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Decision MakingRemove Decision Making →

New research on decision making from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including policymaking, approaches to common work problems, and predicting behavior.
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Empower Your Employees to Make Better Decisions

by Pamela Reynolds

The impact of wise decisions can ripple out in an organization. In the book Decision Leadership, Max Bazerman and Don Moore explore how the choices of influential leaders, such as athlete Colin Kaepernick and Humu's Jessica Wisdom, motivate others to do better.

What Does Your Business Stand For? Why Building Trust Starts with Purpose

by Ranjay Gulati

Trust is fragile and must be nurtured. By tapping into their purpose, leaders can help their organizations embody the values and principles they espouse, says Ranjay Gulati in his book Deep Purpose: The Heart and Soul of High-Performance Companies. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Swiping Right: How Data Helped This Online Dating Site Make More Matches

by Kara Baskin

Machine learning might have the answer to an age-old dating conundrum: Who makes the first move? Research by Edward McFowland probes how data can spur more digital interactions, with potentially wide-reaching implications. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Navigating the ‘Bermuda Triangle’ in Professional Services

by Ashish Nanda

Not all companies need to scale. Ashish Nanda explores a crucial choice that leaders of professional services firms face as their organizations grow. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

7 Trends to Watch in 2022

by HBS News

Surging COVID-19 cases may have dampened optimism at the start of 2022, but change could be on the horizon. Harvard Business School faculty members share the trends they're watching this year. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Don't Bring Me Down: Probing Why People Tune Out Bad News

by Kristen Senz

People often go out of their way to avoid unpleasant information, but not always for the reasons you might expect. Research by Christine Exley and colleagues. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Tell Me What to Do: When Bad News Is a Big Relief

by Michael Blanding

Why would anyone hope for the worst? Research by Serena Hagerty and colleague sheds light on just how far people will go to dodge a tough decision. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Why Anger Makes a Wrongly Accused Person Look Guilty

by Michael Blanding

Too often, people rely on biases and hunches to judge complex situations. Research by Leslie John shows how easy it is to make the wrong call. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Cognitive Biases: Mistakes or Missing Stakes?

by Benjamin Enke, Uri Gneezy, Brian Hall, David Martin, Vadim Nelidov, Theo Offerman, and Jeroen van de Ven

This study of field and lab data strongly suggests that people do not necessarily make better decisions when the stakes are very high. Results highlight the potential economic consequences of cognitive biases.

How Do CEOs Make Strategy?

by Mu-Jeung Yang, Michael Christensen, Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun, and Jan Rivkin

A study of 262 Harvard Business School-educated CEOs traces differences in strategic decision-making across managers. CEOs leading larger, faster-growing firms tend to make highly structured strategic decisions and use more analytical deliberation. Management education has long-lasting effects on decision-making.

'Repayment-by-Purchase' Helps Consumers to Reduce Credit Card Debt

by Grant E. Donnelly, Cait Lamberton, Stephen Bush, Zoe Chance, and Michael I. Norton

Many consumers fail to pay off credit card debt each month and suffer financial consequences. Repayment-by-purchase, allocating payment toward specific purchases on a credit card bill, helps consumers gain a sense of progress and control over credit card debt.

Can Entrepreneurs Make Mobile Voting Easy and Secure?

Re: Mitchell B. Weiss

Making voting more accessible through technology could have tremendous payoffs for democracy—but also pose critical downsides if the product fails. Mitch Weiss, who teaches a course on public entrepreneurship, discusses his case study on Voatz and their plan to turn mobile phones into voting booths. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Financial Meltdowns Are More Predictable Than We Thought

by Danielle Kost

Robin Greenwood and Samuel G. Hanson discuss new research that shows economic crises follow predictable patterns. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

What the Stockdale Paradox Tells Us About Crisis Leadership

by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

The Stockdale Paradox and survival psychology contain wisdom for how leaders can manage the coronavirus crisis, according to Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Is the 'Experimentation Organization' Becoming the Competitive Gold Standard?

by James Heskett

SUMMING UP: Digital experimentation is gaining momentum as an everyday habit in many organizations, especially those in high tech, say James Heskett's readers. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Business Reopening Decisions and Demand Forecasts During the COVID-19 Pandemic

by Dylan Balla-Elliott, Zoë B. Cullen, Edward L. Glaeser, Michael Luca, and Christopher Stanton

Findings from a nationwide survey underscore the importance of demand projections and interdependencies among businesses for owners’ reopening decisions. Businesses expect the demand for their services will be greatly depressed for many months to come.

It’s Time to Reset Decision-Making in Your Organization

by Boris Groysberg and Sarah Abbott

Clear decision-making in a crisis depends on sound methodology and gathering information from a variety of sources. Advice from Boris Groysberg and Sarah Abbott. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Predictions, Prophets, and Restarting Your Business

by Frank V. Cespedes

Businesses are starting to plan their re-entry into the market, but how do they know what that market will look like? Frank V. Cespedes warns against putting too much trust in forecasters. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

The Bulletproof Glass Effect: When Privacy Notices Backfire

by Aaron R. Brough, David A. Norton, and Leslie John

Consumers regularly encounter privacy notices explaining if and how their personal information will be collected, stored, used, and shared. Evidence in this study demonstrates that privacy notices, though designed to promote a sense of confidence that personal data will not be misused, can undermine consumer trust and decrease purchase intent.

How to Turn Down the Boil on Group Conflict

by Michael Blanding

Intergroup conflict can grind office productivity to a halt. Jeffrey Lees discusses how understanding psychological stereotypes can help divided parties compromise. Open for comment; 0 Comments.