Publications

March 2019 (Revised June 2021)
Case

HelloSelf: Foundation

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

On January 6, 2019, HelloSelf, a London-based “BrainTech” company, founded a year earlier by Charles Wells, soft launched. The proposition was simply to help its members “Be your Best Self.” The company provided its registered members with access to a clinical... View Details

July 2007 (Revised March 2008)
Background Note

Staging Two-Sided Platforms

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Andrei Hagiu

Firms that aspire to develop two-sided platforms face a formidable challenge. Prospective users on each side will not invest in the platform until they are confident there will be enough users on the other side. Traditional strategies for dealing with this... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Risk Management; Two-Sided Platforms; Supply Chain; Strategy; Retail Industry

Teaching Interest

Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation

By: Brian L. Trelstad

Combining the tools of philanthropy, business and advocacy (or mission, margin and mandate), social entrepreneurs have tackled long-standing societal issues like teacher training, college access, global public health, renewable energy and sanitation. Social... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Organizations; Social Enterprise; Civil Society or Community; System

28 May 2024
In Practice

Job Search Advice for a Tough Market: Think Broadly and Stay Flexible

short run and perseverance is rewarded.” Returns and attractive exits are higher for startups formed during these periods in history. Overall, I emphasize that students need to be patient. Good jobs are out there to be had. All it takes... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

16 Nov 2016
Research & Ideas

Turning One Thousand Customers into One Million

Few companies in the past few years have rocketed to success faster than Uber, Airbnb, and Etsy, which together have transformed the way we hail a cab, plan a vacation, and shop for handmade gifts, respectively. In a previous HBS Working Knowledge article, How Uber,... View Details

Keywords: by Thales S. Teixeira and Michael Blanding; Retail; Transportation; Accommodations

22 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

Master the One-on-One Meeting

Whether you’re a CEO or a line manager, your team is just as important as a group as its members are as individuals. Today’s tech companies offer many perks to attract and retain the best employees. We offer competitive salaries, training... View Details

Keywords: by Julia B. Austin

21 Nov 2023
Op-Ed

The Beauty Industry: Products for a Healthy Glow or a Compact for Harm?

In my recently published book Deeply Responsible Business, I write about business leaders since the 19th century who have acted responsibly, often by putting the welfare of their communities above the idea of maximizing profits. I make a sharp distinction between... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Beauty & Cosmetics

Web

Harvard Business School Online Courses & Learning Platforms

Bussgang Gain proven frameworks to build a viable, valuable tech venture that can profitably scale and attract venture capital. $1,850 Certificate Featured Courses New Transforming Customer Experiences Professor Ryan Buell Gain a... View Details

Research Summary

Recruiting specialized inventors into young organizations

Commercializing nascent technologies may require the expertise of those intimately involved in the original invention, especially when tacit knowledge is essential. Yet the organization home to the original invention may not serve as the best commercialization... View Details

March–April 2022
Article

School Choice in Chile

By: Jose Correa, Natalie Epstein, Rafael Epstein, Juan Escobar, Ignacio Rios, Nicolas Aramayo, Bastian Bahamondes, Carlos Bonet, Martin Castillo, Andres Cristi, Boris Epstein and Felipe Subiabre

Centralized school admission mechanisms are an attractive way of improving social welfare and fairness in large educational systems. In this paper, we report the design and implementation of the newly established school choice system in Chile, where over 274,000... View Details

Keywords: Early Childhood Education; Secondary Education; Middle School Education; Family and Family Relationships; Welfare; Chile

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2022
Article

How to Choose a Default

By: John Beshears, Richard T. Mason and Shlomo Benartzi

We have developed a model for setting a default when a population is choosing among ordered choices—that is, ones listed in ascending or descending order. A company, for instance, might want to set a default contribution rate that will increase employees’ average... View Details

Keywords: Nudge; Choice Architecture; Behavioral Economics; Behavioral Science; Default; Savings; Decision Choices and Conditions; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives

September 15, 2021
Article

Improving Deconvolution Methods in Biology Through Open Innovation Competitions: An Application to the Connectivity Map

By: Andrea Blasco, Ted Natoli, Michael G. Endres, Rinat A. Sergeev, Steven Randazzo, Jin Hyun Paik, N.J. Maximilian Macaluso, Rajiv Narayan, Xiaodong Lu, David Peck, Karim R. Lakhani and Aravind Subramanian

A recurring problem in biomedical research is how to isolate signals of distinct populations (cell types, tissues, and genes) from composite measures obtained by a single analyte or sensor. Existing computational deconvolution approaches work well in many specific... View Details

Keywords: Deconvolution; Methods; Open Innovation Competition; Genomics; Research; Innovation and Invention

May–June 2021
Article

How to Close the Gender Gap

By: Colleen Ammerman and Boris Groysberg

Most companies say they’re committed to advancing women into leadership roles. What they may fail to recognize, though, is that systemic barriers are holding women back. As a result, women remain disadvantaged at every stage of their employment and underrepresented in... View Details

Keywords: Gender Discrimination; Employment; Gender; Prejudice and Bias; Talent and Talent Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation

September 2020
Case

The Black New Venture Competition

By: Karen Mills, Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Martin Sinozich and Gabriella Elanbeck

Black entrepreneurs encounter many unique obstacles when raising capital to start and grow a business. During their second year at Harvard Business School (HBS), MBA students Kimberly Foster and Tyler Simpson decided to do something to make a difference for... View Details

December 2015 (Revised May 2016)
Case

Jibo: A Social Robot for the Home

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Christine Snively

In January 2015, Jibo Inc. had completed a raise of $25.3 million in Series A financing after a successful 2014 crowdfunding campaign for preorders of Jibo, the first social robot for the home. Over 4,800 Jibo units were preordered, generating $2.6 million in sales. On... View Details

Keywords: Business Development; Entrepreneurship; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Business Startups; Technology Industry

2015
Chapter

Government and the Minimalist Platform: Business at the Kumbh Mela

By: John D. Macomber and Tarun Khanna

India's Kumbh Mela, a religious festival occurring once every 12 years at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, attracts over 80 million pilgrims to a temporary "pop-up megacity" over the course of two months. A team of faculty and students from five Harvard... View Details

August 2015
Article

Cost Conscious? The Neural and Behavioral Impact of Price Primacy on Decision-Making

By: Uma R. Karmarkar, Baba Shiv and Brian Knutson

Price is a key factor in most purchases, but it can be presented at different stages of decision making prior to a purchase. We examine the sequence-dependent effects of price and product information on the decision-making process at both neural and behavioral levels.... View Details

Keywords: fMRI; Retail Promotion; Purchase Decisions; Price; Value; Decision Choices and Conditions; Consumer Behavior; Product Marketing; Retail Industry

Article

Seeking the Roots of Entrepreneurship: Insights from Behavioral Economics

By: Thomas Astebro, Holger Herz, Ramana Nanda and Roberto A. Weber

There is a growing body of evidence that many entrepreneurs seem to enter and persist in entrepreneurship despite earning low risk-adjusted returns. This has lead to attempts to provide explanations—using both standard economic theory and behavioral economics—for why... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Personal Characteristics; Attitudes; Behavior

Article

Why, When, and How Much to Entertain Consumers in Advertisements?: A Web-based Facial Tracking Field Study

By: Thales Teixeira, Rosalind Picard and Rana el Kaliouby

The presence of positive entertainment (e.g., visual imagery, upbeat music, humor) in TV advertisements can make them more attractive and persuasive. However, little is known about the downsides of using too much entertainment. This research focuses on why, when, and... View Details

Keywords: Face-tracking; Entertainment; Television; Purchase Intent; Commercials; Facial Expressions; Marketing Communication; Advertising; Television Entertainment; Marketing; Advertising Industry