Publications

July 2021 (Revised October 2022)
Background Note

Product Line Extensions: Optimal or Overdone?

By: Robert J. Dolan

Educators

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20 Nov 2024
Podcast

Using AI to Optimize Energy Demand

In this episode, host Mike Toffel speaks with Pasi Miettinen, CEO of Sagewell, a company that uses AI to help utilities and their customers manage energy demand efficiently. Pasi explains how Sagewell’s technology helps reduce peak electricity usage, which in turn... View Details

08 Nov 2010
News

Is There an Optimal Rich-Poor Gap?

February 9, 2022
Article

What's the Optimal Workplace for Your Organization?

By: Maria P. Roche and Andy Wu

More than two years in the COVID-19 pandemic, companies are struggling with how to reimagine their workspaces for their strategic needs. Too often, leaders push the decision down the road when, in fact, taking decisive action now can pay off later. But how do you... View Details

Keywords: Workplace; Organization; Hybrid Organizations; Office Space; Growth; Remote Work; Strategy; Organizations; Growth and Development; Working Conditions

February 2, 2012
Article

Is There an Optimal Degree of Sustainability?

By: Robert G. Eccles, Ioannis Ioannou and George Serafeim

Corporate sustainability is not a one size fits all concept. A successful strategy balances all business pressures. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Strategy

January 2011
Teaching Note

AIC Netbooks: Optimizing Product Assembly (Brief Case)

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Sunru Yong

Teaching Note for 4245. View Details

Keywords: Performance Management; Quantitative Analysis; Manufacturing; Production Planning; Production Management; Production; Mathematical Methods; Performance Evaluation; Planning; Manufacturing Industry

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Article

Subjective Performance Measures in Optimal Incentive Contracts

By: George P. Baker, Robert Gibbons and Kevin J. Murphy

Keywords: Performance; Motivation and Incentives; Measurement and Metrics

September 2009
Article

Deterring Online Advertising Fraud Through Optimal Payment in Arrears

By: Benjamin Edelman

Online advertisers face substantial difficulty in selecting and supervising small advertising partners. Fraud can be well hidden, and limited reputation systems reduce accountability. But partners are not paid until after their work is complete, and advertisers can... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Profit; Online Advertising; Advertising Industry

July 2019
Article

Optimal Capital Structure and Bankruptcy Choice: Dynamic Bargaining vs Liquidation

By: Samuel Antill and Steven R. Grenadier

We model a firm’s optimal capital structure decision in a framework in which it may later choose to enter either Chapter 11 reorganization or Chapter 7 liquidation. Creditors anticipate equityholders’ ex-post reorganization incentives and price them into the ex-ante... View Details

Keywords: Default; Dynamic Bargaining; Capital Structure; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Mathematical Methods

12 Sep 2018
Blog Post

Optimizing the Coaching Experience for Midcareer Professionals

Most HBS students are aware of the complementary coaching opportunities available through Career & Professional Development (CPD). Yet many of them, and their alumni colleagues, may not know that coaching remains available to them long after graduation, and can be... View Details

Research Summary

Optimal Heteroskedasticity Autocorrelation Consistent Covariance Estimators for GMM Weighting Matrices

This paper considers the optimal bias-variance tradeoff for estimators of the long run covariance matrix used to generate GMM weighting matrices in time series contexts. Minimum MSE HAC estimators do not yield minimum MSE GMM estimators. Instead, achieving... View Details

March 31, 2023
Article

What Is the Optimal Pattern of a Customer Journey?

By: Julian De Freitas

Even though customer experience (CX) leaders are becoming increasingly focused on optimizing their firms’ customer journeys, they face a clear challenge: Which touchpoints along the journey should they invest in? That is, which moments when the customer interacts with... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Customers; Brands and Branding