Publications

September 2009
Article

Structural Homophily or Social Asymmetry? The Formation of Alliances by Poorly Embedded Firms

By: Gautam Ahuja, Francisco Polidoro Jr. and Will Mitchell

Recent research shows that preexisting network structure constrains the formation of new interorganizational alliances. Firms that are poorly embedded in a network structure are less likely than richly embedded firms to form alliances, because they lack informational... View Details

Keywords: Interorganizational Networks; Interfirm Collaboration; Embeddedness; Networks; Joint Ventures; Alliances

2014
Discussion Paper

The Promise of Microfinance and Women's Empowerment: What Does the Evidence Say?

By: Dina D. Pomeranz

The microfinance revolution has transformed access to financial services for low-income populations worldwide. As a result, it has become one of the most talked-about innovations in global development in recent decades. However, its expansion has not been without... View Details

January 2007
Article

Introducing the First Management Control Systems: Evidence from the Retail Sector

By: Tatiana Sandino

Focusing on a sample of US retailers, I study the management control systems (MCS) that firms introduce when they first invest in controls, and identify four categories of initial MCS, which are defined in terms of the purposes these MCS fulfill. The first category,... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Entrepreneurial Organizations; Firm Growth; Corporate Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Management Systems; Growth and Development Strategy

SSRN

Find at Harvard

2008
Working Paper

Using Financial Innovation to Support Savers: From Coercion to Excitement

By: Peter Tufano

We review a wide variety of programs that support savings by families, in particular by low- and moderate-income families. These programs range from ones that literally compel families to save, to those that make it hard not to save, make it easier to save, provide... View Details

Keywords: Saving; Motivation and Incentives; Programs; Income; Personal Finance; Family and Family Relationships; Performance Effectiveness

April 2005 (Revised April 2005)
Background Note

Corporate Strategies in Media and Entertainment Businesses

By: Bharat N. Anand

In recent years, many debates in corporate strategy have centered around information goods markets, and the media and entertainment sector in particular. Vertical integration is the norm in many parts of the media sector, despite conventional wisdom that it offers no... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy

Web

Strategy Curriculum - Faculty & Research

U.S. Healthcare Strategy (also listed under General Management) Leemore S. Dafny Fall 2024 Q1Q2 3.0 Doctoral Programs Faculty from the Strategy unit work with students across several doctoral programs. Detailed curriculum information for... View Details

01 Dec 2023
News

Alumni and Faculty Books and Podcasts

opportunities. Startup life is exciting, but full of uncertainty. You need the best information possible to make smart choices. The Startup Lottery is for anyone who wants to maximize their likelihood of success. Smart Startups: What... View Details

Keywords: podcasts

May 2022 (Revised July 2022)
Case

The Voice War Continues: Hey Google vs. Alexa vs. Siri in 2022

By: David B. Yoffie and Daniel Fisher

In 2022, after five years of pursuing a new "AI-first" strategy, Google had captured a sizeable share of the American and global markets for voice assistants. Google Assistant was used by hundreds of millions of users around the world, but Amazon retained the largest... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Artificial Intelligence; Deep Learning; Voice Assistants; Smart Home; Market Share; Globalized Markets and Industries; Competitive Strategy; Digital Platforms; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Industry; United States

13 Jan 2023
Research & Ideas

Are Companies Actually Greener—or Are They All Talk?

Most companies now account for social good in their financial reports in some way, but with regulation scattershot and evolving, it’s complicated for investors to assess so-called ESG reports. The disclosures, known as Environmental, Social, and Governance reports,... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

19 Jul 2017
Research & Ideas

Why Government 'Nudges' Motivate Good Citizen Behavior

to do, like save for retirement—which are both for the good of society and for their own good. Here’s an example. On the first day of a new job, the paperwork is coming at you fast and furious, including a packet of information about how... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

23 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

How to Brand a Next-Generation Product

significant changes and improvements for each successive model. Even though participants had no information about the actual features of the products, participants predicted much greater change when the latest version was named MagiColor... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

06 Sep 2016
Blog Post

What Makes the HBS MBA unique?

lecture. Each class, you read a case about a protagonist and a decision that he/she is facing. You’re put into the shoes of the protagonist and forced to make a decision on what he/she should do, often without all the information that... View Details

2023
Chapter

Marketing Through the Machine’s Eyes: Image Analytics and Interpretability

By: Shunyuan Zhang, Flora Feng and Kannan Srinivasan

he growth of social media and the sharing economy is generating abundant unstructured image and video data. Computer vision techniques can derive rich insights from unstructured data and can inform recommendations for increasing profits and consumer utility—if only the... View Details

Keywords: Transparency; Marketing Research; Algorithmic Bias; AI and Machine Learning; Marketing

2020
Working Paper

Digital Experimentation and Startup Performance: Evidence from A/B Testing

By: Rembrand Koning, Sharique Hasan and Aaron Chatterji

Recent work argues that experimentation is the appropriate framework for entrepreneurial strategy. We investigate this proposition by exploiting the time-varying adoption of A/B testing technology, which has drastically reduced the cost of experimentally testing... View Details

Keywords: Experimentation; A/B Testing; Data-driven Decision-making; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Business Startups; Information Technology; Performance

SSRN

April 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Case

IBM: Design Thinking

By: Srikant M. Datar, Amram Migdal and Paul Hamilton

This case describes the 2012-2020 effort at IBM to implement design thinking throughout the company and hire thousands of designers to serve on every product team alongside technical engineers and developers and product managers. IBM’s design transformation is told... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Business Divisions; Business Units; Business Organization; Change; Change Management; Transformation; Competency and Skills; Talent and Talent Management; Design; Human Resources; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Innovation and Invention; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Jobs and Positions; Job Design and Levels; Leading Change; Management; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Operations; Product; Product Design; Product Development; Organizations; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Strategy; Adaptation; Adoption; Technological Innovation; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States

2019
Working Paper

Biometric Monitoring, Service Delivery and Misreporting: Evidence from Healthcare in India

By: Thomas Bossuroy, Clara Delavallade and Vincent Pons

Developing countries increasingly use biometric identification technology in hopes of improving the reliability of administrative information and delivering social services more efficiently. This paper exploits the random placement of biometric tracking devices in... View Details

Keywords: Biometric Technology; Health Care and Treatment; Technological Innovation; Analytics and Data Science; Quality; Performance Improvement; India

01 Aug 1998
News

Spangler Family Gift Endows New Campus Center

eat, go to the post office, or hold an informal meeting with classmates. It will be a gathering place for the entire community, including returning alumni who will now have new spaces for reunion activities." View Details

Keywords: Nancy O. Perry

Research Summary

Experience and description-based decision making.

Prof. Barron and his co-authors study the effect of the economic environment on decision making. One example involves the effect of rare (low probability) events. People behave as if they overweight these events in some settings (e.g., when buying insurance and... View Details

January 2023 (Revised June 2023)
Case

Replika: Embodying AI

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Shweta Bagai and Marilyn Morgan Westner

Replika was a virtual AI companion that provided a way for people to process their emotions, build connections in a safe environment, and get through periods of loneliness. The chatbot fulfilled a user's need for a friend, romantic partner, or purely an emotional... View Details

Keywords: AI; AI and Machine Learning; Applications and Software; Human Needs; California