Weakness Of Will - Publications - Faculty & Research

19 Sep 2018
Sharpening Your Skills

Say Again? Uncommon Advice for Common Business Problems

Papers Unconventional Insights for Managing Stakeholder Trust Stakeholders differ in regard to the kinds and degrees of vulnerability they face; what they need to believe before they will trust also differs.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

03 Aug 2015
Research & Ideas

Why Fierce Competitors Apple and Amazon Became ’Frenemies’ Over eReaders

Let's get one thing straight from the start: Apple and Amazon are not friends. If they were high school students, they'd be mean girls glaring at each other from opposite sides of the cafeteria, jealously forcing their friends to pick... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Information; Publishing; Technology

26 May 2003
Research & Ideas

What Your Competition is Telling You

Coffee Infogroup of Eugene, Ore. "Starbucks provides a safe place to have your first latte," he says, explaining that specialty coffee is still a young industry with plenty of room to win new... View Details

Keywords: by David Stauffer

18 Jun 2001
Research & Ideas

When In-House Research Isn’t Enough

For many decades, corporate research and development has been pretty much an "inside job." The road to innovative new products and services began and ended with a company's internal R&D. But according to HBS assistant professor and Class View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner

13 Aug 2024
Op-Ed

Can AI Save Physicians from Burnout?

expectations for clinicians include a healthy balance between volume and value. Without proper boundaries, a short-sighted response to volume maximization, even when justified as much-needed access expansion, will likely come at the cost... View Details

Keywords: by Susanna Gallani, Lidia Moura, and Katie Sonnefeldt; Health

26 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

How Grocery Bags Manipulate Your Mind

their hypothetical choices were organic milk and vegetables. "We could support some of the story but not all of it yet," Karmarkar says. And so she and Bollinger conducted a second experiment, in... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail

04 Aug 2021
Research & Ideas

Worried About the Great Resignation? Be a Good Company to Come From

reports of their peers." Recruit’s performance appraisal system, Will-Can-Must, is designed to help employees build their future. Will asks employees what they want to do now and over the next three years;... View Details

Keywords: by Sandra J. Sucher and Shalene Gupta

15 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

Why Business IT Innovation is so Difficult

Harvard Business School professor Kristina Steffenson McElheran studies the effect of information technology on business process innovation. It's a topic, she is sometimes told, that is, well, less than exciting. "I've had people say to... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish

13 Feb 2006
Research & Ideas

The Hidden Market for Babies

placing children and good means of detecting any illegal baby selling. Most importantly, we could work much harder to ensure that home studies are completed—accurately and in depth—by reputable adoption agencies. Q: Moves toward... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls; Biotechnology; Health; Technology

01 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

Five Questions for Stuart Gilson

guarantee to my MBA students: Within three years of graduating, every single one of them will encounter a restructuring on their jobs—whether it involves their own company, or... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

04 Mar 2013
Lessons from the Classroom

Lessons from Running GM’s OnStar

growing a business, for better or for worse. “I tell my students that they'll get a better framework in this 14-week course than I got in 14 years at the school of hard knocks.” Chester A. "Chet" Huber (HBS MBA '79) says the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Auto

13 Jul 2015
Research & Ideas

‘Humblebragging’ is a Bad Strategy, Especially in a Job Interview

you're trying to promote yourself, and then there's also a complaint," Gino says. "And so we separated them out to try to understand which one would win—in terms of being liked and having people be willing... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

12 Feb 2001
Research & Ideas

John Irving’s Lessons for Business

structures you establish can make a big difference in fostering creativity. You should set up work groups so that people will stimulate each other and learn from each other, so that they're not homogenous in terms View Details

Keywords: by Mallory Stark & Martha Lagace

23 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 23, 2008

explore the challenges of information collection and analysis. Students will, experientially, gain insights into how information is used and be exposed to a framework for identifying and evaluating information. In addition, the exercise... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

20 May 2013
Research & Ideas

The Long-Term Fix to US Competitiveness

collaborative," Menino said. "This approach delivered results for our city. It will also deliver results to our country." The mayor cited development of the South Boston waterfront and the... View Details

Keywords: by Stephanie Schorow & Harvard Gazette

01 Mar 2004
What Do You Think?

Are Customer Loyalty Initiatives Worth the Investment?

customer loyalty management initiative, in and of itself, will overcome basic shortfalls in product/service delivering in a competitive situation." Robin Clark pointed out that: "Neither view is... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

27 Aug 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

Learning From Japan’s Remarkable Disaster Recovery

the lives and business of the people in the region had a profound effect on the students. "I realized that the problems such as a decreasing workforce population and stagnant economy which Tohoku area currently has, View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Energy; Utilities; Retail

06 Aug 2024
Op-Ed

What the World Could Learn from America's Immigration Backlash—100 Years Ago

Immigration will be a central issue in the upcoming US presidential election, just as it motivated the recent snap elections in France. After all, the number of migrants rose 27 percent to 281 million... View Details

Keywords: by Marco Tabellini

23 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Partnering and the Balanced Scorecard

purchased gasoline on the basis of price alone. About 60 percent of consumers would be willing to pay a premium price if offered a superior buying experience, including... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton

06 Jan 2021
Research & Ideas

Unexpected Exercise Advice for the Super Busy: Ditch the Rigid Routine

Months of binge watching, doom scrolling, home schooling, and stress eating have left many people more determined than ever to start a new fitness regimen in January. Even a global pandemic that is closing gyms and keeping people indoors... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

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