Publications

02 Dec 2010
What Do You Think?

Making Right Choices: Art or Science?

make your decisions nonreversible; regret less; control expectations; and learn to love constraints in order to cope with uncertainty and avoid depression." Now the genre includes another book, which has made several Top Ten of 2010... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

October 2023
Case

Prime Coalition: Estimating Climate Impact

By: Natalia Rigol, Benjamin N. Roth, Brian Trelstad and Amram Migdal

A case on CRANE, a tool to help investors and green technology companies estimate the future climate impact of new technologies and products, called emissions reduction potential (ERP). The case includes material on CRANE’s methodology for estimating future carbon... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Emissions; Environmental Accounting; Analysis; Climate Change; Green Technology; Innovation and Invention; Measurement and Metrics; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Risk and Uncertainty; Nonprofit Organizations; Social Enterprise

January 2021 (Revised August 2021)
Case

ByteDance: TikTok and the Trials of Going Viral

By: William C. Kirby and John P. McHugh

In 2020, TikTok became the most valuable start-up ever. The short-form, video-sharing social media platform emerged as the crown jewel of the Chinese technology firm ByteDance, realizing 850 million monthly users and an estimated worth of $180 billion. However, a... View Details

14 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Restarting Under Uncertainty: Managerial Experiences from Around the World

At the start of the pandemic, the uncertainty primarily concerned health issues—the diffusion of the virus and its effective threat. As the virus expanded from China to other countries, the uncertainty... View Details

Keywords: by Raffaella Sadun, Andrea Bertoni, Alexia Delfino, Giovanni Fassio, and Mariapaola Testa

01 Dec 2004
News

Marquis Jet Takes Off

ownership, or charter. The first two came with seven-figure price tags, and charter posed uncertainties about planes and pilots. From outside the private-jet business looking in, Allard — who at the time was president and COO of SFX... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Air Transportation; Transportation

Web

Courses by Faculty Unit - Course Catalog

Crisis Leadership Nancy Koehn Fall 2025 Q1Q2 3.0 Doing Business with China 2035: Navigating Uncertainty William Kirby Spring 2026 Q3 1.5 Energy Dustin Tingley Spring 2026 Q4 1.5 Entrepreneurship and Global Capitalism (also listed under... View Details

Web

Technology & Operations Management Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

Student Association Faculty Teaching Awards. Karim R. Lakhani : Finalist for the 2013 Best Paper in Management Science from the Manufacturing and Service Operations Management Society for “Incentives and Problem Uncertainty in Innovation... View Details

January 2001
Case

Abgenix and the XenoMouse

By: Robert J. Dolan

Abgenix has a unique method for generating antibodies useful in treating a number of diseases, including cancer. In early 2000, the company's cancer has performed very well in animal testing and is moving to early stage human testing. Abgenix must decide whether to... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Marketing Strategy; Health Testing and Trials; Risk and Uncertainty; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Science-Based Business; Biotechnology Industry

May 2021 (Revised September 2021)
Case

Accounting for Bitcoin at Tesla

By: Charles C.Y. Wang and Siyu Zhang

On February 8, 2021, Tesla revealed, through its 10-K filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), that it had purchased $1.5 billion of Bitcoin, totaling 7.5% of the company’s cash, and that it planned to accept payments in the cryptocurrency soon. These... View Details

Keywords: Bitcoin; Accounting; Currency; Communication Intention and Meaning; Strategy; Investment Portfolio; Emerging Markets; Risk and Uncertainty; Value Creation

August 1995 (Revised December 2003)
Case

Cricket Road, 503

By: William J. Poorvu and Donald A. Brown

In September 2003, Mason Sexton, a young, inexperienced developer, was making plans to replace a rooming house he had inherited next to the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville with a new 14-unit, 5-story apartment house. His attempts to assemble the... View Details

Keywords: Property; Entrepreneurship; Housing; Buildings and Facilities; Construction; Risk and Uncertainty; Management Practices and Processes; Real Estate Industry; United States

02 Nov 2021
Research & Ideas

Why COVID-19 Probably Killed More People Than We Realize

with the magnitude of a pandemic, they are ultimately counterproductive, the authors say. Especially in the early days of the pandemic, countries faced an incredible amount of uncertainty over how best to fight the disease. That said,... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

July 2022 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Call of Fiduciary Duty: Microsoft Acquires Activision Blizzard

By: Jonas Heese, Joseph Pacelli and James Barnett

In January 2022, Microsoft announces its acquisition of the video game company Activision Blizzard, in a deal valued at $68.7 billion, which would make Microsoft the world’s third largest video game company. The deal came as Activision Blizzard faced gender pay... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Goodwill Accounting; Analysis; Decision Making; Talent and Talent Management; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Ethics; Leadership; Risk and Uncertainty; Mergers and Acquisitions; Lawsuits and Litigation; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Video Game Industry; North America; California

06 Jun 2008
What Do You Think?

Why Don’t Managers Think Deeply?

(deep thinking) needs to be learned." This raises the question of whether it can be taught. Frances Pratt comments, "To get deep we must be deep." The issue is complicated by uncertainties about just what "deep... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

Web

Sustainable Business Strategy Course | HBS Online

with Uncertainty Featured Exercises Business model and stages of disruption identification exercises Team meeting #1 8 hrs Module 2 Driving Change at Scale: Moving Beyond the Firm Learn what purpose-driven firms are, the "Wheel of... View Details

August 2021 (Revised November 2024)
Case

Intenseye: Powering Workplace Health and Safety with AI (A)

By: Michael W. Toffel and Youssef Abdel Aal

Intenseye was a Turkey-based technology startup that deployed machine learning algorithms to workplace camera feeds in order to identify unsafe worker actions and unsafe working conditions, in order to help improve worker safety. The case describes how Intenseye’s... View Details

Keywords: Privacy; Product Development; Operations; Technological Innovation; Value Creation; Production; Distribution; Safety; Risk and Uncertainty; Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Distribution Industry; Turkey; Middle East; United States

21 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

The Pandemic Conversations That Leaders Need to Have Now

uncertainties of the future and the strains of the present." Acknowledge the feelings. When sharing difficult news—or even beginning an ordinary staff meeting, some days—acknowledge the uncertainties of the... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Robin Abrahams, and Katherine Connolly Baden

30 Nov 2016
Working Paper Summaries

The Stock Market and Bank Risk-Taking

Keywords: by Antonio Falato and David Scharfstein; Financial Services; Banking

January 2020
Background Note

Climate Change in 2020: Implications for Business

By: Rebecca M. Henderson, Sophus A. Reinert and Mariana Oseguera

This note provides general information about climate change and its implications for business. Included is an overview of climate change science and a number of its impacts, including rising sea levels, changing weather patterns and extreme weather, pressure on water... View Details