
- 19 Jan 2021
- Cold Call Podcast
Engaging Community to Create Proactive, Equitable Public Safety
Saint Paul, Minnesota Mayor Melvin Carter swept into office in 2018 promising equity. He wanted a new public safety framework that would be rooted in community. Then, with the COVID-19 pandemic wiping out much of the city’s budget and the May 2020 killing of George Floyd by a police officer in neighboring Minneapolis sparking calls to defund the police, how would Mayor Carter make these changes happen? Professor Mitch Weiss discusses the challenges and rewards of “possibility government” in his case, "Community-First Public Safety." Open for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

- 06 Dec 2020
- Working Paper Summaries
'Repayment-by-Purchase' Helps Consumers to Reduce Credit Card Debt
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.

- 13 Oct 2020
- Cold Call Podcast
Can Entrepreneurs Make Mobile Voting Easy and Secure?
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; Comment(s) posted.

- 24 Sep 2020
- Research & Ideas
Financial Meltdowns Are More Predictable Than We Thought
Robin Greenwood and Samuel G. Hanson discuss new research that shows economic crises follow predictable patterns. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

- 17 Aug 2020
- Research & Ideas
What the Stockdale Paradox Tells Us About Crisis Leadership
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; Comment(s) posted.
- 02 Aug 2020
- What Do You Think?
Is the 'Experimentation Organization' Becoming the Competitive Gold Standard?
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; Comment(s) posted.

- 21 Jul 2020
- Working Paper Summaries
Business Reopening Decisions and Demand Forecasts During the COVID-19 Pandemic
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.

- 09 Jul 2020
- Research & Ideas
It’s Time to Reset Decision-Making in Your Organization
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; Comment(s) posted.

- 04 May 2020
- Research & Ideas
Predictions, Prophets, and Restarting Your Business
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; Comment(s) posted.

- 13 Apr 2020
- Working Paper Summaries
The Bulletproof Glass Effect: When Privacy Notices Backfire
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.

- 12 Dec 2019
- Research & Ideas
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.

- 11 Dec 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
When to Apply?
Using a series of experiments, the authors studied gender differences in how job-seekers perceive their own qualifications for different opportunities and how this affects their decision to apply. Results suggest that soft touch employer interventions can improve the diversity of applicant pools even if candidate beliefs about their own ability are unchanged.

- 04 Dec 2019
- Book
Creating the Experimentation Organization
New tools allow companies to innovate on an unprecedented scale, in every aspect of business. But the organization must also change. Stefan Thomke previews his forthcoming book, Experimentation Works. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

- 13 Nov 2019
- Research & Ideas
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.

- 22 Oct 2019
- Research & Ideas
Use Artificial Intelligence to Set Sales Targets That Motivate
Setting sales targets has always been an inexact science, with serious consequences if done poorly. Using AI-based advanced analytics might be the answer, argues Doug Chung. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

- 17 Oct 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Persuasion by Populist Propaganda: Evidence from the 2015 Argentine Ballotage
This paper studies data generated prior to the 2015 Argentine presidential ballotage, when a government propaganda campaign was used to attack the opposition candidate and influence voter preferences. Results show the propaganda was persuasive.

- 15 Oct 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Vote Choice Formation and the Minimal Effects of TV Debates: Evidence from 61 Elections in 9 OECD Countries
This study of 61 elections around the world finds that vote choices aggregate a lot of information obtained during the electoral season, but the contribution of TV debates to this process is negligible.

- 18 Sep 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Using Models to Persuade
“Model persuasion” happens when would-be persuaders offer receivers a streamlined way of understanding data they already know, especially when the data is open to interpretation. Using examples from finance, politics, and law, the authors find that truthtellers do not eliminate the impact of misleading persuasion because wrong models may better fit the past than correct models.

- 24 Jul 2019
- Lessons from the Classroom
Can These Business Students Motivate Londoners to Do the Right Thing?
In the Harvard Business School course Behavioral Insights, students work in the UK with psychology experts to understand what motivates consumers and workers. What they learn can help businesses of all types, says Michael Luca. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

- 07 Jun 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Reflexivity in Credit Markets
Investors’ biases and market outcomes affect each other in a two-way feedback loop. This study develops a model of a credit market feedback loop, finding that when investors become more bullish this can predict positive returns in the short run, even if expected returns become more negative at longer horizons.
How Do CEOs Make Strategy?
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.