Publications

March–April 2020
Article

An Institutional Approach to Gender Diversity and Firm Performance

By: Letian Zhang

This study examines data from 35 countries and 24 industries to understand the relationship between gender diversity and firm performance. Previous studies report conflicting evidence: some find that gender-diverse firms experience more positive performance and others... View Details

Keywords: Institutional Theory; Cross-cultural; Diversity; Gender; Organizations; Performance; Situation or Environment; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues

Teaching Interest

Strategy and Technology

Overview

This course explores the unique aspects of creating effective management and investment strategies for technology-intensive businesses. What are effective strategies for winning in markets with strong network effects? How should... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Technology

Web

Publications - Faculty & Research

2025): 2303–2329. July 2025 Article Reputation Burning: Analyzing the Impact of Brand Sponsorship on Social Influencers By: Mengjie Cheng and Shunyuan Zhang The growth of the influencer marketing industry... View Details

17 Jun 2022
News

In Defense of Online Anonymity

Research Summary

Overview

My research examines the processes, mechanisms and institutions that influence the effectiveness of organizational interactions between societal sectors (business, government and civil society). My work is motivated by the belief that more study of what makes... View Details

March 2018
Article

How Context Affects Choice

By: Raphael Thomadsen, Robert P. Rooderkerk, On Amir, Neeraj Arora, Bryan Bollinger, Karsten Hansen, Leslie John, Wendy Liu, Aner Sela, Vishal Singh, K. Sudhir and Wendy Wood

Due to its origins in the literature on judgment and decision-making, context effects in marketing are construed exclusively in terms of how choices deviate from utility maximization principles as a function of how choices are presented (e.g., framing, sequence,... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Decision Choices and Conditions; Situation or Environment; Consumer Behavior

07 Jul 2015
News

Doing Good Scientifically

September 2019 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Dove and Real Beauty: Building a Brand with Purpose

By: Mark R. Kramer, Myriam Sidibe and Gunjan Veda

Unilever subsidiary Dove soap became a "brand with a purpose" and created shared value when the company decided to launch a Campaign for Real Beauty to combat the artificial media-driven stereotype of female beauty that causes appearance anxiety in women and girls... View Details

Keywords: Stereotype; Body Image; Female; Self-Esteem; Brands and Branding; Mission and Purpose; Advertising Campaigns; Gender; Resource Allocation

Educators

2015
Chapter

The Fourth Wave: Business Management and Business Education in the Age of the Anthropocene

By: Andrew J. Hoffman and John Ehrenfeld

Sustainability has become mainstream in both management practice and management research. Firms incorporate sustainability strategies into their core mission. University administrators promote sustainability as central to their curricula. Scholars pursue sustainability... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Social Issues; Natural Environment; Leading Change; Management Systems

March 2013
Article

For Mobile Devices, Think Apps, Not Ads

By: Sunil Gupta

Many companies envision mobile ads becoming an integral part of their communications strategies. But there's a growing consensus that ads don't work on mobile devices; consumers just don't like them. Instead of creating tiny banner ads, smart marketers will turn to... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Advertising; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Innovation and Invention

2011
White Paper

Brands Are People Too! Harnessing the Power of Brand Warmth and Competence

By: Chris Malone, Jill Avery and S. T. Fiske

Research in customer behavior has revealed that the way humans respond to brands is simply an extension of the way they instinctively perceive, judge, and behave towards one another. Understanding how consumers judge brands using social processes akin to those used in... View Details

Keywords: Brands; Brand Management; Customer Relationship Management; CRM; Brand Positioning; Brand Equity; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Brands and Branding; Marketing; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Products Industry

27 Jul 2019
Op-Ed

Does Facebook's Business Model Threaten Our Elections?

In the 2012 US presidential election, the Obama campaign deftly used a Facebook app to register voters and have friends message them to get out the vote. But it was 2016 presidential campaign that really changed social media’s impact on... View Details

Keywords: by George Riedel

8 AM – 8 PM EDT, 26 Apr 2025
Industry Events

Real Estate Symposium at Harvard 2025

The Real Estate Club, a student club at Harvard Business School, and the Harvard GSD Real Estate Club are excited to announce the Real Estate Symposium at Harvard 2025. Join our diverse audience of over 500 attendees, including industry professionals, alumni,... View Details

Career Coach

Pamela Harder

pricing and market tiering strategy, and streamlined sales operations across the company. Immediately after HBS, Pam spent 3 years as a social sector consultant at FSG, where she led client engagements that... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Emerging Markets; Emerging Markets; Emerging Markets; Emerging Markets; Emerging Markets; Emerging Markets; Emerging Markets; Emerging Markets; Emerging Markets; Emerging Markets; Emerging Markets

2020
Book

Capitalism at Risk: How Business Can Lead

By: Joseph L. Bower, Dutch Leonard and Lynn S. Paine

Who should take the lead in fixing market capitalism? Business—not government alone. The spread of capitalism worldwide has made people wealthier than ever before. But capitalism's future is far from assured. Pandemics, income inequality, resource depletion, mass... View Details

Keywords: Capitalism; Business And Society; Economic Systems; Economic Growth; Policy; Leading Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Community Relations; Corporate Strategy