Publications

June 2009 (Revised January 2011)
Case

Target Corporation: Ackman versus the Board

By: Krishna G. Palepu, Suraj Srinivasan and James Weber

After 15 years of great performance, Target's faltering performance during an economic downturn led an activist shareholder to initiate a proxy fight. Target Corporation, the second largest discount store retailer in the U.S., had competed successfully against industry... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Investment Activism; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business Strategy; Value; Retail Industry

2010
Working Paper

On the Descriptive Value of Loss Aversion in Decisions under Risk

By: Eyal Ert and Ido Erev

Five studies are presented that explore the assertion that losses loom larger than gains. The first two studies reveal equal sensitivity to gains and losses. For example, half of the participants preferred the gamble "1000 with probability 0.5; -1000 otherwise"... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Research; Risk and Uncertainty; Behavior; Loss

October 2013
Article

The Cheater's High: The Unexpected Affective Benefits of Unethical Behavior

By: N. E. Ruedy, C. Moore, F. Gino and M. Schweitzer

Many theories of moral behavior assume that unethical behavior triggers negative affect. In this paper, we challenge this assumption and demonstrate that unethical behavior can trigger positive affect, which we term a "cheater's high." Across six studies, we find that... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Behavior; Satisfaction; Decision Making

Find at Harvard

25 Oct 2023
Blog Post

HBS Career Journeys | Laetitia Tiani Vessah

HBS Career & Professional Development sat down with students to talk about their career journeys. For Laetitia Tiani Vessah (MBA 2023), it was her family that inspired her to pursue entrepreneurship through acquisition. She shares the benefits of leveraging her... View Details

April 2004 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Confronting a Necessary Evil: The Firing of Alex Robins (A)

By: Joshua D. Margolis

A manager recounts his experience firing the person he was asked to replace and reflects on the challenges of the experience. Teaching Purpose: To role-play and reflect on tasks that entail harming other people to fulfill one's responsibility. View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Problems and Challenges; Leadership Development; Behavior; Decision Making; Resignation and Termination

07 Sep 2012
News

Who's responsible for your happiness at work?

December 2003 (Revised April 2005)
Case

Camilla Denison (A)

By: H. Kent Bowen, Bryce LaPierre and Virginia Fuller

Follows a successful manager as she takes on challenging assignments to lead manufacturing and development organizations. Details many experiences that influenced her character and attitudes from her youth to her graduate education and first jobs. Students discover the... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Success; Management Skills; Experience and Expertise

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Web

Faculty & Advisors | MBA

acquisition by Novartis; Vice President of Portfolio Management at Potenza Therapeutics prior to its acquisition; and founding Senior Director, Program Management at Tizona Therapeutics. Eileen has over 20 years of experience in health... View Details

23 Jul 2018
Blog Post

Summer Snapshot: Interning at a Robotics Start-Up

and Co-Founder. I didn’t have prior experience in agriculture space, therefore I have conducted many interviews with industry experts, academics, potential customers, and attended the nationwide United Fresh Show to learn more. I have... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technology

2017
Working Paper

Homophily in Entrepreneurial Team Formation

By: Paul A. Gompers, Kevin Huang and Sophie Q. Wang

We study the role of homophily in group formation. Using a unique dataset of MBA students, we observe homophily in ethnicity and gender increases the probability of forming teams by 25%. Homophily in education and past working experience increases the probability of... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Diversity; Familiarity; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Performance

SSRN

April 2015
Teaching Plan

Codecademy: Monetizing a Movement?

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Lisa Mazzanti

This is a Teaching Plan for the case on Codecademy, an open-platform, online community for learning computer programming, launched in 2011. By 2014, the company had raised a total of $12.5 million in funding and was, on many fronts, an overwhelming success. However,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Internet and the Web; Open Source Distribution; Social Entrepreneurship; Education

2009
Working Paper

The Devil Wears Prada: Effects of Exposure to Luxury Goods on Cognition and Decision Making

By: Roy Y.J. Chua and Xi Zou

Although the concept of luxury has been widely discussed in social theories and marketing research, relatively little research has directly examined the psychological consequences of exposure to luxury goods. This paper demonstrates that mere exposure to luxury goods... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Judgments; Ethics; Marketing; Behavior; Power and Influence; Luxury

2024
Working Paper

Anytime-Valid Inference in Linear Models and Regression-Adjusted Causal Inference

By: Michael Lindon, Dae Woong Ham, Martin Tingley and Iavor I. Bojinov

Linear regression adjustment is commonly used to analyze randomized controlled experiments due to its efficiency and robustness against model misspecification. Current testing and interval estimation procedures leverage the asymptotic distribution of such estimators to... View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Analytics and Data Science

31 May 2015
News

The trend towards board term limits is based on faulty logic

Career Coach

Pamela Harder

Pam (HBS / HKS ‘13, Stanford ‘08 Economics) has spent the last 12 years working at the nexus of business and government. Currently, she runs Virginia's state-wide economic development talent investment strategy. As a Managing Director within state government's economic... View Details

Keywords: Consulting; Education; Emerging Markets; Government; Social Enterprise; Venture Capital; Financial Services (All); Energy; Consumer Finance; Financial Services (All); Impact Investing; Financial Services (All)

July 1999
Background Note

Management Development Plan In A Family Business, The

By: John A. Davis

Defines management development objectives for family members employed in their family business. Outlines a process of putting these individuals on a career path to provide them with needed developmental experiences while respecting the broader needs of the... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Organizations; Leadership Development; Experience and Expertise

June 2021
Case

Bozoma Saint John: Leading with Authenticity and Urgency

By: Francesca Gino and Frances X. Frei

In this multimedia case, Bozoma Saint John recounts numerous defining moments from her childhood and work experiences. We learn what empowered and inspired her to be her authentic self, to be vulnerable and open to new experiences, to find commonality with others, to... View Details

Keywords: Biases; Personal Development and Career; Identity; Interests; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Opportunities; Leadership Style; Diversity