Publications

Educators

25 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

Being a Team Player: Why College Athletes Succeed in Business

applies across almost all sports, not just those associated with prep schools, such as rowing, squash, lacrosse, and equestrian. Using sports popular among the affluent as a proxy for wealth, the researchers found those players tend to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

Article

Why Leadership Training Fails—and What to Do about It

By: Michael Beer, Magnus Finnström and Derek Schrader

U.S. corporations spend enormous amounts of money—some $456 billion globally in 2015 alone—on employee training and education, but they aren't getting a good return on their investment. People soon revert to old ways of doing things, and company performance doesn't... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership Development; Organizational Design; Employees; Business Processes; United States

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2023
Working Paper

No Mask, No Service: Customer Reaction to Walmart’s 2020 National Mask Mandate

By: Innessa Colaiacovo

Multi-location firms face a complex series of economic tradeoffs when deciding whether to implement standard processes or allow processes to vary across establishments. One element of this tradeoff is customer response. This paper explores customer reaction to a... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Geographic Location; Policy; Health Pandemics; Retail Industry; United States

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2024
Working Paper

What Drives Variation in Investor Portfolios? Estimating the Roles of Beliefs and Risk Preferences

By: Mark Egan, Alexander MacKay and Hanbin Yang

We present an empirical model of portfolio choice that allows for the nonparametric estimation of investors' (subjective) expectations and risk preferences. Utilizing a comprehensive dataset of 401(k) plans from 2009 through 2019, we explore heterogeneity in asset... View Details

Keywords: Stock Market Expectations; Demand Estimation; Retirement Planning; Defined Contribution Retirement Plan; 401 (K); Finance; Investment Portfolio; Investment; Retirement; Behavioral Finance; Financial Services Industry; United States

SSRN

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Program Requirements - Doctoral

Two breadth courses Operations Track requirements (Empirical Emphasis) : Introduction to Optimization Stochastic Modeling Empirical Technology and Operations Management Theory of Operations Management One doctoral elective course Two breadth courses View Details

2017
Book

Entering StartUpLand: An Essential Guide to Finding the Right Job

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang

Many professionals aspire to work for startups. Executives from large companies view them as models to help them adapt to today's dynamic innovation economy, while freshly minted MBAs see magic in founding something new. Yes, startups look magical, but they can also be... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Managerial Roles; Job Search

January 2023
Case

Inclusion and Diversity at Mars Petcare

By: Katherine Coffman and Tom Quinn

In 2020, the Mars Petcare Leadership Team found themselves dealing with critically important inclusion and diversity issues. Social unrest, including unprecedented protests for racial justice in the U.S. and across the globe, generated an urgency for substantive... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Diversity; Ethnicity; Gender; Race; Food and Beverage Industry; Health Industry; Europe; North and Central America; Asia; South America; Oceania

Educators

01 Jun 2009
Lessons from the Classroom

The Challenges of Investing in Science-Based Innovation

"Bank of America is interested in accessing innovative digital technologies that will help it redefine how banking is done," Sato says. "The bank sees this as an opportunity to fuel its continued competitive presence in a... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Banking; Auto; Pharmaceutical

June 2025
Teaching Note

To Found or to Cofound? That Is the Question

By: Christina Wallace and Stacy Straaberg

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 824-034. Entrepreneurs often struggle with the question of whether to found solo or alongside one or more cofounders. This case is comprised of three vignettes detailing common founding scenarios: the first-time technical founder; the... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Decisions; Partners and Partnerships; Entrepreneurship; Fashion Industry; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry; United States

August 2008 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Polanco: A Fashionable Opportunity

By: Arthur I Segel and Ben Creo

Roberto Charvel is a young MBA graduate making his first personal real estate investment in his native Mexico City. Charvel is planning to purchase and renovate a nine-unit apartment building. Is the market good? Should he sell or lease the units? How should he handle... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Housing; Leasing; Property; Real Estate Industry; Mexico City

Educators

Web

Case Development - Faculty & Research

academics across the world. The School is continually expanding and refreshing course content as HBS faculty write new cases that span the globe, industries, disciplines, and organizational forms in the public, private for profit, and... View Details

June 2003 (Revised December 2004)
Case

Molded Dimensions, Inc.

By: H. Kent Bowen, Virginia Fuller and Doren Spinner

Mike Katz, an MBA with several years of manufacturing management experience, talks about purchasing Molded Dimensions, Inc. (MDI), a Wisconsin-based plastics manufacturer, with his wife Linda, who also has a manufacturing background. The case describes at length... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Jobs and Positions; Leadership; Business or Company Management; Negotiation Process; Manufacturing Industry; Wisconsin

Web

Health Policy (Management) - Doctoral

the yearlong Health Policy Core Seminar, two MBA elective courses, and one course in two of the following areas: political analysis, decision sciences, medical sociology, or economics. You will take the Health Policy General Exam at the... View Details

April 1, 2020
Article

A Detailed Plan for Getting Americans Back to Work

By: Amitabh Chandra, Mark Fishman and Douglas Melton

Given the different impact that the pandemic is having on individual communities across the country, the notion that all workers should be allowed to return to work on one date is unrealistic. Instead, individual states should make that determination. This article lays... View Details

Keywords: Return To Work; Health Pandemics; Employment; Safety; Planning; United States

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Web

Middle East & North Africa - Global

Research Center: Cairo Cairo, Egypt Middle East and North Africa Research Center: Istanbul Istanbul, Turkey Israel Research Office Tel Aviv, Israel News & Highlights JUNE 2025 MBA Admissions HBS MBA... View Details

December 2008
Article

Technology Usage Lags

By: Diego A. Comin, Bart Hobijn and Emilie Rovito

We present evidence on the differences in the intensity with which ten major technologies are used in 185 countries across the world. We do so by calculating how many years ago these technologies were used in the U.S. at the same intensity as they are used in the... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Global Range; Economy; Relationships; Performance Productivity; United States