Publications

June 2014
Article

Informal Peer Interaction and Practice Type as Predictors of Physician Performance on Maintenance of Certification Examinations

By: Melissa A. Valentine, S. Barsade, Amy C. Edmondson, A. Gal and R. Rhodes

Context: Physicians can demonstrate mastery of the knowledge that supports continued clinical competence by passing a Maintenance of Certification exam. Exam performance depends on professional learning and development, which may be enhanced by informal routine... View Details

Keywords: Training; Health Care and Treatment; Performance; Social and Collaborative Networks; Learning; Health Industry

05 Feb 2007
Research & Ideas

Business and the Global Poor

this market at the bottom of the economic pyramid (BOP) must look beyond just selling products—they must find ways to create social and economic value, according to the editors of a new volume, Business Solutions for the Global Poor. The... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

December 2012
Article

The Microwork Solution: A New Approach to Outsourcing Can Support Economic Development—and Add to Your Bottom Line

By: Francesca Gino and Bradely R. Staats

What's the best way to lift people out of poverty? The social entrepreneurs in the new "impact sourcing" industry believe the answer is providing work, not aid. Their organizations hire people at the bottom of the pyramid to perform digital tasks such as transcribing... View Details

Keywords: Outsourcing; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Nonprofit Organizations; Partners and Partnerships; Development Economics; Social Entrepreneurship; Welfare; Cooperation; San Francisco

16 Jul 2018
Research & Ideas

Kids of Working Moms Grow into Happy Adults

Institute added a second international data set to their study. To make sure their findings could be replicated across both time and geographic distance, they compared two cross-national social surveys, the “Family and Changing Gender... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

Research Summary

Fairness and Efficiency in Resource Allocation

In studying the relationship of fairness and efficiency, Professor Trichakis takes the novel approach of looking at varied industries for unifying factors, and he pays special attention to inequities by incorporating both quantitative work in social welfare and the... View Details

Article

From Wealth to Well-Being? Money Matters, but Less than People Think

By: Lara B. Aknin, Michael I. Norton and Elizabeth W. Dunn

While numerous studies have documented the modest (though reliable) link between household income and well-being, we examined the accuracy of laypeople's intuitions about this relationship by asking people from across the income spectrum to report their own... View Details

Keywords: Happiness; Work-Life Balance; Satisfaction; Income; Household

March 2000
Article

The Duality of Collaboration: Inducements and Opportunities in the Formation of Interfirm Linkages

By: Gautam Ahuja

I argue that the linkage-formation propensity of firms is explained by simultaneously examining both inducement and opportunity factors. Drawing upon resource-based and social network theory literatures I identify three forms of accumulated... View Details

Keywords: Collaboration; Innovation; Networks; Strategy; Alliances; Social and Collaborative Networks; Innovation and Invention; Chemical Industry

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17 Dec 2012
Research & Ideas

Teaming in the Twenty-First Century

reality of hierarchical social systems is that people hold deeply ingrained, taken-for-granted beliefs that it's dangerous to speak up or disagree with those in power." And management can be part of the problem without even knowing it.... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish

April 2025 (Revised May 2025)
Case

Adobe: GenAI Opportunity or Threat?

By: Sunil Gupta, Rajiv Lal and Allison Ciechanover

In December 2022, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen faced a pivotal strategic decision due to the rapid rise of generative AI image models from OpenAI, Midjourney, and StabilityAI. Adobe, a leader in digital media and marketing software with a 40-year legacy of innovation and... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Ethics; AI and Machine Learning; Trust; Business Strategy; Technology Industry; San Jose

Educators

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June 2021
Case

Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani at avatarin (A) (Abridged)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2016, Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani, aeronautical engineers at All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd., began to wonder why, in a world of accelerating globalization and digital connectivity, those who lived in far-remote villages or impoverished urban areas could not... View Details

Keywords: Agility; Ecosystem; Innovation Ecosystems; Innovation; Crowdsourcing; XPRIZE; Open Innovation; Partnership; Government; Collaboration; Co-creation; Purpose; Impact; Social Impact; Movement; Organizational Behavior; Organizational Ambidexterity; Ambidexterity; Culture; Culture Change; Global Teams; Experimentation; Space; Space Industry; Airline Industry; Start-up; Platform Business; Platform Strategy; Platform; Digital; Robotics; Robots; Avatar; Telepresence; Innovation Lab; Mobility; COVID-19; Intrapreneurship; Public-private Partnership; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Partners and Partnerships; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Alignment; Leadership; Leading Change; Diversity; Organizational Culture; Change Management; Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Transportation Industry; Aerospace Industry; Japan

Educators

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May 2003
Case

Environmental Defense

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

Analyzes the strategy and management of Environmental Defense, a leading environmental advocacy group, emphasizing the group's activity in the energy and agribusiness industries. From a strategy formulation standpoint, the case encourages students to think of the... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Nonprofit Organizations; Energy; Relationships; Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Energy Industry

February 2021 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Shopify: The Conquest for Chinese E-Commerce

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Avani Patel, Samantha Lin and Ariel Yang

In mid-2020, Tobias Lütke, CEO of Shopify, faced a critical decision on how to time potential expansion into the China market. Over the prior 15 years, his Canadian software-as-a-service company had grown from a small e-commerce solutions provider to a full service... View Details

Educators

2008
Article

Market Leadership and Strategic Investments in Innovation: The Adoption of E-Business Capabilities

By: Kristina Steffenson McElheran

This study focuses on whether more-productive firms are more likely to adopt process innovations and why. The empirical context is the adoption of e-business practices among U.S. manufacturing plants in early 2000. Based on detailed data from the U.S. Census of... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Innovation Strategy; Leadership; Motivation and Incentives; Competitive Advantage; Technology Adoption; Manufacturing Industry; United States

October 2015
Article

Global Teams That Work

By: Tsedal Neeley

Many companies today rely on employees around the world, leveraging their diversity and local expertise to gain a competitive edge. However, geographically dispersed teams face a big challenge: physical separation and cultural differences can create social distance, or... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Groups and Teams; Performance; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues

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October 2015
Article

Hormones and Ethics: Understanding the Biological Basis of Unethical Conduct

By: Jooa Julie Lee, Francesca Gino, Ellie Shuo Jin, Leslie K. Rice and Robert A. Josephs

Globally, fraud has been rising sharply over the last decade, with current estimates placing financial losses at greater than $3.7 trillion dollars annually. Unfortunately, fraud prevention has been stymied by lack of a clear and comprehensive understanding of its... View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Ethics; Science

Robert S. Kaplan is Senior Fellow and Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership Development, Emeritus at the Harvard Business School. He joined the HBS faculty in 1984 after spending 16 years on the faculty of the business school at Carnegie-Mellon University, where he... View Details

Keywords: health care; nonprofit industry

28 Aug 2023
Research & Ideas

How Workplace Wellness Programs Can Give Employees the Energy Boost They Need

While companies may tout their wellness programs as a way of investing in their employees’ well-being, many are overly focused on reducing healthcare costs, so they tend to offer step challenges and gym discounts that workers don’t have time to use. Though these... View Details

Keywords: by Hise Gibson

September 2020
Article

How Multimedia Shape Crowdfunding Outcomes: The Overshadowing Effect of Images and Videos on Text in Campaign Information

By: J Yang, Y Li, Goran Calic and Anton Shevchenko

This study aims to explore the moderating effect of the number of images and videos on the relationship between text length in crowdfunding campaign descriptions and crowdfunding outcomes. We use data from 13,622 technology campaigns on the Kickstarter website to test... View Details

Keywords: Crowdfunding; Media; Cognition and Thinking; Performance Effectiveness; Entrepreneurial Finance