Short-termism - Publications - Faculty & Research

04 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

Governing the Family-Run Business

methods of addressing business-family-ownership tensions can provide some short-term relief but rarely resolve issues and predictably intensify them. Effective governance does not eliminate tensions in family enterprise systems. But it... View Details

04 Sep 2013
What Do You Think?

How Relevant is Long-Range Strategic Planning?

Christensen reminded us that the root cause of every business disaster is mistakenly pursuing short-term goals ahead of long-term ones." Daniel T. C. Lee commented, "Traditional or not, strategic planning has never restricted... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

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Leadership Fellows | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

levels: Providing social sector organizations with access to analytic and strategic talent to deliver high-impact results Encouraging emerging leaders to appreciate and understand the complexities of leading in the social sector For hiring organizations, it's a View Details

04 Mar 2024
Research & Ideas

Want to Make Diversity Stick? Break the Cycle of Sameness

leadership roles: Focus on smaller, short-term goals. While many organizations are working to change people’s attitudes in the long term, for example, by conducting diversity training to inform broad hiring decisions throughout the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

01 Mar 2024
News

Game On

It’s raining in Sarasota. And not a light sprinkle but a proper, Florida drenching, so the outdoor courts at the Pickleball Club’s Lakewood Ranch location are deserted. Inside is a different story. Most of the 12 courts are in play. With four people to a court, all... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; photographed by Edward Linsmier; Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries; Arts, Entertainment

01 Jan 2007
News

Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, MBA 1987

training program at the venerable Ayala Corporation—the largest and most widely diversified conglomerate in the Philippines—and attending HBS, he accepted a short-term position at Ayala and never left. Today, Zobel embraces his role as... View Details

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Student Research - Doctoral

Wu 01 JUN 2025 | Journal of Impact and ESG Investing Riding the Passion Wave or Fighting to Stay Afloat? A Theory of Differentiated Passion Contagion By: Emma Frank, Kai Krautter , Wen Wu and Jon M. Jachimowicz 01 JUN 2025 | Administrative Science Quarterly... View Details

07 Mar 2023
Blog Post

Deconstructing LEGO’s Decarbonization

infrastructure, and drying processes likely require additional energy and emissions. Private company lessons for public ones: Private companies, such as the family-owned LEGO Group, don’t face the same regulatory requirements and View Details

February 2016 (Revised July 2017)
Case

Leadership and Independence at the Federal Reserve

By: David Moss and Marc Campasano

“From the Great Depression, to the stagflation of the seventies, to the current economic crisis caused by the housing bubble, every economic downturn suffered by this country over the past century can be traced to Federal Reserve policy.” Ron Paul, a Republican from... View Details

Keywords: Government Legislation; Central Banking; Policy; Financial Crisis; Business and Government Relations; Banking Industry; Public Administration Industry; United States

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07 Mar 2023
HBS Case

ChatGPT: Did Big Tech Set Up the World for an AI Bias Disaster?

that, at the end of the day, those are also the communities with the least amount of power.” Is short-term hubris clouding my judgement? As a market leader, Google might have felt invincible enough to ignore major shortcomings in key... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis; Technology

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Human Behavior & Decision-Making - Faculty & Research

limited availability of robust metrics. McKnight recognized that sustainable investing did not equate to sacrificing returns; in fact, the foundation had already demonstrated its ability to generate competitive performance. Still, leadership acknowledged that some... View Details

19 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

What Motivates People to Give Generously—and Why We Sometimes Don't

because you feel obligated. There are tactics that you can use to increase giving in, in the short-term, but it’s always important to consider the effects of this short-term success on people’s feelings toward that charity, in the... View Details

Keywords: by Jen McFarland Flint, HBS Alumni Bulletin

09 Nov 2023
News

From the Brink

Weiss, Chepenik, and other team members that the normal fiscal tools deployed by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department would be inadequate. An infusion of cash, for example, might provide short-term relief but it wouldn’t solve... View Details

Keywords: Ralph Ranalli

February 2025
Article

Variation in Batch Ordering of Imaging Tests in the Emergency Department and the Impact on Care Delivery

By: Jacob C. Jameson, Soroush Saghafian, Robert S. Huckman and Nicole Hodgson

Objectives: To examine heterogeneity in physician batch ordering practices and measure the impact of a physician's tendency to batch order imaging tests on patient outcomes and resource utilization.
Study Setting and Design: In this retrospective study, we used... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Operations Management; Productivity; Health Care and Treatment; Operations; Outcome or Result; Resource Allocation; Health Industry; United States

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24 Apr 2017
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Courage: The Defining Characteristic of Great Leaders

transforming both enterprises and creating a formidable competitor for Medtronic. I didn’t have the courage to accept short-term risk to create long-term gain. It took Medtronic two decades of expensive research and development programs... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Auto; Food & Beverage

09 Nov 2023
Blog Post

The No. 1 Character Trait You Will Need to Succeed in Business

to have. In fact, I think one of the most important things that courage can give to any businessperson is the ability to withstand the pressure to do something that is unwise, unethical or even illegal in the name of selfishness, View Details

23 Oct 2000
Research & Ideas

The Strategy-Focused Organization

development, and employee capabilities, they can improve their position relative to competitors, so that when the external environment improves, they will enjoy profits much higher than the industry average. How senior executives react during View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton

22 Feb 2024
News

Combat-Tested Cancer Coaching

Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Spotify More Skydeck episodes Hi, this is Dan Morrell, host of Skydeck. When Kathy Giusti (MBA 1985) was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 1996, she was overwhelmed. It was the pre-Internet era, with limited available information, but... View Details

04 Apr 2023
Book

Two Centuries of Business Leaders Who Took a Stand on Social Issues

While shareholders still reign supreme at many companies, a widespread shift toward more responsible business practices is driving more leaders to take a stand on social and environmental issues today, says Harvard Business School Professor Geoffrey Jones. Jones... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Consumer Products; Fashion; Retail; Green Technology

14 Mar 2023
In Practice

What Does the Failure of Silicon Valley Bank Say About the State of Finance?

a combination of checking and savings deposits, CDs, and debt. Most deposit rates reset fairly often, so they represent relatively short-term borrowing for the bank. The equity receives the net cash flows and realizes the net gains and... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Financial Services; Banking

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