by Michael Luca - Publications - Faculty & Research

06 Jan 2012
Op-Ed

Where Green Corporate Ratings Fail

impossible feat, claimed by a growing number of companies, is achieved by calculating the greenhouse-gas emissions of the organization's operations, investing in energy efficiency and other methods to reduce... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Toffel & Auden Schendler; Information; Publishing

28 Mar 2016
Research & Ideas

What's a Boss Worth?

We all have our boss horror stories. The underminer. The bad communicator. The credit hog. The snake. Then again, if we’re lucky, we’ve all had those amazing bosses as well—the supervisor who encourages all employees to take their work up to the next level; the manager... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Service

19 Jul 2017
Research & Ideas

Why Government 'Nudges' Motivate Good Citizen Behavior

suitcases at the airport. But now agencies are finding that subtle “nudges” can motivate behavior much better than ads, fines, or deadlines. Nudges, or small changes to the context in which decisions are made, are the subject of a new analysis View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

21 Nov 2005
Research & Ideas

Making Credibility Your Strongest Asset

others are bidding for what you want? One solution to distinguishing yourself in competitive environments is to build your bargaining endowment—storing up credibility and resources by developing relationships, burnishing your reputation,... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Wheeler

13 May 2022
Research & Ideas

Company Reviews on Glassdoor: Petty Complaints or Signs of Potential Misconduct?

behavior bubbles below the radar An employee may not come forward right away to expose wrongdoing at a corporation for many reasons. In the absence of directly observing egregious behavior by a particular individual, an employee may not... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology

26 Nov 2001
Op-Ed

Why Corporate Budgeting Needs To Be Fixed

international heavy-equipment manufacturer, managers were so set on hitting their quarterly revenue target that they shipped unfinished products from their plant in England all the way to a warehouse in the Netherlands, near the customer, for final assembly. View Details

Keywords: by Michael C. Jensen

15 Sep 2022
Research & Ideas

Looking For a Job? Some LinkedIn Connections Matter More Than Others

LinkedIn’s People You May Know (PYMK) feature, which uses an algorithm to suggest new connections to members. LinkedIn constantly improves the algorithm by introducing new versions and testing them using randomized experiments for... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

14 Jan 2020
Research & Ideas

The Business Case for Becoming a Jack-of-All-Trades

that by becoming the world’s expert in a very narrow area.” If anything, people in businesses tend to be even more hyper-focused than academics, Nagle says, siloing R&D workers in very narrow research areas that give them a... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

13 Aug 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

Managing the Family Business: Entrepreneurs Needed for Long-Run Success

generations of the family are supposed to take care of and grow the founder's creation; they are not expected to be entrepreneurs themselves. Even attempting to reinvent the family company can be seen as disloyal by the family. This... View Details

Keywords: by Michael J. Roberts

08 May 2020
In Practice

Nonprofits Hurt by COVID-19 Must Hoard Cash to Hold On

survey by the Charities Aid Foundation of America. A staggering 97 percent of respondents expect their funding to decline during the next 12 months as the struggling economy and social distancing hurts fundraising efforts. What can... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

11 Jun 2018
Research & Ideas

Why South Korea's Samsung Built the Only Outdoor Skating Rink in Texas

featuring music by the local symphony as 250,000 Christmas lights lit up the county courthouse. Then revelers could head to the Samsung Ice Skating Rink, the only outdoor venue of its kind in all of Texas—which also happened to be located... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Legal Services

26 Mar 2018
Research & Ideas

To Motivate Employees, Give an Unexpected Bonus (or Penalty)

iStock In the 1992 film Glengarry Glen Ross, an executive played by Alec Baldwin presents a unique motivational scheme to a trio of down-on-their-luck real estate salesmen. There will be a new contest, he tells them, to see who can bring... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Manufacturing

31 Oct 2023
HBS Case

Checking Your Ethics: Would You Speak Up in These 3 Sticky Situations?

behavior by colleagues—shortcuts in analysis, intoxication on the job, inappropriate relationships. In general, the question you must ask is whether the issue ultimately affects the work delivered to clients and whether it harms the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Consulting

19 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Why Privacy Protection Notices Turn Off Shoppers

By now, it’s an expected right-of-passage. As you enter credit card information for an online purchase, up pops two familiar words: “Privacy Notice.” Does seeing those words make you more confident about the transaction, knowing that the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Retail

23 May 2018
Research & Ideas

How to Know If Your Neighborhood Is Being Gentrified

that gentrification can ruin neighborhoods by forcing out existing businesses that serve the needs of the locals. “We found that changes in the local economy—such as a new coffee shop opening—can predict gentrification,” says Harvard... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

16 Jul 2014
HBS Case

Marketing Obamacare

It's safe to say that the rollout of the Affordable Care Act was not pretty. Plagued by technical problems on Healthcare.gov, and stymied by a lack of political support in around half of the 50 states, the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health

24 Oct 2023
Research & Ideas

When Tech Platforms Identify Black-Owned Businesses, White Customers Buy

Generations of Black business owners have had to fight discrimination to prosper in America, but a new study suggests that these entrepreneurs are now gaining more support in parts of the country when they make their presence known. The study, coauthored View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Food & Beverage

17 Dec 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Integrity: Without It Nothing Works

Keywords: by Michael C. Jensen

May 2020 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Michael Ku and Global Clinical Supply at Pfizer Inc.: Bringing Hope to Patients (A)

By: Linda A. Hill, Allison J. Wigen and Emily Tedards

Michael Ku joined Pfizer in 2011, after the company had undergone three large-scale mergers and acquisitions. His mission was to drive the digital transformation of the company’s clinical supply chain, but he knew he had to start with the culture. Over the next eight... View Details