Learning By Thinking - Publications - Faculty & Research

08 Dec 2020
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Hunt for Talent on Digital Platforms, Not in Resume Piles

field studies, researchers tend to think that workers submit resumes to open positions. In fact, scholars have learned a lot about discrimination in labor markets by sending... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Employment

18 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Ideas, April 18

March 27, 2017 Harvard Business Review How the Water Industry Learned to Embrace Data By: Cespedes, Frank V., and Amir Peleg Abstract—Most current talk about “big data” seems to assume the disintermediation or replacement of physical... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

02 May 2022
What Do You Think?

Can the Case Method Survive Another Hundred Years?

source of criticism from those preferring research based on large data bases of quantitative information and advanced analytic techniques. "It can be a living hell for some distinguished CEOs returning to the School thinking that they can... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Education

17 Jan 2024
HBS Case

Psychological Pricing Tactics to Fight the Inflation Blues

businesses today will need to lean hard on psychological pricing strategies to convince customers to overcome their reluctance to spend, according to recent research by Elie Ofek, the Malcolm P. McNair Professor of Marketing at Harvard... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Consumer Products; Retail

04 Oct 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Reviews, Reputation, and Revenue: The Case of Yelp.com

Keywords: by Michael Luca; Food & Beverage

13 Mar 2023
Research & Ideas

What Would It Take to Unlock Microfinance's Full Potential?

In randomized control trials all over the world, instead of giving access to a loan, a one-time cash grant was found to have transformative impacts on livelihoods and businesses six months, one year, five years, 10 years later. We learned... View Details

Keywords: by Jen McFarland Flint; Financial Services

28 Mar 2023
Research & Ideas

The FDA’s Speedy Drug Approvals Are Safe: A Win-Win for Patients and Pharma Innovation

submitted by drug developers, doctors, lawyers, and consumers. The analysis revealed no difference in the frequency of adverse events reported for BTD drugs versus similar drugs that lacked BTD status and took longer to gain approval. The... View Details

Keywords: by Kasandra Brabaw; Pharmaceutical

11 Jun 2018
Research & Ideas

Why South Korea's Samsung Built the Only Outdoor Skating Rink in Texas

featuring music by the local symphony as 250,000 Christmas lights lit up the county courthouse. Then revelers could head to the Samsung Ice Skating Rink, the only outdoor venue of its kind in all of Texas—which also happened to be located... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Legal Services

16 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

Can Consumers Be Saved From Their Misguided Decisions?

health, career—that an industry is evolving around motivating people to be smarter about their choices. The problem: solutions created by these researchers and other behavioral scientists, such as incentives to remind health care shoppers... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Consulting; Retail

30 May 2024
Research & Ideas

Racial Bias Might Be Infecting Patient Portals. Can AI Help?

convenience and speed. The report’s conclusion invites further study. Explanations for the disparities that the authors document range from differences in the types of questions or requests made by patients in the messages, the syntax of... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Health

18 Jun 2007
Op-Ed

Leveling the Executive Options Playing Field

this setting. There are a number of nontrivial complications associated with such a change. Implementing such a change will require thinking through if the timing of taxable events for individuals and corporations can be separated and if... View Details

Keywords: by Mihir Desai

15 Aug 2023
HBS Case

(Virtual) Reality Check: How Long Before We Live in the 'Metaverse'?

The recent rollout of ChatGPT by OpenAI has set the world abuzz about the potential of artificial intelligence. But whatever happened to the last tech phenomenon, the “metaverse”? The once-heavily hyped future of immersive 3D technology... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Technology; Computer; Information Technology

March 2019
Case

Wattpad

By: John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

How to run a platform to match four million writers of stories to 75 million readers? Use data science. Make money by doing deals with television and filmmakers and book publishers. The case describes the challenges of matching readers to stories and of helping writers... View Details

Citation

Educators

Purchase

17 Jun 2015
Lessons from the Classroom

Excellence Comes From Saying No

lessons of the course was around change. From her service experience, Frei learned that making small changes are often more trouble than their worth-but in order to make big, meaningful changes, you often have to change at a pace faster... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

28 Aug 2023
Research & Ideas

The Clock Is Ticking: 3 Ways to Manage Your Time Better

even more intentional with how they use their time. It also requires teams and organizations to think collectively about how people are using their time. It matters where people are, vis-a-via others on their team; there are benefits of... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

11 Aug 2022
Research & Ideas

When Parents Tell Kids to ‘Work Hard,’ Do They Send the Wrong Message?

other people?" “How do all of these lessons about working hard potentially carry over to our beliefs about other people?” asks Ashley Whillans, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School, who co-authored the study. “If you are View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Education

20 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Creating a Positive Professional Image

interview. Mallory Stark: What is a professional image? Laura Morgan Roberts: Your professional image is the set of qualities and characteristics that represent perceptions of your competence and character as judged by your key... View Details

Keywords: by Mallory Stark

20 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

The Seven Things That Surprise New CEOs

management may have won the CEO his job, these tools alone will not keep him there. Finally, the CEO must not get totally absorbed in the role. Even if others think he is omnipotent, he is still only human. Failing to recognize this will... View Details

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter, Jay W. Lorsch & Nitin Nohria

05 Nov 2009
Research & Ideas

A Market for Human Cadavers in All but Name?

students learn their craft. Like corn, wheat, and civilian aircrafts, cadavers sent abroad can be seen as another U.S. export product, although one dwarfed by these other export categories. The notion of... View Details

Keywords: by Michel Anteby; Health

19 Dec 2011
Research & Ideas

Climbing the Great Wall of Trust

economy, it's getting more essential that global executives learn their way around Chinese cultural customs in order to be successful in that country. While every country has its version of the "old boys network" that defines... View Details