Publications

12 Aug 2008
First Look

First Look: August 12, 2008

foreknowledge and/or control. Experiment 4 indicates that effects of indirect agency result from a failure to automatically consider the potentially dubious motives of agents who cause harm indirectly. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/09-012.pdf... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Aug 2005
Research & Ideas

How to Choose the Best Deal

alternative—in this case, continuing to search for a viable site. The next step is to double-check your calculations by comparing the hypothetical deals. If Jim discovers that he'd subjectively prefer the orchard property, then he should... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Wheeler

October 2018 (Revised January 2019)
Case

The Financial Crisis: Timothy Geithner and the Stress Tests

By: Samuel G. Hanson, Robin Greenwood, David Scharfstein and Adi Sunderam

In February and March 2009, the U.S. economy was in the midst of a terrifying financial and economic crisis. Between the beginning of 2008 and early 2009, four of the 25 largest U.S. financial institutions had failed, and nine of these 25 institutions had taken... View Details

Keywords: Bailout; Regulation; Stress Test; Financial Crisis; History; Economy; Policy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Decision Making; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Real Estate Industry; United States

April 1994 (Revised August 1996)
Case

American Express (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch

In January 1993, the American Express board met to decide who would succeed James D. Robinson, III as chairman and CEO. The board needed to act in the spotlight of intense media and investor scrutiny, and after leaks had revealed that there was a conflict among the... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Corporate Governance; Resignation and Termination; Leadership; Management Succession; Performance Evaluation

August 2019 (Revised March 2020)
Background Note

Note on Structured Interviewing

By: Ethan Bernstein and Amy Ross

Making good hiring decisions is a critical management activity, yet many leaders just “wing it” when interviewing candidates to fill openings by having an organic conversation to assess the candidate’s fit, unknowingly subjecting the process to unconscious bias.... View Details

Keywords: Interviewing; Job Interviews; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Human Resources

02 Mar 2009
Research & Ideas

When Goal Setting Goes Bad

goals, but we recommend doing so with caution, and our paper discusses the needed steps to take (e.g., strong leaders who model appropriate behavior, oversight to prevent unethical behavior, etc.). Q: One of the most famous stretch goals... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

2019
Working Paper

Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 16 Capturing Value by Controlling Bottlenecks in Open Platform Systems

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

The purpose of this chapter is to investigate the means by which firms capture value in open platform systems. I begin by arguing that the surplus value created by complementarities within a technical system will be split among the owners of the unique and essential... View Details

Keywords: Open Platforms; Bottlenecks; Flow Production; Value Capture; Disintermediation; Production; Management; Digital Platforms

SSRN

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2020
Article

Subjective Semantic Surprise Resulting from Divided Attention Biases Evaluations of an Idea’s Creativity

By: Goran Calic, Nour El Shamy, Isaac Kinley, Scott Watter and Khaled Hassanein

The evaluation of an idea’s creativity constitutes an important step in successfully responding to an unexpected problem with a new solution. Yet, distractions compete for cognitive resources with the evaluation process and may change how individuals evaluate ideas. In... View Details

Keywords: Creativity; Cognition and Thinking

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24 Oct 2024
Research & Ideas

With Millions of Workers Juggling Caregiving, Employers Need to Rethink Support

But it’s also a combination of career considerations and the specific caregiving needs of the family. Gazette: You found that hiring processes used by employers have contributed to the difficulties caregivers face when trying to return to... View Details

Keywords: by Christine Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette

27 Sep 2010
Research & Ideas

Customer Experts Lose Influence When Teams are Pressured

pressure—people switch what knowledge they listen to and what they are willing to think about. The subtle process of general expertise crowding out customer-specific expertise was part of what had escaped me when I'd been in the... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

09 Jul 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Performance Pressure as a Double-Edged Sword: Enhancing Team Motivation While Undermining the Use of Team Knowledge

Keywords: by Heidi K. Gardner

18 May 2007
Working Paper Summaries

An Empirical Approach to Understanding Privacy Valuation

Keywords: by Luc Wathieu & Allan Friedman

27 Jun 2011
Research & Ideas

Recovering from the Need to Achieve

steps create the probability that you will not be controlled by your fears," DeLong writes. "It means that as you begin a new behavior, begin a new relationship, take on a new job, or start on a challenging new assignment, you... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard

March 1991 (Revised May 1995)
Case

Kraft General Foods: The Merger (A)

By: David J. Collis

Describes Philip Morris' acquisitions of General Foods in 1985 and Kraft, Inc. in 1989, focusing on the integration of Kraft and General Foods that forms a $30 billion food subsidiary. Details the steps required to merge these two large companies, emphasizing the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Subsidiaries; Business or Company Management; Managerial Roles; Business Processes; Cooperation; Integration; Food and Beverage Industry

August 2015 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Amazon.com, 2021

By: John R. Wells, Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth and Galen Danskin

In February 2021, Amazon announced 2020 operating profits of $22,899 million, up from $2,233 million in 2015, on sales of $386 billion, up from $107 billion five years earlier (see Exhibit 1). The shareholders expressed their satisfaction (see Exhibit 2), but not all... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Internet; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Digital Platforms; Competition; Internet and the Web; Corporate Strategy; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Price; Applications and Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle

March 2019
Case

Dabur India: Growing Professional Management from Family Roots

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Namrata Arora and Jonah Goldberg

The case opens in December of 2018, with Sunil Duggal, the CEO of Dabur India (a multinational consumer goods conglomerate with a focus in Ayurvedic products) contemplating who should succeed him at the head of the company. The new CEO will have been the first since... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Management Succession; Multinational Firms and Management; Business Growth and Maturation

February 2015 (Revised September 2016)
Case

Hövding: The Airbag for Cyclists

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Emilie Billaud

In 2012, Anna Haupt and Terese Alstin, co¬founders of the Hövding company, reflect on the evolution of their venture and the way forward. Since 2005, Haupt and Alstin had been working on a new type of bicycle helmet—an "airbag for cyclists." What had begun as a thesis... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Transition; Leadership; Conflict Management; Bicycle Industry; Sweden; Europe