Research & Ideas →

What We Learned from Reading Jeff Bezos’ Patents

By studying Jeff Bezos' personal patent records, Tricia Gregg and Boris Groysberg offer a unique glimpse into Amazon's strategy. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

The Upside of Highlighting a Product's Downsides

Companies want to show their offerings in the best light. Ryan W. Buell and MoonSoo Choi find out what happens when they also embrace transparency, accentuating the positive—and the negative. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Hard Work Isn't Enough: How to Find Your Edge

Life isn't fair, especially in the workplace. In Edge: Turning Adversity into Advantage, Laura Huang offers a new strategy for uncovering and showcasing your unique value in the face of obstacles. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Clayton M. Christensen, Acclaimed Author and Teacher, Dies At 67

Businesses Need a 'Catalyst' to Make CSR Practices Stick

Despite best intentions, many corporate social responsibility programs fail. One answer: Companies need community partners to sustain work over the long term, says Robert Kaplan. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Lessons for Retailers from the Rebirth of Indie Bookstores

Independent bookstores are resurging. Their strategies offer lessons for many disrupted industries to compete against Amazon and other digital retailers, says Ryan Raffaelli. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

The Business Case for Becoming a Jack-of-All-Trades

New research by Frank Nagle and Florenta Teodoridis shows that a jack-of-all-trades may be better equipped than a specialist to jump on novel knowledge. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Do Private Equity Buyouts Get a Bad Rap?

Elizabeth Warren calls them Wall Street "looting," but a recent study by Josh Lerner and colleagues shows private equity buyouts have both good and bad impacts. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

NFL Head Coaches Are Getting Younger. What Can Organizations Learn?

Football team owners are hiring younger head coaches, hoping to unleash innovation and fresh thinking. How's that working out? Research by Boris Groysberg and colleagues. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Motivate Your High Performers to Share Their Knowledge

Companies are sitting on a largely untapped resource to improve employee performance, says Christopher Stanton—the knowledge of their co-workers. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Read Our Most Popular Research Stories of 2019

Here are the most-read stories published by Harvard Business School Working Knowledge in 2019. Now it's your turn: What will be the biggest stories—the most significant business trends—of 2020? Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Taking on the Taboos That Keep Women Out of India's Workforce

Giving women in rural India more control over household finances reduces the social stigma of working, says research by Natalia Rigol. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

How to Turn Down the Boil on Group Conflict

Intergroup conflict can grind office productivity to a halt. Jeffrey Lees discusses how understanding psychological stereotypes can help divided parties compromise. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Identify Great Customers from Their First Purchase

Using data from their very first transaction, companies can identify shoppers who will create the best long-term value, says Eva Ascarza. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

When Your Passion Works Against You

Passion is supposed to be the secret sauce that transforms average managers into dynamic leaders. The reality is more complicated, says Jon M. Jachimowicz. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Do TV Debates Sway Voters?

As Democratic presidential candidates face off at the podium, Vincent Pons reports that TV debates don’t influence voters. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

It's No Joke: AI Beats Humans at Making You Laugh

New research shows people don’t trust recommendations from algorithms—and that’s a problem for companies that increasingly rely on AI-based technology to persuade consumers. Michael H. Yeomans explains how businesses can overcome that bias. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Don't Turn Your Marketing Function Over to AI Just Yet

Lacking human insight, artificial intelligence will be limited when it comes to helping marketers open the black box of market prediction, says Tomomichi Amano. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Corporate Innovation Increasingly Benefits from Government Research

Nearly a third of US patents rely directly on government-funded research, says Dennis Yao. Is government too involved in supporting private sector innovation—or not enough? Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

How to Recover Gracefully After Shutting Down Your Startup

It’s hard to call it quits on a business venture, but entrepreneurs can wind down a struggling startup while keeping their reputations and sanity intact, says Tom Eisenmann. The first step is knowing when to accept defeat. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.