Publications

2018
Working Paper

Creativity Under Fire: The Effects of Competition on Creative Production

By: Daniel P. Gross

Though fundamental to innovation and essential to many industries and occupations, individual creativity has received limited attention as an economic behavior and has historically proven difficult to study. This paper studies the incentive effects of competition on... View Details

Keywords: Incentives; Tournaments; Radical Vs. Incremental Innovation; Motivation and Incentives; Competition; Creativity; Innovation and Invention

SSRN

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23 Jan 2019
Sharpening Your Skills

Sports: Lessons for Managers

sports as the ultimate metaphor or analogy. A manager lagging in her work is "behind the eight ball" while another who is changing tactics is "calling an audible." If your staff can't do the basic "blocking and... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Sports

2018
Working Paper

Hot or Not? What Makes Product Categories Attractive to Fair Trade and Eco-labeling Organizations

By: Kristin Sippl

This paper probes extant theory on product diversification in the empirical realm of fair trade and eco-labeling organizations (i.e., certification organizations). While much is known about diversification in for-profit firms, less is known about the more complex... View Details

Keywords: Hybrid Organizations; Fair Trade; Eco-labeling; Goods and Commodities; Diversification; Strategy

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05 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

The Middle Manager of the Future: More Coaching, Less Commanding

Middle managers aren’t going extinct. They’re evolving. Once a wasteland where careers stalled or abruptly ended in layoffs, middle management has adapted and is thriving, seeing double-digit growth in some... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

August 1991
Background Note

Industrial Market Research: Beta Test Site Management

By: Robert J. Dolan

Describes the role of BETA tests in the new product development process and presents guidelines for effective test program development. View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Mathematical Methods; Marketing

Article

Product Positioning in a Two-Dimensional Vertical Differentiation Model: The Role of Quality Costs

By: Dominique Lauga and Elie Ofek

We study a duopoly model where consumers are heterogeneous with respect to their willingness to pay for two product characteristics and marginal costs are increasing with the quality level chosen on each attribute. We show that while firms seek to manage competition... View Details

Keywords: Duopoly and Oligopoly; Customers; Quality; Product Positioning; Competition; Management; Cost; Product

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May 1994
Background Note

Managing Market Complexity: A Three-Ring Circus

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Proposes models of organization that address the various product-market environments posed by the product life cycle. Frames these changes along the two dimensions of uncertainty and diversity. Offers three sets of organizational characteristics to reflect the three... View Details

Keywords: Business Processes; Growth and Development Strategy; Complexity; Organizational Structure; Organizational Culture; Product Marketing; Markets; Product

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May 2017
Case

Four Products: Predicting Diffusion (2017)

By: John Gourville

One job of product managers, marketers, strategic planners, and other corporate executives is to predict what the demand will be for a new product. This task is easier for certain classes of new products than for others. For new consumer package goods, for instance,... View Details

Keywords: Diffusion Processes; Product Adoption; Forecasting and Prediction; Product; Product Launch; Marketing

27 Jun 2016
Research & Ideas

These Management Practices, Like Certain Technologies, Boost Company Performance

firms in the bottom 25 percent. In fact, by comparing the management numbers to other factors, the researchers determined that worldwide, quality of management accounted for a whopping 30 percent of the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

9 AM – 9 AM EDT, 09 Oct 2018

HBX Economics for Managers

Gain the knowledge and skills to craft successful business strategy, whether you are an aspiring marketing professional, strategy consultant, or entrepreneur, preparing for an MBA, or just looking to contribute more to business decision making. Program Dates: October... View Details

09 Dec 2015
Research Event

How Do You Predict Demand and Set Prices For Products Never Sold Before?

How can a retailer use its own data to determine what to charge for products it has never sold before? That’s a question Kris Ferreira considered during a presentation at Future Assembly, an event at Harvard Business School where business... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail; Apparel & Accessories

07 Sep 2012
Working Paper Summaries

IP Modularity: Profiting from Innovation by Aligning Product Architecture with Intellectual Property

Keywords: by Joachim Henkel, Carliss Y. Baldwin & Willy C. Shih

Article

Exploring the Duality Between Product and Organizational Architectures: A Test of the 'Mirroring' Hypothesis

By: Alan MacCormack, Carliss Y. Baldwin and John Rusnak

A variety of academic studies argue that a relationship exists between the structure of an organization and the design of the products that the organization produces. Specifically, products tend to "mirror" the architectures of the organizations in which they are... View Details

Keywords: Organization Design; Architecture; Modularity; Open Source Software; Communication; Design; Governance; Management Practices and Processes; Open Source Distribution; Product Design; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Structure; Performance; Problems and Challenges; Behavior; Software

April 2024
Case

Managing AI Risks in Consumer Banking

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Satish Tadikonda, Paul Dongha, Manoj Saxena and Radhika Kak

In early 2024, Ruth Jones, head of digital banking at Signa Bank, a (fictitious) European consumer bank, was thinking about how to best incorporate GenAI capabilities to improve efficiencies and create new ways to improve the customer experience. Where were the biggest... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; AI and Machine Learning; Risk Management; Opportunities; Customization and Personalization; Banking Industry; Europe

2020
Book

The Ends Game: How Smart Companies Stop Selling Products and Start Delivering Value

By: Marco Bertini and Oded Koenigsberg

How some firms are rewriting the rules of commerce by pursuing “ends”—actual outcomes—rather than selling “means”—their products and services. View Details

Keywords: Commerce; Business Model; Design; Customer Relationship Management; Strategy