Publications

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16 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

Can Consumers Be Saved From Their Misguided Decisions?

health, career—that an industry is evolving around motivating people to be smarter about their choices. The problem: solutions created by these researchers and other behavioral scientists, such as incentives... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Consulting; Retail

01 Dec 2023
News

A Continuum of Innovation

As senior associate dean and chair of the MBA Program, Matt Weinzierl has a running list of questions that he and Jana P. Kierstead, the executive director of MBA and Doctoral programs, always keep in mind. They range from the curricular (How can we ensure that the MBA... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Gillespie

05 May 2022
HBS Case

College Degrees: The Job Requirement Companies Seek, but Don't Really Need

college degree, so qualified people are often shut out of the candidate pool before hiring managers can get a closer look at them. But especially now, when employers need workers—and workers need jobs—it... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

20 Oct 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

Steps to Help You Get Out of Your Own Way

That Brings Peace and ProductivityJoseph Badaracco studied classic works and interviewed 100 managers in 15 countries to learn how busy men and... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

01 Sep 2021
What Do You Think?

Can We Train for Trust?

concluded that “trust in leadership positively affects employees’ job performance, overall job satisfaction, and commitment to their organizations.” One study of 6,500 Holiday Inn employees concluded that... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

June 2019 (Revised October 2019)
Technical Note

Note on the Future of Commerce

By: William R. Kerr, Daniel O'Connor and Nathaniel Schwalb

In 2019, the retail and consumer product industries were undergoing a significant transformation. Over the past 50 years, what was once a highly fragmented industry began to consolidate, digitize, and increase convenience while lowering costs. The winning enterprises... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Demand and Consumers; Demographics; Transformation; Global Range; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Model; Leading Change; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry

Research Summary

Overview

By: Ethan S. Bernstein

I have spent my career studying novel talent management practices and their effect on collaboration and performance. My core research focuses on two interrelated organizational trends that have become salient in the 21st century: workplace transparency (who gets to... View Details

14 Jun 2022
Blog Post

Meet the HBS Jewish Student Association

excited to co-create the in-person Jewish experience at HBS throughout the upcoming year. JSA Priorities for 2022-2023 Our leadership team is passionate about building connections - whether among Jewish students at HBS, across other... View Details

07 Feb 2017
Research & Ideas

The Right Way to Cry in Front of Your Boss

frustration or sadness. Wolf differentiates those expressions from anger directed at others. In the paper Managing Perceptions of Distress at Work: Reframing Emotion as Passion, published in the November 2016 issue of Organizational... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland

28 Nov 2007
Research & Ideas

B2B Branding: Does it Work?

enterprise customers. They cannot do so economically using the traditional direct sales force. Second, if left unattended, individual managers will each do their own ad hoc marketing. The result will be a hodgepodge of corporate logos,... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Consumer Products

02 Apr 2020
What Do You Think?

What Are Lessons for Leaders from This Black Swan Crisis?

into the fabric of normal, ongoing organization financial management (it) buys time to figure out what is happening and what it means to the organization.” Jacob Navon suggested, “Perhaps corporate thinking... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

February 2021 (Revised March 2022)
Case

TikTok in 2020: Super App or Supernova?

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Dan Maher and Dan O'Brien

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, was launched in 2012 around a simple idea – helping users entertain themselves on their smartphones while on the Beijing Subway. In less than a decade, it had become one of the world’s most valuable private companies, with investors... View Details

13 Mar 2023
Research & Ideas

The Power of Personal Connections: How Shared Experiences Boost Performance

consultancies and accounting firms already do this by putting “cohorts” of new employees on similar professional development tracks, with shared workshops, activities, and milestones designed to strengthen... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Health

January 2022 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Expanding the Culture of Learning at Kraft Heinz

By: Ashley V. Whillans and Carolyn Watson

The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC) was an American food company formed in 2015 by the merger of Kraft Foods Group, Inc and the H.J. Heinz Company. The company sold food products like Heinz Ketchup, Kraft Mac & Cheese, Kool-Aid, and Philadelphia cream cheese to supermarkets,... View Details

Keywords: Learning; Culture; Work Culture; Workplace Practices; Mergers; Mergers and Acquisitions; Competitive Advantage; Human Capital; Training; Performance Evaluation; Growth and Development; Personal Development and Career; Employee Relationship Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Food and Beverage Industry

15 Aug 2006
First Look

First Look: August 15, 2006

Working PapersOptimal Reserve Management and Sovereign Debt Authors:Laura Alfaro and Fabio Kanczuk Abstract Most models currently used to determine optimal foreign reserve... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Mar 2018
Research & Ideas

Feeling Stressed? Try Sniffing Your Romantic Partner's Shirt

published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. “Many people wear their partner’s shirt, or they sleep on their partner’s side of the bed when they’re away; I was interested in whether there... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

Web

Business & Environment - Faculty & Research

volume and constituted a key lever for the company to increase its positive impact on sustainability. IKEA Group Management therefore had to decide how to manage its portfolio... View Details

June 2022 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Netflix's Culture: Binge or Cringe?

By: Hubert Joly, Leonard A. Schlesinger, James Barnett and Stacy Straaberg

In May 2022, streaming entertainment company Netflix lost customers for the first time in more than 10 years. Once a first mover in the streaming landscape, Netflix was facing competition from Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, HBO Max, and others. A key component of... View Details

December 2020 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Arcos Dorados: A QSR Recovery Plan

By: Forest Reinhardt, José B. Alvarez, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Mariana Cal

Arcos Dorados—McDonald’s largest independent franchisee, covering Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)—faced a pandemic that was disrupting the entire consumer foodservice business in 2020. With the exclusive right to own, operate, and sub-franchise McDonald’s... View Details