534 Posts found for Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge

Social media platforms have taken some of the marketing power away from companies and given it to consumers. Jill Avery discusses the landscape of “open source branding,” wherein consumers not only discuss and disseminate branded content, they also create it.

Content: Article | Authors: Carmen Nobel, Jill Avery | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Marketing / Sales

It is not centralization that drives scale; it’s specialization. And that doesn’t have to be central at all. Specialization is about where you create centers of excellence—and that may or may not be at the corporate center. Now, creating this integrated network of specialized operations does increase the coordination needs. So when we wrote about centralization versus coordination, we emphasized the challenges of coordinating operations … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Christopher A. Bartlett | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Management, Operations, Organizational Behavior

No matter how radical a new product is, it will always be perceived initially in terms of some frame of reference. It is essential that this frame be understood, especially if it is an inappropriate one detrimental to early trial of the product.

Content: Quotation | Author: Gerald Zaltman | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Innovation

Low-margin retailers argue they can’t afford customer loyalty programs, but is that true? Rajiv Lal and Marcel Corstjens make the case that such programs are profit-enhancing differentiators.

Content: Article | Authors: Marcel Corstjens, Rajiv Lal | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Marketing / Sales

Research about cognitive bias has shown that decision makers are often unduly influenced by their starting points—how their thoughts about a topic are initially framed. Once you’ve defined the problem, don’t focus on the current process or product you want to improve. Instead, says Jim Goughenhour, “imagine what the ideal end state would look like, then work back to put in as much of it … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Loren Gary | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Decision Making, Organizational Behavior, Personal Development, Personality / Behavior

Advertising through numerous website affiliates potentially helps marketers get more bang for their buck. But the far-flung systems can also lead to fraud, says Ben Edelman. What’s the best way to manage your advertising network?

Content: Article | Author: Kim Girard | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Marketing / Sales

An increasing number of global firms adopt a primary language for business operations—usually English. The problem: The practice can surface dormant hostilities around culture and geography, reports Tsedal Neeley.

Content: Article | Author: Kim Girard | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: International, Organizational Behavior

Technical standards both spur innovation and protect the innovators, but abuses in the intellectual property protection system threaten US competitiveness. Josh Lerner and Jean Tirole discuss remedies.

Content: Article | Author: Carmen Nobel | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Legal

Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Ethan S. Bernstein explains why decreasing workplace transparency can increase productivity.

Content: Article | Authors: Carmen Nobel, Ethan S. Bernstein | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Organizational Behavior

Companies can’t afford to lose hard-won customers, but in truth some are more important to keep than others. Recent research by Sunil Gupta and Aurélie Lemmens explains how to find them.

Content: Article | Author: Sunil Gupta | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Customer Related, Marketing / Sales

Harvard Business School’s Rebecca M. Henderson and Karthik Ramanna argue that company managers have a moral obligation to preserve capitalism.

Content: Article | Authors: Karthik Ramanna, Michael Blanding, Rebecca M. Henderson | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Economics

Why do businesses evaluate candidates solely on past job performance, failing to consider the job’s difficulty? Why do university admissions officers focus on high GPAs, discounting influence of easy grading standards? Francesca Gino and colleagues investigate the phenomenon of the “fundamental attribution error.”

Content: Article | Author: Anna Secino | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Organizational Behavior

In their book, Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending, Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton draw on years of quantitative and qualitative research to explain how we can turn cash into contentment. The key lies in changing our spending habits and adhering to five key principles:

1. Buy Experiences. Research shows that material purchases are less satisfying than vacations or concerts.
2. Make it a Treat. … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Elizabeth Dunn, Michael I. Norton | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Personal Development

Capitalism earns its legitimacy through the idea that the pursuit of self-interest explicitly delivers on certain moral goods for society. Individuals could criticize that moral framework—a Marxist, for instance, might argue that capitalism ignores issues of fairness in outcomes—but they can’t say that it doesn’t exist.

Content: Quotation | Author: Michael Blanding | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Capitalism, Economics

Capitalism has two powerful things going for it. First, it has been shown to be incredibly effective in leading to economic growth. …Second, capitalism tends to be self-correcting. When the free market does fail, the market itself steps in to correct the problem. …But that doesn’t mean markets always work to self-correct structural problems. The snag, as Adam Smith first identified in The Wealth of … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Karthik Ramanna, Michael Blanding, Rebecca M. Henderson | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Capitalism, Economics

Our capitalistic system is the best. Unfortunately it produces “winners” and “losers.” Many in the loser group are there through no fault of their own. Capitalism’s biggest challenge is how to treat the losers.

Content: Quotation | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Capitalism, Economics

Key linguistic cues can help reveal dishonesty during business negotiations, whether it’s a flat-out lie or a deliberate omission of key information, according to research by Lyn M. Van Swol, Michael T. Braun, and Deepak Malhotra.

Content: Article | Author: Carmen Nobel | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Negotiation, Organizational Behavior

Instant assessments, when we attribute a person’s behavior to innate characteristics rather than external circumstances, happen so frequently that psychologists have a name for them: “fundamental attribution errors.” Unable to know every aspect of a stranger’s backstory, yet still needing to make a primal designation between friend and foe, we watch for surface cues

Content: Quotation | Author: Anna Secino | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Organizational Behavior, Personality / Behavior

Internet advertising was supposed to make it easier for marketers to measure the impact of their ad buys. But a basic question remains: Do search ads or do display ads create more customers on the web? Research by Professor Sunil Gupta.

Content: Article | Author: Michael Blanding | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Advertising, Marketing / Sales

Many companies hand out awards such as “employee of the month,” but do they work to motivate performance? Not really, says professor Ian Larkin. In fact, they may turn off your best employees altogether.

Content: Article | Author: Dina Gerdeman | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Human Resources, Organizational Behavior