Publications

December 2009 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Curt Schilling's Next Pitch

By: Noam T. Wasserman, Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Rachel Gordon

As his major-league pitching career was starting to wind down in 2006, baseball all-star Curt Schilling decided to become an entrepreneur. Looking to focus his tenacity and his passion for online role-playing games on a new challenge, he founded an online gaming... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Leadership; Personal Development and Career; Groups and Teams; Video Game Industry

April 2025
Case

Giving Up on a Passion: Elizabeth Rowe at the Boston Symphony Orchestra

By: Jon M. Jachimowicz, Maisie Wiltshire-Gordon and Alexis Lefort

For 20 years, Elizabeth Rowe was a world-renowned principal flutist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. But in 2024, Rowe decided to leave her position to pursue a new full-time career as a leadership coach. At 50, Rowe was well under the typical retirement age, and,... View Details

2024
Working Paper

What Drives Variation in Investor Portfolios? Estimating the Roles of Beliefs and Risk Preferences

By: Mark Egan, Alexander MacKay and Hanbin Yang

We present an empirical model of portfolio choice that allows for the nonparametric estimation of investors' (subjective) expectations and risk preferences. Utilizing a comprehensive dataset of 401(k) plans from 2009 through 2019, we explore heterogeneity in asset... View Details

Keywords: Stock Market Expectations; Demand Estimation; Retirement Planning; Defined Contribution Retirement Plan; 401 (K); Finance; Investment Portfolio; Investment; Retirement; Behavioral Finance; Financial Services Industry; United States

SSRN

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20 Mar 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, March 20, 2018

Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/918037-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 618-034 McKinsey & Company: Early Career Choices (A) This case profiles the early View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2024
Working Paper

Automating Short-Term Payroll Savings: Evidence from Two Large U.K. Experiments

By: Sarah Holmes Berk, James J. Choi, Jay Garg, John Beshears and David Laibson

Automatic enrollment is often used to increase retirement savings. What are the effects of using it (or, alternatively, requiring an active enrollment choice) to increase short-term savings? We evaluate two experiments in the U.K. at employers that enable workers to... View Details

Keywords: Retirement Savings; Participation; Automatic Enrollment; Retirement; Human Resources

22 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Forgiving Student Loan Debt Leads to Better Jobs, Stronger Consumers

Student loan debt is not only crippling Americans financially, it is holding them back from pursuing better opportunities. When student debt is erased, a huge burden is lifted and people take big steps to improve their lives: They seek higher-paying View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

2011
Book

Detour: My Unexpected, Amazing, Life Changing Journey With OnStar

By: Chet Huber

Detour is the story behind the launch of OnStar’s now well known blue button, as told through the eyes of its founder and CEO of over fourteen years, Chet Huber. It’s a personal narrative that describes the events that led up to General Motors’ unexpected choice... View Details

Keywords: General Motors; OnStar; Technological Innovation; Business Startups; Transportation; Safety; Personal Development and Career; Creativity; Success; Business History; Auto Industry

Find at Harvard

Teaching Interest

Managing Human Capital: Keeping Hope Alive in Organizations (Not offered 2013-2014)

Managing Human Capital has been specifically designed to teach practical skills for the general manager who seeks to manage both other people and his or her own career with optimal effectiveness. Any and all students who believe they will need to effectively manage... View Details

29 Jul 2019
Research & Ideas

How Companies Benefit When Employees Work Remotely

examiners also benefited financially by bringing their Greater Washington, DC, salaries to less costly regions, effectively increasing their real incomes. Early- and mid-career workers tended to choose locations based on future career... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

05 Sep 2023
Book

Thriving After Failing: How to Turn Your Setbacks Into Triumphs

missing our goals—sometimes due to our own shortcomings and sometimes due to factors outside our control.” The example shows just how emotionally taxing failure is, in both our careers and our personal lives. As a result, Edmondson says,... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

August 2010 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Avi Kremer

By: Joshua D. Margolis and Mark Wetzel

If you were diagnosed with a terminal illness, how would you respond and what would you do with your remaining time? Avi Kremer contemplates four options for how to devote himself 18 months after being diagnosed with ALS. His experience thus far and the choices he... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Values and Beliefs; Health Disorders; Leadership Development; Personal Development and Career; Social Enterprise; Personal Characteristics

October 2023
Case

Shredder Setups or Straightlining into Risk?: Investing in What You Love

By: Lauren Cohen and Grace Headinger

Bob Hall, President of Green Gables Partners, evaluated whether to angel invest into an up-and-coming ski brand. As the son-in-law of the founder of Vera Bradley and having retired from a lengthy career on Wall Street, Hall was well-versed in both direct investing and... View Details

Keywords: Family Office; Angel Investors; Direct Investment; Family Business; Business Growth and Maturation; Small Business; Financial Strategy; Personal Finance; Investment Portfolio; Private Equity; Decision Choices and Conditions; Risk and Uncertainty; Consumer Products Industry; Montana; United States

05 Aug 2008
First Look

First Look: August 5, 2008

hard worker, but instead of becoming an entrepreneur himself, he built a long career at "the biggest company around," GTE. After years of working there in sales and marketing, he decided to venture out on his own. His GTE... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

01 May 2013
What Do You Think?

Why Isn’t ‘Servant Leadership’ More Prevalent?

written by Robert Greenleaf in 1970. In it, he said: "The servant leader is servant first It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead (vs. one who is... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

01 Jun 2023
HBS Case

A Nike Executive Hid His Criminal Past to Turn His Life Around. What If He Didn't Have To?

could find out my past, and my career and everything I had worked for would be over.” ‘Why me?’ Miller also struggled with tremendous guilt, not only for the murder he had committed years earlier, but also for his success. “I moved up the... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Apparel & Accessories

15 Oct 2008
First Look

First Look: October 15, 2008

core of the traditional bookmakers' business model. The case examines two aspects of the industry: (1) What specific choices did Betfair make to become the dominant betting exchange, winning the competitive battle over Flutter.com? (2) At... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

04 Mar 2024
Research & Ideas

Want to Make Diversity Stick? Break the Cycle of Sameness

organization or in a decision-making role,” Chang says, “you can have optimism that any progress you made will probably persist beyond your tenure.” You Might Also Like: Career Advice for Minorities and Women: Sharing Your Identity Can... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

10 Apr 2007
First Look

First Look: April 10, 2007

forces in a company's government, legal, and social environment. Purchase this note: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=707469 U.S. Taxation of Foreign-Source Corporate Income Harvard Business School Note 207-085 Identifies several of the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2020
Case

Ninja: Which Platform Wins Esports' Biggest Star?

By: Anita Elberse and Michal T. Leszczynski

It is July 2019, and the business of esports and gaming is booming. Tyler Blevins—better known as Ninja—has risen to stardom playing the immensely popular shooter game Fortnite. He has become the most followed streamer in the world and, helped by his management company... View Details

Keywords: Esports; Platforms; Superstar; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Internet and the Web; Personal Development and Career; Decision Making; Digital Platforms; Video Game Industry; Technology Industry