Publications

November 2017
Article

Overcoming Institutional Voids: A Reputation-Based View of Long Run Survival

By: Cheng Gao, Tiona Zuzul, Geoffrey Jones and Tarun Khanna

Emerging markets are characterized by underdeveloped institutions and frequent environmental shifts. Yet they also contain many firms that have survived over generations. How are firms in weak institutional environments able to persist over time? Motivated by 69... View Details

Keywords: Institutional Voids; Intangible Resources; Emerging Markets; Reputation; Business History

23 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 23

Publications 2013 pub Does Social Connection Turn Good Deeds into Good Feelings?: On the Value of Putting the 'Social' in Prosocial Spending By: Aknin, Lara B., Elizabeth W. Dunn, Gillian M. Sandstrom, and Michael I. Norton... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

2011
Working Paper

The Dark Side of Creativity: Original Thinkers Can Be More Dishonest

By: Francesca Gino and Dan Ariely

Creativity is a common aspiration for individuals, organizations, and societies. Here, however, we test whether creativity increases dishonesty. We propose that a creative personality and creativity primes promote individuals' motivation to think outside the box and... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Behavior; Creativity; Motivation and Incentives; Personal Characteristics

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2016
Working Paper

Overcoming Institutional Voids: A Reputation-Based View of Long Run Survival

By: Cheng Gao, Tiona Zuzul, Geoffrey Jones and Tarun Khanna

Emerging markets are characterized by underdeveloped institutions and frequent environmental shifts. Yet they also contain many firms that have survived over generations. How are firms in weak institutional environments able to persist over time? Motivated by 69... View Details

Keywords: Institutional Voids; Intangible Resources; Business Ventures; Business or Company Management; Business History; Reputation; Emerging Markets

SSRN

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05 Aug 2022
Research & Ideas

Why People Crave Feedback—and Why We’re Afraid to Give It

If you were talking with a woman and noticed a splotch of red marker on her nose, would you tell her? You’re not alone if you would prefer to remain silent. A recent study looking at whether and why people give constructive feedback found... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

2011
Working Paper

Matthew: Effect or Fable?

In a market context, a status effect occurs when actors are accorded differential recognition for their efforts depending on their location in a status ordering, holding constant the quality of these efforts. In practice, because it is very difficult to measure... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Status and Position; Measurement and Metrics; Quality

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January 2025
Supplement

Colbún’s Angostura Dam Project (B)

By: James K. Sebenius and Nicolas Andrade

The A case describes Colbún Chile’s plans for the Angostura dam in the Bío Bío River, a hydroelectric construction venture with major challenges given the region’s history of indigenous resistance. This context was especially unfavorable given the highly contentious... View Details

Keywords: Bargaining; Dam; Stakeholder Analysis; Environmental Negotiation; Negotiation; Conflict and Resolution; Alternative Energy; Natural Environment; Environmental Sustainability; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Energy Industry; Chile

08 Mar 2019
Research & Ideas

Seven Negotiation Lessons from Amazon's HQ Disaster in Queens

for granted, ever. Today, social media can quickly amplify the views of even a few vocal opponents, giving voice to latent negative concerns of many otherwise passive groups. As Amazon learned, an apparent “movement” can seemingly spring... View Details

Keywords: by James K. Sebenius; Construction; Construction

February 1997 (Revised July 2004)
Case

Walden Woods

By: William J. Poorvu and Arthur I Segel

In 1984, Mortimer Zuckerman and Ed Linde, through their firm, Boston Properties (BP), acquired land in Concord, MA to build a 147,000-square-foot, first-class suburban office building. BP proceeded to go through the permitting and approval process with the town and was... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Property; Environmental Sustainability; Conflict and Resolution; Real Estate Industry; Massachusetts

Educators

2022
Article

When Regular Meets Remarkable: Awe as a Link between Routine Work and Meaningful Self-Narratives

By: Elizabeth Sheprow and Spencer Harrison

Daily narratives of work can include a mix of ordinary actions and awe-inspiring moments that reveal a vaster, more meaningful reality. When awe is experienced in the context of work, it can prompt self-referential sensemaking about what these experiences mean for the... View Details

Keywords: Narratives; Meaning; Qualitative Method; Emotions; Identity; Employment

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September 2019
Article

The Interpersonal Costs of Dishonesty: How Dishonest Behavior Reduces Individuals' Ability to Read Others' Emotions

By: J.J. Lee, H. Hardin, B. Parmar and F. Gino

In this research, we examine the unintended consequences of dishonest behavior for one’s interpersonal abilities and subsequent ethical behavior. Specifically, we unpack how dishonest conduct can reduce one’s generalized empathic accuracy—the ability to accurately read... View Details

Keywords: Dishonesty; Empathy; Ethics; Behavior; Interpersonal Communication; Emotions; Perception

Summer 2025
Article

Are ESG Improvements Recognized? Perspectives from the Public Sentiments

By: Shaolong Wu

While Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) increasingly guides investment management and corporate agendas nowadays, public reactions to firms' ESG performance remain under-studied. This paper fills this gap by investigating whether the public picks up firms' ESG... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Public Opinion; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Governance; Investment

SSRN

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21 Jun 2010
Research & Ideas

Strategy and Execution for Emerging Markets

or in other more mature markets? In the book we discuss at length how companies adapt to these missing institutions. We also describe different kinds of institutional voids and give many examples of companies trying to adapt. “A useful starting point for managers is to... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

June 2020
Article

Lazy Prices

By: Lauren Cohen, Christopher J. Malloy and Quoc Nguyen

We explore the implications of a subtle "default" choice that firms make in their regular reporting practices, namely that firms typically repeat what they most recently reported. Using the complete history of regular quarterly and annual filings by U.S. corporations... View Details

Keywords: Default Behavior; Inertia; Firms; Disclosure; Information; Business or Company Management; Behavior; Annual Reports; Corporate Disclosure; Financial Reporting; United States

SSRN

February 1998 (Revised March 2000)
Case

Burma Pipeline, The

By: Debora L. Spar and Lane LaMure

In 1996, Unocal Corp. joined forces with the French Total company to construct an ambitious natural gas pipeline from the Andaman Sea across the southern tip of Burma and into Thailand. At an estimated cost of $1.2 billion, the pipeline was designed to bring sorely... View Details

Keywords: Political Risk; Risk Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Issues; Foreign Direct Investment; Energy Industry; Asia

Educators

29 Feb 2024
HBS Case

Beyond Goals: David Beckham's Playbook for Mobilizing Star Talent

its own right, amplified by the power of social media. “You can build a follower base that’s bigger than what traditional media can offer, and you can reproduce that talent on a much larger scale than before,” Elberse explains. “That... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Sports

06 Mar 2007
First Look

First Look: March 6, 2007

repertoire of personal qualities, including qualities that run counter to conventionally masculine scripts. Our findings point to the mutability of masculine identity as a social status achievement and to how organizations can disrupt... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

20 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Creating a Positive Professional Image

story of managing your professional image, says Roberts. You also belong to a social identity group—African American male, working mother—that brings its own stereotyping from the people you work with, especially in today's diverse... View Details

Keywords: by Mallory Stark

July 2016
Supplement

Mahindra Tool: Project Economics

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Christopher Payton

The case describes Mahindra Lifespace Developers’ (MLDL), a unit of Indian conglomerate Mahindra and Mahindra, foray into the affordable housing segment. MLDL sees a huge opportunity in selling apartments to the burgeoning population of urban workers, which is badly... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Business Startups; Development Economics; Developing Countries and Economies; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Housing; Emerging Markets; Business and Government Relations; Human Needs; Social Issues; Urban Development; Real Estate Industry; India