Publications

August 2024
Article

Not a One-Trick Pony: Price Impact of Rating Agency Information

By: Michael Machokoto and Anywhere Sikochi

Prior literature on the informational role of credit rating agencies has largely focused on announcements by the rating agencies regarding rating actions. We take a tangent in this paper and examine the relevance of rating agencies' other information disclosures beyond... View Details

Keywords: Credit; Investment Return; Financial Reporting

Read Now

2008
Book

Predictable Surprises

By: Max Bazerman and Michael D. Watkins

Most events that catch us by surprise are both predictable and preventable, but we consistently miss (or ignore) the warning signs. This book shows why such "predictable surprises" put us all at risk, and shows how we can understand, anticipate, and prevent them before... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Forecasting and Prediction; Leadership; Risk and Uncertainty; Behavior

Find at Harvard

01 Jun 2024
News

Redefining How Businesses Operate

In her LinkedIn profile, Rebecca Hu (MBA 2023) describes herself as a “biologist-turned-technologist obsessed with building great software products.” A product manager at the language learning app Duolingo, Hu immersed herself in electives and activities centered... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Gillespie

10 Apr 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 10, 2018

benefit from mimicking the showroom concepts started by online-first retailers and why online-first retailers can benefit from opening more traditional stores. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54316 March... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 1992 (Revised February 1993)
Supplement

Otis South Africa (B)

By: Michael Beer

Covers a June 1990 Social Responsibility Conference held by George David to evaluate the progress of his new management team in increasing the pace of nonwhite advancement. The U.S. CEO and the managing director of Otis South Africa disagree over the suitability of... View Details

Keywords: Conflict Management; Race; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Management Teams; South Africa

Find at Harvard

2018
Article

Service Operations: What's Next?

By: Joy M. Field, Liana Victorino, Ryan W. Buell, Michael J. Dixon, Susan M. Goldstein, Larry J. Menor, Madeleine E. Pullman, Aleda Roth, Enrico Secchi and Jie J. Zhang

The purpose of this article is to present exciting and innovative research questions in service operations that are aligned with eight key themes and related topics determined by the Journal of Service Management (JOSM) Service Operations Expert Research Panel.... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Research; Collaborative Innovation and Invention

21 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 21

Publisher's link: http://hbr.org/product/aligning-strategy-and-sales-the-choices-systems-and-behaviors-that-drive-effective-selling/an/11964-HBK-ENG October 2014 Oxford University Press Leading Sustainable Change: An Organizational Perspective By: Henderson, Rebecca,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

18 Feb 2020
News

Business leaders see U.S. unprepared for economic downturn

Web

Digital Innovation - Alumni

new ways. HBS for Life HBS supports alumni in their professional development and personal growth at every age or career stage through extensive online resources and programs and events. How You can Help The easiest way for donors to ensure that the School can advance... View Details

04 Dec 2007
First Look

First Look: December 4, 2007

winter. We suggest that the presence of membership fees can lead consumers to infer a "fees -> savings" link, spurring them to increase their spending independent of the actual savings afforded by such clubs. Using both field... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

July 1995 (Revised April 1996)
Case

Cambridge Technology Partners (A)

By: Teresa M. Amabile, George P. Baker III and Michael Beer

Cambridge Technology Partners uses a highly innovative product strategy, supported by a human resources strategy, that has been very successful. However, high growth rates jeopardize product quality while tension about relative compensation levels between sales and... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Compensation and Benefits; Organizational Culture; Quality; Human Resources; Relationships; Innovation and Invention; Consulting Industry; Massachusetts

October 2007
Case

iPhone vs. Cell Phone

By: David B. Yoffie and Michael Slind

The launch of Apple's iPhone marked a pivotal new chapter in the story of mobile music (the uniting of digital music players with mobile phones). The iPhone combined an iPod music player, a cell phone, and a mobile Internet device, along with a camera and other... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Music Entertainment; Product Launch; Partners and Partnerships; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Communications Industry; Music Industry

2008
Chapter

I Read Playboy for the Articles: Justifying and Rationalizing Questionable Preferences

By: Zoe Chance and Michael I. Norton

When people behave in ways that might appear selfish, prejudiced or perverted, they engage in a host of strategies designed to justify questionable behavior with rational excuses: “I hired my son because he's more qualified”; “I promoted Ashley because she does a... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Ethics; Behavior; Strategy

September 1994
Case

Leadership Problems at Salomon (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Michael Santoro

Deryck Maughan, a vice chairman and co-head of investment banking at Salomon Brothers, learns that his superiors have been less than candid about their knowledge of bidding improprieties by the firm's government trading desk. He must decide what, if anything, he should... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Decision Choices and Conditions; Ethics; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Crime and Corruption; Rank and Position; Financial Services Industry

May 2000 (Revised December 2018)
Case

SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (A)

By: Michael Beer and Michael Tushman

The Micro-Electronic Products Division of SMA has financial and organizational problems. Conflict and lack of coordination exist between functional groups. Employees do not have a sense of direction and morale is low. The cause of these problems is found in a change in... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Conflict and Resolution; Business Strategy

Article

Crowdsourcing City Government: Using Tournaments to Improve Inspection Accuracy

By: Edward Glaeser, Andrew Hillis, Scott Duke Kominers and Michael Luca

The proliferation of big data makes it possible to better target city services like hygiene inspections, but city governments rarely have the in-house talent needed for developing prediction algorithms. Cities could hire consultants, but a cheaper alternative is to... View Details

Keywords: User-generated Content; Operations; Tournaments; Policy-making; Machine Learning; Online Platforms; Analytics and Data Science; Mathematical Methods; City; Infrastructure; Business Processes; Government and Politics

Find at Harvard

Read Now

2023
Working Paper

Design-Based Confidence Sequences: A General Approach to Risk Mitigation in Online Experimentation

By: Dae Woong Ham, Michael Lindon, Martin Tingley and Iavor Bojinov

Randomized experiments have become the standard method for companies to evaluate the performance of new products or services. In addition to augmenting managers’ decision-making, experimentation mitigates risk by limiting the proportion of customers exposed to... View Details

Keywords: Performance Evaluation; Research and Development; Analytics and Data Science; Consumer Behavior