Publications

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06 Feb 2007
First Look

First Look: February 6, 2007

president of purchasing to coordinate and centralize purchasing procedures in a multinational company. He encounters a lack of active cooperation. A rewritten version of an earlier case by G. Lombard. Purchase this case:... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

17 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

What the Stockdale Paradox Tells Us About Crisis Leadership

now, where the virus is being contained and normal activities are resuming, with some modifications. In long-term disasters, rescue does not come, or comes long after expected. This is closer to the situation in the United States. We... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

January 2010 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Gobi Partners and DMG

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

Thomas G. Tsao, founding general partner of Gobi Partners, an early stage venture capital firm in China, must decide how to manage his firm's largest investment after the departure of the CEO. Tom has temporarily stepped in as CEO, but finding a replacement with the... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Competency and Skills; Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Investment; Business or Company Management; Management Succession; Emerging Markets; Problems and Challenges; Business and Stakeholder Relations; China

16 Jul 2018
Research & Ideas

Kids of Working Moms Grow into Happy Adults

important.” “As we gradually understand that our children aren’t suffering, I hope the guilt will go away” This isn’t about raising happier kids, she continues. “When women choose to work, it’s a financial and personal choice. Women should make that View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

March 2019
Case

HOPI: Turkey's Shopping Companion

By: Sunil Gupta, Donald Ngwe and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in 2017 as Onur Erbay, CEO of HOPI, a multi-vendor loyalty platform, is contemplating a critical decision. The case chronicles the origins of Boyner Group, the parent company of HOPI and a major retailer in Turkey, and development of retail and customer... View Details

Keywords: Loyalty Programs; Multi-vendor Platform; Retail; Big Data; Customer Relationship Management; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Business Model; Analytics and Data Science; Competitive Strategy; Decision Making; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; Technology Industry; Retail Industry; Turkey

January 2025
Article

Automatic Enrollment with a 12% Default Contribution Rate

By: John Beshears, Ruofei Guo, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian and James J. Choi

We study a retirement savings plan with a default contribution rate of 12% of income, which is much higher than previously studied defaults. Twenty-five percent of employees had not opted out of this default 12 months after hire; a literature review finds that the... View Details

Keywords: Retirement Savings; Defined Contribution Retirement Plan; Automatic Enrollment; Retirement; Saving; Income; Decision Choices and Conditions

25 May 2010
First Look

First Look: May 25

attempting the transformation required to embrace a new, dominant technology—the choice to maintain focus on the old technology. In considering this choice we distinguish between "racing"... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

30 Apr 2024
Book

When Managers Set Unrealistic Expectations, Employees Cut Ethical Corners

the United States. In that work, I learned that company management had known about the dangers of asbestos since the 1930s but had actively suppressed information linking it to cancer to protect the business. I became deeply curious about... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

05 Aug 2008
First Look

First Look: August 5, 2008

rebalancing in the financial portfolio of participants. These patterns conceal strong household-level evidence of active rebalancing, which on average offsets about one half of idiosyncratic passive variations in the risky asset share.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

15 May 2007
First Look

First Look: May 15, 2007

economic models predict that they do not systematically differ. With online grocery data, we show that people are decreasingly impatient the further in the future their choices will take effect. In general, as the delay between order... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

March 2011 (Revised October 2011)
Case

If We Ran the World

By: Hanna Halaburda, Radka Dohnalova and Aldo Sesia

Cindy Gallop launched IfWeRanTheWorld (IWRTW) in February 2010, as what the tech world called minimum viable product, in order to real-world test Gallop's "business of the future" concept while development was ongoing. IWRTW was conceived to bring together human good... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Outcome or Result; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Network Effects

September 2013
Article

Converging to the Lowest Common Denominator in Physical Health

By: Leslie K. John and Michael I. Norton

Objective: This research examines how access to information on peer health behaviors affects one's own health behavior. Methods: We report the results of a randomized field experiment in a large corporation in which we introduced walkstations (treadmills... View Details

Keywords: Information; Behavior; Decision Choices and Conditions; Health; Health Industry

Find at Harvard

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24 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 24, 2009

organizations. One set of activities shown to improve organizational learning of new work practices is learn-how. Learn-how refers to learning activities that combine experimentation, adaptation-in-use, and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

April 2010 (Revised October 2010)
Case

The International Criminal Court

By: Rafael M. Di Tella and Natalie Kindred

This Case describes a controversial 2010 decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and alludes to some of the broader challenges of building international institutions. The case briefly highlights certain milestones in international relations preceding the... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Decision Choices and Conditions; International Relations; Political Elections; Courts and Trials; Organizations; Kenya

14 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Reforming New Orleans Schools After Katrina

opportunity to start over, similar to our thought experiment. I wanted to follow their efforts, and specifically to see what entrepreneurial activity would spring up in the highly uncertain post-storm environment. I wrote a context case... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Education

29 Nov 2010
HBS Case

United Breaks Guitars

Tweets are in the air we breathe. Most of us know that "friend" can also be a verb. Social media are part of the public discourse now, whether or not we're active users of them. A new case coauthored by HBS marketing professor... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

August 2015
Article

Cost Conscious? The Neural and Behavioral Impact of Price Primacy on Decision-Making

By: Uma R. Karmarkar, Baba Shiv and Brian Knutson

Price is a key factor in most purchases, but it can be presented at different stages of decision making prior to a purchase. We examine the sequence-dependent effects of price and product information on the decision-making process at both neural and behavioral levels.... View Details

Keywords: fMRI; Retail Promotion; Purchase Decisions; Price; Value; Decision Choices and Conditions; Consumer Behavior; Product Marketing; Retail Industry