Publications

10 Jul 2017
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: It’s a Bad Idea to Ban Customers From Recording Videos

Now, the evidence is quickly posted to social media for the world to critique—potentially blown out of proportion. “If a customer feels strongly enough to make a recording and perhaps tell friends, that’s a... View Details

Keywords: by Benjamin G. Edelman; Food & Beverage; Air Transportation; Retail; Service

May 2024
Case

LinkedIn Corporation, 2024

By: David B. Yoffie, George Gonzalez and Emily Grandjean

By 2024, the LinkedIn profile was well established as the professional identity of record on the Internet. Following a multi-year effort to expand the platform’s user base, as well as a period of rapid growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, LinkedIn’s membership had... View Details

Keywords: Platform; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Goals and Objectives; Social Media; Network Effects; Growth and Development Strategy; Performance Evaluation; Technology Industry; Employment Industry; Sunnyvale

10 Oct 2018
Research & Ideas

The Legacy of Boaty McBoatface: Beware of Customers Who Vote

public. Boaty blowback highlights the potential danger of giving consumers the power to vote, even though customer engagement is a primary goal of almost every social media strategy. The problem: Even though... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Advertising

23 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

Looking for CEOs in All the Wrong Places

candidate and gives both sides the freedom to discontinue discussions without damaging their egos and reputations." Another risk directors face, he notes, is a potential decline in their firm's stock price based on their final choice. This often occurs when the... View Details

Keywords: by Peter K. Jacobs; Employment

21 Dec 2010
First Look

First Look: December 21

older children remains essentially unchanged. To our knowledge, this is the first rigorous demonstration that one need not succumb to temptation in order for it to detrimentally impact one's economic productivity. The Dynamics of Social... View Details

17 Jan 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: January 17

suggests that social media may promote knowledge sharing because they allow social lubrication and the formation of trust. Our longitudinal and comparative analysis of View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

Here’s How Businessman Trump Is Likely to Approach the Presidency

Administration I study business leaders, government leaders, religious leaders, social activists, and other individuals — past and present — who exercise real, worthy impact. As a historian, I don’t see huge differences among political... View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese

10 Sep 2013
First Look

First Look: September 10

paper: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2316198 Cases & Course Materials Harvard Business School Case 512-049 Bluefin Labs Bluefin Labs built a system that gathered, from Twitter and other sources, millions of hourly social View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 Jan 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, January 23, 2018

Psychology The Downside of Downtime: The Prevalence and Work Pacing Consequences of Idle Time at Work By: Brodsky, Andrew, and Teresa M. Amabile Abstract—Although both media commentary and academic research have focused much attention on... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2024
Case

Katharine Graham: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Shirley Sun

This case traces the life of Katharine Graham from housewife to publisher of the Washington Post. Born into a family of wealth, Graham described herself as a “doormat wife” after she married Phil Graham and stayed at home to raise their children. His unexpected death... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Values and Beliefs; Power and Influence; Personal Characteristics; Leadership Style; Success; Work-Life Balance; News; Newspapers; Media; Gender; Publishing Industry

10 Nov 2008
What Do You Think?

How Much Can You Ask of Your Customers?

volunteerism and "ownership." Those were messages in the very thoughtful responses to this month's column. Dianne Jacobs commented, "This builds on the real social need for people to connect in sync with a purpose."... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

30 Aug 2011
First Look

First Look: August 30

known and recognized as a marketing machine. It was the largest advertiser in the world, with 2010 spending of $8.68 billion. From the company's early exploitation of broadcast media (radio and television) for its soap products to more... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Oct 2007
First Look

First Look: October 2, 2007

anticipated that digital media using rich profiling data would intrude marketing messaging more deeply and more precisely into consumer lives than broadcast media had been able to do. But the technology that... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

April 2025
Case

Giving Up on a Passion: Elizabeth Rowe at the Boston Symphony Orchestra

By: Jon M. Jachimowicz, Maisie Wiltshire-Gordon and Alexis Lefort

For 20 years, Elizabeth Rowe was a world-renowned principal flutist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. But in 2024, Rowe decided to leave her position to pursue a new full-time career as a leadership coach. At 50, Rowe was well under the typical retirement age, and,... View Details