Publications

Find at Harvard

2009
Working Paper

Operational Failures and Problem Solving: An Empirical Study of Incident Reporting

By: Julia Rose Adler-Milstein, Sara J. Singer and Michael W. Toffel

Operational failures occur in all industries with consequences that range from minor inconveniences to major catastrophes. Many organizations have implemented incident reporting systems to highlight actual and potential operational failures in order to encourage... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Legal Liability; Management Practices and Processes; Service Operations; Failure; Health Industry

Article

Inaccurate Group Meta-Perceptions Drive Negative Out-Group Attributions in Competitive Contexts

By: J. Lees and M. Cikara

Across seven experiments and one survey (n = 4,282), people consistently overestimated out-group negativity towards the collective behaviour of their in-group. This negativity bias in group meta-perception was present across multiple competitive (but not cooperative)... View Details

Keywords: Intergroup Competition; Psychology; Political Polarization; Judgment And Decision-making

2013
Working Paper

What Makes a Critic Tick? Connected Authors and the Determinants of Book Reviews

By: Loretti I. Dobrescu, Michael Luca and Alberto Motta

This paper investigates the determinants of expert reviews in the book industry. Reviews are determined not only by the quality of the product, but also by the incentives of the media outlet providing the review. For example, a media outlet may have the incentive to... View Details

Keywords: Books; Quality; Experience and Expertise; Relationships; Publishing Industry

SSRN

08 Aug 2017
First Look

First Look at Research and Ideas, August 8, 2017

forthcoming Financial Analysts Journal Optimal Tilts: Combining Persistent Characteristic Portfolios By: Baker, Malcolm, Ryan Taliaferro, and Terry Burnham Abstract—We examine the optimal weighting of four tilts in U.S. equity markets... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2020
Working Paper

Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 5 Ecosystems and Complementarities

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

The purpose of this chapter is to introduce two new building blocks to the theory of how technology shapes organizations. The first is a new layer of organization structure: a business “ecosystem.” The second is the economic concept of “complementarity.” Ecosystems are... View Details

Keywords: Business Ecosystems; Complementarity; Modularity; Information Technology; Organizations

SSRN

01 Jun 2023
News

Alumni and Faculty Books

profits with social purpose to confront inequality, inner-city blight, and ecological degradation, while navigating restrictive laws and authoritarian regimes. He found that these leaders were View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

2008
Working Paper

Etiquette and Process Puzzles of Negotiating Business in China: A Questionnaire

By: James K. Sebenius and Cheng (Jason) Qian

Cultural differences can affect negotiations in many ways, from influencing the basic motivations and perceptions of the players to guiding the surface aspects, such as etiquette, protocol, and process, of business interactions. Navigating the challenges of these... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Governance; Questionnaires; Negotiation Process; Behavior; China

October 2009
Simulation

Strategy Simulation: Competitive Dynamics and Wintel

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell

In this online simulation students study the dynamics of cooperation and competition between two markedly different businesses that both rely on the flow of PC sales. Playing the role of Microsoft or Intel, students determine product release schedules and pricing, as... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Cooperation; Motivation and Incentives; Negotiation; Software; Computer Industry

14 Dec 2016
HBS Seminar

Siobhan O'Mahony and Rebecca Karp, Boston University

01 Jun 2011
News

What’s after Fannie and Freddie?

guarantees with private, for-profit entities, those private entities put the government at risk. There’s an incentive for the private entities to hold as little capital as possible against their own loan guarantees, View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Credit Intermediation and Related Activities; Credit Intermediation and Related Activities

October 2014
Article

Good Cop, Bad Cop: Complementarities Between Debt and Equity in Disciplining Management

By: Alexander Guembel and Lucy White

In this paper we examine how the quantity of information generated about firm prospects can be improved by splitting a firm's cash flow into a "safe" claim (debt) and a "risky" claim (equity). The former, being relatively insensitive to upside risk, provides a... View Details

Keywords: Information; Borrowing and Debt; Equity; Corporate Finance

Find at Harvard

Web

Stages of Development - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

this stage, the national business environment is characterized by strengths in all areas of the diamond together with the presence of deep clusters. Clusters become critical motors, not only in generating productivity, but also encouraging innovation at the world... View Details

2010
Working Paper

Making the Numbers? 'Short Termism' and the Puzzle of Only Occasional Disaster

By: Nelson P. Repenning and Rebecca Henderson

Much recent work in strategy and popular discussion suggests that an excessive focus on "managing the numbers"—delivering quarterly earnings at the expense of longer-term investments—makes it difficult for firms to make the investments necessary to build competitive... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Performance Improvement; Competitive Advantage; Earnings Management; Management Practices and Processes; Revenue; Quality; Competency and Skills; Motivation and Incentives; Auto Industry; United States

05 Feb 2007
Research & Ideas

Business and the Global Poor

important, companies must contend with a lack of formal institutions regarding the "rules of the game." This means that company success may rely on local leaders and community agents who have the social capital to bring people... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Threat of Platform-Owner Entry and Complementor Responses: Evidence from the Mobile App Market

This paper studies the impact of platform-owner entry threat on complementors in platform-based markets. We examine how app developers on the Android mobile platform adjust innovation efforts (rate and direction) and value-capture strategies in response to the threat... View Details

May 1990 (Revised September 1994)
Background Note

Note on Financial Reporting Strategy and Analysis When Managers Have Proprietary Information

By: Krishna G. Palepu

Provides a framework that helps explain these real-world observations about accounting and financial statement analysis. When managers have superior information on firms' strategies, and when investors suspect that managers have incentives not to fully disclose this... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Strategy; Knowledge Management

Educators

16 Jan 2013
Research & Ideas

The Messy Link Between Slave Owners and Modern Management

group incentives to encourage honesty, doling out a barrel of corn to each hand with the caveat that if anything was stolen from the farm and no one turned in the thief, double the value of that corn would... View Details

Keywords: by Katie Johnston

September 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Bank of America (A)

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Ashok Nimgade

Describes how Bank of America is creating a system for product and service innovation in its retail banking business. Emphasis is placed on the role of experimentation in some two-dozen real-life "laboratories" that serve as fully operating banking branches and as... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Problems and Challenges; Innovation and Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Change; Failure; Banks and Banking; Learning; Banking Industry

Educators

2010
Working Paper

Specialization and Variety in Repetitive Tasks: Evidence from a Japanese Bank

By: Bradley R. Staats and Francesca Gino

Sustaining operational productivity in the completion of repetitive tasks is critical to many organizations' success. Yet research points to two different work-design related strategies for accomplishing this goal: specialization to capture the benefits of repetition... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Working Conditions; Service Delivery; Performance Productivity; Financial Services Industry; Japan