Publications

SSRN

26 Aug 2012
News

Apple-Samsung Case Shows Smartphone as Legal Magnet

09 Sep 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Quantity vs. Quality: Exclusion by Platforms with Network Effects

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu; Technology

June 2005 (Revised October 2007)
Background Note

Market Efficiency

By: Joshua D. Coval, Erik Stafford, Rodrigo Osmo, John Jernigan, Zachary Page and Paul Passoni

Covers how prices react to information, the incentives for bringing information into prices, and the paradox of market efficiency in equilibrium--for investors to work hard keeping markets efficient, they must always be somewhat inefficient at the margin. Uses separate... View Details

Keywords: Market Design; Price

Educators

November 2007
Case

AXA MONY

By: Lucy White and Andre F. Perold

AXA's friendly bid for MONY is contested by activist hedge funds suspicious of management's generous change in control contracts. Votes trade after the record date. AXA financed the bid using an unusual conditionally convertible bond which may have affected incentives... View Details

Keywords: Bonds; Ethics; Bids and Bidding

Educators

2007
Working Paper

Accountability in Complex Organizations: World Bank Responses to Civil Society

By: Alnoor Ebrahim and Steve Herz

Civil society actors have been pushing for greater accountability of the World Bank for at least three decades. This paper outlines the range of accountability mechanisms currently in place at the World Bank along four basic levels: (1) staff, (2) project, (3) policy,... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Compensation and Benefits; Business and Community Relations; Social Enterprise; Motivation and Incentives

Read Now

20 Apr 2011
Research & Ideas

Blind Spots: We’re Not as Ethical as We Think

and actual behavior, according to the authors. The rapidly developing field of behavioral ethics has described a decision-making process whereby we recognize what we should do—give equal weight to job candidates of all races, for... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Article

Moral Traps: When Self-serving Attributions Backfire in Prosocial Behavior

By: Stephanie C. Lin, Julian Zlatev and Dale T. Miller

Two assumptions guide the current research. First, people's desire to see themselves as moral disposes them to make attributions that enhance or protect their moral self-image: When approached with a prosocial request, people are inclined to attribute their own... View Details

Keywords: Morality; Attributions; Decision Making; Prosocial Behavior; Moral Sensibility; Behavior; Perception

November 1992 (Revised June 1994)
Case

Packaged Products Company: Handy-Pak Introduction

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Laura Goode

The product manager and the market research director for a new line of snacking nuts are reviewing options concerning the upcoming roll-out of the product. These options include changes in pricing, promotional plans, and salesforce incentives intended to build support... View Details

Keywords: Price; Marketing; Marketing Channels; Product Launch; Distribution; Planning; Research and Development; Sales; Salesforce Management; Alignment; Consumer Products Industry; Service Industry

01 May 2025
HBS Seminar

Dan Iancu, Stanford Graduate School of Business

May 2009
Article

When Contracts Destroy Trust

By: Deepak Malhotra

Contracts exist to foster trust, but they can actually do the opposite. Overly detailed contracts leave no room for spontaneous acts of kindness to create goodwill between parties; too-rigid contracts leave parties unable to respond to the unanticipated; and, strangely... View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Negotiation; Trust

Dennis Yao is the Lawrence E. Fouraker Professor of Business Administration and Chair of the Doctoral Programs at Harvard Business School. He joined the faculty in 2004 after having been at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. From 1991-1994 he served as... View Details

Keywords: automotive; defense; federal government; high technology

07 Oct 2010
News

Bright ideas

30 Mar 2022
News

Exercising Freedom In Your World To Uphold Freedom In The World

23 Apr 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Does Public Ownership of Equity Improve Earnings Quality?

Keywords: by Dan Givoly, Carla Hayn & Sharon P. Katz

29 Aug 2018
Working Paper Summaries

How Much Does Your Boss Make? The Effects of Salary Comparisons

Keywords: by Zoë B. Cullen and Ricardo Perez-Truglia

2012
Book

The Architecture of Innovation: The Economics of Creative Organizations

By: Josh Lerner

Innovation is a much-used buzzword these days, but when it comes to creating and implementing a new idea, many companies miss the mark—plans backfire, consumer preferences shift, or tried-and-true practices fail to work in a new context. So is innovation just a... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Organizational Structure; Microeconomics

March 1999 (Revised March 2000)
Case

Cross Country Group, The: A Piece of the Rock (A)

By: Robert L. Simons and Indra Reinbergs

A new MBA graduate joins a privately held family business and sets ambitious growth goals for the next five years. To enhance motivation, he proposes a new incentive plan that will grant him a share of the wealth he creates. However, the family owners have a more... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Decisions; Motivation and Incentives; Business Strategy; Performance Efficiency; Risk and Uncertainty; Growth and Development; Planning; Accounting Industry; Employment Industry

Educators

July 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Supplement

Executive Pay and the Credit Crisis of 2008 (B)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

As the recession lingered on into 2009, the U.S. government sought to limit executive pay and excessive risk. The debate raged over what constituted excessive risk and how best to mitigate it. This case describes the government restrictions on executive pay for TARP... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government Legislation; Executive Compensation; Risk Management; Business and Government Relations; Motivation and Incentives; United States