Publications

May 2017
Case

Promontory, Inc.

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Amy Handlin

Promontory, Inc. is a small, privately owned firm in the promotional products (specialty advertising) industry. After starting the firm two years ago with the intention of pursuing a high-quality/high-price strategy, the CEO is seeking methods of increasing sales... View Details

Keywords: Salesforce Management; Marketing Strategy; Customization and Personalization; Business Model; Sales; Advertising Industry

February 2017
Case

Clear Channel (A): The Rise, 1972–2003

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

At the end of 2003, Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a diversified media group with revenues of $8.9 billion, could claim leadership positions in all three of its main businesses. Clear Channel Broadcasting was the largest radio-station operator in the world, with... View Details

Keywords: Clear Channel; Clear Channel Outdoor; Radio; Outdoor Advertising; Concert Industry; Lowry Mays; Federal Communications Commission; Regulation; Regulations; Regulatory Environment; JCDecaux; Media; Growth Management; Consolidation; Competitive Strategy; Fair Value Accounting; Advertising; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Growth and Maturation; For-Profit Firms; Entertainment; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Public Equity; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Government Legislation; Business History; Laws and Statutes; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Channels; Industry Structures; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Opportunities; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Wireless Technology; Valuation; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Advertising Industry; Music Industry; United States; Texas

August 2016
Article

Asymmetric Effects of Favorable and Unfavorable Information on Decision-making Under Ambiguity

By: Alexander Peysakhovich and Uma R. Karmarkar

Most daily decisions involve uncertainty about outcome probabilities arising from incomplete knowledge, i.e., ambiguity. We explore how the addition of partial information affects these types of choices using theoretical and empirical methods. Our experiments in both... View Details

Keywords: Ambiguity; Decision Making; Outcomes; Information; Decision Choices and Conditions; Outcome or Result

Article

The Allure of Unknown Outcomes: Exploring the Role of Uncertainty in the Preference for Potential

By: Daniella Kupor, Zakary L. Tormala and Michael I. Norton

Influence practitioners often highlight a target's achievements (e.g., "she is the city's top-rated chef"), but recent research reveals that highlighting a target's potential (e.g., "she could become the city's top-rated chef") can be more effective. We examine whether... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Forecasting and Prediction; Performance Evaluation

June 2014 (Revised November 2014)
Case

Investing in Online Marketplaces

By: Andrei Hagiu and Hermes Alvarez

Simon Rothman had recently been promoted from executive-in-residence to Partner at esteemed venture capital firm Greylock Partners and placed in charge of managing a $100 million early-stage fund commitment dedicated to online marketplaces. In Greylock's view, 2014 was... View Details

Keywords: Business Models; Competitive Advantage; Entrepreneurship; Internet; Investments; Networks; Technology; Venture Capital

May 2011
Article

Challenge the Boss or Stand Down

By: W. Earl Sasser

This HBR Case Study includes both the case and the commentary. For teaching purposes, this reprint is also available in two other versions: case study-only, reprint R1105X, and commentary-only, R1105Z. Tom Green, an aggressive young sales executive at self-service... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Personal Development and Career; Jobs and Positions; Conferences; Service Industry

April 2012
Case

Bayonne Packaging, Inc.

By: Roy D. Shapiro and Paul E. Morrison

A printer and paper converter produces customized packaging used by industrial customers to deliver promotional materials, software, luxury beverages, and gift food and candy. The company specializes in creating innovative packaging solutions for its customers and... View Details

Keywords: Production Controls; Manufacturing; Capacity Analysis; Quality Control; Performance Management; Process Analysis; Quality; Production; Performance Productivity; Performance Capacity; Business Processes; Manufacturing Industry

March 2012
Article

The Dark Side of Creativity: Original Thinkers Can Be More Dishonest

By: F. Gino and D. Ariely

Creativity is a common aspiration for individuals, organizations, and societies. Here, however, we test whether creativity increases dishonesty. We propose that a creative personality and a creative mindset promote individuals' ability to justify their behavior, which,... View Details

Keywords: Creativity; Ethics

October 2009 (Revised March 2012)
Case

Nettwerk: Digital Marketing in the Music Industry

By: John A. Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

How is music marketed in the digital era? Nettwerk Music Group built on its foundation as a social, grassroots marketer of music and artists and emerged as a leader in the Internet-enabled social media environment. For most of the past decade Nettwerk CEO Terry McBride... View Details

Keywords: Music Entertainment; Product Marketing; Network Effects; Sales; Social and Collaborative Networks; Online Technology; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Music Industry

07 Feb 2020
News

Women less inclined to self-promote than men, even for a job

Research Summary

Compensatory Transfers in Collective Decision Making

By: Jerry R. Green

Jerry R. Green is studying mechanisms that can be employed to promote efficient collective decisions while providing justifiable compensation to participants who favor different, less efficient alternatives. This type of decision problem is pervasive in business,... View Details

January 2022 (Revised October 2023)
Case

OneTen: One Million Careers for Black Talent (A)

By: Boris Groysberg, V. Kasturi Rangan, Annelena Lobb and Kerry Herman

The OneTen case study examines the nonprofit organization’s origin story. Its founding team includes a roster of corporate superstars—Ken Chenault (former CEO of American Express), Ken Frazier (former CEO of Merck), Charles Phillips (chair of Infor), Ginni Rometty... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Demographics; Ethics; Organizations; Social Enterprise; Society; Business or Company Management; Nonprofit Organizations

2008
Chapter

The Evidence Does Not Speak for Itself: Expert Witnesses and the Organization of DNA-Typing Companies

By: Arthur A. Daemmrich

During the past 15 years, new biotechnology companies have promoted DNA typing as a sophisticated criminal and paternity identification technique. Private testing laboratories produce results that link individuals with crime scenes and fathers to their children.... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Courts and Trials; Organizational Structure; Practice; Genetics; Science-Based Business; Trust; Commercialization; Vertical Integration

January 2004 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Excel Academy Charter Middle School, The

This case is set in the summer of 2002 in a recently approved charter middle school in Boston. The school's founders face a choice of compensation plans as they finalize the initial teaching team in the school. In particular, the founders are actively considering two... View Details

Keywords: Teaching; Performance; Compensation and Benefits; Boston

2006
Working Paper

Defining the Attributes and Processes that Enhance the Effectiveness of Workforce Diversity Initiatives in Knowledge Intensive Firms

By: Modupe Akinola and David A. Thomas

Workforce diversity continues to be a key focus for organizations, driven by globalization of the U.S. economy and the desire for organizations to more accurately reflect the demographic diversity of the US population. Yet, most research on diversity in organizations... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Globalization; Employees; Retention; Knowledge Sharing; Research; United States