Shocks - Publications - Faculty & Research

05 Oct 2020
Book

Want to Be Happier? Make More Free Time

leisure. We know that countries that value leisure more than work are happier and are better able to handle the emotional consequences of financial shocks like economic downturns. We know that happiness increases productivity. So the... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

07 May 2020
Research & Ideas

The One Good Thing Caused by COVID-19: Innovation

distancing. New patterns of consumer and worker behavior and expectations have emerged during the first weeks of the crisis. COVID-19 represents a tremendous economic shock and burden. In recent weeks, the focus has begun to shift towards... View Details

Keywords: by Hong Luo and Alberto Galasso

Portrait Project

Srivatsa Krishna

make each year equals what the poorest 57 percent make. What's chilling are not the figures by themselves but the fact that by and large they don't shock us anymore. I believe my life would have meaning if I manage to contribute to... View Details

25 Aug 2014
News

Ashraf M. Dahod, MBA 1981

engineering, and eventually, management. Dahod describes HBS’s case method as “a shock to my system,” and remembers a dark day in Aldrich Hall during his first year when he was called to open all three case discussions. Earning his MBA,... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

14 Sep 2018
Blog Post

10 Things I Learned During My First Month in the MS/MBA: Engineering Sciences Program

there are also cohort members that come from startups (sometimes their own) or government agencies. 3. The cohort is super impressive Everyone is extremely smart. I was shocked with my classmates’ sheer ability to absorb massive amounts... View Details

18 Dec 2013
HBS Case

Lessons from the Lance Armstrong Cheating Scandal

had been swirling around the cyclist for years. And yet, there was still something shocking about the admission. At the peak of his career, Armstrong was one of the most celebrated athletes in the world, earning $28 million a year from... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Sports

02 Nov 2021
Research & Ideas

Why COVID-19 Probably Killed More People Than We Realize

of the disease, a new study of underreported casualties in several countries indicates that COVID has actually killed hundreds of thousands more people than government records document. "We were shocked by the magnitude of what we were... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

November 2016 (Revised March 2018)
Case

Brexit

By: Laura Alfaro, Jesse Schreger and Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason

After more than 40 years of membership in the European Union, the United Kingdom voted via referendum to separate from the EU on June 23, 2016. Following the surprise verdict (termed Brexit), a political upheaval followed, with many ministers, including Prime Minister... View Details

Keywords: Voting; International Relations; Government and Politics; System Shocks; United Kingdom; European Union

Citation

Educators

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29 Oct 2020
Blog Post

Delving Deeper into Development with the MBA/MPA-ID Program – a Q+A with Zainab Raji (MBA/MPA-ID 2022)

macro shocks occurred. I discovered a pathway to economic development in management consulting after learning about the huge impact that strategy advisory firms in Africa had helped create. I transitioned to McKinsey after successful... View Details

01 Oct 1999
News

Banking on Success

wildest dreams. Going forward, I'm cautious but fundamentally bullish. I would be shocked if, in the next five years, we didn't have an adjustment of some significance. But I think the underlying fundamentals continue to be good, and the... View Details

Keywords: Deborah E. Blagg

17 Jan 2019
Blog Post

MBA Curriculum Spotlight: Short Intensive Programs (SIPs)

developments in artificial intelligence are creating similar shocks to the economy – from new perspectives on value creation and value capture, to radical transformations of business and operating models. This shift not only impacts... View Details

30 Jul 2007
Research & Ideas

Repugnant Markets and How They Get That Way

I was poised to answer something else." And it turns out—this will shock you—doctors don't immediately think about economists as fellow members of the helping professions. People worry when they hear that we are economists that we... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

06 Nov 2008
Op-Ed

Selling Out The American Dream

first and citizens second. Credit card offers flood the mail. Media supported by advertising encourage consumers to aspire to celebrity lifestyles, to keep up with the Joneses by acquiring more stuff. Even President Bush, following the View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

15 Jun 2009
Research & Ideas

GM: What Went Wrong and What’s Next

culture relate to its strategy. Use all this understanding to place innovative bets. This is what the early leaders of GM did. And this is what several generations of executives—beginning in the 1970s with the first oil shocks and the... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Auto

27 Feb 2017
Research & Ideas

Reputation is Vital to Survival in Turbulent Markets

economic shocks that could have a life-threatening impact on a large corporation. There also are stronger institutions to verify and confirm the strength and legitimacy of corporations, from accounting auditors to effective government... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

16 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

Has COVID-19 Broken the Global Value Chain?

country involves zero risk. There is, however, a growing list of events that are overlooked by risk managers, ranging from natural disasters, to geopolitical, technological, contractual, or demand factors. A first warning emerging from the unprecedented economic View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

18 Sep 2017
Research & Ideas

'Likes' Lead to Nothing—and Other Hard-Learned Lessons of Social Media Marketing

relationship with your users” “It went viral because it was short and it was shocking and funny,” Gupta says. “But it also had an objective and stayed on message: The blender (can) blend anything. That’s what social media should do: You... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Advertising; Technology

Web

K–12 Education | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

invest in a new company-owned and operated techn... Helping Children Catch Up: Early Life Shocks and the PROGRESA Experiment By: Achyuta Adhvaryu, Theresa Molina, Anant Nyshadham and Jorge Tamayo January 2024 | Economic Journal Can... View Details

26 Sep 2011
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Lady Gaga

Searched-For Female," as recorded by Google, and made international headlines for donning a dress made of red meat, which Time Magazine called the top fashion statement of 2010. “Gaga is a marketing phenomenon” So it's almost View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Entertainment & Recreation; Music

16 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

How the Coronavirus Is Already Rewriting the Future of Business

will be rewritten Businesses have been surprised on how dependent they are on China, for everything from key raw materials or parts to finished products. Often they didn’t realize that it was a supplier to their supplier, or further down as a third or fourth tier.... View Details