Publications

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January–February 2025
Article

Location-Specificity and Relocation Incentive Programs for Remote Workers

By: Thomaz Teodorovicz, Prithwiraj Choudhury and Evan Starr

The precipitous growth of remote work has given rise to a new phenomenon: the emergence of relocation incentive programs that localities use to compete for the physical presence of remote workers. Remote workers with high general human capital may create value for... View Details

Keywords: Remote Work; Motivation and Incentives; Geographic Location; Talent and Talent Management; Human Capital; Tulsa

January–February 2021
Article

Between Home and Work: Commuting as an Opportunity for Role Transitions

By: Jon M. Jachimowicz, Julia Lee Cunningham, Bradley Staats, Francesca Gino and Jochen I. Menges

Across the globe, every workday people commute an average of 38 minutes each way, yet surprisingly little research has examined the implications of this daily routine for work-related outcomes. Integrating theories of boundary work, self-control, and work-family... View Details

Keywords: Commuting; Boundary Work; Self-control; Work-family Conflict; Prospection; Transition

01 Aug 2023
What Do You Think?

As Leaders, Why Do We Continue to Reward A, While Hoping for B?

markets—reward short-term performance while ignoring long-term performance. “We hope for collaboration and teamwork for the benefit of the organization but provide incentives for individual performance. ” As leaders, we make these... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

August 2020 (Revised May 2021)
Case

PayPal: The Next Chapter

By: Michael Porter, Mark Kramer and Annelena Lobb

Can a social purpose and stakeholder capitalism confer a powerful competitive advantage in the age of COVID-19? For PayPal, the answer is yes. After spinning off from eBay in a 2015 IPO, the company declared its purpose as "democratizing financial services" by ensuring... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Finance; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Social Entrepreneurship; Competitive Advantage; Financial Services Industry

Educators

January 2017
Article

Should You Sleep on It? The Effects of Overnight Sleep on Subjective Preference-based Choice

By: Uma R. Karmarkar, Baba Shiv and Rebecca M.C. Spencer

Conventional wisdom and studies of unconscious processing suggest that sleeping on a choice may improve decision-making. Though sleep has been shown to benefit several cognitive tasks, including problem solving, its impact on everyday choices remains unclear. Here we... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Choice; Sleep; Choice Sets; Confidence; Consumer Psychology; Consumer Preferences; Decision Choices and Conditions; Consumer Behavior

January 2015
Article

Competing with Privacy

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Andres Hervas-Drane

We analyze the implications of consumer privacy for competition in the marketplace. We consider a market where firms set prices and disclosure levels for consumer information, and consumers observe both before deciding which firm to patronize and how much information... View Details

Keywords: Information Acquisition; Information Disclosure; Online Privacy; Privacy Regulation; Information; Rights; Internet and the Web; Competition; Internet and the Web; Corporate Disclosure; Ethics; Knowledge Acquisition

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20 Oct 2020
Blog Post

Exploring Technology and Public Impact Through the HBS/HKS Joint Degree Program

If the past two decades have demonstrated technology’s potential, one of the challenges of the next ten years will be defining its boundaries. How can new technologies benefit people and societies in equitable ways? How can companies --... View Details

Web

CSV Explained - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

powerful force for positive change. There are numerous ways in which addressing societal concerns can yield productivity benefits to a firm. Consider, for example, what happens when a firm invests in a wellness program. Society View Details

August 28, 2018
Article

How Intermittent Breaks in Interaction Improve Collective Intelligence

By: Ethan Bernstein, Jesse Shore and David Lazer

People influence each other when they interact to solve problems. Such social influence introduces both benefits (higher average solution quality due to exploitation of existing answers through social learning) and costs (lower maximum solution quality due to a... View Details

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Article

When Is Traditionalism an Asset and When Is It a Liability for Team Innovation? A Two-Study Empirical Examination

By: Laura Huang, Cristina B. Gibson, Bradley L. Kirkman and Debra L. Shapiro

Team innovation requires idea generating and idea implementing. In two studies, we examine how these team activities are affected by the extent to which members value traditionalism – that is, placing importance on preserving old ways of doing things over breaking... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Innovation and Invention; Diversity; Values and Beliefs; Performance Effectiveness

2011
Other Unpublished Work

The Performance Effects of Regulatory Oversight

This paper explores the heterogeneity in firm performance that can arise from exogenously varying levels of oversight in regulated industries. We use data on the performance of U.S. commercial banks to show that banks located physically closer to their supervisors'... View Details

Keywords: Performance; Corporate Governance

July 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Ottawa Voyageurs, The

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Scott Baldwin, Chris Strong, Andrew Feng, Eliza Moody and David Ager

Manuel Tertuliano, head coach of a professional soccer club, must make some difficult decisions about the compensation of six of his players. Specifically, he must decide how to allocate $850,000 among these six players in a way that will benefit his team, which has... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Compensation and Benefits; Performance; Motivation and Incentives; Sports; Groups and Teams; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Canada

Educators

February 1991
Case

Burlington Northern: The ARES Decision (B)

By: Julie H. Hertenstein and Robert S. Kaplan

The ARES team formally proposes that Burlington Northern implement the ARES system. The project meets resistance. In light of financial restructuring and high level of debt, executives wonder whether the company can afford ARES. Weak links during the ARES development... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Restructuring; Cost vs Benefits; Decision Choices and Conditions; Borrowing and Debt; Capital Budgeting; Projects; Technology Adoption; Service Industry

Educators

May 2019
Teaching Note

Tesla, Inc. in 2018

By: Siko Sikochi and Suraj Srinivasan

Teaching Note for HBS No. 119-013. The case facilitates a discussion about corporate governance and its role in achieving sustainable profitability and driving long-term shareholder value. The discussion can focus on such questions as what constitutes good governance,... View Details

Keywords: Public Company; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Cost vs Benefits

2011
Working Paper

CEO Bonus Plans: And How to Fix Them

By: Kevin J. Murphy and Michael C. Jensen

Almost all CEO and executive bonus plans have serious design flaws that limit their benefits dramatically. Such poorly designed executive bonus plans destroy value by providing incentives to manipulate the timing of earnings, mislead the board about organizational... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Competency and Skills; Cost of Capital; Executive Compensation; Risk Management; Performance Evaluation; Projects; Motivation and Incentives; Value