Publications

2011
Article

Group Size and Incentives to Contribute: A Natural Experiment at Chinese Wikipedia

By: Michael Zhang and Feng Zhu

In this paper, we examine the causal relationship between group size and incentives to contribute in the setting of Chinese Wikipedia, the Chinese language version of an online encyclopedia that relies entirely on voluntary contributions. The group at Chinese Wikipedia... View Details

Keywords: Rights; Motivation and Incentives; Internet and the Web; Valuation; Groups and Teams; Knowledge Sharing; Behavior; Satisfaction; Size; Government and Politics; Economics; Information Technology Industry; Hong Kong; Taiwan; Singapore

11 Sep 2006
Research & Ideas

Negotiating When the Rules Suddenly Change

judgment or tactical execution. Having a metric in place that rates your priorities and weighs tradeoffs will enable you to make good decisions on the fly. Axiom #3: Learn And Adapt Bolstering your capacity to sense and respond is key to... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Wheeler; Sports

17 Feb 2015
News

The First Five Years: Justin Pasquariello (MBA 2010)

they themselves have accomplished). “I think knowing exactly what I want has enabled me to have my own framework for personal success—which reduces the inclination to benchmark myself against other students/alumni by other metrics (like... View Details

Keywords: Health, Social Assistance

30 Jun 2009
First Look

First Look: June 30

existence of the hierarchical relationships among firms, and empirical work has focused on a single level of an industry or bilateral relationships. However, quantitative evidence on the deep hierarchy in large industrial sectors is lacking. In this paper, we develop... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

05 May 2009
First Look

First Look: May 5, 2009

Publication:Special Issue on Metric and Interpretive Explorations of Macromarketing. Journal of Macromarketing 29, no. 3 (2009) Abstract It is more than mere coincidence that the highest rates of HIV occur in the world's poorest... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

01 Mar 2017
News

Alumni and Faculty Books for March 2017

symptoms of projectitis and how to defeat it; what digitized processes are and the role they play in performance improvement; how to identify key metrics and develop a balanced measurement scorecard; how to sense deep customer and... View Details

01 Sep 2011
News

Green Day

carbon per metric ton of cement — half from the energy required to heat the kilns to a blistering 1,500 degrees centigrade, the other half from carbon burned out of the limestone in the production process. So Evans is understandably... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna;Sarah Auerbach; Agriculture; Manufacturing; Electric Power Generation, Transmission, Distribution; Utilities

April 2019 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Clear Link Technologies, LLC: Driving Sales with Peer Effects

By: Christopher Stanton, Richard Saouma and Olivia Hull

The importance of a good peer or coworker is widely discussed, but understanding the glue that makes coworkers valuable is less understood. This case sheds light on the importance of peers and the practices and environments that make a group greater than the sum of its... View Details

Educators

Article

Values, Purpose, Meaning, and Expectations: Why Culture and Context Matter

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

The "rational person" standard, based on assumptions of economic self-interest, has long prevailed in legal reasoning. But understanding of decision making, behavioral choices, and possibilities for action must be enlarged to include a variety of factors that give... View Details

Keywords: Standards; Interests; Decision Making; Behavior; Value; Groups and Teams; Performance Expectations; Organizational Culture; Leadership; Business Cycles; Forecasting and Prediction; Motivation and Incentives

May 2004
Background Note

56K Modem Battle

By: David B. Yoffie and Deborah Freier

Examines the battle to set the standard for the 56K modem. Set in 1996, this case looks at how computers accessed the Internet via a telephone line, or dial-up connection, and a hardware modem. In 1995, there were 18.6 million total modem unit shipments, with market... View Details

Keywords: Announcements; Revenue; Patents; Product Launch; Network Effects; Standards; Competition; Information Infrastructure; Internet and the Web; Technology Industry; Illinois

30 Nov 2017
News

Happy Meals (Are Here Again)

transactions—the metrics Karavites tracks most closely—are up at all his locations. Formulating a turnaround strategy required Kempczinski and his team—which included Kristy Cunningham—to get to the heart of what exactly had happened to... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell; photographed by Saverio Truglia

September 1996 (Revised April 1998)
Case

Mobil USM&R (B): New England Sales and Distribution

By: Robert S. Kaplan

The general manager of a local gasoline/distillate sales and distribution business unit must communicate a new strategy to the unit's 300 employees. An initial strategic planning exercise identified a high-priority list of opportunities that blended the parent... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Adoption; Strategic Planning; Customization and Personalization; Management Practices and Processes; Growth and Development Strategy; Measurement and Metrics; Motivation and Incentives; Performance Evaluation; Energy Industry; Mining Industry; United States

Educators

15 Dec 2009
First Look

First Look: Dec. 15, 2009

pairwise industry and establishment level and measure agglomeration in a global and continuous metric space. These indices exhibit distinct advantages compared to traditional measures of agglomeration including the independence on the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

22 Jun 2009
Research & Ideas

“Too Big To Fail”: Reining In Large Financial Firms

Council of Life Insurers, and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. The problem is, no one yet has shown how to measure systemic risk. "There are a number of people trying to develop the metrics right now," says Moss.... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Banking; Financial Services

Article

The Best of Both Worlds: Integrating Conscious and Unconscious Thought Best Solves Complex Decisions

Two studies address the debate over whether conscious or unconscious mental processes best handle complex decisions. According to Unconscious Thought Theory (Dijksterhuis & Nordgren, 2006), both modes of thinking have particular advantages: conscious thought can follow... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Values and Beliefs; Information; Knowledge Management; Management Skills; Management Style; Measurement and Metrics; Success; Research; Cognition and Thinking; Personal Characteristics; Perception

28 Oct 2015
Research & Ideas

A Dedication to Creation: India's Ad Man Ranjan Kapur

and how many times I can tell the same story to them in hopes that they remember it. Reach and frequency was the metric and the gross rating point (GRP) became the terminology we all used. With digital, you can target people much better... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Advertising

12 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

Rocket Science Retailing: A Practical Guide

unite partners' objectives for creating a flexible supply chain; benchmark performance against other retailers; and evaluate and manage new technologies. Raman and Fisher provide specific, detailed metrics and techniques that can be used... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Retail; Auto

January 2015 (Revised July 2019)
Case

CVS Health: Promoting Drug Adherence

By: Leslie John, John Quelch and Robert Huckman

Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.

The case describes a program that CVS Health recently implemented to improve medication adherence, an important problem from a societal, public policy, and firm... View Details

Educators