Publications

14 Aug 2017
Conference Presentation

A Convex Framework for Fair Regression

By: Richard Berk, Hoda Heidari, Shahin Jabbari, Matthew Joseph, Michael J. Kearns, Jamie Morgenstern, Seth Neel and Aaron Roth

We introduce a flexible family of fairness regularizers for (linear and logistic) regression problems. These regularizers all enjoy convexity, permitting fast optimization, and they span the range from notions of group fairness to strong individual fairness. By varying... View Details

Keywords: Regression Models; Machine Learning; Fairness; Framework; Mathematical Methods

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December 2020 (Revised March 2022)
Teaching Note

Forecasting ClimaCell

By: Joshua Lev Krieger, Christopher Stanton and James Barnett

A weather technology startup, ClimaCell considers the R&D trade-offs and financing implications of pursuing a proposed contract with a major automobile maker, rather than continuing its focus on building a scalable, all-purpose weather prediction engine. View Details

Keywords: Weather; Forecasting and Prediction; Business Startups; Research and Development; Finance; Cost vs Benefits; Decision Making; Strategy; United States; Israel; Massachusetts; Colorado

28 Mar 2023
Blog Post

Meet Professor Elisabeth Paulson: A Conversation on Life, Research, and Teaching

Data-driven decision-making is a powerful tool. A first step to successfully deploying such tools is to have clear (measurable) objectives and think through tradeoffs. Ask yourself: what is the metric that I care the most about, and for other metrics, what View Details

January 2022
Technical Note

Ethical Analysis: Well-Being and Rights

By: Nien-hê Hsieh and Christopher Diak

This note introduces students to two central concepts for ethical analysis: well-being and rights. It illustrates ways in which they figure in managerial decisions and challenges that arise, including how to frame trade-offs across individual well-being and... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Analysis; Rights; Well-being; Management Practices and Processes; Decision Making

November 1991 (Revised August 2005)
Case

Whelan Pharmaceuticals: Tax Factors and Global Site Selection

Whelan Pharmaceuticals, a U.S. company with $3 billion in sales, must decide where to manufacture its newest product. In considering possible sites, both foreign and U.S., the firm must identify and make trade-offs between tax, marketing, and manufacturing factors. View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Geographic Location; Cost vs Benefits; Production; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

Article

Coherencia Sistemica: El enfoque estratégico de Disney en América Latina [Systemic Coherence: Disney's Strategic Approach in Latin America]

By: Roberto Vassolo, Andres Hatum and Luciana Silvestri

La búsqueda de crecimiento internacional con frecuencia ha llevado a las multinacionales a ingresar a mercados emergentes, donde deben navegar a través de turbulencias económicas, políticas y sociales. Los rasgos ambientales particulares de América Latina plantean una... View Details

August 2020 (Revised October 2020)
Exercise

To Prioritize Money or Time? The P-Mot Exercise (Student)

By: Ashley Whillans and Liz Goldenberg

Working professionals are often in the predicament of needing to make a choice between activities that will grant them more money or more time. Indeed, in large-scale representative panels of working adults, most respondents report feeling pressed for both time and... View Details

Keywords: Time; Time-as Money; Money; Time Management; Decision Making

June 2005 (Revised March 2006)
Case

E Ink in 2005

By: David B. Yoffie and Barbara Mack

Explores the challenges of commercializing a bleeding-edge technology. After seven years, E Ink has spent more than $100 million to commercialize electronic ink. With business momentum picking up, but resources running out, the case examines the key trade-offs in... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Commercialization; Mathematical Methods; Consumer Products Industry; Technology Industry

January 2015
Case

Brentwood Associates: Exiting Zoës Kitchen

By: Joan Farre-Mensa and Stephanie Siu

The case discusses the trade-offs associated with the different exit options that private equity firm Brentwood Associates contemplated for its investment in Zoës Kitchen during the summer of 2013: an IPO, a sale to a strategic or financial acquirer, or waiting a few... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Entrepreneurship; Food and Beverage Industry; California

30 Jan 2017
Working Paper Summaries

The Environmental Legacies of The North Face's Doug Tompkins and Patagonia's Yvon Chouinard

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones and Ben Gettinger; Apparel & Accessories; Retail

March 2006
Background Note

Customer-Introduced Variability in Service Operations

By: Frances X. Frei

Presents a typology of customer-introduced variability and offers guidance on how to manage each type. Central to the ideas developed is how to mitigate the effects of the apparent trade-off between reducing variability and diminishing the service experience or... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Six Sigma; Consumer Behavior; Service Operations; Performance Efficiency

September 2004
Case

Valhalla Partners Due Diligence

By: William A. Sahlman and Dan Heath

The Valhalla Partners venture capitial firm introduced a new approach to the due-diligence process. An internal due-diligence report analyzes Telco Exchange, a startup company in the IT software space. An extended excerpt examines the trade-offs involved in the new... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Risk Management; Venture Capital; Business Plan; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Investment; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Corporate Finance; Financial Services Industry; Telecommunications Industry

January 2007 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Procter & Gamble: Organization 2005 (A)

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski and Alessandro L. Spadini

In response to a huge crisis in 2000, the new CEO of Procter & Gamble has to decide whether to continue with an unusual organizational design or to revert to the old matrix organization. Describes all the organizational designs used by Procter & Gamble from the 1920s... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure

2015
Working Paper

What Do Private Equity Firms Say They Do?

By: Paul A. Gompers, Steven N. Kaplan and Vladimir Mukharlyamov

We survey 79 private equity investors with combined assets under management (AUM) of over $750 billion about their practices in firm valuation, capital structure, governance, and value creation. Investors rely primarily on internal rate of return (IRR) and multiples to... View Details

Keywords: Governance; Value Creation; Private Equity; Capital Structure; Valuation; Management Practices and Processes

SSRN

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21 Jan 2016
News

The perils of building democracy in Africa

11 Jun 2015
News

Capitalizing on America's New Energy Advantage

10 Dec 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Multi-sided Platforms

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu & Julian Wright; Technology

November 2009
Case

VF Brands: Global Supply Chain Strategy

By: Gary P. Pisano and Pamela Adams

This case examines VF Brands global supply chain strategy. Historically, VF has used a combination of in-house manufacturing and traditional arms-length sourcing arrangements. At the time of the case, the company is considering a third approach to supplier relations... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Logistics; Supply Chain Management; Partners and Partnerships; Cooperation; Vertical Integration; Apparel and Accessories Industry