Publications

2024
Working Paper

Priors, Experiments, Learning and Persuasion in (Bayesian) Entrepreneurial Finance

By: Ramana Nanda

At the heart of entrepreneurial finance lies a persuasion challenge: regardless of the strength of an entrepreneur’s belief in the potential of their idea, they typically need to convince investors to provide the financial capital required for its... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Business Startups; Communication Intention and Meaning; Prejudice and Bias

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August 2024
Case

Oculii

By: Andy Wu and Lucas Defilippo

It was a bright June day in 2016. Steven Hong, co-founder and COO of Oculii had just signed a letter of intent agreeing to a 51% stake acquisition by Nexteer Automotive, a global steering and driveline supplier company that developed advanced driver assistance systems... View Details

Keywords: Automotive; Supply Chain; Autonomous Vehicles; Wireless Communications

August 2024
Article

Partisans neither Expect nor Receive Reputational Rewards for Sharing Falsehoods over Truth Online.

By: Isaias Ghezae, Jillian J. Jordan, Izzy Gainsburg, Mohsen Mosleh, Gordon Pennycook, Robb Willer and David Rand

A frequently invoked explanation for the sharing of false over true political information is that partisans are motivated by their reputations. In particular, it is often argued that by indiscriminately sharing news that is favorable to one’s political party,... View Details

Keywords: Political Ideology; Reputation; Communication Intention and Meaning; Social Media; News

July 2024
Case

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors: Bringing Systematic Investment to Philanthropy

By: Lauren Cohen, Hao Gao, Alexander Bischoff and Sophia Pan

Melissa Berman, CEO of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), evaluated her client’s philanthropy project and its mediocre performance. RPA was a segment of the Rockefeller Family Office’s Philanthropy Department, becoming an independent charity in 2002. Consistently... View Details

July 2024
Case

Knowledge-Enabled Financial Advice: Digital Transformation at Edward Jones

By: Lauren Cohen, Richard Ryffel, Grace Headinger and Sophia Pan

Edward Jones, a wealth management advisory firm that prided itself on its interpersonal connections and face-to-face interactions, was eager to augment their services with AI capabilities. Built on 1-to-1 close-knit relationships, the firm had more than 15,000 offices... View Details

July 2024
Article

How Artificial Intelligence Constrains Human Experience

By: A. Valenzuela, S. Puntoni, D. Hoffman, N. Castelo, J. De Freitas, B. Dietvorst, C. Hildebrand, Y.E. Huh, R. Meyer, M. Sweeney, S. Talaifar, G. Tomaino and K. Wertenbroch

Many consumption decisions and experiences are digitally mediated. As a consequence, consumer behavior is increasingly the joint product of human psychology and ubiquitous algorithms (Braun et al. 2024; cf. Melumad et al. 2020). The coming of age of Large Language... View Details

Keywords: Large Language Model; User Experience; AI and Machine Learning; Consumer Behavior; Technology Adoption; Risk and Uncertainty; Cost vs Benefits

May 14, 2024
Article

One Way to Help Employees Build Emergency Savings

By: Timothy Flacke and Peter Tufano

Intentional cooperation between two organizations — BlackRock, a major asset management firm, and national non-profit, Commonwealth — created the conditions for the nation’s largest payroll processor, multiple U.S. employers, retirement record keepers, and others to... View Details

Keywords: Saving; Personal Finance; Income; Nonprofit Organizations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Partners and Partnerships

May 2024
Supplement

Forest Park Capital (A)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

During the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020, Betsy Harbison formed the search fund Forest Park Capital with the intention of purchasing a small business. The case conveys the details of Betsy’s final decision at the terminus of her search, between a software company... View Details

Keywords: Search Fund; Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition; Acquisition; Small Business; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Business Education; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Tourism Industry; Web Services Industry; North America; Missouri

May 2024
Supplement

Forest Park Capital (B)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

During the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020, Betsy Harbison formed the search fund Forest Park Capital with the intention of purchasing a small business. The case conveys the details of Betsy’s final decision at the terminus of her search, between a software company... View Details

Keywords: Search Fund; Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition; Acquisition; Small Business; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Business Education; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Tourism Industry; Web Services Industry; North America; Missouri

April 2024 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Unleashing Human Magic at Best Buy

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger, Sunil Gupta and Amram Migdal

The case examines the transformation of Best Buy under CEO Hubert Joly's leadership from 2012. Facing significant business challenges, including competition from online and physical retailers, Joly implemented the "Renew Blue" turnaround strategy, which focused on... View Details

2024
Working Paper

Social Movements and Public Opinion in the United States

By: Amory Gethin and Vincent Pons

Recent social movements stand out by their spontaneous nature and lack of stable leadership, raising doubts on their ability to generate political change. This article provides systematic evidence on the effects of protests on public opinion and political attitudes.... View Details

Keywords: Attitudes; Social Issues; Voting; Public Opinion; Social Media

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January 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Generation Investment Management: Sustainable Investing in a Warming World

By: Vikram S. Gandhi, Michael Norris and David Allen

In September 2021, the sustainable investment firm Generation Investment Management (Generation) considered whether to add Schneider Electric to the focus list of companies in which it was prepared to invest. Dedicated to promoting a sustainable world through its... View Details

Keywords: Sustainable Investing; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Governance; Private Equity; Public Equity; Financial Markets; Investment Return; Investment Activism; Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Institutional Investing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom; England; London

January 2024
Case

BWX Technologies

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Yuan Zou and Aldo Sesia

Rex Geveden and Robb LeMasters, CEO and CFO of BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT), were concerned that investors and analysts did not fully appreciate the company's transformation from a nuclear reactor provider to the US Navy and Canadian utilities to a multi-product line... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Communication Intention and Meaning; Business and Shareholder Relations; Valuation; Diversification; United States; Canada

October 31, 2023
Article

Research: Can a More Detailed LinkedIn Profile Boost Your Salary?

By: Boris Groysberg and Eric Lin

Our digital presence impacts how others perceive us. A simple résumé and a list of references no longer captures the essence of our professional capabilities. In this article, the authors explain how the intentional management of our online personas can have a positive... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Job Search; Social Media

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October 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

McDonald's Board of Directors (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

In October 2019, the McDonald’s Corporation board of directors, chaired by Enrique Hernandez, Jr., gathered to learn the results of their outside counsel’s investigation into the conduct of the CEO. On the surface, the iconic fast-food chain was thriving as growing... View Details

October 2023
Article

Speedy Activists: Firm Response Time to Sociopolitical Events Influences Consumer Behavior

By: Jimin Nam, Maya Balakrishnan, Julian De Freitas and Alison Wood Brooks

Organizations face growing pressure from their consumers and stakeholders to take public stances on sociopolitical issues. However, many are hesitant to do so lest they make missteps, promises they cannot keep, appear inauthentic, or alienate consumers, employees, or... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Public Opinion; Social Media; Social Issues

September 2023
Article

Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy: Experimental Evidence from Nine Countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic

By: Vincenzo Galasso, Vincent Pons, Paola Profeta, Martin McKee, David Stuckler, Michael Becher, Sylvain Brouard and Martial Foucault

We study the impact of public health messages on intentions to vaccinate and vaccination uptakes, especially among hesitant groups. We performed an experiment comparing the effects of egoistic and altruistic messages on COVID-19 vaccine intentions and behaviour. We... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Vaccination; Vaccine Hesitancy; Information Campaigns; Health Pandemics; Behavior; Information

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June 2023
Article

Can Purpose Foster Stakeholder Trust in Corporations

By: Ranjay Gulati and Franz Wohlgezogen

As part of institutional changes toward more responsible capitalism, firms increasingly articulate a purpose beyond simply profit as a central tenet of their governance. Management scholarship has noted the potential advantages of such purpose-focus for stakeholder... View Details

Keywords: Stakeholder Management; Moral Identity; Mission and Purpose; Trust; Corporate Governance; Business and Stakeholder Relations

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May 2023
Article

How Do Campaigns Shape Vote Choice? Multi-Country Evidence from 62 Elections and 56 TV Debates

By: Caroline Le Pennec and Vincent Pons

We use two-round survey data from 62 elections in 10 countries since 1952 to study the formation of vote choice, beliefs, and policy preferences and assess how televised debates contribute to this process. Our data include 253,000 observations. We compare the... View Details

Keywords: Political Debates; TV Debates; Voting; Political Elections; Decision Choices and Conditions

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