by James Sebenius - Publications - Faculty & Research

02 May 2023
What Do You Think?

How Should Artificial Intelligence Be Regulated—if at All?

humanity. Clearly, AI is a big deal with large potential benefits and, at the moment, largely unknown risks for society. It will get more important fast. Why? Two tech giants, Microsoft and Google, are competing for first-mover advantage along with a third competitor,... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Information Technology; Technology

02 May 2022
What Do You Think?

Can the Case Method Survive Another Hundred Years?

(Susan Young/Harvard Business School) “What do you think?” is a question that has graced case method discussions at the Harvard Business School for the past 100 years. The question reflects long-held beliefs by some members of the HBS... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Education

05 Feb 2024
What Do You Think?

How Do You Hire for Attitude?

cross-training—as opposed to the fiefdoms and management by fear typical of other fine dining establishments—on the job. Nearly all that I spoke with mentioned what they were learning—and in some cases, teaching. That reminded me once... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

12 Sep 2023
What Do You Think?

Who Gets the Loudest Voice in DEI Decisions?

statement? Nike’s decision to feature in its ads Colin Kaepernick, an American footballer whose patriotism has been questioned, ultimately resulted in what was described by one observer as a “bold success.” On the other hand, brands like... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

09 May 2017
What Do You Think?

Should Management Be Primarily Responsible to Shareholders?

it) creates undue risk of moral hazard, simply because boards and senior management are often significant shareholders. If it is true that the average tenure of a CEO today is 3 years, how could any sane CEO not seek to maximize share value View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

01 Feb 2021
What Do You Think?

Has the New Economy Finally Arrived?

economy characterized by high growth, increased employment, and low inflation. It was supposedly driven by the productivity gains of an economy based less on heavy industry and more on service, as well as... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

31 May 2017
What Do You Think?

Can Amazon Do What Walmart Couldn’t, Stop the 'Wheel of Retailing'?

In 1997, a young entrepreneur visited a class at Harvard Business School taught by my colleague, Len Schlesinger. The class discussed a case based on the visitor’s fledgling online retailing company that had rapidly expanded sales to $100... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Retail

01 Apr 2019
What Do You Think?

Does Our Bias Against Federal Deficits Need Rethinking?

accompanied by lower inflation and interest rates—that justify deficit spending to produce both economic growth and social programs designed to improve our quality of life and reduce social inequality” (JohnfrmClevelnd). Or, it prompts... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

04 Mar 2019
What Do You Think?

What’s the Antidote to Surveillance Capitalism?

actions. Some of the media (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google) they employ, however, represent a threat of monopoly that should be addressed by the very governments that, ironically, could turn big data against us. So say... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Advertising; Consumer Products

06 Dec 2017
What Do You Think?

Is It Time To Break Up Amazon, Apple, Facebook, or Google?

from the US the ‘largest home market’ advantage, allowing them to subsidize pricing globally. I guarantee that Tencent, Alibaba and others will fill the gap left by a misguided break up.” David de Weese added, “It is not at all clear that... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Technology; Web Services

03 Feb 2016
What Do You Think?

How Do You Hire an 'Impostor'?

the employment of “imposters,” a term, by the way, that was regarded as objectionable by many, most respondents implicitly rejected the notion. They pointed to the desirable qualities of imposters, people... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

02 Dec 2019
What Do You Think?

How Does a Company like Boeing Respond to Intense Competitive Pressure?

that started a fuel burn 11 hours too early into the mission, using up so much fuel that the capsule could not reach the proper altitude. According to a reported comment by Jim Chilton, senior vice president of the space and launch... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Air Transportation

05 Feb 2018
What Do You Think?

Should Companies Disclose Employee Compensation?

would avoid a "one size fits all" approach to the practice of making compensation known. These are the views put forth by participants in this month's discussion of transparency in compensation. Disclosing pay ranges vs.... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Financial Services

29 Aug 2018
What Do You Think?

What Should Harley-Davidson’s Management Do?

European market overseas, and (3) concentrate on designing and producing new products for new and existing markets. There were several minority opinions, however. ASGMark commented, “The very idea of moving manufacturing of an American icon overseas, especially after... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Auto

01 May 2020
What Do You Think?

Does Remote Work Mix with Organizational Culture?

SUMMING UP Is Management the Missing Ingredient in Melding Organization Culture and Remote Work? Those who have experienced remote work are largely vocal supporters of the notion. Its success is dependent, on the one hand, on an effective culture fostered View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

01 May 2019
What Do You Think?

What Should the Leadership of YouTube Do?

littleny Can YouTube’s Users Help the Company Deal With Its “Moral” Problem?* This month’s mini-case described the dilemma faced by Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube: how far to promote “sustainability,” viewership, and (to some) free speech... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Entertainment & Recreation; Media & Broadcasting

01 Nov 2019
What Do You Think?

Should Non-Compete Clauses Be Abolished?

violation of a non-compete? That’s the question raised by GYurieff, who said: “The difference in knowledge an individual brings into an organization and the knowledge this individual may take out of the organization—how is it measured?... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

07 May 2020
Research & Ideas

The One Good Thing Caused by COVID-19: Innovation

accommodating an appropriate level of economic activity. Businesses have historically overcome this type of challenge through the introduction of risk-mitigating technologies, which in this pandemic include technologies, business practices, and strategies that improve... View Details

Keywords: by Hong Luo and Alberto Galasso

01 Jan 2020
What Do You Think?

Why Not Open America's Doors to All the World’s Talent?

of H-1B temporary foreign workers are at ‘Level IV’ (above the median wage) officially defined by the Department of Labor as those who are ‘fully competent.’” On the other hand, Ted G. argued, “The unemployment rate is low in the US. Let... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Technology

July 2008 (Revised July 2020)
Case

Managing a Global Team: Greg James at Sun Microsystems, Inc. (A)

By: Tsedal Neeley and Thomas J. DeLong

Greg James, a global manager at Sun Microsystems, Inc., sets out to meet with his entire 43-member customer implementation team spread across India, France, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States of America to resolve a dire customer system outage as required... View Details