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15 Sep 2021
Research & Ideas

Don't Bring Me Down: Probing Why People Tune Out Bad News

appear to be related to excuse-driven motives. A new study confirms that individuals often avoid information to make themselves feel better about the decisions they make. But the results also suggest that a variety of other factors can... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

2017
Working Paper

Digital Agility: The Impact of Software Portfolio Architecture on IT System Evolution

By: Alan MacCormack, Robert Lagerström, Martin Mocker and Carliss Y. Baldwin

The modern industrial firm increasingly relies on software to support its competitive position. However, the uncertain and dynamic nature of today’s global marketplace dictates that this software be continually evolved and adapted to meet new business challenges. This... View Details

Keywords: Information Systems; Software; Architecture; Modularity; Agility; Coupling; Applications and Software; Design; Decisions; Performance

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11 Jan 2008
Working Paper Summaries

See No Evil: When We Overlook Other People’s Unethical Behavior

Keywords: by Francesca Gino, Don A. Moore & Max H. Bazerman

April 2011 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Internet Securities, Inc.: Path to Sustainability

By: Lynda M. Applegate, William R. Kerr and Ryan Johnson

Founded in 1994 when the Internet was still a "toy for techies," the case is set in 1998 when Internet IPOs were red-hot. Internet Securities provides hard-to-find financial, business, economic, and political information on emerging markets. Information from over 600... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Model; Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Cash Flow; Initial Public Offering; Analytics and Data Science; Growth and Development Strategy; Valuation

Blog

What Can You Do to Foster Gender Equity?

to distributing assignments, to managing performance and promotions. Undermine stereotypes. If you're a man, model behavior that makes it safer for all men—and all people—to lean into caregiving. Take your full parental leave, for... View Details

08 Aug 2006
First Look

First Look: August 8, 2006

Working PapersThe Judgment-Decision Paradox in Experience-Based Decisions and the Contingent Recency Effect Authors:Greg Barron, Ido Erev, and Eldad Yechiam. Abstract The... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Eric Hawkins Leading Agile Teams @ Digitally-Born AppFolio (A)

By: Tsedal Neeley, Paul Leonardi and Michael Norris

Eric Hawkins, director of engineering at AppFolio—a digital technology firm that offered cloud-based business software to small and medium sized companies—was shocked by an unusual request from his senior leadership team. Could Hawkins and one of his agile teams build... View Details

Keywords: Values; Agile; Vision; Corporate Culture; Leadership; Values and Beliefs; Organizational Culture; Decision Choices and Conditions; Digital Transformation; Technology Industry; United States; California

November 2011
Article

How Great Companies Think Differently

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Corporate leaders have long subscribed to the belief that the sole purpose of business is to make money. That narrow view, deeply embedded in the American capitalist system, molds the actions of most corporations, constraining them to focus on maximizing short-term... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Profit; Leadership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Shareholder Relations; Behavior; Social Issues; Competitive Advantage

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June 2020 (Revised September 2020)
Case

Shellye Archambeau: Becoming a CEO (A)

By: Tsedal Neeley and John Masko

With the economy in a freefall, MetricStream is losing customers, hemorrhaging cash and struggling to make payroll. Several board members are threatening to quit. Others are pressing to sell the company even at dismally low valuations. It’s 2008 and lightning has... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Race; Gender; Leadership Style; Risk and Uncertainty; Change; Prejudice and Bias; Decision Making; Personal Development and Career; Technology Industry; California

12 Apr 2022
Research & Ideas

Swiping Right: How Data Helped This Online Dating Site Make More Matches

The modern world is fueled by matchmaking. Going out on the town? Uber pairs you with a driver you can choose based on ratings, proximity, and even car model. Craving a vacation? Simply filter getaways based on locale View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

Web

Behavioral Finance & Financial Stability

becomes riskier the marginal benefit of increasing equity beta declines. They find that leverage is inversely related to asset beta, including upside asset beta. See Malcolm’s other research here and Jeffrey’s other research here . More... View Details

27 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

How the FBI Reinvented Itself After 9/11

tasks and structure if you don’t also account for the organization’s identity. Here the FBI had no choice but to immediately focus on ‘what we do.’ It was clear as soon as those planes hit: We will now do... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

Web

Finance Curriculum - Faculty & Research

Finance Overview Faculty Curriculum Seminars & Conferences Awards & Honors Doctoral Students MBA Required Curriculum (FIRST YEAR) Finance I This course examines the role of finance in supporting the functional areas of a firm, and fosters... View Details

17 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 17

Working PapersThe First Deal: The Division of Founder Equity in New Ventures Authors:Thomas F. Hellmann and Noam Wasserman Abstract This paper examines the division of founder shares in entrepreneurial ventures, focusing on the View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2012
Article

The Excess Burden of Government Indecision

By: Francisco J. Gomes, Laurence J. Kotlikoff and Luis M. Viceira

Governments are known for procrastinating when it comes to resolving painful policy problems. Whatever the political motives for waiting to decide, procrastination distorts economic decisions relative to what would arise with early policy resolution. In so doing, it... View Details

Keywords: Saving; Risk and Uncertainty; Investment Portfolio; Decision Choices and Conditions; Retirement; Policy; Government and Politics

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08 Mar 2021
In Practice

COVID Killed the Traditional Workplace. What Should Companies Do Now?

A year ago, COVID-19 forced many companies to send employees home—often with a laptop and a prayer. Now, with COVID cases subsiding and vaccinations rising, the prospect of returning to old office routines appears more possible. But will employees want to flock back to... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

05 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

5 Companies Where Employees Move Up the Ladder Fast

Worker Advancement,” a worker’s choice of company has considerable bearing on how fast they climb the ranks, how likely they are to land a better job elsewhere, and whether they’ll be hired View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

October 2009 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Tengion: Bringing Regenerative Medicine to Life

By: Elie Ofek and Polly Ross Ribatt

Tengion is a young biotech company that is at the frontier of regenerative medicine—a nascent field that seeks to promote the creation of new cells and tissue to repair or replace tissue or organ function lost due to age, disease, damage, or congenital defects. In late... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Crisis; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Technological Innovation; Product Launch; Product Development; Research and Development; Biotechnology Industry; United States

January 2024 (Revised June 2024)
Case

School of Rock: Tuning into Structured Empowerment (A)

By: Tatiana Sandino, Jeffrey Rayport, Samuel Grad and Stacy Straaberg

In summer 2021, School of Rock was a youth-oriented music education company with 291 franchise- and company-owned schools globally. Before CEO Rob Price’s hire in 2017, School of Rock’s nonconformist rock ‘n’ roll culture led to variability in teaching styles,... View Details