Publications

01 Jun 2015
News

Research Brief: If State Pensions Clean Up Their Books, Who Pays?

that states with the largest pension deficits and those with heavy unionization were most likely to want to keep the status quo—even when the public and financial experts pushed for the opposite. It makes sense: “The most likely scenario... View Details

Keywords: Erin Peterson

23 Oct 2019
News

Negotiators Share Lessons from High-Stakes Global Diplomacy

related to the project, Kissinger the Negotiator (Harper Collins, 2018), analyzes Kissinger’s overall approach to making deals and resolving conflicts. The project’s most impactful outcome so far has been the development of a graduate... View Details

Keywords: University Collaborations

23 Feb 2004
Research & Ideas

It’s Back to Business-Basics for Nonprofits

not equally worth doing. By clarifying and defining intended impact and theory of change, organizations can gain the clarity they need to make the important decisions of how to allocate time, money, and... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls

May 1979 (Revised August 2013)
Background Note

Financial Analysis of Real Property Investments

By: William J. Poorvu

Develops a conceptual framework for financial analysis of real estate investments, taking into consideration the necessity for baseline data, project trends, and forecast discontinuities. View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Investment Return; Trends; Real Estate Industry; Financial Services Industry

2017
Report

The American Angel: The First In-Depth Report on the Demographics and Investing Activity of Individual American Angel Investors

By: Laura Huang, Andy Wu, Min Ju Lee, Jiayi Bao, Marianne Hudson and Elaine Bolle

Early-stage financing from angel investors is critical to the success of high-growth startups. Recent estimates suggest that annual US angel investment activity may total as much as $24 billion each year, contributing to the growth and success of more than 64,000... View Details

Keywords: Angel Investors; Geography; Risk; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Demographics; Geographic Location; Decision Making; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry; United States

Read Now

August 2018
Case

Christine Lagarde (A): A French Prime Minister Calls

By: Julie Battilana and Carin-Isabel Knoop

This case covers formative events and influences in Christine Lagarde’s childhood and her trajectory from studying political science and law to heading the world’s largest law firm. As she prepares to transition back to practice in 2005, the new Prime Minister of... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Power and Influence; Decision Making

Editorial

The Power of Precise Predictions

By: Philip E. Tetlock and J. Peter Scoblic

Keywords: Politics; Foreign Policy; Forecasting and Prediction; Globalization; Policy; Government and Politics

Read Now

2011
Chapter

Prospective Codes Fufilled: A Potential Neural Mechanism of Will

By: Thalia Wheatley and Christine E. Looser

One of my few shortcomings is that I can’t predict the future.
Lars Ulrich, Metallica.

Lars Ulrich was right and wrong. He was right in the way we most often think about the future—as a long stretch of time during which multiply... View Details

Keywords: Free Will; Neuroscience; Responsibility; Prospection; Forecasting and Prediction; Science; Cognition and Thinking

Find at Harvard

November 2004 (Revised April 2010)
Module Note

Module II: Moral Reasoning Class Summaries

By: Sandra J. Sucher

Presents class summaries for the The Moral Leader course. View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Moral Sensibility; Leadership; Cognition and Thinking

February 2004 (Revised April 2004)
Exercise

Family Business Ownership Goals Worksheet

By: John A. Davis

Family members who either own a business or who could inherit ownership in a business are helped to clarify how they would like to have the business owned in the future. View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Family Ownership; Decision Making

February 1994
Background Note

Causal Inference

By: Arthur Schleifer Jr.

Discusses what causation is and what one can (and cannot) learn about causation from observational (nonexperimental) data. View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Analytics and Data Science; Interests

March 1996
Case

African Communications Group

Describes the opportunities that confront the African Communications Group, an entrepreneurial organization that plans to introduce a wireless pay-phone system in Tanzania. Provides a foundation for the analysis of value creation and of value capture. The possibility... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Competition; Entrepreneurship; Forecasting and Prediction; Wireless Technology; Telecommunications Industry; Tanzania