Food & Beverage; Auto

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

It Came in the First Ships: Capitalism in America

years, and on into the nineteenth century, everything seemed up for grabs in the new country. Vast, apparently unlimited tracts of land were given away by the government or sold at irresistibly low prices. To get the best land, neither... View Details

Keywords: by Thomas K. McCraw

Publications