Publications

SSRN

15 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 15, 2008

specialize in different stages of a complex production process. This paper considers the pricing behavior and profitability of these so-called modular clusters. In particular, we investigate a possibility hinted at in prior work: that for... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

15 May 2013
Research & Ideas

From McRibs to Maseratis: The Power of Scarcity Marketing

Editor's note: Think money can't buy happiness? Behavioral economists Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton beg to differ. It actually can, they say—but only if we spend it the right way. In their book released this week, Happy Money: The... View Details

Keywords: Re: Michael I. Norton

14 Mar 2007
Op-Ed

Government’s Misguided Probe of Private Equity

Fifty-three years ago, Judge Harold Medina dismissed charges brought by the Justice Department against seventeen leading investment banks. A case built up over a decade of investigations and almost three years of trial collapsed when the... View Details

Keywords: by Josh Lerner; Financial Services

Research Summary

Research

By: Michael I. Norton

Professor Norton's research can be grouped into two broad areas. First, he explores the effects of social norms on people’s attitudes and behavior, addressing the key role that social factors play in shaping the preferences of individuals. This work has a particular... View Details

24 Jul 2019
Lessons from the Classroom

Can These Business Students Motivate Londoners to Do the Right Thing?

millions of extra pounds in tax revenue collected. "I’ve seen behavioral economics come into play in a variety of contexts, ranging from employee compensation and investment decisions to corporate... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

September 2019
Article

The Self-Presentational Consequences of Upholding One's Stance in Spite of the Evidence

By: Leslie John, Martha Jeong, Francesca Gino and Laura Huang

Five studies explore the self-presentational consequences of refusing to “back down” – that is, upholding a stance despite evidence of its inaccuracy. Using data from an entrepreneurial pitch competition, Study 1 shows that entrepreneurs tend not to back down even... View Details

Keywords: Self-presentation; Belief Perseverance; Judgment; Confidence; Persuasion; Personal Characteristics; Behavior; Perception; Decision Making; Outcome or Result

Find at Harvard

05 May 2003
Research & Ideas

Sharing the Responsibility of Corporate Governance

resolved it. Since past behavior is the best indicator of future behavior, the board should ask candidates what concrete steps they took in their prior job to ensure that senior and lower-level managers were conducting the business with... View Details

Keywords: by Carla Tishler

April 2010 (Revised May 2017)
Case

Tremblant Capital Group

By: Robin Greenwood

Brett Barakett, CEO and founder of Tremblant Capital Group, a New York–based hedge fund, must decide what to do with his fund's position in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, which has dropped in value by more than 40% in recent months. Tremblant is a hedge fund that... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Behavioral Finance; Stocks; Investment Funds; Consumer Behavior; Competitive Advantage; Financial Services Industry; New York (city, NY)

June 2021
Case

Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani at avatarin (A) (Abridged)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2016, Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani, aeronautical engineers at All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd., began to wonder why, in a world of accelerating globalization and digital connectivity, those who lived in far-remote villages or impoverished urban areas could not... View Details

Keywords: Agility; Ecosystem; Innovation Ecosystems; Innovation; Crowdsourcing; XPRIZE; Open Innovation; Partnership; Government; Collaboration; Co-creation; Purpose; Impact; Social Impact; Movement; Organizational Behavior; Organizational Ambidexterity; Ambidexterity; Culture; Culture Change; Global Teams; Experimentation; Space; Space Industry; Airline Industry; Start-up; Platform Business; Platform Strategy; Platform; Digital; Robotics; Robots; Avatar; Telepresence; Innovation Lab; Mobility; COVID-19; Intrapreneurship; Public-private Partnership; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Partners and Partnerships; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Alignment; Leadership; Leading Change; Diversity; Organizational Culture; Change Management; Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Transportation Industry; Aerospace Industry; Japan

November 2019 (Revised April 2020)
Case

Away: Scaling a DTC Travel Brand

By: Jill Avery and Joseph B. Fuller

Away, a direct-to-consumer, digital native e-commerce seller of travel luggage, is debating how to invest its latest round of venture funding. How quickly could and should Away scale and what were the most promising growth trajectories to maximize its potential? Three... View Details

2007
Working Paper

Investor Sentiment in the Stock Market

By: Malcolm Baker and Jeffrey Wurgler

Real investors and markets are too complicated to be neatly summarized by a few selected biases and trading frictions. The "top down" approach to behavioral finance focuses on the measurement of reduced form, aggregate sentiment and traces its effects to stock returns.... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Markets; Behavioral Finance; Stocks

September 2011
Module Note

Orientation to Leadership Intelligence Days, 2011

By: Joshua D. Margolis and Anthony J. Mayo

Julie Bornstein, senior vice president of Sephora Direct, is seeking to double her budget for social media and other digital marketing initiatives for 2011. A number of digital efforts implemented in the past two years seem to be bearing fruit and there is a desire to... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Borrowing and Debt; Investment Return; Resource Allocation; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Online Technology; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

2024
Working Paper

Private Regulation, Institutional Entrepreneurship and Climate Change: A Business History Perspective

By: Ann-Kristin Bergquist and Geoffrey Jones

Private regulatory systems, including voluntary efforts by firms to restrain their own behavior are the primary form of global climate change governance. However, when environmental challenges first rose up on the scientific and political agendas during the 1970s, the... View Details

Keywords: Certification; Climate Change; Environmental Regulation; Business History; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy

02 Oct 2012
First Look

First Look: October 2

Purchase this case:http://hbr.org/search/312067-PDF-ENG Generation Investment Management (Abridged) Sandra J. Sucher and Matthew PrebleHarvard Business School Case 613-002 Examines the investment process of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

Overview

Professor Huang examines the micro-foundations of entrepreneurship: the individual-level decision-making processes that influence entrepreneurs’ ability to acquire resources that they need, yet lack, especially financial capital. Deploying a variety of methods from... View Details

March 31, 2023
Article

What Is the Optimal Pattern of a Customer Journey?

By: Julian De Freitas

Even though customer experience (CX) leaders are becoming increasingly focused on optimizing their firms’ customer journeys, they face a clear challenge: Which touchpoints along the journey should they invest in? That is, which moments when the customer interacts with... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Customers; Brands and Branding

Research Summary

Overview

By: Julian J. Zlatev

First, Professor Zlatev studies how people make decisions that reinforce a sense that they are good or moral. He studies the psychology behind dual motive behaviors—actions that incorporate self-interested and prosocial motives—and the structure of moral identity. For... View Details

2014
Working Paper

Cleaning House: The Impact of Information Technology on Employee Corruption and Performance

By: Lamar Pierce, Daniel Snow and Andrew McAfee

This paper examines how firm investments in technology-based employee monitoring impact both misconduct and productivity. We use unique and detailed theft and sales data from 392 restaurant locations from five firms that adopt a theft monitoring information technology... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Information Technology; Ethics; Performance Productivity; Employees

SSRN

August 2007 (Revised June 2020)
Case

Trouble with a Bubble

By: Tom Nicholas

Examines technology, firm performance, and the stock market during the 1929 Great Crash and the Great Depression of the 1930s. The 1920s was an extraordinary period of technological progress marked by a strong run-up in stock market prices. Firms invested heavily in... View Details

Keywords: Bubble; Stock Market; Great Depression; Irving Fisher; Information Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; History; Financial Markets; Performance; Labor and Management Relations; Equity; Financial Crisis; Innovation and Invention; United States