Tragedy Of The Commons - Publications - Faculty & Research

04 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Predictions, Prophets, and Restarting Your Business

and make decisions based on assumptions about the future. The problem: Most of these prophecies about what is to come are basically straight-line extrapolations View Details

Keywords: by Frank V. Cespedes

03 Nov 2016
Op-Ed

Forget About Making College Affordable; Make it a Good Investment

The August 2016 cover of Consumer Reports featured a striking quote by a 32-year-old nurse with $152,000 in student loans: “I kind of ruined my life by going to college.” While... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph Fuller; Education

03 Nov 2022
Op-Ed

Feeling Separation Anxiety at Your Startup? 5 Tips to Soothe These Growing Pains

manager’s back to get the CTO’s opinions on their work or they try to undermine a decision made by the new head of a department by complaining to View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

17 Oct 2007
Research & Ideas

Why Global Brands Work

bureaucracy in which regional managers exaggerate the need for local adaptations to defend their turf; and a deteriorating market share, financial performance, and stock price. Fords worldwide should have a View Details

Keywords: by John A. Quelch; Auto

19 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

Unlocking Your Investment Capital

Many companies can double or even triple their capacity to invest in strategic assets and competencies by properly managing their "risk balance sheet," argues Harvard Business School professor Robert C. Merton. In a provocative article on View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen; Financial Services

26 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

Yes, You Can Raise Prices in a Downturn

profit. This much is clear and part of everyday commercial language. But interestingly, there is no common phrase for the spread between customer value and price. Economists... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail; Consumer Products

15 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

Black Swans and Big Trends Can Ruin Anyone's Internet Prediction

skepticism, are beginning to overdose. The bust likes to think of itself as a radical departure from the boom, but it has in common with it one... View Details

Keywords: by Thomas R. Eisenmann; Technology

21 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

7 Successful Battle Strategies to Beat COVID-19

and tools; (2) working prototypes over excessive documentation; (3) respond to change rather than follow a plan; and (4) customer collaboration over rigid contracts. "To paraphrase Sun Tzu, true victory is breaking the resistance... View Details

Keywords: by Euvin Naidoo

27 Aug 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

Learning From Japan’s Remarkable Disaster Recovery

It's common in Harvard Business School classrooms to discuss the "pivot," the moment an enterprise changes direction to pursue a new strategy. On a visit to eastern... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Energy; Utilities; Retail

06 Jan 2011
What Do You Think?

How Should Management Deal With “Anonymous”?

Summing Up The title of this wrap-up and the one that accompanied this month's original column basically just deletes "Wikileaks." The... View Details

Keywords: by James L. Heskett

28 May 2007
Research & Ideas

How Property Ownership Changes Your World View

What happens when a person owns property? Aside from the well-established financial benefits of equity and potential access to credit, there is the equally strong pull View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

23 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Historically Speaking: A Roundtable at HBS

Business History at HBS traces its roots back to 1927 when it was part of a course in business policy. But the golden age for this area of study at View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner

11 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

Sexual Harassment: What Employers Should Do Now

chick” and said she performed surgery “like a girl.” Jurors ultimately awarded her $168 million, the largest judgment for a single victim of workplace harassment in United States history. Years later, sexual... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

25 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

Book Excerpt: ‘Can China Lead?’

universities today boast superb scholars and among the world's best students. But these students are also forced to sit through courses in Party ideology. They learn a simplified book version of View Details

Keywords: Re: William C. Kirby & F. Warren McFarlan; Education; Technology

09 Nov 2015
Research & Ideas

These Employers Pay Higher Salaries than Necessary

demand model, Stanton and Thomas estimate that hand-holding premium accounts for about two-thirds of the price increase for first-time users, while markups represent the other... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Employment; Technology; Computer

20 Sep 2012
Research & Ideas

US Competitiveness at Risk

for granted in America. Interestingly, they actually invested in building the commons elsewhere because they realized its importance—but in the process, over a number View Details

Keywords: Re: Michael E. Porter & Jan W. Rivkin

13 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Rescuing Products with Stealth Positioning

first, it has to undo the common perception that the product is an intimidating machine for guys. As part of its strategy, in July 2003, Sony... View Details

Keywords: by Youngme Moon

23 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 23, 2008

Working PapersSecuring Online Advertising: Rustlers and Sheriffs in the New Wild West Author:Benjamin G. Edelman Abstract Read the news of recent computer security guffaws,... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

22 Dec 2003
Research & Ideas

Why Negotiation is Like Jazz

The Pattern While certain improvisations are more common in some types of negotiations than others, there is no ideal form. Try to guide your negotiation toward View Details

Keywords: by Kathleen L. McGinn

22 Aug 2006
First Look

First Look: August 22, 2006

development? This paper attempts to answer this question by examining the history of bond markets and creditor rights in Brazil as well as evidence of creditor rights... View Details