Learning By Thinking - Publications - Faculty & Research

24 Jul 2019
Lessons from the Classroom

Can These Business Students Motivate Londoners to Do the Right Thing?

out a new letter with an extra line, letting people know that their neighbors were ponying up, implying that they should, too: “We are writing to inform you that we have still not received your tax payment. By now, nine out of 10 people... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

31 Oct 2018
What Do You Think?

What is the Function of Fear in Leadership?

leader’s role should involve reducing fear among associates to a minimum. Beatriz commented that, “quite often, team members paralyze due to fear and start delegating upward New KPIs, action plans, and strategies that don’t decipher the bad organizational habits and... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

20 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Activist CEOs Are Rising Up—and Their Customers Are Listening

When former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced earlier this year he was thinking about running for president of the United States, it wasn’t a new idea. Past CEOs seeking the White House have included Carly Fiorina, Ross Perot, Herman Cain, Steve Forbes, Mitt... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

23 May 2019
Book

These Entrepreneurs Take a Pragmatic Approach to Solving Social Problems

In 1908, Harvard Business School’s first dean, Edwin Francis Gay, welcomed the School’s inaugural class of 59 students by saying that HBS was challenged with encouraging its students to have the “intellectual respect for business as a profession, with the social... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Green Technology

03 Jan 2023
Book

Confront Workplace Inequity in 2023: Dig Deep, Build Bridges, Take Collective Action

Despite calls for making the workplace more equitable, women, particularly Black women, continue to get the short end of the stick at work. Only 6 percent of the top 3,000 companies in the US are led by a woman. In 2022, only two Black... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

07 Feb 2007
Research & Ideas

Dividends from Schumpeter’s Noble Failure

Business Cycles was Joseph Schumpeter's least successful book when measured by its professed aims and several other yardsticks. Yet the book contains two vital aspects that have largely been overlooked. First, the prodigious research that... View Details

Keywords: by Thomas K. McCraw

16 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Brand Power from Wedgwood to Dell: Part One

A conversation with Nancy Koehn, author of Brand New: How Entrepreneurs Earned Consumers' Trust From Wedgwood to Dell, HBS Press, 2001. "I am just fascinated by the power, the quirks, the determination, and the durability of... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

20 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

The 5 Strategy Rules of Bill Gates, Andy Grove, and Steve Jobs

the most highly valued companies in the world. But how were they able to steer their companies through the volatile ups and downs of decades of changing technologies? What did they have in common? And what can we learn from them about... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Computer

14 Aug 2006
HBS Case

On Managing with Bobby Knight and “Coach K”

discipline and intimidation, which some critics say goes too far. Knight was fired from a long career at Indiana University for grabbing a student, and prior to that he was filmed clutching one of his own players by the neck. And then... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Sports

24 Feb 2021
Lessons from the Classroom

What History's Biggest Wars Teach Us About Leading in Peace

Outside the classroom, Harvard Business School Professor Deepak Malhotra’s abiding interest is war and peace–how wars begin and end, how they could have been avoided, and what lessons can be learned from them. Along with studying wars,... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

30 Apr 2020
Book

Fighting Climate Change Requires a New Capitalism

Rebecca Henderson spent her young adult years living two lives. At work, she preached the risks of resisting change to MBA students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, drawing on lessons she learned while watching factories close as a management consultant.... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Energy

2021
Chapter

Leapfrog Leaders: Accelerating Systems Leadership Skills

By: Laura Cabrera, Derek Cabrera and Hise O. Gibson

We need leaders who can execute at the Strategic, Operational, and Tactical (SOT) levels. But, research shows it takes time for skills to develop at all three levels—too much time. Why does it take too much time? First, because expertise is borne of experience. An... View Details

Keywords: DSRP; VCML; Strategy; Operations; Leadership Development; Decision Making; Organizational Structure

Citation

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11 Jan 2021
Research & Ideas

Is A/B Testing Effective? Evidence from 35,000 Startups

inexperience in how to apply the methodologies. Another possibility? Their ideas just weren’t that good. “I think one of the coolest findings in our paper is that experimentation doesn’t necessarily drive startup growth,” says Rembrand... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

03 Feb 2016
What Do You Think?

How Do You Hire an 'Impostor'?

the right coaching in order to help to achieve a high self esteem...” Having inspired the question in the title, Joel then seemed to answer it by saying, “I think the answer lies in the demands of the role... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

02 Dec 2019
What Do You Think?

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

the rocket, which was built and operated by another company, the United Launch Alliance.” While we were addressing one possible example of a lack of coordinated, long-term thinking under pressure (among... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Air Transportation

09 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

Industry Self-Regulation: What’s Working (and What’s Not)?

about what they're doing will invite more targeting. And I think this concern is well founded, which unfortunately leaves consumers in the dark about many of the innovative programs that companies have deployed to address these concerns.... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

28 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

Remote Workers Spend More on Housing. Do They Deserve Higher Pay?

To executives expecting to save on office space when some employees continue working remotely post-pandemic: Not so fast. Makeshift desks and kitchen tables have sufficed for many people working from home to avoid COVID-19. However, permanently remote workers tend to... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

23 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

It’s Called ‘Price Coherence,’ and It’s Surprisingly Bad for Consumers

Consumers often have the following choice: Either buy something directly from a retailer, or buy it indirectly through an intermediary, which partners with the retailer to attract more buyers. Think purchasing a plane ticket straight from... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail; Air Transportation; Food & Beverage; Entertainment & Recreation

15 Dec 2020
Research & Ideas

The Unspoken Messages of COVID-19 Restrictions

they are also signaling to people that it might be safer to go out now,” says Michael Luca, the Lee J. Styslinger III Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Policymakers trying to avoid draconian lockdowns—and View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Food & Beverage

18 Apr 2023
Research & Ideas

The Best Person to Lead Your Company Doesn't Work There—Yet

are external hires, and roughly two-thirds are “complete outsiders,” finds a recent working paper by Paul Gompers, the Eugene Holman Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. In contrast, one recent analysis found... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services

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