Publications

Read Now

21 Nov 2022
Research & Ideas

Buy Now, Pay Later: How Retail's Hot Feature Hurts Low-Income Shoppers

citing a December 2020 survey from data firm Cardify. [div class=infogram-embed data-id=_/jDkUSqXh5u6Gl9G77NLQ][/div] Detailed consumer data for BNPL hasn’t been easy to analyze previously because transactions aren’t reported publicly or... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Retail; Financial Services; Technology

2019
Book

Problem Solving: HBS Alumni Making a Difference in the World

By: Howard H. Stevenson, Russ Banham and Shirley Spence

Problem Solving is the culmination of four years of research conducted by a small project team from 2015 through 2018 in collaboration with HBS alumni, students, faculty, and staff. Its broad and deep knowledge base is derived from a survey of 13 MBA classes... View Details

Keywords: Harvard Business School; Alumni; Influence; Social Responsibility; Humanitarianism

25 Jun 2012
Research & Ideas

Collaborating Across Cultures

of survey and experimental research to focus on a key measure psychologists have dubbed "cultural metacognition." The term refers to a person's reflective thinking about his or her cultural assumptions. It... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

30 May 2023
Research & Ideas

Can AI Predict Whether Shoppers Would Pick Crest or Colgate?

Companies have long poured time and money into surveying customers. Now, with new research showing artificial intelligence provides plenty of rich data about shopper preferences, could customer View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

2020
Article

A Practical Approach to Sales Compensation: What Do We Know Now? What Should We Know in the Future?

By: Doug J. Chung, Byungyeon Kim and Niladri B. Syam

Personal selling represents one of the most important elements in the marketing mix, and appropriate management of the sales force is vital to achieving the organization’s objectives. Among the various instruments of sales management, compensation plays a pivotal role... View Details

Keywords: Sales Compensation; Sales Management; Sales Strategy; Principal-agent Theory; Structural Econometrics; Field Experiments; Machine Learning; Artificial Intelligence; Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; AI and Machine Learning

Read Now

February 2018
Case

Qualtrics (A)

By: Doug J. Chung and James M. Lattin

Qualtrics was an online survey research platform and since the beginning, the company had relied entirely on an inside sales model—sales done remotely without face-to-face contact with clients. The low-cost inside sales model, along with an emphasis on a strong sales... View Details

Keywords: Sales Strategy; Inside Sales Model; Sales; Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation

Educators

30 May 2018
Research & Ideas

Should Retailers Match Their Own Prices Online and in Stores?

study is the first to look at whether self-matching pays off as a pricing strategy. “When you talk to millennials in particular, you find out they accept that prices don’t have to be the same across channels” The researchers View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail

2022
Working Paper

Capitalism and Global Governance in Business History: A Roundtable Discussion

By: Sabine Pitteloud, Grace Ballor, Patricia Clavin, Nicolás M. Perrone, Neil Rollings and Quinn Slobodian

This working paper brings together a diverse group of scholars to discuss the historiography of capitalism, business history and global governance and lay the foundations for further research in this area. Grace Ballor and Sabine Pitteloud open the discussion with a... View Details

Keywords: Capitalism; Business History; Multinational Corporation; Business And Government Relations; Business And Society; Business And The Environment; International Relations; Regulation; Business Interest Association; Lobbying; Private Governance; State-business Relations; Political Risk; Neo-Liberalism; Governance; Globalized Firms and Management; Government and Politics

SSRN

Read Now

25 Jun 2018
Research & Ideas

In America, Immigrants Really Do Get the Job Done

for policy choices.” Kerr, the Dimitri V. D’Arbeloff–MBA Class of 1955 Professor of Business Administration, has researched the economic effects of global migration of workers for more than a decade, sometimes partnering with his wife,... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Agriculture & Agribusiness; Technology; Service

13 Jun 2022
Research & Ideas

Extroverts, Your Colleagues Wish You Would Just Shut Up and Listen

capable and gregarious people,” says Collins. “I assumed that they would be seen as good listeners as well, because, in my mind, that's part of being sociable.” Friendlier but less attentive? The researchers conducted six studies... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

21 Nov 2019
Research & Ideas

Do TV Debates Sway Voters?

debates have only a negligible effect on voters’ candidate choice, according to new research from Harvard Business School. In fact, 72 percent of voters make up their minds more than two months before the election, often before candidates... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

29 Nov 2021
Research & Ideas

How Bonuses Get Employees to Choose Work Over Family

likely to spend extra time on a project with team members than those not eligible for extra rewards. Willing to give up happiness to spend time with colleagues. The research team also studied US Census time-use View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Kim Raczka

06 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

Latest Isn’t Always Greatest: Why Product Updates Capture Consumers

research suggests that marketers are well aware of the power of calling something “revised” as a means of selling products. A survey conducted by the researchers with former... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Consumer Products; Retail

December 2013
Article

The Costs of Ambient Cultural Disharmony: Indirect Intercultural Conflicts in Social Environment Undermine Creativity

By: Roy Y.J. Chua

Intercultural tensions and conflicts are inevitable in the global workplace. This paper introduces the concept of ambient cultural disharmony—indirect experience of intercultural tensions and conflicts in individuals' immediate social environment—and demonstrates how... View Details

Keywords: Creativity; Culture

2015
Article

International Trade, Multinational Activity, and Corporate Finance

By: C. Fritz Foley and Kalina Manova

An emerging new literature brings unique ideas from corporate finance to the study of international trade and investment. Insights about differences in the development of financial institutions across countries, the role of financial constraints, and the use of... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Investment; Trade; Corporate Finance