probability - Publications - Faculty & Research

17 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

What’s Good about Quiet Rule-Breaking

less common as manufacturing loses influence, in the following email Q&A Anteby explains that moral gray zones operate everywhere, at all levels of organizations. What's more, they will probably remain strong in the years to come.... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

12 Aug 2014
First Look

First Look: August 12

arises from behavioral biases and misperceptions of probability distributions. Finally, nonpecuniary taste-based factors may be important in motivating both the decisions to enter into and to persist in entrepreneurship. Publisher's link:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 Jan 2012
Research & Ideas

Break Your Addiction to Service Heroes

of Uncommon Service is that to achieve service excellence, you may need to make some tradeoffs. Is that a hard sell for some managers who are motivated to excel in all areas? A: Frei: Even superstar managers would probably admit to being... View Details

Keywords: by Deborah Blagg; Service

02 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

Is 'Gut Feel' a Good Reason to Invest in a Startup?

point to a surprising explanation: their gut. “If they relied solely on pro-con lists, or what the hard numbers look like for the company at their current state, probably none of these investments would be made,” Huang says. “Gut feel is... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

03 Dec 2007
Research & Ideas

Authenticity over Exaggeration: The New Rule in Advertising

Media Wise That sort of approach isn't possible in today's media-rich world—and probably wouldn't be very effective anyway. "It's more like the Vietnam War now," Deighton continues. "The ideas have to belong to the people you're... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Publishing; Advertising

04 Dec 2006
Research & Ideas

The Money Connection—Understanding VC Networks

"To put it in social terms, you probably know a lot of people who know one another. For many of us, most of our time is spent within small clusters of people—at the office, in our neighborhoods. But you also have connections to... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Financial Services

07 Oct 2024
Research & Ideas

Election 2024: Why Demographics Won't Predict the Next President

would be better off flipping a coin to determine a probable winner. “We find that even guessing at a 50-50 level is just as good, if not actually better, than using some demographic forecasts,” says Vincent Pons, the Byron Wien Professor... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

27 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

New Research: Surviving Bankruptcy, Useful Economics, and Retirement

between a company’s business strategy and its go-to-market operations.” Probability Distributions Michael Parzen and Paul J. Hamilton “This technical note introduces students to the concept of random variables, and from there the normal... View Details

18 Jul 2016
Research & Ideas

Is Greed Ruining Private Equity Firms?

non-founder’s stake of only 13.6 percent. The researchers also took note of partners’ departures, which in general are uncommon. For the average fund, the probability that a given senior partner will depart was 9 percent, and for junior... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Banking; Financial Services

21 Apr 2014
Research & Ideas

Bio-Piracy: When Western Firms Usurp Eastern Medicine

wound ointment for thousands of years. The United States Patent and Trademark Office revoked the patent in 1997. The case illustrates the issue of "bio-piracy," wherein patentees charge rents for the use of herbal remedies that View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Legal Services; Biotechnology

27 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Horrible Boss Workarounds

probably exceed their job descriptions. Not only is this attitude demoralizing for employees, but it discourages collaboration and idea sharing as well. For example, "there was one CEO of a company in the IT industry who kept... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

30 May 2007
Research & Ideas

Health Care Under a Research Microscope

Gilmartin Symptoms of an ailing health care system are everywhere, he says. For one thing, there are huge national, geographic variations in the way we care for people. "The probability that you'll be well cared for is a function of... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Health; Biotechnology

23 Feb 2010
First Look

First Look: Feb. 23

programming challenge. We find that greater amounts of new code and novel recombinations of others' code, in a contest submission, increases both the probability of achieving top rank and the subsequent reuse by others in their own... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

02 Aug 2021
What Do You Think?

Can Companies with Remote Management Succeed?

probably at Level 2, Medium, March 29, 2020. Your feedback to last month’s column Last month’s column asked whether chief/customer experience officers (CXOs) were critical to the task of knowing customers. A summary of responses would... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

22 Oct 2014
Research & Ideas

An Economic Principle For Us All: Comparative Advantage

she would still probably be wise (from an economic standpoint) to focus on investment banking and to pay others to paint her house for her, rather than to paint it herself. This is because her comparative advantage is presumably in... View Details

Keywords: Re: David A. Moss

05 Dec 2005
Research & Ideas

VCs Survey Post-Bubble Opportunities

"Losing money is part of this business and I hate it," said Dalton. The real challenge, he added, is recognizing when it's over and cutting off funding. After seeing a venture he pulled out of go on to do very well, however, Dalton made a prediction that... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Hanna; Financial Services

24 May 2004
Research & Ideas

When Reputation Trumps Regulation

even a small probability of enforcement, many foreign insiders will respect the law. But the prospect of a reputational asset may be an even stronger incentive for producing law-abiding behavior. My study has shown through a carefully... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen

12 Jan 2004
Research & Ideas

Does Your HQ Operation Fit With Corporate Strategy?

—that probably should not be squeezed as tightly as possible because they do seem to be able to truly add value. Q: Any suggestions for what our business readers should ask themselves when they look around their own headquarters? A:... View Details