Publications

April 2013
Article

Making a Difference Matters: Impact Unlocks the Emotional Benefits of Prosocial Spending

By: Lara B. Aknin, Elizabeth W. Dunn, Ashley V. Whillans, Adam M. Grant and Michael I. Norton

When does giving lead to happiness? Here, we present two studies demonstrating that the emotional benefits of spending money on others (prosocial spending) are unleashed when givers are aware of their positive impact. In Study 1, an experiment using real... View Details

Keywords: Prosocial Spending; Prosocial Impact; Subjective Well Being; Donations; Happiness; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

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Article

The Collapse of First Executive Corporation: Junk Bonds, Adverse Publicity, and the Run on the Bank Phenomenon

By: S. C. Gilson, H. DeAngelo and L. DeAngelo

In April 1991, regulators seized the major subsidiaries of First Executive Corporation (FE), an insurer that invested heavily in junk bonds. During the junk bond market turmoil of 1989–1990, adverse publicity fueled a bank run at FE, forcing a $4 billion portfolio... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Bonds; Banks and Banking

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26 Sep 2023
Book

Digital Strategy: A Handbook for Managing a Moving Target

excitement and the growing enthusiasm, at times even the frenzy, about these new phenomena, on the grounds of the pressing demands on managers to deal with the new reality and on academics to understand these phenomena. “Existing strategy... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Information Technology; Technology

September 2016
Case

Partners Group: Ain't No Mountain High Enough

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Ricardo Andrade

Partners Group (PG), a Swiss-based PE manager, initiated a series of strategic shifts and evolved from a predominately fund-of-funds manager into a large, multi-asset class PE firm focused on direct investments. PG was the first PE firm to go public in 2006. A number... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Management Practices and Processes; Entrepreneurship

September 19, 2017
Article

After Equifax Breach, Companies Advised to Review Open-Source Software Code

By: Ben DiPietro and Lou Shipley

It doesn’t make much sense: At a time when high-powered automated trading systems can execute stock sales in real time, some companies that rely on open-source software to help to run their businesses track their open-source use on spread sheets on paper.
Lou... View Details

Keywords: Software; Open-source; Security Vulnerabilities; Data Privacy; Hack; Applications and Software; Safety; Cybersecurity

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January 2005 (Revised June 2005)
Case

The Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey

Harvard Real Estate Services executives need to design the 2005 Graduate Student Housing Survey for maximum impact in anticipation of Harvard's long-term expansion project in Allston. Students are challenged to help executives in charge to (1) draw the lessons from... View Details

Keywords: Design; Surveys; Housing; Higher Education; Boston

12 Dec 2005
Research & Ideas

Using the Law to Strategic Advantage

to police its trademark by preventing others from using it to refer to something other than the Real Thing. Shareholder value is enhanced when a firm chooses an appropriate form of business organization, ranging from a limited liability... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Legal Services

06 Sep 2005
Research & Ideas

The Best Place for Retirement Funds

or an equity mutual fund that holds low-dividend stocks and passes through little in the way of realized capital gains. A high-tax asset might be a standard corporate bond, since the interest payments on a bond held in a taxable account... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen

31 Oct 2016
Research & Ideas

Quantitative Easing Didn’t Ease the Housing Crisis for the Neediest

debt. QE3 saw the Fed add a little more than $800 billion each of mortgage-backed securities and long-term Treasury debt. “We find that such a strategy would have allowed more households in distressed areas to lower their monthly payments... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

Article

How a Fast-Growing Startup Built Its Sales Team for Long-Term Success

By: Frank V. Cespedes and David Mattson

It’s common for leaders of sales teams to focus almost exclusively on short-term tactics and current operations while failing to think and act in a way that supports the longer-term needs of their businesses—and it’s hard to fault them. The biggest problem with a... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Salesforce Management; Management Practices and Processes

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June 2013 (Revised February 2014)
Case

FanMode: Launching a Global Sports Venture

By: Shikhar Ghosh, William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell

Neven Murugan is developing FanMode, an app that allows sports fans all over the world to broadcast their reactions in real time into stadiums where their team is playing. It also provides social networking across sports fans. The company is growing, and its founders... View Details

Keywords: App Development; Location Choices; Structure Of The Firm; Global; Entrepreneurship; Social Media; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United Kingdom; South Africa

26 Sep 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, September 26, 2017

during the AFC. Regression estimates suggest that the relationship between leverage, exchange rate depreciations, and corporate financial distress is time varying. Also, a central finding is that firm size is correlated with corporate... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 May 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Repugnance as a Constraint on Markets

Keywords: by Alvin Roth

31 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 31

increase in experience, consistent with learning on the job. Answerers who focus on particular question categories provide answers of higher quality but earn lower pay per hour (perhaps reflecting a lack of versatility). Answers provided during the business day receive... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2012 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Companion Diagnostics: Uncertainties for Approval and Reimbursement

By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Norman C. Selby and Phillip Andrews

The FDA approvals of novel therapeutics were seen as signs in the personalized medicine community of real progress in the growth of personalized medicine. The FDA's approval of such drugs, along with companion diagnostics, suggested a shift in thinking and regulatory... View Details

Keywords: Models Of Reimbursement; Personalized Medicine; Regulation; Healthcare Reform; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; United States

03 Nov 2016
Op-Ed

Forget About Making College Affordable; Make it a Good Investment

full time experience malemployment rates in excess of 27 percent and typically make little more than workers with no postsecondary education credentials. So why is it that people with a bachelor’s degree have enjoyed unemployment rates... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph Fuller; Education

02 Dec 2019
What Do You Think?

How Does a Company like Boeing Respond to Intense Competitive Pressure?

Andreas Haas How Does an Organization Like Boeing Coordinate Work Under Intense Competitive Pressure? Our case study on Boeing this month unfolded in real time, leading up to a second critical glitch on one of their products, this View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Air Transportation

February 2011
Case

oDesk: Changing How the World Works

By: Boris Groysberg, David A. Thomas and Jennifer M. Tydlaska

It is 2010, and Gary Swart, CEO of oDesk, is contemplating the next steps for his organization. Founded in 2004 in California, oDesk operates an online marketplace which matches Employers with Contractors. oDesk provides fact-based information on Contractors, including... View Details

Keywords: Recruitment; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Digital Platforms; Marketplace Matching; Corporate Strategy; Internet and the Web; Consulting Industry