Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(7,776)
- Faculty Publications (2,650)
- 2024
- Working Paper
Pitfalls of Demographic Forecasts of U.S. Elections
By: Richard Calvo, Vincent Pons and Jesse M. Shapiro
Many observers have forecast large partisan shifts in the US electorate based on demographic trends. Such forecasts are appealing because demographic trends are often predictable even over long horizons. We backtest demographic forecasts using data on US elections... View Details
- September 2024
- Supplement
Allbirds: Decarbonizing Fashion (B)
By: Michael W. Toffel, Kenneth P. Pucker and Stacy Straaberg
The Allbirds: Decarbonizing Fashion (B) case encourages students to assess Allbirds’ product development and go-to-market strategies now that Allbirds is a publicly listed company. The (B) case provides a 2024 update on Allbirds including its initial public offering,... View Details
Keywords: Financial Markets; Initial Public Offering; Global Strategy; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Knowledge Sharing; Distribution; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Going Public; Performance; Diversification; Stocks; Transformation; Fashion Industry; United States; San Francisco; California; Europe; Asia; New Zealand
- September 2024
- Exercise
Finding Your 'Jagged Frontier': A Generative AI Exercise
By: Mitchell Weiss
In 2023 a set of scholars set out to study the effect of artificial intelligence (AI) on the quality and productivity of knowledge workers—in this specific instance, management consultants. They wanted to know across a range of tasks in a workflow, which, if any, would... View Details
- September 20, 2024
- Article
It’s Time to Unbundle ESG
By: Aaron K. Chatterji and Michael W. Toffel
ESG is at an inflection point. It has come to represent a broad and inchoate aspiration for what business should be doing beyond maximizing shareholder value. With ESG advocates on the defensive, business leaders need a new roadmap to determine which factors to... View Details
Keywords: ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; ESG Ratings; ESG Reporting; ESG Disclosure; Sustainability; Climate; Climate Finance; Climate Risk; Social Accounting; Investment; Governance; Safety; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Financial Services Industry
- September 2024
- Article
A Potential Pitfall of Passion: Passion Is Associated with Performance Overconfidence
By: Erica R. Bailey, Kai Krautter, Wen Wu, Adam D. Galinsky and Jon M. Jachimowicz
Having passion is almost universally lauded. People strive to follow their passion at work, and organizations increasingly seek out passionate employees. Supporting the benefits of passion, prior research finds a robust relationship between passion and higher levels of... View Details
- September 2024
- Article
Activist Directors: Determinants and Consequences
By: Ian D. Gow, Sa-Pyung Sean Shin and Suraj Srinivasan
This paper examines determinants and consequences of hedge fund activism, focusing on activist directors, i.e., directors appointed in response to activist demands. Using a sample of 3,259 activism events from 2004 to 2016, we identify 1,623 activist directors.... View Details
- 2024
- Working Paper
Determinants of Top-Down Sabotage
By: Hashim Zaman and Karim R. Lakhani
We investigate the conditions that motivate managers to impede the growth of talented subordinates due to fears of future competition for their own positions. Our research expands on existing tournament and contest theory literature that considers peer-to-peer sabotage... View Details
- August 2024
- Case
The Walt Disney Company: Management Guidance
By: Joseph Pacelli and James Weber
In November 2023, financial analyst Aurora Fee was forecasting The Walt Disney Company’s earnings and stock price, with the goal of providing an investment recommendation to her clients. Disney, one of the world’s largest media and entertainment companies, had just... View Details
- August 19, 2024
- Article
The Business Roundtable’s Stakeholder Pledge, Five Years Later
By: Lynn S. Paine
Five years ago, the Business Roundtable issued a statement pledging to “lead their companies for the benefit of all stakeholders.” In the past five years, stakeholderism has gained wider acceptance and helped many corporate leaders see the value of taking the interests... View Details
- August, 2024
- Article
Absenteeism, Productivity, and Relational Contracts Inside the Firm
By: Achyuta Adhvaryu, Jean-François Gauthier, Anant Nyshadham and Jorge Tamayo
We study relational contracts among managers using a unique dataset that tracks transfers of workers across teams in Indian ready-made garment factories. We focus on how relational contracts help managers cope with worker absenteeism shocks, which are frequent, often... View Details
- 2024
- Working Paper
The Consequences of Export Controls in Target Countries
By: Xueyue Liu, Yu Liu and Jaya Y. Wen
Export controls are a common instrument of national security, but their economic consequences
are not well understood. This paper evaluates how these controls affect firm performance
and adaptation in targeted countries. We use variation in a 2007 US policy,... View Details
- July 24, 2024
- Article
Research: How Passion Can Backfire at Work
By: Erica R. Bailey, Kai Krautter, Wen Wu, Adam D. Galinsky and Jon M. Jachimowicz
Passion has long been championed as a key to workplace success. However, scientific studies have found mixed results: On the one hand, some studies find evidence that passionate employees tend to perform better, while other research has documented null or even negative... View Details
- July 2024 (Revised January 2025)
- Case
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors: Bringing Systematic Investment to Philanthropy
By: Lauren Cohen, Hao Gao, Alexander Bischoff and Sophia Pan
Melissa Berman, CEO of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), evaluated her client’s philanthropy project and its mediocre performance. RPA was a segment of the Rockefeller Family Office’s Philanthropy Department, becoming an independent charity in 2002. Consistently... View Details
Keywords: Philanthropic Sector; Foundation; Due Diligence; Humanitarianism; Humanitarian Assistance; Grants; HNW Products And Services; Donations; Impact; Advisor; Advice; Consulting; Funding; Consulting Services; Family Business; Cost vs Benefits; Developing Countries and Economies; Private Sector; Spending; Mission and Purpose; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Performance Evaluation; Nonprofit Organizations; Reputation; Social and Collaborative Networks; Social Issues; Wealth and Poverty; Experience and Expertise; Consulting Industry; New York (city, NY); New York (state, US); United States
- July 2024
- Case
Jacqueline Cook at Vendasta: Debating an IPO
By: Reza Satchu, Tom Quinn and Andrew Kosc
In May 2021, after a surge in demand for digital services that prompted high valuations for startups across the Canadian tech sector, Saskatchewan-based Vendasta entered the final stages of the initial public offering (IPO) process. COO Jacqueline Cook had invested her... View Details
Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Interpersonal Communication; Cost vs Benefits; Forecasting and Prediction; Business Cycles; Entrepreneurship; Fairness; Capital Markets; Private Equity; Investment Banking; Stock Options; Financial Markets; Initial Public Offering; Institutional Investing; Price Bubble; Digital Platforms; Digital Transformation; Internet and the Web; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Managerial Roles; Agreements and Arrangements; Going Public; Ownership Stake; Performance Expectations; Work-Life Balance; Strategic Planning; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Rank and Position; Risk and Uncertainty; Opportunities; Happiness; Reputation; Status and Position; Well-being; Information Technology Industry; Retail Industry; Canada
- July 2024
- Case
Living up to Purpose and Performance at Parker Hannifin
By: Hubert Joly, Alicia Dadlani and Martha Hostetter
In 2019, Parker Hannifin, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of motion and control technologies, did something unusual for an industrial company: it created a purpose statement. Even though it already had a clear business strategy and longstanding culture of... View Details
- July 2024 (Revised October 2024)
- Case
Knowledge Transfer: Toyota, NUMMI, and GM
By: Willy Shih
New United Motors Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI) was a joint venture between Toyota and General Motors. It was an opportunity for GM to learn about the Toyota Production System, which was quite different from the mass production processes American automakers used at the... View Details
Keywords: Culture Change; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Joint Ventures; Transformation; Selection and Staffing; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Sharing; Labor Unions; Management Systems; Performance Improvement; Production; Labor and Management Relations; Auto Industry; Japan; United States
- July 2024
- Article
A (Dynamic) Investigation of Stereotypes, Belief-Updating, and Behavior
By: Katherine B. Coffman, Paola Ugalde Araya and Basit Zafar
Many decisions—such as what educational or career path to pursue—are dynamic in nature, with individuals receiving feedback at one point in time and making decisions later. Using a controlled experiment, with two sessions one week apart, we analyze the dynamic effects... View Details
- July 2024
- Article
Chatbots and Mental Health: Insights into the Safety of Generative AI
By: Julian De Freitas, Ahmet Kaan Uğuralp, Zeliha Uğuralp and Stefano Puntoni
Chatbots are now able to engage in sophisticated conversations with consumers. Due to the ‘black box’ nature of the algorithms, it is impossible to predict in advance how these conversations will unfold. Behavioral research provides little insight into potential safety... View Details
- June 2024 (Revised August 2024)
- Case
Cementos Argos in the U.S.: Go Big or Go Home?
By: Jorge Tamayo, Ruth Costas, Pedro Levindo and Karina Souza
In April 2011, Colombian group Cementos Argos had to decide on whether to double down its business in the U.S., amidst the U.S. cement industry’s lowest performance in 30 years. Argos— Colombia’s leading cement producer and one of the “jewels” of Grupo GEA, the... View Details
Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Organization; Business Subsidiaries; Talent and Talent Management; Cost vs Benefits; Financial Crisis; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Business Strategy; Construction Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Latin America; South America; North and Central America; United States; Colombia