Publications

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June 1977 (Revised May 1997)
Case

University of Trent

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Focuses on two issues: 1) technical systems that can be employed in nonprofit organizations for control and motivational purposes. Systems discussed range from payroll monitoring systems to zero-base budgeting and 2) the managerial environment needed for serious... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Motivation and Incentives; Business or Company Management; Nonprofit Organizations; Governance Controls; Education Industry

September 1976
Case

Del Norte Paper Co. (A)

By: William A. Sahlman

Deals with a transfer pricing problem in a complex, international situation. A broad range of issues are present in the case, or are needed for a thorough case analysis. Such issues include: relevant costs; the appropriateness of profit centers; the appropriateness of... View Details

Keywords: International Accounting; Cost Management; Business Divisions; Profit Sharing; Profit

March – April 1976
Article

Business Needs a New Breed of EDP Manager

By: R. L. Nolan

Keywords: Management

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November 1974 (Revised May 1994)
Case

Science Technology Co.

By: Thomas R. Piper

The president of a medium-sized electronics company is evaluating the financial forecasts and proposed financing program submitted by the chief financial officer. The forecasts are prepared in constant dollars, on which basis the proposed financing plan seems... View Details

Keywords: Currency; Financial Strategy; Forecasting and Prediction; Inflation and Deflation; Risk and Uncertainty; Outcome or Result; Technology Industry; Electronics Industry

September 1973 (Revised October 1980)
Case

Sea Pines Racquet Club

By: W. Earl Sasser

The student is required to develop a strategy for a tennis club of a large resort area. The tennis director must decide how many courts he needs to build within the next three years, what surface they should have, and how much he should charge for their use.... View Details

Keywords: Price; Service Operations; Organizations; Performance Capacity; Planning; Strategy; Accommodations Industry; Sports Industry

Research Summary

3D Negotiaton

By: James K. Sebenius

In articles and books, often with David Lax, I have been developing a broad approach to effective negotiation that encompasses three "dimensions." In this "3D" approach, our first dimension — "tactics"-- is the most familiar territory. Tactics are the persuasive... View Details

Teaching Interest

Agribusiness Seminar - Executive Education

By: David E. Bell

In the agribusiness industry, every year brings new trends and challenges. While demand continues to grow, consumer needs shift, production challenges increase, and evolving technology impacts every part of the value chain. The complex... View Details

Research Summary

AIDS in Africa: Life, Death and Property Rights

By: Debora L. Spar

In the final years of the twentieth century, the world was hit by a plague of epidemic proportions--the plague of AIDS, a life-threatening disease that remained stubbornly immune to any cure or vaccine. In the developed nations of the West, AIDS was slowly brought... View Details

Research Summary

Building Small Business Utopia: How Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Can Increase Small Business Success

By: Karen Mills

Small business lending has remained unchanged for decades, laden with frictions and barriers that prevent many small businesses from accessing the capital they need to succeed. Financial technology, or “fintech,” promises to change this trajectory. In 2010, new fintech... View Details

Teaching Interest

Business Opportunties in Climate Adaptation

By: John D. Macomber

This is a Short Intensive Program or SIP at Harvard Business School. It’s an optional student offering prior to the formal start of the Spring semester the following week. SIPs tend to cover new material on current topics, to be less formal than the HBS Case Study... View Details

Keywords: Resilience; Climate Risk; Climate Impact; Fire Protection; Insurance Risk Exposure; Hedge Fund; Public Health; Public Health Measures; Climate Change; Adaptation; Infrastructure; Real Estate Industry; Transportation Industry; Insurance Industry; United States; Africa; Latin America

Forthcoming
Article

Confronting the Limits of Symbolic Actions: How Entrepreneurs Narrow the Presentation-Performance Gap

By: Rebecca Karp and Siobhan O'Mahony

Entrepreneurs often skillfully leverage symbolic actions to manage impressions and gain acceptance for their innovations. Impression management can generate interest, but also heighten expectations beyond an innovation’s capabilities, creating a gap between... View Details

Keywords: Digital Innovation; Entrepreneurship; Integration Strategy; Impression Management

Teaching Interest

Data Science for Managers

By: Dennis Campbell

Data science has become the new language of business. Many roles across the enterprise in finance, marketing, human resources, operations, innovation, and strategy now rely heavily on data science for important managerial decisions. Given the increasing ubiquity and... View Details

Research Summary

Debt Maturity: Is Long-Term Debt Optimal? (with Fabio Kanczuk)

By: Laura Alfaro

We model and calibrate the arguments in favor and against short-term and long-term debt. These arguments broadly include: maturity-term premium, tax smoothing, rolling over risk and the cost from defaulting. We use a dynamic equilibrium model with tax distortion,... View Details

Research Summary

Designing Productive Zones of Privacy

By: Ethan S. Bernstein

A common theme that integrates my research and course development is how increasingly transparent workplaces can improve productivity and performance by putting up certain boundaries to observation. While the research above empirically and theoretically explores the... View Details

Keywords: Transparency; Privacy; Field Experiments; Design; Organizational Design; Performance

Teaching Interest

Digital Innovation and Transformation – MBA Elective Curriculum

By: Feng Zhu

Digital Innovation and Transformation is designed to equip students to confidently help conceive, lead and execute digital innovation initiatives and develop new business models for existing and insurgent organizations. The basic premise of the course... View Details

Forthcoming
Article

Disclosure, Humanizing, and Contextual Vulnerability of Generative AI Chatbots

By: Julian De Freitas and I. Glenn Cohen

In the wake of recent advancements in generative AI, regulatory bodies are trying to keep pace. One key decision is whether to require app makers to disclose the use of generative AI-powered chatbots in their products. We suggest that some generative AI-based chatbots... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Applications and Software; Well-being