Strategic Decision Making - Publications - Faculty & Research

17 Sep 2021
News

If Networking Makes You Feel Dirty, You’re Doing It Wrong

16 Jun 2016
Blog Post

Digging Into Data: Making A Career Change

Tell us about your role at HBS. As the Market Intelligence Manager in Career & Professional Development, I strive to identify, analyze, and understand MBA hiring trends that influence the strategic priorities of our office. Although... View Details

Keywords: Consulting; Manufacturing; Technology

September 2018 (Revised August 2019)
Case

The Progressive Corporation, 2018

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In early 2019, The Progressive Corporation (Progressive), the USA’s third-largest auto insurance writer, reported earned premiums were up 20% in 2018 compared to the previous year, and net income was up 64%. Direct sales of personal auto policies rose 21%, while agent... View Details

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Summer 2020
Article

Want to Make Better Decisions? Start Experimenting

By: Michael Luca and Max Bazerman

Four lessons for using randomized controlled experiments to create value for your company and customers View Details

Keywords: Randomized Controlled Experiments; Value Creation; Decision Making

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19 Jul 2019
Blog Post

Making a Broader Impact with Multiple Disciplines

strategic industry and academic partnerships Road map and value life science and technology opportunities for fundraising and investing Students in the MS/MBA Biotechnology: Life Sciences Program are equipped with the skills to steward... View Details

28 Nov 2018
Blog Post

Making the Switch from Finance to Fitness

doubt that it was where I wanted to be. Thankfully, I was accepted—and I can say with certainty, it was one of the best decisions I ever made. Life at HBS Now as a second-year, Elective Curriculum (EC) student at HBS, I can honestly say... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment / Media / Sports

Winter 2021
Article

Making Economics More Useful: How Technological Eclecticism Could Help

By: Amar Bhidé

Keynes thought it would be ‘splendid’ if economists became more like dentists. Disciplinary economics has instead become more like physics in focusing on concise, universal propositions verified through decisive tests. This focus, I argue, limits the practical... View Details

Keywords: Economic Methodology; Simulations; Banking; Regulation; Judgment; Economics; Banks and Banking

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November–December 2019
Article

Making Sense of Soft Information: Interpretation Bias and Loan Quality

By: Dennis Campbell, Maria Loumioti and Regina Wittenberg Moerman

We explore whether behavioral biases impede the effective processing and interpretation of soft information in private lending. Taking advantage of the internal reporting system of a large federal credit union, we delineate three important biases likely to affect the... View Details

Keywords: Soft Information; Lending; Banking; Information; Financing and Loans; Banks and Banking; Decision Making

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January 2020
Teaching Note

GeBBS Healthcare Solutions: Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind? (A) and (B)

By: Shai Benjamin Bernstein

This teaching note is meant to accompany “GeBBS Healthcare Solutions: Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind? (A),” HBS No. 820-041, and “GeBBS Healthcare Solutions: Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind? (B),” HBS No. 820-074. The cases follow Nitin Thakor, President... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Acquisition; Decision Making; Health Industry

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February 2008 (Revised February 2008)
Supplement

Lincoln Financial Group (B): Making LFD a Reality

LFG reorganizes its business in order to improve customer intimacy. However, to implement the strategy, they need to effect significant changes in the skills of their salespeople. This case series straddles human resource management, corporate strategy, and sales... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Financial Services Industry

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February 2023 (Revised November 2024)
Case

Ronald Reagan: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Shirley Sun

This case traces the rise of Ronald Reagan from small town Illinois to two-term president of the United States. An unlikely candidate for the world’s most powerful job, the case describes the different roles that Reagan filled over his life: radio announcer, Hollywood... View Details

Keywords: Politics; Entertainment; Personal Characteristics; Business And Government; Values And Beliefs; Mission And Purpose; Decision Making; Government Administration; Management Style; Power and Influence; United States

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August 2015
Article

Cost Conscious? The Neural and Behavioral Impact of Price Primacy on Decision-Making

By: Uma R. Karmarkar, Baba Shiv and Brian Knutson

Price is a key factor in most purchases, but it can be presented at different stages of decision making prior to a purchase. We examine the sequence-dependent effects of price and product information on the decision-making process at both neural and behavioral levels.... View Details

Keywords: fMRI; Retail Promotion; Purchase Decisions; Price; Value; Decision Choices and Conditions; Consumer Behavior; Product Marketing; Retail Industry

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03 Apr 2018
News

Practice Makes Perfect: Why Chinese Manufacturers Have A Production Advantage

January 2020
Case

Celata Bioinnovations

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In December 2019, Jon Hu (HBS ‘19) and Dr. Samantha Dale Strasser, co-founders of Celata Bioinnovations, were raising $1 million to launch their company. They had founded Celata less than six months earlier with the aim of redefining the drug discovery process.... View Details

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12 Nov 2021
News

Can Our Parenting Struggles Make Us Better Leaders?

06 May 2021
News

How to Make the World Better, Not Perfect

May 2017
Article

Experimental Evidence of Pooling Outcomes Under Information Asymmetry

By: William Schmidt and Ryan W. Buell

Operational decisions under information asymmetry can signal a firm's prospects to less-informed parties, such as investors, customers, competitors, and regulators. Consequently, managers in these settings often face a tradeoff between making an optimal decision and... View Details

Keywords: Behavioral Decision Research; Information Asymmetry; Signaling; Decision Choices and Conditions; Alignment

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1967
Other Unpublished Work

TFX (C) - Developing an Air Force/Navy Aircraft - HBS Analysis and Decision Case

By: J. Ronald Fox

Keywords: Air Transportation; Government and Politics; National Security; Product Development; Decision Making

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August 28, 2019
Article

How to Make Your Sales Forecasts More Accurate

By: Lou Shipley

Companies need consistently accurate sales forecasts — but unfortunately they are rare. That’s because many companies fail to align their sales and marketing departments, and that alignment is a prerequisite for forecast accuracy. Companies can achieve better alignment... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Forecasting and Prediction; Marketing; Alignment; Technology

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