Publications

2011
Chapter

An Exploration of the Japanese Slowdown during the 1990s

By: Diego A. Comin

Why was the 1990s a lost decade for Japan? How is it possible that the Japanese economy stagnated for a decade if none of the shocks that arguably hit the economy seemed to have persisted for much more than three years or so? In this paper I show that the endogenous... View Details

Keywords: Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Performance Productivity; Mathematical Methods; Research and Development; Technology Adoption; Japan

04 Apr 2023
Book

Two Centuries of Business Leaders Who Took a Stand on Social Issues

While shareholders still reign supreme at many companies, a widespread shift toward more responsible business practices is driving more leaders to take a stand on social and environmental issues today, says Harvard Business School Professor Geoffrey Jones. Jones... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Consumer Products; Fashion; Retail; Green Technology

Web

Organizational Behavior Curriculum - Faculty & Research

The first modules examine teams, individuals, and networks in the context of: The determinants of group culture. Managing the performance of individual subordinates. Establishing productive relationships... View Details

11 Apr 2023
Research & Ideas

Is Amazon a Retailer, a Tech Firm, or a Media Company? How AI Can Help Investors Decide

benchmark somebody's performance for pay? If the benchmark keeps changing, it complicates several things. So there’s a simple advantage that comes from using standard frameworks. Awada: I take a much more practical view. In the last five... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

January 2009
Article

Turbulent Firms, Turbulent Wages?

By: Diego A. Comin, Erica L. Groshen and Bess Rabin

Has greater turbulence among firms fueled rising wage instability in the U.S.? Gottschalk and Moffitt [1994] find that rising earnings instability was responsible for one third to one half of the rise in wage inequality during the 1980s. These growing transitory... View Details

Keywords: Wages; Production; Business Earnings; Fluctuation; Performance; Volatility; Relationships; Sales; Business Ventures; United States

Web

The Caring Company

caregiving burdens increase Matt Parke 16 Jan 2019 | Working Nation New Research Reveals Caregiving for Elders Impacts Employee Performance 16 Jan 2019 | Senior Safety Reviews New Hampshire, Vermont Governors Pitch Two-State, Voluntary... View Details

21 Mar 2019
HBS Case

The Ferrari Way

car on the market, but the best combination of the two, which makes us the most thrilling. Our concept of performance includes pleasure.” While other sports car manufacturers try to make their cars as light as possible to aid... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Auto

09 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

Six Keys to Building New Markets by Unleashing Disruptive Innovation

refinements or radical breakthroughs, improve the performance of established products and services along the dimensions that mainstream customers in major markets historically have valued. Examples: a... View Details

Keywords: by Clayton M. Christensen, Michael E. Raynor & Scott D. Anthony

2008
Book

Becoming a New Manager

By: Linda A. Hill

You've just been promoted to a managerial position for the first time—congratulations! But beware: the managerial role differs markedly from the individual contributor role. Go into the job with mistaken assumptions about what to expect, and you just may be blindsided... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Management Skills; Management Style; Managerial Roles; Performance Improvement; Groups and Teams

03 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 3, 2009

Deborah L. Soule and Lynda M. Applegate Abstract This paper examines virtual team learning in new product development situations. New product development activities manifest novelty, uncertainty and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

26 Mar 2018
Research & Ideas

To Motivate Employees, Give an Unexpected Bonus (or Penalty)

says. “Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you’re fired.” This might seem an extreme way to motivate employees (and, of course, fails spectacularly in the movie). But companies hold so-called tournaments based on relative View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Manufacturing

11 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

Adding Time to Activity-Based Costing

managers substantial benefits that would be difficult to realize without the ERP IT infrastructure. Q: Must a company have an ERP system in place to use time-driven activity-based costing? A: Clearly, having an automated data feed facilitates the calculation of View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

01 Mar 2024
News

In My Humble Opinion: Role Model

One of four daughters of Pakistani immigrants, Salma Qarnain (MBA 2002) grew up in the midwestern “I” states of Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana before attending Stanford University. “It was my first experience feeling happy and comfortable in a place that had diversity,”... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; acting; theater; diversity; career path; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment

June 2011 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Reversing the AMD Fusion Launch

By: Elie Ofek and Ryan Johnson

AMD management needs to make a critical decision on the launch sequence of its next-generation technology called Fusion. The Fusion processor concept merges the central and graphics processing units (CPU and GPU) onto one chip-- yielding advantages in performance... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Performance Effectiveness; Strategic Planning; Competition; Value Creation; Computer Industry; Technology Industry

Educators

Purchase

17 Dec 2018
Research & Ideas

Women Receive Harsher Punishment at Work Than Men

women are engaging in less severe types of misconduct,” he says. “If anything, we would expect to see women less likely to be punished.” Another possible, if more cynical, explanation is that women are less productive than their male... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

Web

Faculty & Researchers - Managing the Future of Work

de Chalendar. Managing Talent Pipelines in the Future of Work , Harvard Business School case, 2019. With William R. Kerr, Manjari Raman and Carl Kreitzberg. The Caring Company: How Employers Can Cut Costs And Boost Productivity By Helping... View Details

16 Dec 2014
First Look

First Look: December 16

may target the most successful complementors so as to appropriate value from their innovations, or they may target poor performing complementors to improve the platforms' overall quality. Using data from Amazon.com, we analyze the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

07 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

Innovation Corrupted: How Managers Can Avoid Another Enron

natural gas market. Diversification into water utilities and broadband soon followed, as did expansion to other countries that promised to deregulate and privatize energy production and distribution. Unfortunately, applying the company's... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Energy; Utilities

December 2008
Article

Technology Usage Lags

By: Diego A. Comin, Bart Hobijn and Emilie Rovito

We present evidence on the differences in the intensity with which ten major technologies are used in 185 countries across the world. We do so by calculating how many years ago these technologies were used in the U.S. at the same intensity as they are used in the... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Global Range; Economy; Relationships; Performance Productivity; United States