Publications

2007
Working Paper

Recognizing the New: A Multi-Agent Model of Analogy in Strategic Decision-Making

By: Giovanni Gavetti and Massimo Warglien

In novel environments, strategic decision-making is often premised on analogy, and recognition lies at its heart. Recognition refers to a class of cognitive processes through which a problem is interpreted associatively in terms of something that has been experienced... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Decision Choices and Conditions; Mathematical Methods; Cognition and Thinking; Power and Influence

Read Now

28 Aug 2012
First Look

First Look: August 28

Centralization is predicted when the value of firm-wide coordination dominates these adaptation and information-processing concerns. Based on a novel data set containing information on establishment-level View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2020 (Revised May 2021)
Case

Employee Activism

By: Ethan Rouen and Akari Furukawa

Liz O’Sullivan, an employee at a fast-growing technology company called Clarifi, had a moral dilemma: She disagreed with Clarifi’s decision to sell its image-recognition technology to the U.S. Department of Defense for possible use in weaponized drones. This case... View Details

Keywords: Activism; Employees; Moral Sensibility; Personal Development and Career; Decision Choices and Conditions

05 Mar 2009
Working Paper Summaries

CPC/CPA Hybrid Bidding in a Second Price Auction

Keywords: by Benjamin Edelman & Hoan Soo Lee

January 2024
Supplement

Frank Cornelissen: The Great Sulfite Debate (B)

By: Tiona Zuzul and Susan Pinckney

In 2018, artisanal Italian vineyard Frank Cornelissen was one of the world’s leading natural wine vineyards. Its founder, Frank Cornelissen, faced weather related conditions that forced him to have to decide between staying true to the tenets of the natural wine... View Details

January 2011 (Revised June 2012)
Supplement

Joe Gifford in Tal Afar, Iraq (B)

By: Joseph Badaracco, Richard Burgess Jr., Robert Carpio III and William Wheeler

A Lieutenant leading a platoon in Iraq must make a complex ethical, military, and leadership decision: whether to risk his life and that of other soldiers to reenter a home rigged with an explosive and save three Iraqis. The (B) case describes the decision made and the... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Crisis Management; Problems and Challenges; Iraq

May 1997 (Revised July 1997)
Case

Vermeer Technologies (C): Negotiating the Future

By: Ashish Nanda

The success of the Vermeer software offering suddenly transforms the start-up into a sought after company. After arduous negotiations, Vermeer management is faced with the choice of continuing as an independent company or being acquired by Microsoft or Netscape. View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Applications and Software; Decision Making; Acquisition; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Information Technology Industry

10 Sep 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Don’t Take ‘No’ for an Answer: An Experiment with Actual Organ Donor Registrations

Keywords: by Judd B. Kessler & Alvin E. Roth

26 Sep 2024
HBS Seminar

Garrett Van Ryzin, Columbia & Amazon

08 Jul 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Delegation in Multi-Establishment Firms: Adaptation vs. Coordination in I.T. Purchasing Authority

Keywords: by Kristina McElheran

January 2024
Teaching Note

Frank Cornelissen: The Great Sulfite Debate (A) & (B)

By: Tiona Zuzul

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 724-391 and 724-398. In 2018, artisanal Italian vineyard Frank Cornelissen was one of the world’s leading natural wine vineyards. Its founder, Frank Cornelissen, faced weather related conditions that forced him to have to decide between... View Details

16 Dec 2015
Research & Ideas

Why ‘Sleep on It’ No Longer Sounds Like Great Advice

they were with the choice, and how easy the decision was to make, those who had slept tended to be less certain with their choice in the first study, View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Retail

October 2008
Article

Evaluating the CEO

By: Stephen P. Kaufman

This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading. After Kaufman became a CEO, he was struck by how perfunctory the board was in its... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Governing and Advisory Boards; Leadership; Managerial Roles; Performance Evaluation; Motivation and Incentives

Find at Harvard

The “veil of ignorance” is a moral reasoning device designed to promote impartial decision-making by denying decision-makers access to potentially biasing information about who will benefit most or least from the available options. Veil-of-ignorance reasoning was... View Details

28 Oct 2021
News

Feeling Burned Out? How to Regain Your Mojo When You're Running on Empty

April 1985 (Revised September 1986)
Case

CML Group, Inc.: Going Public (B)

By: William A. Sahlman

Contains a description of some issues confronting management of CML Group as the company progresses toward making an initial public offering. Among the issues and topics addressed in the case are: considerations in choosing an underwriting team, the initial public... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Initial Public Offering; Financial Markets; Financial Strategy; Planning; Cost vs Benefits; Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry

September 2014 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Managing Multi-Media Audiences at WHDH (Boston)

By: Thales Teixeira and V. Kasturi Rangan

WHDH's Channel 7 News rose to the #1 position in Boston-area news broadcasting through its embrace of an innovative format and for affiliating with NBC. Since the early 2000s, however, other news programs had copied their format, and young audiences had begun to use... View Details

Keywords: Online News; Television Advertising; Attention Economics; Cross-media Efforts; Competition; Internet and the Web; Consumer Behavior; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Marketing Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Digital Marketing; Television Entertainment; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Boston

September 2018 (Revised January 2019)
Case

Sobha Group Real Estate: Backward Integration for Quality

By: John Macomber and Alpana Thapar

From humble beginnings in Kerala, India, Mr. PNC Menon built a reputation for quality, detail, and trustworthiness, earning him major construction commissions in the Gulf region. This paved the way for venturing into real estate development in Dubai, UAE. Striving to... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Backward Integration; Land Acquisition; Raising Capital; Construction; Family Business; Decision Making; Joint Ventures; Quality; Real Estate Industry; Construction Industry; India; Middle East; Dubai