Publications

August 2006
Article

Confidence Intervals for Probabilities of Default

By: Samuel G. Hanson and Til Schuermann

In this paper we conduct a systematic comparison of confidence intervals around estimated probabilities of default (PD) using several analytical approaches as well as parametric and nonparametric bootstrap methods. We do so for two different PD estimation... View Details

Keywords: Credit Risk; Bootstrap; Mathematical Methods; Credit; Risk Management

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February 2014
Teaching Note

Community Health Workers in Zambia: Incentive Design and Management

By: Nava Ashraf and Kristin Johnson

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Training; Health Care and Treatment; Compensation and Benefits; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Mission and Purpose; Non-Governmental Organizations; Motivation and Incentives; Health Industry; Zambia

March 2010 (Revised February 2014)
Case

Community Health Workers in Zambia: Incentive Design and Management

By: Nava Ashraf and Natalie Kindred

This case examines the various considerations relevant to selecting and compensating workers in a context where their work involves a pro-social component. This is relevant to not only health care in Zambia, but to NGO and public sector workers who are both motivated... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Training; Health Care and Treatment; Compensation and Benefits; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Mission and Purpose; Non-Governmental Organizations; Motivation and Incentives; Health Industry; Zambia

Web

HBS Club of Chicago Charitable Fund: Working with Chicago Children’s Choir | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

Mizuho Kanai (MBA 2018) was fulfilling her summer internship at NPR, her manager recommended that she read an HBS case study about how the Sesame Workshop CEO, Jeff Dunn... An Emerging Entrepreneur Patricio Bichara 2015 Patricio “Pato”... View Details

June 2023
Case

Investing in the Climate Transition at Neuberger Berman

By: George Serafeim and Benjamin Maletta

By mid-2023, Neuberger Berman (NB), an active asset manager, had grown its assets under management to about half a trillion dollars and took pride in its client centricity and innovative spirit. Responding to client demand for investment products that integrated... View Details

October 2015
Case

DPDHL Group: Employee Safety and Wellbeing

By: John A. Quelch and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Management at Deutsche Post DHL Group is designing a three-country test of investment in a new health and wellbeing strategy. View Details

Keywords: Health; Wellbeing; Wellness; Safety; Risk; Employees; Human Resources; Risk Management; Service Industry; China; Mexico; Middle East

February 1996
Case

Active Coatings, Inc. (A): Challenges in Managing Product Development

Two entrepreneurs face a tough decision when confronted with disappointing test results from the medical application they have chosen to commercialize their innovative process technology. They must decide whether to redesign the technology's current lead-application or... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Decision Choices and Conditions; Product Development

July 2013 (Revised August 2017)
Case

TaKaDu

By: Elie Ofek and Matthew Preble

In December 2012, Amir Peleg, founder and CEO of TaKaDu, reflected on how to position his young firm for the next fiscal year and beyond. The small Israeli startup had developed an innovative software system that used patented algorithms and statistical analysis to... View Details

21 Jan 2015
Lessons from the Classroom

Managing the Family Business: Market Basket’s Lessons About Buyouts

One of the highlights of my year is in November, when teams of enterprising families meet for the Executive Education program I founded and still lead at Harvard Business School, Families in Business. One of the thornier problems we... View Details

Keywords: Retail

05 Jun 2017
News

Uber hires HBS’s Frances Frei to fix its management mess

Keywords: Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises

July 2018
Article

Personality Traits of Entrepreneurs: A Review of Recent Literature

By: Sari Pekkala Kerr, William R. Kerr and Tina Xu

We review the extensive literature since 2000 on the personality traits of entrepreneurs. We first consider baseline personality traits like the Big-5 model, self-efficacy and innovativeness, locus of control, and the need for achievement. We then consider risk... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurs; Venturing; Personality Traits; Characteristics; Big-5; Risk Attitudes; Goals; Skills; Entrepreneurship; Personal Characteristics; Goals and Objectives; Competency and Skills; Success; Demographics; Research

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June 2025
Article

What Board-level Control Mechanisms Changed in Banks Following the 2008 Financial Crisis? A Descriptive Study

By: Shelly Li, Shivram Rajgopal, Suraj Srinivasan and Yu Ting Forester Wong

Following the 2008 financial crisis, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) identified major shortcomings in bank board governance, contributing to systemic risk management failures. This study adapts a management control framework and empirically examines... View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Management Control; Governing and Advisory Boards; Governance Controls; Risk Management; Change Management; Banks and Banking; Financial Crisis

SSRN

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June 2016
Article

Managing the High Intensity Workplace: An 'Always Available' Culture Breeds a Variety of Dysfunctional Behaviors

By: Erin M. Reid and Lakshmi Ramarajan

People today are under intense pressure to be “ideal workers”—totally committed to their jobs and always on call. But after interviewing hundreds of professionals in many fields, the authors have concluded that selfless dedication to work is often unnecessary and... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Working Conditions; Work-Life Balance; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture

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13 Nov 2000
Research & Ideas

Managing to Learn: How Companies Can Turn Knowledge into Action

Nike managers failed to pick up the relevant market signals and learn from them. It took them too long to figure out that consumers wanted something different from what Nike was offering at the time. Unfortunately, Garvin states, this is... View Details

Keywords: by Laurie Joan Aron

01 Apr 2001
News

The Small Business Difference: How Smaller Companies Manage with Less

Management Déjà Vu,” by asking his audience about their concerns, as owners and operators of small businesses. A number of issues were voiced: sales and marketing; cash flow; hiring and motivating employees; smooth succession within... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training

Research Summary

Overview

By: Shikhar Ghosh

I am focused on exploring the human side of developing early stage entrepreneurial ventures. These enterprises are characterized by the pursuit of opportunity, shortage of resources to pursue their goals and uncertainty at every step of the journey. Some of the... View Details

Keywords: Scale; Exit; Founders' Agreements; Success Measures; Entrepreneurial Risk; Founding Teams; Entrepreneurship; Failure; Europe; Middle East; Asia

07 Mar 2017
News

From Harvard to INSEAD: Change Management in a Disruptive World

familiar with private enterprise and with strong ties with the business community, rather than a traditional academic. That’s how it all began, and the reason why they reached out to me.” On the value of the case method: “The case-study... View Details

Keywords: Educational Services

Article

Hurry or Wait: The Pros and Cons of Going Fast or Slow on Climate Change

By: Eleanor Denny and Jurgen Weiss

Climate change risk will likely force the de-carbonization of our electricity sector and thus involve massive investments in long-lived assets using many new and emerging technologies. Since technological progress (independent or dependent on deployment) will likely... View Details

Keywords: Electricity Sector; Environmental Risks; Fat Tails; Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Climate Change; Information Technology; Investment; Technological Innovation; Cost vs Benefits