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- All HBS Web (217)
- 12 Jan 2015
- Research & Ideas
Regulators Ease Up on Companies Generating Political Benefits
We all know how political influence works: company X donates money to politician Y, and then that pol leans on regulator Z to go easy on his new best friend. In economic parlance, that circle of back-scratching is known as "regulatory capture." Economists... View Details
Keywords: by Michael Blanding
- 24 Mar 2014
- Research & Ideas
The Surprising Link Between Language and Corporate Responsibility
We've heard that Eskimos have 100 words for snow—a common way of expressing how language affects the way we see the world. Whether or not that particular example is true, cultural linguists have long theorized that the words a particular group of people have at their... View Details
Keywords: by Michael Blanding
- 23 Apr 2014
- HBS Case
Are Electronic Cigarettes a Public Good or Health Hazard?
When electronic cigarettes first appeared a little over a decade ago, they were hailed by many as a godsend: a tool to help smokers quit while mitigating the most harmful effects of tobacco. "The [e-cigarette] market is producing, at no cost to the taxpayer, an... View Details
- 01 Apr 2014
- Research & Ideas
When Do Alliances Make Sense?
To answer one of the oldest business quandaries—is it better to partner or go solo on a project—John Beshears looked for answers in an unusual place: the oil and gas drilling industry in the Gulf of Mexico. But instead of mining for energy sources, Beshears dug for... View Details
- 12 Aug 2013
- Research & Ideas
‘Hybrid’ Organizations a Difficult Bet for Entrepreneurs
Consider two organizations with the same noble purpose: to solve the problem of poor eyesight in developing countries. The first, the Centre for Vision in the Developing World, follows a traditional nonprofit model, soliciting donations that fund the creation and... View Details
Keywords: by Michael Blanding
- 15 Apr 2013
- Research & Ideas
Solving the Search vs. Display Advertising Quandary
The dirty little secret of advertising agencies is that much of their work is pure guesswork. Companies spread out their advertising budgets across channels—a little bit of TV, some print media, a few billboards—and wait for customers to roll in. In very few cases,... View Details
- 16 Apr 2012
- Research & Ideas
The Inner Workings of Corporate Headquarters
Physicists tell us entropy is the natural state of the world, and that law seems especially true in today's multidivisional company. "When you create organizational subunits of any form, they'll have a tendency to focus internally on their own things," says... View Details
Keywords: by Michael Blanding
- 19 Dec 2011
- Research & Ideas
Climbing the Great Wall of Trust
In recent conversations with US executives doing business in China, Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Roy Y.J. Chua heard about a new trend. In an East Asian version of cutting deals on the golf course, Chinese executives often take partners to teahouses to... View Details
Keywords: by Michael Blanding
- 22 Aug 2012
- Research & Ideas
Advertising: It’s Not ‘Mad Men’ Anymore
Fans of the television show Mad Men are well acquainted with the mystique of the advertising business, circa 1960s, where relationships were consummated over martinis and campaigns fashioned through the wizardry of creative director Don Draper, swooping into the pitch... View Details
- 16 Jul 2024
- Research & Ideas
Weighing Digital Tradeoffs in Private Equity
When private equity (PE) firms buy a company, they typically follow a standard playbook to create value—streamlining operations, restructuring debt, changing management, and cutting costs. However, as digital technologies and artificial intelligence allow companies to... View Details
- 22 Oct 2021
- Research & Ideas
Want Hybrid Work to Succeed? Trust, Don’t Track, Employees
and if given the tools, empowerment, and support, they will not only perform for you—they will thrive,” Neeley says. “We need to trust ourselves, trust our people, and increase our skills on how to lead both in the office and virtually.” About the Author View Details
Keywords: by Michael Blanding
- 04 Dec 2019
- Book
Creating the Experimentation Organization
scale to have a giant impact.” About the Author Michael Blanding is a writer based in Boston. [Image: ndresr] Related Reading At Booking.com, Innovation Means Constant Failure Jumpstarting Innovation: Using... View Details
Keywords: by Michael Blanding
- 06 Jul 2020
- Research & Ideas
The Right Way to Manage Customer Churn for Maximum Profit
they spend any more money or do any additional work. The only thing we are suggesting is that they change their algorithm.” About the Author Michael Blanding is a writer based in Boston. [Image: RyanJLane ]... View Details
- 14 Jan 2020
- Research & Ideas
The Business Case for Becoming a Jack-of-All-Trades
farther away from your expertise in ways that can be beneficial,” Nagle says. “That can have important impacts on the future of science, the future of ideas, and innovation for companies.” About the Author Michael View Details
Keywords: by Michael Blanding
- 04 Mar 2024
- Research & Ideas
Want to Make Diversity Stick? Break the Cycle of Sameness
When US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in 2020, Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Edward Chang noticed something interesting: To fill the vacancy, then-President Donald Trump replaced Ginsburg with another woman, Amy Coney Barrett, even though... View Details
Keywords: by Michael Blanding
- 21 Mar 2018
- Research & Ideas
Why Artificial Intelligence Isn't a Sure Thing to Increase Productivity
iStock Thinking about the fast-approaching era of artificial intelligence, employers rejoice in the increases to productivity such tools could bring, while workers are more likely to calculate the time left before R2-D2 takes over their jobs. “Jacques Bughin and... View Details
- 29 Nov 2022
- Research & Ideas
How Much More Would Holiday Shoppers Pay to Wear Something Rare?
Do you have that one friend who seems to snag the coolest, most fashionable shoes, jewelry, or clothes? Now new research shows that when luxury goods companies cater to these trendy consumers by controlling how rare certain items are—seeking to make them exclusive and... View Details
- 16 Jul 2014
- HBS Case
Marketing Obamacare
the others tallied up levels of enrollment far above the national average. How did they do it? Quelch looked at one of those success stories—Connecticut—for clues. In a new Harvard Business School case co-written with researcher Michael... View Details
- 18 Jul 2019
- Lessons from the Classroom
The Internet of Things Needs a Business Model. Here It Is
to 10 years. Michael Blanding is a writer based in the Boston area. [Image: metamorworks] Related Reading Distance Still Matters in Business, Despite the Internet Are You a Digital Manager? What’s Really... View Details
- 19 Jul 2017
- Research & Ideas
Why Government 'Nudges' Motivate Good Citizen Behavior
A tiny nudge can motivate big change. (Source: dziewul) Most governments aren’t subtle when they want citizens to do something. The United States spends close to $1 billion annually on advertising--trying to convince citizens to do everything from taking flu prevention... View Details
Keywords: by Michael Blanding