Publications

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Teaching by the Case Method - Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning

Teaching Questions for Class Discussions Teaching Quantitative Material Strategies and Tactics for Sensitive Topics Curriculum Innovation The case method has evolved so students may act as decision-makers in new engaging formats: Game... View Details

2022
Article

When Regular Meets Remarkable: Awe as a Link between Routine Work and Meaningful Self-narratives

By: Elizabeth Sheprow and Spencer Harrison

Daily narratives of work can include a mix of ordinary actions and awe-inspiring moments that reveal a vaster, more meaningful reality. When awe is experienced in the context of work, it can prompt self-referential sensemaking about what these experiences mean for the... View Details

Keywords: Narratives; Meaning; Qualitative Method; Emotions; Identity; Employment

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02 Aug 2022
Blog Post

From HBS to Cutting-Edge Tech

internationally-recognized brand was a deciding factor too. HBS was the only one that fit the bill. A lot of schools prepare you for your first post-MBA job, but the HBS case method goes further. HBS classroom discussions View Details

2022
Article

Nonparametric Subset Scanning for Detection of Heteroscedasticity

By: Charles R. Doss and Edward McFowland III

We propose Heteroscedastic Subset Scan (HSS), a novel method for identifying covariates that are responsible for violations of the homoscedasticity assumption in regression settings. Viewing the problem as one of anomalous pattern detection, we use subset scanning... View Details

Keywords: Scan Statistics; Anomaly Detection; Regression; Model Diagnostics

Shunyuan Zhang is an assistant professor in the Marketing unit at Harvard Business School. She teaches the first-year Marketing course in the MBA required curriculum.

Professor Zhang studies the sharing economy and the marketing problems that the dynamics of... View Details

Keywords: e-commerce industry; high technology; retailing

April 2014
Tutorial

Conjoint Analysis: Online Tutorial

By: Elie Ofek and Olivier Toubia

The Conjoint Analysis: Online Tutorial is an interactive pedagogical vehicle intended to facilitate understanding of one of the most popular market research methods in academia and practice, namely conjoint analysis. The aim is to provide students or executives going... View Details

Keywords: Market Research; Conjoint Analysis; Market Segmentation; Pricing; Marketing Strategy

November 2021
Article

Gaussian Process Subset Scanning for Anomalous Pattern Detection in Non-iid Data

By: William Herlands, Edward McFowland III, Andrew Gordon Wilson and Daniel B. Neill

Identifying anomalous patterns in real-world data is essential for understanding where, when, and how systems deviate from their expected dynamics. Yet methods that separately consider the anomalousness of each individual data point have low detection power for subtle,... View Details

Keywords: Pattern Detection; Subset Scanning; Gaussian Processes; Mathematical Methods

Research Summary

Hedging Asian Options: Closed-Form Solutions Using the Malliavin Calculus

Hedging path-dependent options requires non-standard tools because the price processes no longer have smooth stochastic differentials. I show how the Malliavin calculus can be used to overcome the specific difficulties introduced by the averaging behavior of... View Details

08 Jun 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

Twenty-first Century Skill: Trading Carbon Credits

parts and permutations—really works. A carbon trading simulation designed by Harvard Business School professor Peter Coles gives students the opportunity to experience firsthand the pressure-packed decision-making process and uncertainty... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Energy; Utilities

2009
Simulation

Finance Simulation: Blackstone/Celanese: No. 3712.

By: Nabil N. El-Hage and Timothy A. Luehrman

The Finance Simulation: Blackstone/Celanese is based on the landmark acquisition of Celanese AG by the Blackstone Group in 2003. Students play the role of either Celanese or Blackstone and conduct due diligence, establish deal terms, respond to bids and counter-bids,... View Details

Keywords: Bids and Bidding; Finance; Mergers and Acquisitions; Valuation; Leveraged Buyouts; Negotiation

2025
Working Paper

Enhancing Treatment Effect Prediction on Privacy-Protected Data: An Honest Post-Processing Approach

By: Ta-Wei Huang and Eva Ascarza

As firms increasingly rely on customer data for personalization, concerns over privacy and regulatory compliance have grown. Local Differential Privacy (LDP) offers strong individual-level protection by injecting noise into data before collection. While... View Details

Keywords: Targeted Intervention; Conditional Average Treatment Effect Estimation; Differential Privacy; Honest Estimation; Post-processing; Analytics and Data Science; Consumer Behavior; Marketing

SSRN

2023
Working Paper

Efficient Discovery of Heterogeneous Quantile Treatment Effects in Randomized Experiments via Anomalous Pattern Detection

By: Edward McFowland III, Sriram Somanchi and Daniel B. Neill

In the recent literature on estimating heterogeneous treatment effects, each proposed method makes its own set of restrictive assumptions about the intervention’s effects and which subpopulations to explicitly estimate. Moreover, the majority of the literature provides... View Details

Keywords: Causal Inference; Program Evaluation; Algorithms; Distributional Average Treatment Effect; Treatment Effect Subset Scan; Heterogeneous Treatment Effects

28 Oct 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Fairness, Efficiency, and Flexibility in Organ Allocation for Kidney Transplantation

Keywords: by Dimitris Bertsimas, Vivek F. Farias & Nikolaos Trichakis; Health

January 2008
Background Note

Index Options

By: Joshua Coval and Erik Stafford

The goal of this simulation is to understand the patterns in index option prices that are not predicted by the Black-Scholes model. In particular, the simulation focuses on two properties of options prices. First, at-the-money implied volatilities from index options... View Details

Keywords: Volatility; Stock Options; Investment; Price; Profit; Risk Management; Mathematical Methods

March 2022
Article

Estimating the Effectiveness of Permanent Price Reductions for Competing Products Using Multivariate Bayesian Structural Time Series Models

By: Fiammetta Menchetti and Iavor Bojinov

Researchers regularly use synthetic control methods for estimating causal effects when a sub-set of units receive a single persistent treatment, and the rest are unaffected by the change. In many applications, however, units not assigned to treatment are nevertheless... View Details

Keywords: Causal Inference; Partial Interference; Synthetic Controls; Bayesian Structural Time Series; Mathematical Methods

April 1990
Case

Clark Material Handling Group-Overseas: Brazilian Product Strategy (A&B) (Condensed)

By: Robert J. Dolan

Assumes some knowledge of conjoint analysis. Permits analysis of basic results and dynamic market simulations in one class session. View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Marketing

October 1992
Case

Charles River Jazz Festival

Charles River Jazz Festival must decide whether to press a compact disk (CD) of Friday's jazz performance for sale on Saturday and Sunday. The idea to press CDs is novel, so there is considerable uncertainty about how receptive customers will be. The festival must... View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Decision Making

January 2008
Background Note

Equity Options

By: Joshua Coval and Erik Stafford

The goal of this simulation is to understand the reliance of option values on volatility. When an investor trades an option, they are essentially trading volatility. Therefore, much of the focus in this lesson is on forecasting volatility. Students are able to use two... View Details

Keywords: Volatility; Forecasting and Prediction; Stock Options; Investment Return; Price; Market Transactions; Mathematical Methods; Value