Uncertainty - Publications - Faculty & Research

September 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Bank of America (A)

Describes how Bank of America is creating a system for product and service innovation in its retail banking business. Emphasis is placed on the role of experimentation in some two-dozen real-life "laboratories" that serve as fully operating banking branches and as... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Problems and Challenges; Innovation and Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Change; Failure; Banks and Banking; Learning; Banking Industry

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10 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

The COVID Two-Step for Leaders: Protect and Pivot

the core, and pivot to new opportunities. We provide a top-level overview of major topics and ideas relevant to each concept. We hope you are interested in engaging in further research about any topics that resonate with you and your company. LEADING IN TIMES OF View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly Baden

March 1994 (Revised March 1995)
Case

Astra/Merck Group

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Marie Bell

Astra/Merck (A/M), originally a joint venture of AB Astra and Merck & Co., is preparing to be an independent company in 1993. Since the company does not engage in basic research and development of drugs, it is essentially a distribution organization. Fundamental to... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Marketing Strategy; Distribution; Performance Evaluation; Research and Development; Risk and Uncertainty; Sales; Competitive Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry

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Article

Investor Sentiment in the Stock Market

By: Malcolm Baker and Jeffrey Wurgler

We examine how investor sentiment affects the cross-section of stock returns. Theory predicts that a broad wave of sentiment will disproportionately affect stocks whose valuations are highly subjective and are difficult to arbitrage. We test this prediction by... View Details

Keywords: Financial Markets; Stocks; Investment Return; Valuation; Forecasting and Prediction; Volatility; Price; Risk and Uncertainty; Behavioral Finance

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January 2021 (Revised April 2022)
Case

Best Buy's Corie Barry: Confronting the COVID-19 Pandemic

By: William W. George and Amram Migdal

This case examines the leadership of Corie Barry, the new CEO of Best Buy, with a focus on actions the company took in 2020 to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. The case includes a history of Best Buy’s strategy and leadership, including the transitions between the... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Change; Disruption; Volatility; Communication; Competency and Skills; Customers; Decision Making; Ethics; Fairness; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Finance; Cash Flow; Financial Condition; Financial Liquidity; Goods and Commodities; Corporate Governance; Health Pandemics; Human Resources; Executive Compensation; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Resignation and Termination; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Innovation and Invention; Jobs and Positions; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Job Design and Levels; Job Interviews; Job Offer; Labor; Employment; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Law; Leadership; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Management; Business or Company Management; Crisis Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Management Style; Management Succession; Management Systems; Management Teams; Risk Management; Operations; Distribution; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Logistics; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Supply Chain; Organizations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Outcome or Result; Personal Development and Career; Retirement; Work-Life Balance; Planning; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Business and Community Relations; Labor and Management Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Safety; Science; Strategy; Retail Industry; North and Central America; United States; Minnesota

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September 2022
Case

BancoSol: Financial Inclusion in the Perfect Storm

By: Michael Chu and Carla Larangeira

In the pandemic, financial inclusion icon BancoSol faces a government-mandated year-long deferral of all loan payments, followed by the sudden Covid death of its CEO. In a Bolivia mired in political turmoil following a failed presidential election, with clients not... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Crisis Management; Management Succession; Business Strategy; Innovation Leadership; Risk and Uncertainty; Financing and Loans; Restructuring; Financial Services Industry; Latin America; Bolivia

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09 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Leadership Lessons of the Great Recession: Options for Economic Downturns

of Cote and his leadership team and asks them to consider the choices they would have made in the face of the extreme uncertainty surrounding future business conditions in the fall of 2008. Cote joined Honeywell as CEO in 2002. The... View Details

Keywords: by Sandra Sucher & Susan Winterberg; Aerospace; Electronics

12 Nov 2021
News

Alumni Business Leaders on Confronting the Climate Change Challenge

important part of the equation to ensure systems wide decarbonization. My time at HBS laid the foundation that has helped me navigate uncertainty and see opportunity where there are challenges. We are at a critical juncture, where... View Details

Research Summary

Overview

By: Vincent Pons

Professor Pons studies questions in political economy and development with the goal of understanding how democratic systems function, and how they can be improved.

He decomposes the electoral cycle into four essential steps: the factors affecting voter... View Details

Web

2024 Reunion Presentations - Alumni

Strategies for Turbulent Times Professor Ranjay Gulati (PHDOB 1993) 11:45 a.m.–1:00 p.m. EDT + More Info – Less Info How do organizations leverage uncertainty as an opportunity to drive growth? What works and what doesn’t? Using examples... View Details

22 Jul 2019
Book

How to Be a Digital Platform Leader

platform owner make it attractive for potential customers to buy the platform even if there are few complementary applications? And how can a platform owner persuade complementors to invest in platform-specific innovations if there is View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

08 Nov 2013
HBS Seminar

Laura Diaz Anadon, Harvard Kennedy School

Person Page

Course Development

By: Debora L. Spar

Managing International Trade and Investment

Despite the ease with which it is often conducted, doing business across borders is not the same as doing it at home. Rather, it entails a whole new set of managerial challenges: re-assessing competitive... View Details

05 Mar 2025
News

Uncertain Terms

After Amar Bhidé (MBA 1979/DBA 1988) became an HBS assistant professor in 1988, then-dean John H. McArthur (MBA 1959/DBA 1963) gave him a copy of economist Frank Knight’s 1921 book Risk, Uncertainty and Profit. Knight’s idea that “uncertainty” must be distinguished... View Details