Signals - Publications - Faculty & Research

30 Nov 2022
Research & Ideas

Recruiters: Highlight Your Company’s Diversity, Not Just Perks and Pay

Why diverse organizations are attractive The researchers sent follow-up questions to ask why applicants value diversity information. “Many indicate that such information was useful because it signals the quality of the company, highlights... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

25 Jun 2007
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Beauty Entrepreneur Madam Walker

a particular identity. And there's a piece of this in Madam Walker's decision to buck the tide in how African Americans were known by whites. This was about signaling her own self-respect and that for other African Americans" by... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Beauty & Cosmetics

14 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Restarting Under Uncertainty: Managerial Experiences from Around the World

signals and quickly adapt their activities to newly emerging information. They actively cooperate with external stakeholders (including, in some instances, their competitors) to pool and disseminate information and safeguard the stability... View Details

Keywords: by Raffaella Sadun, Andrea Bertoni, Alexia Delfino, Giovanni Fassio, and Mariapaola Testa

06 Aug 2019
Cold Call Podcast

Super Bowl Ads Sell Products, but Do They Sell Brands?

and the Pepsi logo, which you would never see in Atlanta any other time. So, that was a very interesting move. Kenny: But does that signal something bigger? Is there kind of a trend moving in the opposite direction? We're in this period... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Sports; Entertainment & Recreation; Media & Broadcasting

06 Aug 2012
Research & Ideas

Strategic Intelligence: Adapt or Die

opposed to blindly continuing on a path when all the signals in your competitive environment suggest you need to change course. When I've looked more carefully at why companies fail, oftentimes they see a problem but their structure gets... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

22 Feb 2021
Book

Reaching Today's Omnichannel Customer Takes a New Sales Strategy

Selling is changing, but broad generalizations and false dichotomies about ecommerce, big data, and other trends—hallmarks of current sales advice—are keeping business leaders from making sound decisions, says Frank Cespedes, author of a new book that aims to separate... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

04 Jun 2001
What Do You Think?

What’s the Future of the Subscription Model?

customers. Any company pursuing the subscription model by taking its customers for granted should be pursuing another model." Another view is that Internet companies will return to the subscription model given their signal lack of... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

12 Oct 2022
Research & Ideas

When Design Enables Discrimination: Learning from Anti-Asian Bias on Airbnb

society, it’s not my problem.’ It is your problem as a leader. You need to take steps to make sure you're contributing to solutions rather than to problems.” You Might Also Like: How Racial Bias Taints Customer Service: Evidence from 6,000 Hotels Gender Bias Complaints... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds; Technology; Travel

20 Oct 2010
Op-Ed

Export Competitiveness: Reversing the Logic

be designed, it does not ignore the important role that exports play in the growth process. And there is also a significant overlap in terms of the individual policies that are suggested. Exports are an important diagnostic tool that can help View Details

Keywords: by Christian Ketels

01 Nov 2019
What Do You Think?

Should Non-Compete Clauses Be Abolished?

commented that, “When a non-compete clause is required it can signal a lack of trust If your ethics are being questioned the time of hire, question the company ethics.” This may help explain why RCD said that, “I have walked away from... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

08 Feb 2000
Research & Ideas

Building Effective R&D Capabilities Abroad

Kobe-Osaka region—the second-largest regional market in Japan and one that offered educational institutions with high-quality scientists—Lilly would send a signal to the medical community there that the company was committed to the needs... View Details

Keywords: by Walter Kuemmerle

18 Feb 2019
Book

What’s Really Disrupting Business? It’s Not Technology

tried to prevent customers from showrooming. They considered changing the barcodes on products to make them hard to search for online. The company even tried to use signal jammers, like the ones they use to keep prison inmates from using... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Beauty & Cosmetics; Insurance; Service; Retail

13 Sep 2021
Research & Ideas

Science: The Unlikely Frontier for New Business Ideas

curate and share knowledge between the corporate and academic worlds better, so that managers don’t have to decipher the ever-expanding corpus of journal articles, Krieger says. “Managers need more than just a search engine for scientific articles; they need maps and... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

20 Feb 2017
Research & Ideas

Having No Life is the New Aspirational Lifestyle

and both were rated above Trader Joe’s. “Whole Foods may be the more luxurious experience, but Peapod signals your time is so valuable you can’t afford to waste it,” says Keinan. In another study, a woman wearing a Bluetooth headset was... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

04 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

When Founders Recruit Friends and Family as Investors

problems, taking money from friends and family may send a negative signal about the startup's prospects, especially if the startup is beyond the early launching stage. One serial entrepreneur observed that founders who fail to raise... View Details

Keywords: by Noam Wasserman

09 Jun 2014
Research & Ideas

The Manager in Red Sneakers

clothes rather than an elegant outfit to a luxury boutique, or wearing sneakers to a professional event. In The Red Sneakers Effect: Inferring Status and Competence from Signals of Nonconformity—an article appearing in the June 2014... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Consumer Products; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion

17 Oct 2024
Research & Ideas

The Reputation Risks of Sharing Fake News

party, regardless of whether they are true—or even especially because they are untrue. “The theory is that the best way to signal your loyalty to your political party is to show that you’re willing to take outlandish stances that will... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

28 Feb 2007
Research & Ideas

Capital Rules: The Tensions of Global Finance

the exceptions that scholars and policymakers had historically reserved from their embrace of open capital markets were ruled out of bounds. The norm of capital mobility was to be universal and unqualified. Deviation was a powerful signal... View Details

Keywords: by Rawi Abdelal

11 Oct 2006
Research & Ideas

U.S. Tops Business Competitiveness Index 2006

overall competitiveness, the report identifies national competitive strengths and weaknesses, highlights global economic trends, and signals the ingredients of successful economic development. The Index is part of the research... View Details