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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(1,131)
- People (1)
- News (153)
- Research (854)
- Events (4)
- Multimedia (2)
- Faculty Publications (322)
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- August 2017
- Article
A Formal Theory of Strategy
What makes a decision strategic? When is strategy most important? This paper formally studies these questions, starting from a (functional) definition of strategy as “the smallest set of choices to optimally guide (or force) other choices.” The paper shows that this... View Details
Van den Steen, Eric J. "A Formal Theory of Strategy." Management Science 63, no. 8 (August 2017): 2616–2636.
- 2025
- Working Paper
A Cognitive Theory of Reasoning and Choice
By: Pedro Bordalo, Nicola Gennaioli, Giacomo Lanzani and Andrei Shleifer
We present a theory of decisions in which attention to the features of choice options is determined by the decision maker's categorization of the current choice problem in a set of problems she solved in the past. Categorization depends on goal-relevant as well as... View Details
Bordalo, Pedro, Nicola Gennaioli, Giacomo Lanzani, and Andrei Shleifer. "A Cognitive Theory of Reasoning and Choice." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 33466, February 2025.
- 2023
- Working Paper
The Complexity of Economic Decisions
By: Xavier Gabaix and Thomas Graeber
We propose a theory of the complexity of economic decisions. Leveraging a macroeconomic framework of production functions, we conceptualize the mind as a cognitive economy, where a task’s complexity is determined by its composition of cognitive operations. Complexity... View Details
Gabaix, Xavier, and Thomas Graeber. "The Complexity of Economic Decisions." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 24-049, February 2024.
- 2016
- Other Teaching and Training Material
Organizational Behavior Reading: Decision Making
By: Francesca Gino, Max Bazerman and Katherine Shonk
This Reading argues that decision making is systematically flawed and introduces methods to improve decision-making effectiveness. The Essential Reading section covers the rational decision-making model and three important ideas that challenge it: Herbert Simon's... View Details
Gino, Francesca, Max Bazerman, and Katherine Shonk. "Organizational Behavior Reading: Decision Making." Core Curriculum Readings Series. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Publishing 8383, 2016. Electronic.
- 12 Jul 2007
- Working Paper Summaries
Toward a Theory of Behavioral Operations
Keywords: by Francesca Gino & Gary Pisano
- 24 Jul 2000
- Research & Ideas
Value Maximization and Stakeholder Theory
Contending with that value maximization approach is "stakeholder theory" which says that managers should make decisions so as to take into account all of the interests of all stakeholders in a firm. (Stakeholders, he notes,... View Details
Keywords: by Michael C. Jensen
- December 1971 (Revised December 1994)
- Background Note
Capital Structure Decision: Underlying Theory
Demonstrates hypothetically and numerically the share price valuation impact of changes in a firm's capital structure. View Details
Fruhan, William E., Jr. "Capital Structure Decision: Underlying Theory." Harvard Business School Background Note 272-096, December 1971. (Revised December 1994.)
- 2016
- Working Paper
Controlling Versus Enabling
By: Andrei Hagiu and Julian Wright
Revenue sharing between principals and agents is commonly used to balance double-sided moral hazard. We provide a theory of how, when such revenue-sharing is optimal, a principal allocates control rights over decisions that either party could make. We show that the... View Details
Keywords: Control Rights; Decision Authority; Employment; Independent Contractors; Organizational Theory; Digital Platforms; Governance Controls; Ethics; Vertical Integration
Hagiu, Andrei, and Julian Wright. "Controlling Versus Enabling." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 16-002, July 2015. (Revised July 2016.)
- Research Summary
The Impact of ABC on Managerial Decisions
In this type of research, Ratna Sarkar seeks to determine whether, in fact, new cost systems such as ABC (Activity Based Costing) have a measurable effect on managerial decisions regarding product and customer mix.
The theory of ABC is now academically established,... View Details
- 2014
- Book
Managerial Accounting: Making Decisions and Motivating Performance
By: Srikant M. Datar and Madhav Rajan
Managerial Accounting: Making Decisions and Motivating Performance enables future managers and business owners to attain the core skills they need to become integral members of their company’s decision-making teams. This new program from established authors... View Details
Datar, Srikant M., and Madhav Rajan. Managerial Accounting: Making Decisions and Motivating Performance. Prentice Hall, 2014.
- January 1987
- Article
Posterior Implementability in a Two-person Decision Problem
By: Jerry R. Green and Jean-Jacques Laffont
When a decision rule is implemented using a Bayesian incentive compatible mechanism in which the messages are publicly observable, the players' information is augmented by their observation of each others' strategies. In this paper we study the set of Bayesian... View Details
Green, Jerry R., and Jean-Jacques Laffont. "Posterior Implementability in a Two-person Decision Problem." Econometrica 55, no. 1 (January 1987): 69–94.
- Research Summary
Democratic Governance and Decision Making
By: David A. Moss
Under what conditions are public policies in a democracy determined by special interests or, alternatively, by the general interest? A good deal of academic work, particularly associated with the economic theory of regulation, suggests that special interests... View Details
- 25 Oct 2013
- Working Paper Summaries
Management: Theory and Practice, and Cases
- Article
Price and Quality Decisions by Self-Serving Managers
By: Marco Bertini, Daniel Halbheer and Oded Koenigsberg
We present a theory of price and quality decisions by managers who are self-serving. In the theory, firms stress the price or quality of their products, but not both. Accounting for this, managers exploit any uncertainty about the cause of market outcomes to credit... View Details
Keywords: Causal Reasoning; Self-serving Bias; Strategic Orientation; Managerial Decision-making; Price; Quality; Decision Making; Theory
Bertini, Marco, Daniel Halbheer, and Oded Koenigsberg. "Price and Quality Decisions by Self-Serving Managers." International Journal of Research in Marketing 37, no. 2 (June 2020): 236–257.
- July 2017 (Revised June 2019)
- Case
Joel L. Dawson: Eta Devices
By: Steven Rogers and Derek G. Abrams
After a successful career in research and academia, Joel Dawson decided to pursue entrepreneurship in the semiconductor industry. As one of the growing number of African-Americans in the technology field, Joel Dawson co-founded Eta Devices in 2010 based on new... View Details
Keywords: Joel Dawson; Eta Devices; Semiconductor Entrepreneurship; Decision Theory; Decision Making; Finance; Engineering; Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Semiconductor Industry; Boston
Rogers, Steven, and Derek G. Abrams. "Joel L. Dawson: Eta Devices." Harvard Business School Case 318-009, July 2017. (Revised June 2019.)
- October 2009
- Article
Negotiation Analysis: From Games to Inferences to Decisions to Deals
Exemplified by the pioneering work of Howard Raiffa and often expressed in the pages of the Negotiation Journal, the emergent prescriptive field of "negotiation analysis" progressively developed from Raiffa's early contributions to game theory and to his later... View Details
Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Negotiation Participants; Negotiation Preparation; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Tactics; Game Theory
Sebenius, James K. "Negotiation Analysis: From Games to Inferences to Decisions to Deals." Negotiation Journal 25, no. 4 (October 2009): 449–465.
- June 2010
- Article
A Gap-Filling Theory of Corporate Debt Maturity Choice
By: Robin Greenwood, Samuel G. Hanson and Jeremy C. Stein
We argue that time-series variation in the maturity of aggregate corporate debt issues arises because firms behave as macro liquidity providers, absorbing the large supply shocks associated with changes in the maturity structure of government debt. We document that... View Details
Keywords: Business Ventures; Decision Choices and Conditions; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Liquidity; Investment Return; Government and Politics
Greenwood, Robin, Samuel G. Hanson, and Jeremy C. Stein. "A Gap-Filling Theory of Corporate Debt Maturity Choice." Journal of Finance 65, no. 3 (June 2010): 993–1028. (Supplementary results in Internet Appendix.)
- October 2024
- Article
Strategic Decision Making at Platform Transitions: The Case of Nokia (2010-2011).
By: Timo O. Vuori and Michael Tushman
We studied Nokia’s decision to adopt the Windows platform in 2011 to induce new theory on the emotional dynamics of incumbent firms’ strategic decision making at platform transitions. We find that platform companies’ entry into an established industry activates a... View Details
Vuori, Timo O., and Michael Tushman. "Strategic Decision Making at Platform Transitions: The Case of Nokia (2010-2011)." Strategic Management Journal 45, no. 10 (October 2024): 2018–2062.
- November – December 1969
- Article
Systems Analysis for Social Decisions
By: Joseph L. Bower
Bower, Joseph L. "Systems Analysis for Social Decisions." Operations Research 17, no. 6 (November–December 1969): 927–940.
- 2023
- Working Paper
Senior Team Emotional Dynamics and Strategic Decision Making at a Platform Transition
By: Timo O. Vuori and Michael L. Tushman
Based on an inductive case study, we develop an emotional-temporal process model of an incumbent’s
strategic decision making at a platform transition. We describe the senior team’s emotional response to
this transition and the impact of these emotions on their... View Details
Vuori, Timo O., and Michael L. Tushman. "Senior Team Emotional Dynamics and Strategic Decision Making at a Platform Transition." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 23-054, March 2023.