Ideas - Publications - Faculty & Research

28 May 2024
In Practice

Job Search Advice for a Tough Market: Think Broadly and Stay Flexible

to Lead Your Company Doesn't Work There—Yet Feedback or ideas to share? Email the Working Knowledge team at hbswk@hbs.edu. Image created using asset from Midjourney, an artificial intelligence tool. View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

12 Sep 2023
Research & Ideas

How Can Financial Advisors Thrive in Shifting Markets? Diversify, Diversify, Diversify

those with growth in assets under management, revenue, and number of clients. Two firms take different paths Di Maggio says the ideas are best illustrated by looking at two firms from the study, both founded around the same time in the... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Financial Services

02 Jan 2024
What Do You Think?

Do Boomerang CEOs Get a Bad Rap?

Schultz at Starbucks, Ron Shaich at Panera Bread, and Charles Schwab. Those who oppose the idea characterize the decision as a board’s way of taking the easy path, not doing its primary job of managing CEO succession adequately. They... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

November 2007
Article

Solve the Succession Crisis by Growing Inside-Outside Leaders

By: Joseph L. Bower

This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading. In his interviews and data analysis, Harvard Business School professor Bower found... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Leadership Development; Management Practices and Processes; Management Succession; Planning

Citation

Find at Harvard

Conquer the most essential adaptation to the knowledge economy

The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth offers practical guidance for teams and organizations who... View Details

12 Apr 2022
Book

Racism, Colonialism, and Britain's Legacy of Violence

Britain’s 20th century empire was the largest in human history, with a quarter of the world’s land and nearly 700 million people. Yet the empire drew its strength from violence. That’s the conclusion Harvard Business School Professor Caroline Elkins draws in her new... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

July–August 2021
Article

Lowering the Bar? External Conditions, Opportunity Costs, and High-Tech Startup Outcomes

By: Annamaria Conti and Maria P. Roche

We assess the heterogeneous impact of economic downturns on individuals’ decisions to bring high-technology ideas to the market in the form of new ventures. We thereby examine how worsening labor market conditions influence individuals’ opportunity costs of starting... View Details

Keywords: Necessity Entrepreneurship; Economic Conditions; Recessions; High-tech Startups; Opportunity Costs; Entrepreneurship; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Business Startups; Information Technology; Performance; Labor

Citation

Find at Harvard

May 2018
Article

Advice Giving: A Subtle Pathway to Power

By: M. Schaerer, L.P. Tost, L. Huang, F. Gino and R. P. Larrick

We propose that interpersonal behaviors can activate feelings of power, and we examine this idea in the context of advice giving. Specifically, we show a) that advice giving is an interpersonal behavior that enhances individuals’ sense of power and b) that those who... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Behavior; Power and Influence

Citation

Find at Harvard

September 2013 (Revised November 2015)
Case

Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company?

By: Willy Shih

Jon Flint came up with the idea of a science-based beauty company while talking with his hairdresser about the problems with typical hair and skin care products. Together with a small team that included Professor Robert Langer of MIT, he committed to assemble a team... View Details

Citation

Educators

Purchase

17 Feb 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

How Entrepreneurs Can Find the Right Problem to Solve

learn by doing. These tests lean toward solution building, but the idea is that you’re doing tests without building anything, or building very little, to get clarity on the problem and the customer. Common forms of these tests include:... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

31 Oct 2023
Research & Ideas

Beyond the 'Business Case' in DEI: 6 Steps Toward Meaningful Change

Loudest Voice in DEI Decisions? Unpacking That Icky Feeling of 'Shopping' for Diverse Job Candidates Who Has Potential? For Many White Men, It’s Often Other White Men Feedback or ideas to share? Email the Working Knowledge team at... View Details

Keywords: by Katherine Hutt Scott and Barbara DeLollis

04 Jun 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Can a Continuously-Liquidating Tontine (or Mutual Inheritance Fund) Succeed where Immediate Annuities Have Floundered?

Keywords: by Julio J. Rotemberg; Financial Services

26 Jan 2010
First Look

First Look: Jan. 26

List: Breakthrough Ideas for 2010," which is compiled by this journal in collaboration with the World Economic Forum. The ten problems and the innovative solutions are discussed in each essay. This particular essay describes research... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Web

Behavioral Finance & Financial Stability

40%. See Andrea’s other research here , Marco’s other research here , Francesco’s other research here , and Augustin’s other research here . More Info Reflexivity in Credit Markets By: Robin Greenwood , Samuel G. Hanson & Lawrence Jin APR 2019 Reflexivity is the View Details

01 Apr 2024
In Practice

Navigating the Mood of Customers Weary of Price Hikes

Something Rare? Buy Now, Pay Later: How Retail's Hot Feature Hurts Low-Income Shoppers Feedback or ideas to share? Email the Working Knowledge team at hbswk@hbs.edu. Image: Illustration by HBSWK. Photos from AdobeStock/Michele and... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Retail; Consumer Products

24 Mar 2008
Research & Ideas

Reducing Risk with Online Advertising

pleased. The idea here is to make everyone better off, except of course the fraudsters. Q: What would it take to eliminate the remaining potential for fraud? A: It's hard. For fraudsters whose profit margin is extreme, I don't have a tool... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Video Game; Web Services

Web

MBA Experience - Leadership

leadership. Field Immersion Experiences for Leadership Development (FIELD) FIELD is a year-long, two-part course that gives first-year students meaningful and numerous opportunities to act like leaders, while translating their ideas into... View Details

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

The Presentation of Self in the Information Age

Keywords: by John A. Deighton; Advertising

February 2025
Article

Deep Responsibility, SDGs, and Asia: A Historical Perspective

By: Geoffrey Jones

Although it was only in 2015 the 17 SDGs were adopted by UN Member States, many of the underlying ideas can be found in the strategies of some businesses going back to the nineteenth century. Asia was the home of many of the most advanced concepts of business... View Details

Keywords: ESG; Multinational Corporation; Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Governance; Leadership; Asia

Citation

Register to Read

August 2019 (Revised September 2019)
Case

Dirk Nowitzki: Changing the Game

By: Boris Groysberg, Sascha L. Schmidt and Evan M.S. Hecht

NBA Superstar Dirk Nowitzki was unsure whether the 2018–2019 season would be his last as an NBA player. He had not faced such uncertainty since 1998, when he had navigated a difficult decision regarding the timing of his move to the NBA. He also did not know what he... View Details