Publications

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November–December 2020
Article

Rethinking the On-Demand Workforce

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Manjari Raman, Allison Bailey and Nithya Vaduganathan

As companies struggle with chronic skills shortages and changing labor demographics, a new generation of talent platforms, offering on-demand access to highly trained workers, has begun to help. These platforms include marketplaces for premium expertise (such as Toptal... View Details

Keywords: Talent Acquisition; Platforms; Skilled Labor Recruitment; Gig Economy; Talent and Talent Management; Selection and Staffing; Internet and the Web; Strategy; Digital Platforms

April 2020
Teaching Note

Indigo Agriculture: Harnessing Nature

By: Michael W. Toffel and James Barnett

Teaching Note for HBS No. 620-024. Indigo Agriculture used a digital-enabled research and development (R&D) process to launch its initial product, microbial coatings for agricultural seeds, which increase crop yields while reducing the need for fertilizers. In doing... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Supply Chain; Social Enterprise; Product Development; Distribution Channels; Business Strategy; Digital Platforms; Science-Based Business; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Green Technology Industry; United States; Massachusetts

January 2020 (Revised March 2020)
Case

LOLA: Do You Know What's in Your Tampon?

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Aldo Sesia

LOLA is a direct-to-consumer (DTC) business launched in 2015. What started as a company to provide women with organic and transparent material-labeled tampons via a subscription model, had, by 2019 evolved to include additional menstrual and sexual wellness products.... View Details

Keywords: Direct-to-consumer; Channels; Disruption; Business Model; Brands and Branding; Internet and the Web; Strategy; Retail Industry; United States; Canada

Educators

Article

A Theories-in-Use Approach to Building Marketing Theory

By: G. Zaltman, Valarie A. Zeithaml, Bernard Jaworski, Ajay K. Kohli, Kapil R. Tuli and Wolfgang Ulaga

This article’s objective is to inspire and provide guidance on the development of marketing knowledge based on the theories-in-use (TIU) approach. The authors begin with a description of the TIU approach and compare it with other inductive and deductive research... View Details

Keywords: Building Theory; Grounded Theory; Theories-in-use; Theory Construction; Theory Development; Marketing; Knowledge; Theory

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Article

Productivity Orientation and the Consumption of Collectable Experiences

By: Anat Keinan and Ran Kivetz

This research examines why consumers desire unusual and novel consumption experiences and voluntarily choose leisure activities, vacations, and celebrations that are predicted to be less pleasurable. For example, consumers sometimes choose to stay at freezing ice... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Innovation and Invention; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Performance Productivity

May 2010 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Data.gov

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Robert D. Austin and Yumi Yi

This case presents the logic and execution underlying the launch of Data.gov, an instantiation of President Obama's initiative for transparency and open government. The process used by Vivek Kundra, the federal CIO, and his team to rapidly develop the website and to... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Rights; Analytics and Data Science; Internet and the Web; Ethics; Cost vs Benefits; Innovation and Management; Information Management; Public Administration Industry; Information Industry; United States

Educators

2009
Working Paper

Dishonest Deed, Clear Conscience: Self-Preservation through Moral Disengagement and Motivated Forgetting

By: Lisa L. Shu, Francesca Gino and Max H. Bazerman

People routinely engage in dishonest acts without feeling guilty about their behavior. When and why does this occur? Across four studies, people justified their dishonest deeds through moral disengagement and exhibited motivated forgetting of information that might... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Moral Sensibility; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Behavior

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1998
Article

Looking Inside the Fishbowl of Creativity: Verbal and Behavioral Predictors of Creative Performance

By: J. Ruscio, D. M. Whitney and T. M. Amabile

This study set out to identify specific task behaviors that predict observable product creativity in three domains and to identify which of those behaviors mediate the well-established link between intrinsic motivation and creativity. One-hundred fifty-one... View Details

Keywords: Creativity; Cognition and Thinking; Behavior

2004
Working Paper

The Accidental Entrepreneur: The Emergent and Collective Process of User Entrepreneurship

We develop a process model of how users, an understudied source of entrepreneurship, create, evaluate, share, and commercialize their ideas. We compare and contrast our model to the classic model of the entrepreneurial process, highlighting the emergent and collective... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Commercialization; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention

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01 May 2024
What Do You Think?

Have You Had Enough?

Culture? 2017: Why Can’t Organizations Engage Their Employees? 2016: When Business Performance Falters, is Culture Change the Fix? 2013: Why Isn’t ‘Servant Leadership’ More Prevalent? 2012: Why Is Trust So Hard to Achieve in Management?... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

Web

Program Requirements - Doctoral

Academic Standing To remain in good academic standing, doctoral students are expected to maintain a B grade point average. Teaching Requirement Students must teach or assist with teaching in a formally offered course for one full academic term. This View Details

Web

Finding Job Opportunities - Alumni

you dive in, we want to share best practices and resources on How to Engage a Search Firm . If you are interested in connecting with retained executive search firms, it is usually best not to reach out directly. Instead, make a connection... View Details

Web

Digital Transformation

Today's dynamic digital environment presents compelling opportunities for companies. These start with reimagining your business, understanding your customers, and engaging them using digital technology. Prepare for digital disruption... View Details

2017
Other Book

Good Work: The Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices

By: Matthew Taylor, Greg Marsh, Diane Nicol and Paul Broadbent

I was not the only person appointed to the Review. My fellow Review team members, Greg Marsh, Diane Nicol and Paul Broadbent have not only been an important source of ideas and wisdom throughout the process but have led in engaging with key groups of... View Details

Keywords: Future Of Work; Labor Relations; Marketplaces; Employment; Labor and Management Relations; Labor; Markets

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Web

Competitiveness & Economic Development - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

states, regions and nations. Clear economic strategies that engage all stakeholders, boost innovation and ultimately improve productivity are especially critical in times of austerity or economic distress. Explore this content in two... View Details

16 Feb 2024
News

Remembering Angela Chao (MBA 2001)

Chao Family Statement on Passing of Angela Chao Chao Family Statement on Passing of Angela Chao We are deeply saddened by the news of Angela Chao’s tragic and untimely death. Angela has been a valued friend to Harvard Business School for many years, serving not only on... View Details

November 2019 (Revised June 2020)
Case

Indigo Agriculture: Harnessing Nature

By: Marco Iansiti, Michael W. Toffel and James Barnett

Indigo Agriculture used a digital-enabled research and development (R&D) process to launch its initial product, microbial coatings for agricultural seeds, which increase crop yields while reducing the need for fertilizers. In doing so, the company developed direct... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Sequestration; Operations; Supply Chain; Social Enterprise; Product Development; Distribution Channels; Business Strategy; Digital Platforms; Environmental Sustainability; Science-Based Business; Climate Change; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Green Technology Industry; United States; Massachusetts

Educators