Publications

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2013
Working Paper

How Does Risk Management Influence Production Decisions? Evidence from a Field Experiment

By: Shawn Cole, Xavier Gine and James Vickery

Weather is a key source of income risk, particularly in emerging market economies. This paper uses a randomized controlled trial involving a sample of Indian farmers to study how an innovative rainfall insurance product affects production decisions. We find that... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Production; Weather; Insurance; Emerging Markets; Agribusiness; Insurance Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; India

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March 2025 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Perplexity: Redefining Search

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Michelle Hu, Sriraghav Srinivasan and Radhika Kak

By early 2025, Perplexity had rapidly evolved from a modest startup into a popular "answer engine" valued at $9 billion. The company had boldly positioned itself as the disruptor to Google aiming to redefine search for the AI age. Through novel AI... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Venture Capital; Innovation Leadership; Technological Innovation; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Competitive Strategy; Business Model; Technology Industry; United States

December 2015
Article

Emotion and the Art of Negotiation: How to Use Your Feelings to Your Advantage

By: Alison Wood Brooks

Negotiations can be fraught with emotion, but it's only recently that researchers have examined how particular feelings influence what happens during deal making. Here the author shares some key findings and advice. Anxiety leads to poor outcomes. You will be less... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Style; Emotions

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Dr. Josh Baron is a Senior Lecturer of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and a part of the Strategy Unit. In the MBA program, he teaches in the Required Core Strategy course as well as elective courses on Ownership and Leading a Family Business. He... View Details

October 2003
Case

Financing Biodiversity Conservation by the Global Conservation Fund

By: Mihir A. Desai and Julia Stevens

The Global Conservation Fund is an international nonprofit organization with a $100 million endowment and an exclusive focus on land preservation. The fund and its director must decide which projects to fund over the next year and what financing mechanism to use.... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Protection; Project Evaluation; Environmental Sustainability; Projects; Finance; Decision Making; Financial Instruments; Nonprofit Organizations

09 Oct 2009
News

A Better Health Care Alternative

27 Feb 2020
News

Psychological Safety Will Win You The Best Business Ideas

20 Sep 2024
Video

Meroë Morse at Polaroid: Fostering a Culture of Business, Science, Art, and Innovation

January 2014 (Revised May 2014)
Case

Tech Mahindra and the Acquisition of Satyam Computers (A)

By: Srikant M. Datar, Anjali Raina and Namrata Arora

Set in 2008, the case details Tech Mahindra, an information technology (IT) company within the Mahindra Group, an Indian multi-industry company with a diverse stable of businesses including automotives, farm equipment, and financial services, and its decision to... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Corporate Governance; Computer Industry; India

2011
Working Paper

Naiveté and Cynicism in Negotiations and Other Competitive Contexts

By: Chia-Jung Tsay, Lisa L. Shu and Max Bazerman

A wealth of literature documents how the common failure to think about the self-interests of others contributes to suboptimal outcomes. Yet sometimes, an excess of cynicism appears to lead us to over-think the actions of others and make negative attributions about... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Negotiation; Behavior; Cognition and Thinking; Perspective; Trust; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage

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June 2025
Case

Transforming a Titan (A)

By: George Serafeim and Lena Duchene

Dimitri Papalexopoulos, fourth-generation CEO of TITAN Cement, must decide whether to keep leading the 120-year-old, family-controlled firm or hand the reins to new management. Over 26 years he has turned TITAN from a domestic player into an internationally diversified... View Details

October 2017
Case

Shift Technologies, Inc.

By: Thomas Eisenmann and Nicole Tempest Keller

In 2017, management at Shift, an online marketplace that uses a “high touch,” concierge approach to buy and sell used cars, was formulating plans for the San Francisco–based startup’s next phase of expansion. One option was to preserve Shift’s current business model... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Market Design; Multi-Sided Platforms; Marketplace Matching; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Auto Industry; Retail Industry; United States

February 2015 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Winnan Metal: Fulfilling the Dream

By: William R. Kerr, Jim Sharpe and James Weber

Neil Kashyap and Neil Lombardo (HBS '08) acquired Winnan Metal, Inc., a metal fabrication shop, after raising a search fund and an 11 month search to fulfill their dreams of becoming business owners. Two weeks after they took control of the company, Winnan's largest... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurial Management; Turnarounds; Bank Loan; Crisis Management; Financial Analysis; Search Funds; Acquisitions; Financial Capital Needed; Management; Operations Management; Sales; Entrepreneurship; Decision Making; Change Management; Manufacturing Industry; United States; Indiana

16 Mar 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Higher-Ambition CEOs Need Higher-Ambition Boards

Keywords: by Edward J. Ludwig, Anna Elise Walton & Michael Beer

29 Mar 2021
News

Continuing employee development in the face of budget cuts

13 Nov 2007
Research & Ideas

Six Steps for Reinvigorating America

Motivates values-based capitalism and drives companies to contribute to solving social and environmental problems while also providing employees stimulating and satisfying work. Restores trust by committing to government as an instrument... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

March 2022 (Revised May 2022)
Case

Reclaiming the Land of Purple: Purpl’s Mission to Unlock Finance in Lebanon

By: Lauren Cohen and Grace Headinger

Karl Naim, Co-Founder and CEO of Purpl, embarked on a venture to lower remittance costs for his native Lebanon. Since October 2019, the Lebanese economy had entered a free fall as its banking sector collapsed and large swathes of its population were plunged into... View Details

Keywords: Business Startup; Fintech; Inflation; Deflation; Cross-border Frictions; Remittances; Business Startups; Diasporas; Financial Crisis; Money; Entrepreneurship; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Poverty; Financial Institutions; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry; Lebanon

March 2010 (Revised August 2010)
Supplement

Systems Infrastructure at Google (B)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Stecker

This case is a thick description of how a Senior Vice President of Engineering at Google, Bill Coughran, leads a high-performing engineering organization. The case focuses specifically on Coughran's use of encouraging two teams of engineers to develop competing... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Leadership; Infrastructure; Management Teams; Leadership Development; Information Technology Industry