Learning By Doing - Publications - Faculty & Research

07 Jul 2019
HBS Case

Walmart's Workforce of the Future

private employer in the United States, with 1.5 million workers (2.2 million worldwide). But that size and dominance doesn’t make Walmart immune to pressures faced by any other retail operation. In the second-year Harvard Business School... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

11 Jul 2005
Research & Ideas

The New International Style of Management

businesses increasingly are conducting themselves on common ground in order to compete globally. They don't necessarily do business the same way—with identical processes, functions, and operations—while approaching this elevated stage;... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons

25 May 2021
Research & Ideas

White Airbnb Hosts Earn More. Can AI Shrink the Racial Gap?

Airbnb began offering a free tool to help all hosts set reasonable rates. The real-time, “smart pricing” program uses machine learning to automatically adjust the property’s nightly fees by considering a... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Technology; Accommodations

01 Jun 2021
What Do You Think?

Are Employers Ready for a Flood of 'New' Talent Seeking Work?

several when he said, “This isn’t something I’m comfortable with. I do not believe the workplace should be a forum for political discussion as it creates immediate division.” Quoting from a statement by the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

02 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

Why Good Deeds Invite Bad Publicity

Do companies with reputations for acting in socially responsible ways receive public goodwill when unpleasant news hits? The question of how much (or even if) corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies benefit companies beyond the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Energy

09 Jun 2021
Research & Ideas

How Tennis, Golf, and White Anxiety Block Racial Integration

distribution of residents by race. The results were clear: When given the opportunity to do so, White people preferred to design their environments in ways that maximized their exposure to other White people... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

02 May 2022
News

Can the Case Method Survive Another Hundred Years?

19 Jan 2023
Research & Ideas

What Makes Employees Trust (vs. Second-Guess) AI?

When an algorithm recommends ways to improve business outcomes, do employees trust it? Conventional wisdom suggests that understanding the inner workings of artificial intelligence (AI) can raise confidence in such programs. Yet, new... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

03 Nov 2008
HBS Case

Economics of the Ethanol Business

this is an audacious one." MME completed construction of its plant in February 2005 and quickly ramped up production to 48 million gallons of ethanol annually. By the end of FY 2007, it had posted $23 million in profits but also had... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Agriculture & Agribusiness; Energy

18 Jan 2016
Research & Ideas

Hazard Warning: The Unacceptable Cost of Toxic Workers

what he calls the negative outliers. The estimated cost—based on turnover triggered by the toxic worker and the cost associated with new hires and training—is likely on the low end, Minor says, because it doesn’t take into account... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland

10 Feb 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Land Institutions and Chinese Political Economy: Institutional Complementarities and Macroeconomic Management

Keywords: by Meg Rithmire; Public Administration; Real Estate; Financial Services

25 Jan 2016
Research & Ideas

When Negotiating a Price, Never Bid with a Round Number

in zero. (See Show Me the Numbers: Precision as a Cue to Others’ Confidence by Alexandra Jerez-Fernandez, Ashley N. Angulo, and Daniel P. Oppenheimer.) The most rounded bids (made at the share-price precision of $5 or $1) were associated... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

18 Apr 2011
Research & Ideas

It’s Not Nagging: Why Persistent, Redundant Communication Works

these findings with managers she says there's a relief among many to learn that all that communicating does work—that they aren't spinning their wheels during the workday. "People are like, 'Oh, my gosh, there is a name to what I do.... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard

05 Nov 2014
What Do You Think?

Are We Entering an Era of Neuromanagement?

Summing Up: Where Do We Draw the Line on the Use of Technology in Hiring Practices? The idea of using brain scans in hiring, while it generated limited enthusiasm among respondents to this month's column, nevertheless was rejected View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

24 Oct 2023
Research & Ideas

When Tech Platforms Identify Black-Owned Businesses, White Customers Buy

Generations of Black business owners have had to fight discrimination to prosper in America, but a new study suggests that these entrepreneurs are now gaining more support in parts of the country when they make their presence known. The study, coauthored View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Food & Beverage

30 Oct 2017
Research & Ideas

Asking Questions Can Get You a Better Job or a Second Date

Source: FangXiaNuo New research suggests that people who ask questions, particularly follow-up questions, may become better managers, land better jobs, and even win second dates. “Compared to those who do not ask many questions, people... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

16 Oct 2019
Research & Ideas

Read Our Most Popular Stories of the Quarter

What stories were readers like you diving into this summer on HBS Working Knowledge? Your interests varied dramatically, everything from how researchers use machine learning technology to predict CEO performance to the power of rituals in... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

08 Aug 2005
Research & Ideas

Decision Rights: Who Gives the Green Light?

for the pricing of bids made by its foreign subsidiaries. The company believed that its U.S.-based executives would be more effective in making pricing decisions because they had a broader purview of the company's needs. But the time... View Details

Keywords: by Peter Jacobs

24 Jul 2017
Research & Ideas

People Have an Irrational Need to Complete 'Sets' of Things

Credit: Martin Barraud Here’s a tip for persuading people to finish more tasks, buy more products, or donate more money: Simply present assignments, requests, or items as arbitrary sets, rather than as individual units. New research reveals that people are... View Details