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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(334)
- News (83)
- Research (182)
- Events (1)
- Multimedia (13)
- Faculty Publications (150)
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- September 2017
- Case
Sensing (and Monetizing) Happiness at Hitachi
By: Ethan Bernstein and Stephanie Marton
Inspired by research linking happiness and productivity, Hitachi had invested in developing new “people analytics” technologies to help companies increase employee happiness. Hitachi had begun manufacturing high-tech badges that quantify a wearer’s activity patterns.... View Details
Keywords: People Analytics; Japan; Sociometers; Wearables; Interpersonal Communication; Human Resources; Happiness; Technology Industry; Japan
Bernstein, Ethan, and Stephanie Marton. "Sensing (and Monetizing) Happiness at Hitachi." Harvard Business School Case 418-019, September 2017.
- January 2020
- Article
Rethinking Measurement of Pay Disparity and Its Relation to Firm Performance
By: Ethan Rouen
I develop measures of firm-level pay disparity and examine their relation to firm performance. Using comprehensive compensation data for a large sample of firms, I find no statistically significant relation between the ratio of CEO-to-mean employee compensation and... View Details
Keywords: Pay Disparity; Pay Ratio; CEO Pay Ratio; Income Inequality; Executive Compensation; Employees; Wages; Equality and Inequality; Business Ventures; Performance
Rouen, Ethan. "Rethinking Measurement of Pay Disparity and Its Relation to Firm Performance." Accounting Review 95, no. 1 (January 2020): 343–378.
- Article
Impact-Weighted Financial Accounts: A Paradigm Shift
By: Ethan Rouen and George Serafeim
The last decade has seen an exponential increase in corporate sustainability activities and efforts by investors to use these activities in their portfolio formation, valuation, and stewardship activities. This paper explains the need for a uniform strategy to measure... View Details
Keywords: Impact-Weighted Accounts; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Measurement and Metrics; Standards
Rouen, Ethan, and George Serafeim. "Impact-Weighted Financial Accounts: A Paradigm Shift." CESifo Forum 22, no. 3 (May 2021): 20–25.
- Forthcoming
- Article
Legislators' Demand for Firms' Financial Statements: Evidence from U.S. Congressional Redistricting Events
By: Matthew Ma, Jing Pan, Ethan Rouen and Laura Wellman
We investigate whether U.S. House representatives and their staff seek financial information from constituent firms to inform their legislative decisions. We exploit shifts in U.S. congressional districts (i.e., the reconfiguration of federal district lines or... View Details
Keywords: Redistricting; Lobbying; Legislators; Voting Behavior; Corporate Disclosure; Government Legislation; Voting; Behavior
Ma, Matthew, Jing Pan, Ethan Rouen, and Laura Wellman. "Legislators' Demand for Firms' Financial Statements: Evidence from U.S. Congressional Redistricting Events." Review of Accounting Studies (forthcoming). (Pre-published online July 7, 2025.)
- 2002
- Other Unpublished Work
Legal Management: The Case for a Managed Model for the Delivery of Legal Services
This essay takes a brief look at the innovations in the delivery of legal services made due to the expansion of the pre-paid sector and uses those changes in the power dynamics of the industry to make a compelling case for a more widespread, managed model. The managed... View Details
Bernstein, Ethan S. "Legal Management: The Case for a Managed Model for the Delivery of Legal Services." December 2002. (Harvard Law School: Bellow-Sacks Access to Civil Legal Services Project.)
- February 2021
- Case
Measuring Impact at JUST Capital
By: Charles C.Y. Wang and Ethan Rouen
JUST Capital is a nonprofit organization that seeks to make public companies more "just" by measuring and ranking their overall impact on society, based on the priorities most important to the average American. This case examines JUST's strategy for influencing... View Details
Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Ethics; Measurement and Metrics; Performance Evaluation; Social Issues; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact
Wang, Charles C.Y., and Ethan Rouen. "Measuring Impact at JUST Capital." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Case 121-703, February 2021.
- June 2020
- Case
RBC: Transforming Transformation (A)
By: Ethan Bernstein, Francesca Gino and Aldo Sesia
In 2017, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), a Canadian financial icon, mandated a swat team of “enablers of collaboration” (their job description) to support the personal and commercial bank in the enterprise-wide RBC Cultural Transformation initiative. Historically,... View Details
Keywords: Service Delivery; Information Technology; Transformation; Change Management; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Decision Making; Human Resources; Management Systems; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Groups and Teams; Management Teams; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Canada
Bernstein, Ethan, Francesca Gino, and Aldo Sesia. "RBC: Transforming Transformation (A)." Harvard Business School Case 920-008, June 2020.
- October 2014
- Article
The Transparency Trap
By: Ethan Bernstein
To get people to be more creative and productive, managers increase transparency with open workspaces and access to real-time data. But less transparent work environments can yield more-transparent employees. Employees perform better when they can try out new ideas and... View Details
Bernstein, Ethan. "The Transparency Trap." Harvard Business Review 92, no. 10 (October 2014): 58–66.
- 2022
- Working Paper
The Evolution of ESG Reports and the Role of Voluntary Standards
By: Ethan Rouen, Kunal Sachdeva and Aaron Yoon
We examine the evolution of ESG reports of S&P 500 firms from 2010 to 2021. The
percentage of firms releasing these voluntary disclosures increased from 35% to 86%
during this period, although the length of these documents experienced more modest
growth. Using a... View Details
Keywords: Voluntary Disclosure; Textual Analysis; Modeling And Analysis; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; AI and Machine Learning; Accounting
Rouen, Ethan, Kunal Sachdeva, and Aaron Yoon. "The Evolution of ESG Reports and the Role of Voluntary Standards." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 23-024, October 2022.
- Summer 2021
- Article
Predictable Country-level Bias in the Reporting of COVID-19 Deaths
By: Botir Kobilov, Ethan Rouen and George Serafeim
We examine whether a country’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic relate to the downward biasing of the number of reported deaths from COVID-19. Using deviations from historical averages of the total number of monthly deaths within a country, we find that the... View Details
Keywords: COVID-19; Deaths; Reporting; Incentives; Government Policy; Health Pandemics; Health Care and Treatment; Country; Crisis Management; Outcome or Result; Reports; Policy
Kobilov, Botir, Ethan Rouen, and George Serafeim. "Predictable Country-level Bias in the Reporting of COVID-19 Deaths." Journal of Government and Economics 2 (Summer 2021).
- 2021
- Working Paper
Financial Flexibility and Corporate Employment
By: Rebecca Lester, Ethan Rouen and Braden Williams
We study the role of financial flexibility on COVID-19 employment actions. Using daily data from March through May 2020 for 354 of the largest U.S. employers, we find that firms facing a negative demand shock were 28.8 percentage points more likely to reduce their... View Details
Keywords: Financial Flexibility; COVID-19; Pandemic; Employment; Health Pandemics; System Shocks; Finance
Lester, Rebecca, Ethan Rouen, and Braden Williams. "Financial Flexibility and Corporate Employment." Harvard Business School Series in Accounting and Control, No. 21-119, April 2021.
- March 2019 (Revised April 2019)
- Case
Measuring Impact at JUST Capital
By: Ethan C. Rouen and Charles C.Y. Wang
JUST Capital is a nonprofit organization that seeks to make public companies more "just" by measuring and ranking their overall impact on society, based on the priorities most important to the average American. This case examines JUST’s strategy for influencing... View Details
Rouen, Ethan C., and Charles C.Y. Wang. "Measuring Impact at JUST Capital." Harvard Business School Case 119-092, March 2019. (Revised April 2019.)
- May 13, 2021
- Article
The Big Benefits of Employee Ownership
By: Thomas Dudley and Ethan Rouen
Wealth inequality in the U.S. has been increasing for decades: The richest 1% own a majority of all business wealth, and the top 10% own more than 90%. Companies, which have played a vital role in the growth in inequality can also play one in reducing it. One place to... View Details
Keywords: Wealth; Equality and Inequality; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Employee Ownership; United States
Dudley, Thomas, and Ethan Rouen. "The Big Benefits of Employee Ownership." Harvard Business Review (website) (May 13, 2021).
- 2011
- Article
Strategic Change and the Jazz Mindset: Exploring Practices That Enhance Dynamic Capabilities for Organizational Improvisation
By: Ethan S. Bernstein and Frank J. Barrett
How can leaders adopt a mindset that maximizes learning, remains responsive to short-term emergent opportunities, and simultaneously strengthens longer-term dynamic capabilities of the organization? This chapter explores the organizational decisions and practices... View Details
Keywords: Dynamic Capabilities; Strategic Change; Jazz; Jazz Mindset; Improvisation; Innovation; Change Management; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Leading Change; Leadership Style; Leadership; Management; Management Style; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizations; Creativity; Strategy; Auto Industry; Banking Industry; Bicycle Industry; Computer Industry; Consulting Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Education Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Financial Services Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Health Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Music Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Retail Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Service Industry; Technology Industry; United States; Japan; Taiwan; Europe; Asia
Bernstein, Ethan S., and Frank J. Barrett. "Strategic Change and the Jazz Mindset: Exploring Practices That Enhance Dynamic Capabilities for Organizational Improvisation." Research in Organizational Change and Development 19 (2011): 55–90.
- 2018
- Working Paper
Corporate Tax Cuts Increase Income Inequality
By: Suresh Nallareddy, Ethan Rouen and Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato
This paper studies the effects of corporate tax changes on income inequality. Using state corporate tax rate changes as a setting, we show that cutting state corporate tax rates leads to increases in income inequality. This result is robust to using regression and... View Details
Nallareddy, Suresh, Ethan Rouen, and Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato. "Corporate Tax Cuts Increase Income Inequality." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 18-101, May 2018.
- October 2024
- Case
GLIN Impact Capital
By: Ethan Rouen and Akiko Saito
In 2024, the co-founders of the venture capital fund GLIN Impact Capital face a critical inflection point as they consider launching a second, significantly larger impact investment fund in Japan. Founded in 2021 by the three Harvard Business School alumni, GLIN is one... View Details
Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment Funds; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Power and Influence; Japan
Rouen, Ethan, and Akiko Saito. "GLIN Impact Capital." Harvard Business School Case 125-053, October 2024.
- Article
Wisdom or Madness? Comparing Crowds with Expert Evaluation in Funding the Arts
By: Ethan Mollick and Ramana Nanda
In fields as diverse as technology entrepreneurship and the arts, crowds of interested stakeholders are increasingly responsible for deciding which innovations to fund, a privilege that was previously reserved for a few experts, such as venture capitalists and... View Details
Keywords: Crowdfunding; Arts; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Fine Arts Industry; Technology Industry
Mollick, Ethan, and Ramana Nanda. "Wisdom or Madness? Comparing Crowds with Expert Evaluation in Funding the Arts." Management Science 62, no. 6 (June 2016): 1533–1553.
- August 2019 (Revised March 2020)
- Background Note
Note on Structured Interviewing
By: Ethan Bernstein and Amy Ross
Making good hiring decisions is a critical management activity, yet many leaders just “wing it” when interviewing candidates to fill openings by having an organic conversation to assess the candidate’s fit, unknowingly subjecting the process to unconscious bias.... View Details
Bernstein, Ethan, and Amy Ross. "Note on Structured Interviewing." Harvard Business School Background Note 420-032, August 2019. (Revised March 2020.)
- 29 Mar 2016
- First Look
March 29, 2016
By: Buell, Ryan W., Ethan Porter, and Michael I. Norton Abstract—As Americans' trust in government nears historic lows, frustration with government performance approaches record highs. We propose that Americans’ views of government can be... View Details
Keywords: Sean Silverthorne
- July–August 2021
- Article
Surfacing the Submerged State: Operational Transparency Increases Trust in and Engagement with Government
By: Ryan W. Buell, Ethan Porter and Michael I. Norton
Problem definition: As trust in government reaches historic lows, frustration with government performance approaches record highs.
Academic/practical relevance: We propose that in co-productive settings like government services, peoples’ trust and... View Details
Keywords: Government Services; Behavioral Operations; Operational Transparency; Government Administration; Service Operations; Programs; Perception; Attitudes; Behavior; Trust
Buell, Ryan W., Ethan Porter, and Michael I. Norton. "Surfacing the Submerged State: Operational Transparency Increases Trust in and Engagement with Government." Manufacturing & Service Operations Management 23, no. 4 (July–August 2021): 781–802.