Complex Systems - Publications - Faculty & Research

21 Feb 2005
Op-Ed

Is Business Management a Profession?

particular law and medicine. Our criteria for calling an occupation a bona fide profession are as follows: a common body of knowledge resting on a well-developed, widely accepted theoretical base; a system for certifying that individuals... View Details

Keywords: by Rakesh Khurana, Nitin Nohria & Daniel Penrice

04 Aug 2011
What Do You Think?

How Dangerous Is Common Sense to Managers?

served or failed us. Most felt that common sense had its place in combination with formal systems of knowledge, research, and planning. As Michael Aschenbach put it, "If you get lost in the woods, it is good to have survival... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

17 Aug 2021
Research & Ideas

Can Autonomous Vehicles Drive with Common Sense?

Consider, for example, the outrage Mercedes caused five years ago when, in an effort to allay the fears of its drivers, it announced that its AVs would be programmed to protect the lives of their occupants, even if it meant sacrificing any pedestrians in their path.... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Auto

12 Feb 2020
Blog Post

Trying Out New Career Options with SIPs (Short Intensive Programs)

some of the 2019-20 SIPs offerings. Africa Rising: Understanding Business, Entrepreneurship, and the Complexities of a Continent Faculty: Hakeem Belo-Osagie & Carrie Elkins This course was designed to introduce HBS students to the... View Details

30 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 30, 2019

credit and leverage, and expose the economy to major risks. Nicola Gennaioli and Andrei Shleifer carefully walk readers through the unraveling of Lehman Brothers and the ensuing meltdown of the U.S. financial system and then present new... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

02 Oct 2017
What Do You Think?

Do Bitcoin and Digital Currency Have a Future?

for market manipulation (and) used as payment method for online crime.” Bitcoin does not have a future as a currency, Turnbull said, because of the cost of operating sufficient computers to collectively document every single transaction. “When (digital) mining becomes... View Details

Keywords: by James L. Heskett; Financial Services

27 Nov 2006
What Do You Think?

What’s to Be Done About Performance Reviews?

Summing Up The topic of performance reviews triggers a wide range of complex responses. The fact that most of their strongest critics elected to reply anonymously to this month's column suggests that there are also political overtones to... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

05 Feb 2019
News

The First Five Years: Karan Shah (MBA 2016)

our growth strategy to diversify the business portfolio. One of my key responsibilities is to ensure that everything we do has a well-documented system and process. A day at work could involve any or all of the activities I mentioned... View Details

02 Mar 2016
News

David Moss is Rewriting History

global financial events. His first course-length experiment had been a success. He saw the case method bring history—which many students thought of as a dull procession of inevitable events—to life. Character, narrative, and tension gave an urgency to topics such as... View Details

Keywords: April White

04 Feb 2010
What Do You Think?

What’s the Best Way to Make Careful Decisions?

from previous decisions is clear and where cause-and-effect relationships can be identified. Unfortunately, in his view these conditions are more and more rare. As he puts it, "intuition is losing relevance in an increasingly complex... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

Web

Electricity - Business & Environment

clean, resilient, and consumer-centric through the application of data science and behavioral economics, optimizing the system assets and operations across the electric meter.” Tanuj Deora HBS MBA 2006 Vice President, Market Development... View Details

14 Sep 2023
Blog Post

MBAs Accelerate Their Social Enterprise Ventures

investments. Through Solara’s IoT-enabled systems with dynamic pricing, digital payments, and booking features, farmers can operate their own irrigation businesses, serving their non-pump owning neighbors water at rates below current... View Details

24 Feb 2022
Op-Ed

Want to Prevent the Next Hospital Bed Crisis? Enlist the SEC

meeting surges in capacity and to explain how they derived that estimate. Transparency as a solution often fails because of a lack of enforcement or overly complex regulations. For example, when President Biden issued an executive order... View Details

Keywords: by Regina Herzlinger and Richard Boxer; Health

18 Apr 2016
Blog Post

Meet the HBS Family Business Club

family-controlled enterprises. Issues that arise in family business systems are often complex and emotional. When handled poorly, the complex dynamics of a family business... View Details

20 Oct 2010
Op-Ed

Export Competitiveness: Reversing the Logic

level of productivity that companies can achieve in a location given the full breadth of conditions that affect their activities there. It is the structured approach towards organizing these conditions and the systemic relationships... View Details

Keywords: by Christian Ketels

01 Sep 2023
News

Alumni and Faculty Books

of smart investing, showing you how to profit from the power of compounding using stocks, dividends, and options in your investment portfolio. The Compound Code is a must-read for any investor seeking to avoid mistakes and implement View Details

Web

Courses by Faculty Unit - Course Catalog

Operations Management) Suraj Srinivasan Spring 2026 Q4 1.5 Strategy Execution Robert Simons Spring 2026 Q4 1.5 Systems for Scaling Ventures (SSV) (also listed under Entrepreneurial Management) Tatiana Sandino Spring 2026 Q3Q4 3.0... View Details

17 Sep 2013
First Look

First Look: September 17

Wandering By: Giblin, Colleen, Carey K. Morewedge, and Michael I. Norton Abstract—The mind wanders, even when people are attempting to make complex decisions. We suggest that such mind wandering-allowing one's thoughts to wander until the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

11 May 2022
Blog Post

MoMBAs: The Inspiring Student Mothers of HBS

in how to spend time as a mother. I took a gap semester in my EC (second) year because I felt I was drowning between classes, the part-time job I wanted to do, and a broken childcare support system (daycare was shortened due to COVID).... View Details

26 Mar 2024
Blog Post

IFC India: Financing the Climate Transition in India

philanthropic capital to de-risk private investments. The response emphasizes investing philanthropic funds in systemic changes, acknowledging the pragmatic but imperfect nature of this approach for ecosystem building. FDI Incentives: To... View Details

Publications