Publications

SSRN

10 May 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Consumer Inertia and Market Power

Keywords: by Alexander MacKay and Marc Remer

01 Dec 2008
News

Lack of Energy: The Problem of Human Inertia

Energy Future’s timeliness underscores another key “energy” problem: America’s inability to get its energy act into gear. “Cognitive, organizational, and political barriers — which are all interconnected — must be surmounted if we are to solve our energy problems,”... View Details

Article

Inertia and Incentives: Bridging Organizational Economics and Organizational Competence

By: Rebecca M. Henderson and Sarah Kaplan

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Economics; Competency and Skills

June 2020
Article

Start-up Inertia versus Flexibility: The Role of Founder Identity in a Nascent Industry

By: Tiona Zuzul and Mary Tripsas

Through an inductive, comparative study of four early entrants in the nascent air taxi market, we examine why start-ups, generally characterized as flexible, malleable entities, might instead exhibit inertial behavior. While two of the firms engaged in ongoing... View Details

Keywords: Founder Identity; Nascent Industries; Entrepreneurship; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Identity

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31 Oct 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Technology, Identity, and Inertia through the Lens of ‘The Digital Photography Company’

Keywords: by Mary Tripsas; Technology

2008
Working Paper

Technology, Identity, and Inertia through the Lens of 'The Digital Photography Company'

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

Article

Frame Flexibility: The Role of Cognitive and Emotional Framing in Innovation Adoption by Incumbent Firms

By: Ryan Raffaelli, Mary Ann Glynn and Michael Tushman

Why do incumbent firms frequently reject nonincremental innovations? Beyond technical, structural, or economic factors, we propose an additional factor: the degree of the top management team's (TMT) frame flexibility, i.e., their capability to cognitively expand an... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Adoption; Cognition; Framing; Emotional Resonance; Incumbent Inertia; Innovation and Invention; Technology Adoption; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management

05 Jun 2019
News

If Your Customers Don't Care What You Charge, What Should You Charge?

March 1992 (Revised February 1995)
Supplement

Introduction of FM Radio (B): FM Takes to the Air

Illustrates organizational and industry-wide inertia to a change that threatens the status quo. Also reinforces the message that those most willing to encourage change are either the proponents of change or those who are locked out from the existing system. View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Media and Broadcasting Industry

02 Oct 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Gradualism in Monetary-Policy: A Time Consistency Problem?

Keywords: by Jeremy C. Stein & Adi Sunderam; Banking

26 Apr 2015
News

Investors’ climate change ‘gamble’ exposed

07 Jun 2017
News

ExxonMobil’s Shareholder Vote Is a Tipping Point for Climate Issues

May 2014
Case

Gunfire at Sea (multi-media case)

By: Michael Tushman and Tom Ryder

This short video illustrates the challenges of leading innovation and change. This classic case (one of the oldest in the HBS system) retains its timeliness. The case describes how Lt. Sims develops a new form of gunfire at sea—continuous aim gunfire. While 3,000% more... View Details

Keywords: Organization Behavior; Change; Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Innovation Leadership; United States

Educators

2019
Working Paper

Understanding and Overcoming Roadblocks to Environmental Sustainability. Past Roads and Future Prospects

By: Ann-Kristin Bergquist, Shawn A. Cole, John Ehrenfeld, Andrew A. King and Auden Schendler

This working paper examines key barriers to business sustainability discussed at a multidisciplinary conference held at the Harvard Business School in 2018. Drawing on perspectives from both the historical and business literatures, speakers debated the historical... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Problems and Challenges; History; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Opportunities

04 Nov 2018
News

Why Large Companies Continue To Struggle With Innovation

06 Jun 2007
Research & Ideas

Behavioral Finance—Benefiting from Irrational Investors

How "sleepy" or "awake" are you when it comes to your stock portfolio? If you're like most people, you probably don't spend a great deal of time monitoring your investments. So when another company uses stock to acquire a firm in which you hold a... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

25 Sep 2012
News

Ten Reasons People Resist Change

February 2023
Case

Success Academy Charter Schools

By: Robin Greenwood, Joshua D. Coval, Denise Han, Ruth Page and Dave Habeeb

This stand-alone multimedia case follows the story of Eva Moskowitz and Success Academy, a network of high-performing charter schools in New York City. As a New York City councilor between 1999 and 2006, Moskowitz became frustrated over the inertia and dysfunction in... View Details

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Performance Effectiveness; Equality and Inequality; Private Sector; Education Industry; New York (city, NY)

Educators