Publications

2023
Working Paper

How People Use Statistics

By: Pedro Bordalo, John J. Conlon, Nicola Gennaioli, Spencer Yongwook Kwon and Andrei Shleifer

We document two new facts about the distributions of answers in famous statistical problems: they are i) multi-modal and ii) unstable with respect to irrelevant changes in the problem. We offer a model in which, when solving a problem, people represent each hypothesis... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Microeconomics; Mathematical Methods; Behavioral Finance

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05 Aug 2015
News

Activist Investors Are Shaking Up Business Schools, Too

29 Apr 2015
News

Using Personal Experience to Pick Winning Stocks

08 Jan 2018
News

Associate Professor John Beshears Wins TIAA Paul A. Samuelson Award

January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
Case

Juno (A): Leveraging Student Power

By: Joshua Schwartzstein, Kathleen L. McGinn and Amy Klopfenstein

In March 2020, Chris Abkarians and Nikhil Agarwal were in the midst of preparing the annual auction for their student loan assistance startup, Juno. Both current MBA students at Harvard Business School, the duo founded Juno in 2018 to leverage student bargaining power... View Details

02 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

Is 'Gut Feel' a Good Reason to Invest in a Startup?

overly risky.” Unlike most situations where making an important decision based on gut feel is seen as a negative, venture capitalists and angel investors often brag about the wisdom of their midsections. “They have a lot of pride in how... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

30 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Managing the Family Business: Preparing to Sell

the family business. The portrait of the business would also typically represent more than 90 percent of the owners' wealth. “If this transition is not managed well, the family has a higher risk of losing its wealth through bad investment View Details

Keywords: by Jonathan Pellegrin; Food & Beverage; Retail

September 1990 (Revised December 1990)
Case

Kaiser Steel Corporation, 1972

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and William Schiano

Addresses corporate restructuring. Asks students to consider how Kaiser should respond to strong competition from imported steel. Focuses particularly on labor relations in the U.S. steel industry and the feedback from contract negotiations and wage settlements into... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Decisions; Investment; Contracts; Negotiation; Labor and Management Relations; Competition; Steel Industry; United States

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September 2023
Case

Ada: Cultivating Investors

By: Reza Satchu and Patrick Sanguineti

Mike Murchison, co-founder and CEO of Ada, has an enviable dilemma. Launched in 2016 by Murchison and his co-founder David Hariri, Ada is an AI-native company that aims to revolutionize how businesses approach customer service. The company has already attracted a buzz,... View Details

Keywords: Founder; Fundraising; Business Startups; Decisions; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Industry

August 2010 (Revised November 2010)
Supplement

Cosmeticos de Espana, S.A. (C)

By: David F. Hawkins

The third case in the Cosmeticos de Espana case series. What should management's accounting response be to a further devaluation of the Bolivar? View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Decision Choices and Conditions; Inflation and Deflation; Currency Exchange Rate; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Spain; Venezuela

May 2000 (Revised January 2003)
Case

Health Development Corporation

By: Richard S. Ruback

Health Development Corp. (HDC) owns and operates health clubs in the Greater Boston area. HDC engaged a local investment banker to explore a sale of the company. The most likely buyer views HDC's prior purchase of real estate as a negative. HDC's management is... View Details

Keywords: Cash Flow; Property; Business Exit or Shutdown; Valuation; Value; Decisions; Health Industry; Boston

April 2010
Supplement

Metabical: Pricing, Packaging, and Demand Forecasting Recommendations for a New Weight Loss Drug, Spreadsheet Supplement (Brief Case)

By: John A. Quelch and Heather Beckham

Keywords: Return On Investment; Forecasting; Pricing Policies; Demand Planning; Demand and Consumers; Price; Forecasting and Prediction; Investment Return

15 Oct 2019
News

In Pursuit of Academia

the work and knowing that a consulting salary would help mitigate the debt she and her husband, Alberto Fernandes (MBA 2012), had acquired to finance their degrees, she turned down the company’s offer of postgraduation employment.... View Details

01 Oct 1996
News

New Releases

two being able to find synopses of Harvard Business School research on hundreds of topics. Would you like to know more, for example, about the investment and financing decisions that are made during the... View Details

18 Jun 2007
Op-Ed

Leveling the Executive Options Playing Field

appear before you today to discuss the accounting and tax treatment of incentive compensation. I am an associate professor of finance at Harvard Business School and a faculty research fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research.... View Details

Keywords: by Mihir Desai

January 2021
Case

Rio Tinto Aluminum: Can Purpose Lead to Profit?

By: David Fubini and Agastya Muthanna

This case describes the tradeoffs Rio Tinto faces as it considers investments to ensure environmentally friendly, sustainability produced aluminum with the potential risks of competitive pricing and profit loses. View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Investment; Price; Competition; Profit; Cost vs Benefits; Mining Industry

May 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Teaching Note

Lincoln Financial Meets the Financial Crisis (TN)

By: Robert C. Pozen

Teaching Note for 310137. View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Decisions; Capital; Cost; Private Sector; Government and Politics; Compensation and Benefits; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Insurance; Insurance Industry

December 2010
Supplement

Fortis Industries, Inc. (B)

Describes whether the company adopts the price-flex policy discussed in the (A) case. Price increase in steel strapping raw materials is rescinded by steel industry. View Details

Keywords: Price; Decision Making; Steel Industry