Problem Solving - Publications - Faculty & Research

17 Nov 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

Managing the Family Business: Are Optimists or Pessimists Better Leaders?

solve problems cooperatively, and are more likely to seek help in difficult situations. They make good spouses. People with optimistic spouses were healthier in a 2014 study by researchers at the University... View Details

24 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

Busting Six Myths About Customer Loyalty Programs

There are three ways to differentiate in retailing: location, location, and location. The problem is that as markets mature, location becomes less potent as a competitive advantage because the consumer has a growing abundance of... View Details

Keywords: by Marcel Corstjens & Rajiv Lal; Retail; Consumer Products

07 Feb 2012
First Look

First Look: February 7

because the organization's governance structures, problem solving routines, and communication patterns constrain the space in which it searches for new solutions. Such a relationship is important, given that... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

13 Dec 2004
Research & Ideas

How Leaders Create Winning Streaks

that leaders can take which have a positive symbolic value include: Fixing what people see every day. This is a small and simple step that creates a good mood and positive behaviors. It can include cleaning up the work environment and View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter & Walter Kiechel

06 Jun 2012
What Do You Think?

Is Something Wrong with the Way We Work?

the office to benefit from the stimulus of solving client problems while "preferably working in a garden or even petting the dog or cat." If the problem is us, the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Consulting

02 Jul 2010
What Do You Think?

Is Profit as a “Direct Goal” Overrated?

new book, Obliquity, by British economist John Kay. You might guess that Kay thinks profit as a "direct goal" is overrated, otherwise he wouldn't have much substance for a book on the subject. Kay argues that business problems... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

08 Apr 2009
Research & Ideas

Clayton Christensen on Disrupting Health Care

for the number and cost of the services they provide rather than by the value of those services in helping patients. In short, medical professionals make money when their patients become sick. Here's one example of how the problem plays... View Details

Keywords: by Deborah Blagg; Health

25 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

Should You Sell Your Digital Privacy?

property with a market price and opportunity cost. Rights are matters for regulation, assets are matters safely and usually better left to markets. Framed in these terms, here is the problem with regulation. It View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls & Sean Silverthorne; Advertising

04 Mar 2015
What Do You Think?

Can a Laissez-Faire Approach Fix Labor Market Inequality?

broad legislation to keep power in balance, you don't need to micromanage all the particulars, like individual wages." AIM expressed the opinion that "the voluntary actions of Walmart are not replicable but it is the best approach to View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Retail

28 Jun 2010
HBS Case

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

well, because the senior team is tackling important problems and engaging people throughout the organization in solving them." One of the key players is Dr. Uma Kotagal, a neonatologist with a... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Health

05 May 2010
What Do You Think?

Is Denial Endemic to Management?

that "it is a natural human tendency to devolve into denial." As Elaine Sihera put it, "Denial comes out of fear of being wrong." Dan Wallace pointed out that neuroscientists tell us that "once you've solved a... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

21 Jul 2003
Research & Ideas

Don’t Get Buried in Customer Data—Use It

launches an initiative to solve this problem and identifies the number of spare power supply parts it sends out weekly as the measure it will use to track the progress. The transactional measure—the number... View Details

Keywords: by Jean Ayers

27 Jul 2019
Op-Ed

Does Facebook's Business Model Threaten Our Elections?

social media companies system from the platform. Unless regulatory or governance change happens, it’s hard to see what changes Facebook implements will solve the Pandora’s box of problems opened when it... View Details

Keywords: by George Riedel

08 Nov 2010
Research & Ideas

How to Fix a Broken Marketplace

markets—and how market design made things better. Thickness:A classic example of a thickness problem is the process of helping nephrology patients in need of kidney transplants. In 2006, some 5,000 patients in the United States either... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Health

03 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

HBS Faculty on Revolution in the Middle East and North Africa

possible even a few years ago. The most obvious factor, and the one that has given rise to the "2.0" moniker, is that of online social media. Social media and, perhaps even more importantly, mobile phones have played a key role by View Details

Keywords: Re: Deepak Malhotra; Energy; Utilities

27 Nov 2017
Research & Ideas

Beware the Lasting Impression of a 'Temporary' Selfie

social channels before hiring candidates. “These temporary-sharing technologies are supposed to solve this problem of the internet never forgetting,” says Leslie K. John, the Marvin Bower Associate Professor... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

26 Mar 2008
First Look

First Look: March 26, 2008

countries. The book argues that the increasing integration of markets (globalization) will not solve these problems of inequality, they require political solutions. The EU attempts one such solution, but it... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

23 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Psychology, Pathology, and the CEO

enters a kind of death spiral. Reversing that downward trend requires deliberate efforts by the CEO to address each of the pathologies. ... Sparking Collaboration Turnaround leaders know that problem solving... View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

19 Dec 2016
Research & Ideas

The 10 Most Popular Stories of 2016

entrepreneurs. Resolve Your Toughest Work Problems With 5 Questions In his book Managing in the Gray, Joseph Badaracco offers managers a five-question framework for facing murky situations and solving tough... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

23 Jul 2024
Research & Ideas

Forgiving Medical Debt Won't Make Everyone Happier

and clothing, with almost half draining their savings to pay the bills, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey. Medical debt tends to be a more pervasive problem among those earning less than $40,000 per year and among Black and... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Health

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