by Michael Pirson - Publications - Faculty & Research

10 Jan 2023
Research & Ideas

How to Live Happier in 2023: Diversify Your Social Circle

way? A group of researchers recently considered that idea in a new study, concluding that variety is a crucial ingredient. “We wanted to examine what would be the optimal mix of people to talk to over any time period,” says Harvard Business School Professor View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

March 2013
Teaching Note

Local Motors: Designed by the Crowd, Built by the Customer (TN)

By: Michael Norton

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10 Nov 2014
HBS Case

How Restaurants in Lima and Copenhagen Became Best in the World

their businesses while staying true to their cultural roots. We sat down with Associate Professor Mukti Khaire, lead author of Noma: A Lot on the Plate; and Associate Professor Anat Keinan and Professor Michael I. Norton, authors of... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Food & Beverage

25 Jan 2022
Research & Ideas

More Proof That Money Can Buy Happiness (or a Life with Less Stress)

control, allowing us to buy our way out of unforeseen bumps in the road, whether it’s a small nuisance, like dodging a rainstorm by ordering up an Uber, or a bigger worry, like handling an unexpected hospital bill, says Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

06 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

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

described exactly the same way.” Garcia-Rada is lead author on a new working paper about the study, co-written with Leslie John, the James E. Burke Professor of Business Administration at HBS, and Michael Norton, the Harold M. Brierley... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Consumer Products; Retail

August 2022 (Revised October 2022)
Case

Sian Flowers: Fresher by Sea?

By: Willy C. Shih, Michael W. Toffel and Pippa Tubman Armerding

The setting for this case is the Sian Flowers, a company headquartered in Kitengela, Kenya that exports roses to predominantly Europe. Because cut flowers have a limited shelf life and consumers want them to retain their appearance for as long as possible, Sian or its... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain; Supply Chains; Sustainability; Sustainable Agriculture; Sustainability Reporting; Carbon Emissions; Supply Chain Management; Quality; Ship Transportation; Cost Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa; Kenya; Netherlands; Europe

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February 2010 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Local Motors: Designed by the Crowd, Built by the Customer

By: Michael I. Norton and Jeremy Dann

In the wake of the meltdown among U.S. auto manufacturers in 2009, Jay Rogers, CEO of Local Motors, has a new approach for the automotive industry: decide which models are produced through online design competitions, and then allow customers to "build their own cars"... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Customer Focus and Relationships; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Product Design; Product Development; Creativity; Social and Collaborative Networks; Customization and Personalization; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States

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08 Aug 2023
Research & Ideas

Black Employees Not Only Earn Less, But Deal with Bad Bosses and Poor Conditions

rankings for these environmental factors with the racial makeup of various firms. When he did, Zhang found that Asian employees scored highest on work environment, followed by White and Hispanic employees, who ranked about the same,... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

16 Nov 2021
HBS Case

How a Company Made Employees So Miserable, They Killed Themselves

In 2009, a 51-year-old man killed himself in Marseille, a city in southern France, leaving behind a suicide note that blamed his employer for “overwork” and “management by terror.” “I am committing suicide because of my work at France... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

September 2012
Other Article

An Interview with Michael Porter: Social Entrepreneurship and the Transformation of Capitalism

By: Michaela Driver and Michael E. Porter

In this interview Michael Porter explores social entrepreneurship in the context of a larger transformation of capitalism. He suggests that social entrepreneurship is an important transitional vehicle toward the creation of shared value and a capitalist system in which... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Economic Systems; Social Entrepreneurship; Transformation

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July 2024
Case

Negotiating in a Hurricane: John Branca and the Michael Jackson Estate

By: James K. Sebenius and Alex Green

When the "King of Pop," Michael Jackson, unexpectedly died in 2009, he left behind an estate that was over $500 million in debt, with largely illiquid assets, and legions of creditors poised to begin to seize assets in as soon as 60 days. The task of managing Jackson’s... View Details

Keywords: Bargaining; Dispute Resolution; Negotiation; Entertainment; Financial Management; Financial Condition; Assets; Music Industry

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09 Apr 2024
Book

Why Work Rituals Bring Teams Together and Create More Meaning

gather with your spouse and kids to enjoy pizza and a movie on Friday nights. These routines are actually rituals—and though we may not think much about them, they can play a meaningful role in our personal and professional lives, says Harvard Business School Professor... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

11 Aug 2022
Research & Ideas

When Parents Tell Kids to ‘Work Hard,’ Do They Send the Wrong Message?

ability. "People are struggling to make ends meet around the country, and success is often determined in part by uncontrollable factors." “They explained this disparity by saying the [higher-achieving] group... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Education

20 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

The 5 Strategy Rules of Bill Gates, Andy Grove, and Steve Jobs

that no one had ever seen and that no one understood what it did was brilliant” Those are the questions David B. Yoffie and Michael A. Cusumano address in their new book, Strategy Rules: Five Timeless Lessons from Bill Gates, Andy Grove,... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Computer

14 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

Pay Attention To Your ‘Extreme Consumers’

consumer, which gets rid of the noise in an effort to study the majority of customers, but also gets rid of people who are potentially leading the category," she says. “Often the lovers or haters of a product can be the canary in the coal mine” View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

13 Jan 2014
Research & Ideas

How Government Can Restore the Faith of Citizens

Henry David Thoreau once said, "That government is best that governs least." Easy for him to say. Stuck out by himself at Walden Pond, he never had to deal with potholes on his morning commute or broken streetlights at night. It... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

20 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Activist CEOs Are Rising Up—and Their Customers Are Listening

When former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced earlier this year he was thinking about running for president of the United States, it wasn’t a new idea. Past CEOs seeking the White House have included Carly Fiorina, Ross Perot, Herman Cain, Steve Forbes, Mitt... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

15 Oct 2018
Research & Ideas

Shaky Business: How Handshakes Win Negotiations

professor Michael Norton, Harold M. Brierley Professor of Business Administration. “We shake when we say hello to someone, and we shake again after a deal is done.” Centuries ago, the handshake may have originated as a way for people to... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

20 Dec 2022
Op-Ed

Employee Feedback: The Key to Retention During the Great Resignation

employees are so positive about their employer and that Southwest has so long outperformed its industry, and, incidentally, has never had a strike by its union. [div class=infogram-embed data-id="_/fjmbZDfFzW1UCzF787gp"][/div] Johnson... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Beer