Publications
Publications
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(1,032)
- Faculty Publications (202)
- 2007
- Working Paper
A Taste For Obscurity: An Individual-Level Examination of 'Long Tail' Consumption
By: Anita Elberse
Because online retailers are often able to provide products in a more cost-efficient manner than bricks-and-mortar stores, online channels are characterized by a vast assortment of products. Proponents of the "long tail" principle recently argued that the demand for... View Details
- January 2007 (Revised November 2007)
- Case
Organic Growth at Wal-Mart
By: Jan W. Rivkin and Troy Smith
In 2005, an executive vice president at Wal-Mart must decide whether to expand the retailer's selection of organic food. The decision is made in the context of wider attempts to move the giant retailer slightly upscale and to focus on environmental sustainability. View Details
- 2006
- Working Paper
Future Lock-In: Future Implementation Increases Selection of 'Should' Choices
By: Todd Rogers and Max H. Bazerman
People often experience tension over certain choices (e.g., they should reduce their gas consumption or increase their savings, but they do not want to). Some posit that this tension arises from the competing interests of a deliberative "should" self and... View Details
- April 2006 (Revised March 2007)
- Case
Drexel Burnham Lambert (A): "The Smartest People on Wall Street Can be Had"
By: Boris Groysberg, Anahita Hashemi and Brendan Reed
In February 1990, Drexel Burnham Lambert declared bankruptcy amid a slew of scandals. Equities chief Arthur Kirsch hoped to keep his high-performing 600-person team intact. Could he find a company that would take on such a massive group hire? Competitors were already... View Details
- April 2006
- Background Note
Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World: Module 1: Innovation and Uncertainty
Describes the first module of a Harvard Business School 30-session elective course called Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World. The course helps students understand the challenges that uncertainty implies for innovation and how to overcome these challenges. The... View Details
- June 2005
- Article
Compensatory Transfers in Two-Player Decision Problems
By: Jerry R. Green
This paper presents an axiomatic characterization of a family of solutions to two-player quasi-linear social choice problems. In these problems the players select a single action from a set available to them. They may also transfer money between... View Details
- November 2004 (Revised March 2007)
- Case
10 Uncommon Values®: Optimizing the Stock-Selection Process
By: Paul M. Healy and Boris Groysberg
In 2003, Steve Hash, research director at Lehman Brothers, prepared to initiate the firm's "Ten Uncommon Values" stock-picking process for the year. An investment committee had to pick the 10 best stocks from about 100 stock ideas presented by the firm's analysts. The... View Details
- September 2004 (Revised August 2007)
- Case
Enterprise IT at Cisco (2004)
By: Andrew P. McAfee, F. Warren McFarlan and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld
Illustrates the challenges associated with centralizing IT decisions at Cisco after a decade of decentralized planning and project funding. When Brad Boston became Cisco's new CIO in 2001, he found that managers were starting to get frustrated with the results of their... View Details
- October 2003 (Revised November 2006)
- Case
GE's Talent Machine: The Making of a CEO
By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Andrew N. McLean
GE believes its ability to develop management talent is a core competency that represents a source of sustainable competitive advantage. This case traces the development of GE's rich system of human resource policies and practices under five CEOs in the post-war era,... View Details
- October 2003 (Revised January 2004)
- Case
The 2001 Crisis in Argentina: An IMF-Sponsored Default? (A)
By: Rafael M. Di Tella and Ingrid Vogel
At the end of 2001, Argentina's economy and society both appeared on the verge of collapse. Furious about controls imposed on the convertibility of their bank deposits into cash (the "corralito") and huge proposed government spending cuts amidst high unemployment and... View Details
- July 2003 (Revised January 2004)
- Case
Carol Brewer's Investments
By: Richard S. Ruback and Julia Stevens
Following her husband's death in 1994, Carol Brewer took over the management of her family's investments. This case describes the decisions Brewer made during this process, including her choice to seek active account management, her selection of an investment firm, and... View Details
- July 2003 (Revised March 2004)
- Case
XM Satellite Radio (A)
By: David B. Godes and Elie Ofek
XM Satellite Radio is a radically new way to listen to radio. Management must develop a marketing strategy to launch the firm and the category. A crucial aspect of the strategy is to determine which of two business models the company will pursue. Should it focus... View Details
- May 2003
- Background Note
Customer Management Strategy in Business Markets
By: Das Narayandas
Describes in detail customer management strategies in business markets, including selection decisions, design and management of customer relationship strategies, monitoring the health of customer relations, and linking the vendors' customer management effort to... View Details
- February 2003
- Background Note
Leading Teams
This note which describes the architecture and processes that characterize effective teams, begins by detailing the steps involved in designing a team, from diagnosing the complexity, interdependence, and objectives of the task to harnessing the key resources teams... View Details
- February 2003 (Revised October 2003)
- Case
Cable Data Systems
By: Paul W. Marshall and Todd H Thedinga
Describes the operating challenges of Cable Data Systems (CDS), a minority-owned cable installation company with a dual mission of maximizing profits and providing employment opportunities to minorities in urban markets. Following the merger of two cable installation... View Details
- September 2002 (Revised January 2003)
- Case
A-Rod: Signing the Best Player in Baseball
This case analyzes a large investment decision considered by the Texas Rangers in 2000: whether to spend $252 million for the services of shortstop Alex Rodriguez. The signing was probably the most controversial sports contract of the past decade. View Details
- August 2002 (Revised August 2003)
- Case
Electronic Arts Introduces The Sims Online
By: Youngme E. Moon
Electronic Arts (EA), the world's largest independent game publisher, is preparing to launch an online, subscription-based version of the most popular PC game in history: The Sims. The new game is called "The Sims Online" and it differs from the original game in two... View Details
- May 2002 (Revised January 2006)
- Case
SG Cowen: New Recruits
By: Thomas J. DeLong and Vineeta Vijayaraghavan
Chip Rae, director of recruiting at SG Cowen, must decide which recruits to keep after the final interview process for new outside associate hires. Along with team captains assigned to each school, he reviews the criteria used to make hiring decisions. Their new... View Details
- April 2001 (Revised November 2001)
- Case
AvantGo
By: Alan D. MacCormack and Kerry Herman
Richard Owen, CEO of AvantGo, is preparing for a meeting in which he will set the human resource policy for the firm going forward. It has been three months since the company's IPO, and given the tremendous cramp in hiring over the six months prior to the IPO, he knows... View Details
- April 2001 (Revised July 2001)
- Case
Zaplet, Inc.
By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Brian DeLacey
Start-up Zaplet, Inc., has radical software, prestigious venture capital funding, and a multitude of business opportunities. New CEO Alan Baratz must select a strategy and redesign the organization to deliver. This case describes the roles and philosophies of the... View Details