Cost vs Benefits - Publications - Faculty & Research

22 May 2007
First Look

First Look: May 22, 2007

policy we consider concerns the level of future Social Security benefits. Specifically, we examine how an agent would respond to learning in advance whether she will experience a major Social Security benefit cut starting at age 65. We... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

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Business History - Faculty & Research

Management ; Business Earnings ; Financial Statements ; Change Management ; Disruption ; Volatility ; Transition ; Crime and Corruption ; Cost vs Benefits ; Decision Making ;... View Details

06 Jun 2018
Research & Ideas

Cut Salaries or Cut People? The Best Way to Survive a Downturn

eugeniek Companies looking to shed costs in an economic downturn rarely cut compensation—typically, they slash jobs instead. New research confirms the wisdom of that decision. The study concludes that when a company cuts employee pay the... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

July 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors: Bringing Systematic Investment to Philanthropy

By: Lauren Cohen, Hao Gao, Alexander Bischoff and Sophia Pan

Melissa Berman, CEO of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), evaluated her client’s philanthropy project and its mediocre performance. RPA was a segment of the Rockefeller Family Office’s Philanthropy Department, becoming an independent charity in 2002. Consistently... View Details

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12 Dec 2023
Research & Ideas

COVID Tested Global Supply Chains. Here’s How They’ve Adapted

chains will have on US businesses and consumers, with worrying signs that it could result in higher costs and prices, say Alfaro and her coauthor Davin Chor, an associate professor at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business. Yet,... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis

02 May 2023
What Do You Think?

How Should Artificial Intelligence Be Regulated—if at All?

humanity. Clearly, AI is a big deal with large potential benefits and, at the moment, largely unknown risks for society. It will get more important fast. Why? Two tech giants, Microsoft and Google, are competing for first-mover advantage... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Information Technology; Technology

10 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

Technology and COVID Upended Tipping Norms. Will Consumers Keep Paying?

effect studies from psychology that show that people perceive a price to be fair or unfair based on what surrounds it,” Avery says. For example, think about buying wine. If you don’t know what the cost of wine is, you will base your... View Details

Keywords: by Anna Lamb, Harvard Gazette

October 1993 (Revised March 2023)
Case

Conflict on a Trading Floor (A)

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Jerry Useem

A junior salesperson on FirstAmerica Bank's trading floor is assisting a top salesperson, Linda, on a deal to finance the construction of a new cruise ship for Poseidon Cruise Lines. While the terms of the deal are being worked out, he realizes Linda has taken... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Profit; Knowledge Use and Leverage

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November 29, 2011
Article

The Role of The Board in Creating a Sustainable Strategy

By: Robert G. Eccles, Ioannis Ioannou and George Serafeim

While conceptually elegant, the belief that a corporation's role is to maximize value for shareholders is under increasing challenge as society's expectations for companies change. An equally elegant new concept that takes account of these dual pressures has yet to... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Strategy; Business and Shareholder Relations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance Expectations; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Practices and Processes; Decisions; Risk and Uncertainty; Cost vs Benefits; Information

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26 Aug 2002
Research & Ideas

High-Stakes Decision Making: The Lessons of Mount Everest

the sunk cost trap will not prevent flawed decisions. Instead, leaders must be vigilant about asking tough questions such as: What would another executive do if he assumed my position today with no prior history in this organization? 74... View Details

Keywords: by Michael A. Roberto

Research Summary

Managing the Advantages and Tradeoffs of Collaborative Structures

By: Ethan S. Bernstein

To solve complex problems, organizations must both collect facts and use them to solve problems. In one study, my coauthors and I show that increased connectivity—measured as network... View Details

Keywords: Networks; Human Behavior; Performance; Virtual Work; Hybrid Work; Office Space; Workplace Design; Communication; Social and Collaborative Networks; Behavior; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Leadership; Management

09 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Unilever—A Case Study

grounds that the building in Cambridge was not large enough, that it would be easier to find the right personnel in New York, and that Lever would benefit by being closer to the large advertising agencies in the city. 24 There were also... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Consumer Products; Entertainment & Recreation; Food & Beverage; Manufacturing; Retail

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Negotiation, Organizations & Markets - Faculty & Research

the fact that companies have not effectively quantified and tracked the cost stress poses to integral business outcomes. Companies can take charge of the avoidable costs of stress by surveying their... View Details

17 Jan 2024
HBS Case

Psychological Pricing Tactics to Fight the Inflation Blues

Many consumers recovering from the worst inflation in 40 years continue to closely watch their spending—they want to know that every expense is worth it. Now companies must confront a major challenge: gauging how much, if any, of their own higher View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Consumer Products; Retail

07 Feb 2022
Research & Ideas

Digital Transformation: A New Roadmap for Success

digital-first incumbents struggle to make the necessary longer-term investments when their investors focus on shorter-term metrics, participants say. At the same time, companies must deliver value at speed. They’re cutting costs through... View Details

Keywords: by Linda A. Hill, Ann Le Cam, Sunand Menon, and Emily Tedards

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Photo Galleries - Alumni

Reunions Photo Galleries Select photographs taken by professional photographers during the HBS reunions are available for viewing and purchase on a private, secure site. The galleries are "unlisted" within the HBS Alumni SmugMug site, which means they cannot be reached... View Details

September 2010
Article

How Firms Respond to Being Rated

By: Aaron K. Chatterji and Michael W. Toffel

While many rating systems seek to help buyers overcome information asymmetries when making purchasing decisions, we investigate how these ratings also influence the companies being rated. We hypothesize that ratings are particularly likely to spur responses from firms... View Details

Keywords: System; Information; Decisions; Cost; Opportunities; Performance; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Economics; Theory; System Shocks; Rank and Position

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Leadership Fellows

students and through the candidate selection and interview process. Ensures sufficient resources to support the experience of an MBA. Commits to pay $65,000 toward the Fellow’s annualized salary plus the costs associated with providing... View Details

January 2021
Supplement

Aster DM Healthcare: Budget Exercise

By: V.G. Narayanan and Amy Klopfenstein

In April 2020, Alisha Moopen, Deputy Managing Director of Aster DM Healthcare, a network of clinics, hospitals, and pharmacies in the Middle East and India, must create her company’s budget for the 2021 fiscal year in light of the onset of Covid-19. The pandemic had... View Details

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March 2014
Case

Babcock International Plc

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

In 2013, Babcock International Plc (Babcock) was the largest engineering services provider in the UK with sales of over £3 billion. Under the leadership of CEO Peter Rogers, Babcock had grown revenues and profits nearly tenfold over the previous decade as it benefited... View Details