First Look

Publications

Beauty Imagined: A History of the Global Beauty Industry

Abstract

The global beauty business permeates our lives, influencing how we perceive ourselves and what it is to be beautiful. The brands and firms that have shaped this industry, such as Avon, Coty, Estée Lauder, L'Oreal, and Shiseido, have imagined beauty for us. This book provides the first authoritative history of the global beauty industry from its emergence in the nineteenth century to the present day, exploring how today's global giants grew. It shows how successive generations of entrepreneurs built brands that shaped perceptions of beauty and the business organizations needed to market them. They democratized access to beauty products, once the privilege of elites, but they also defined the gender and ethnic borders of beauty, and its association with a handful of cities, notably Paris and later New York. The result was a homogenization of beauty ideals throughout the world. Today globalization is changing the beauty industry again; its impact can be seen in a range of competing strategies. Global brands have swept into China, Russia, and India, but at the same time, these brands are having to respond to a far greater diversity of cultures and lifestyles as new markets are opened up worldwide. In the twenty-first century, beauty is again being reimagined anew.

Order this book: http://www.amazon.com/Beauty-Imagined-History-Global-Business/dp/0199556490

Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance

Abstract

Humans and other animals express power through open, expansive postures and powerlessness through closed, constrictive postures. But can these postures actually cause power? As predicted, results revealed that posing in high-power (vs. low-power) nonverbal displays caused neuroendocrine and behavioral changes for both male and female participants: high-power posers experienced elevations in testosterone, decreases in cortisol, and increased feelings of power and tolerance for risk; low-power posers exhibited the opposite pattern. In short, posing in powerful displays caused advantaged and adaptive psychological, physiological, and behavioral changes—findings that suggest that embodiment extends beyond mere thinking and feeling to physiology and subsequent behavioral choices. That a person can, via a simple two-minute pose, embody power and instantly become more powerful has real-world, actionable implications.

Download the paper: http://www.people.hbs.edu/acuddy/in%20press,%20carney,%20cuddy,%20&%20yap,%20psych%20science.pdf

Telegraphs—Shrinking Economic Distances? A Preliminary Enquiry, 1870s-1912

Abstract

This is a very preliminary report on sources and data for my research on telegraphs. Telegraphs are usually analyzed in the context of railway expansion, and the literature has somewhat neglected the role of telegraphic communication for the development of steamship navigation. Telegraphs meant that the owners of a cargo ship could communicate with its captain whenever it reached a certain port, and shippers could keep track of their shipments. Since steamships were very costly to build and operate, cable communication would then allow profitability as ships could be continuously transporting full loads of cargo. Without a cable connection in the port, it would have been difficult for ship owners to maximize their profitability and hence fewer steamships would have touched that port. It is possible then that telegraphic communication was at the heart of diminishing transport costs across the Atlantic. Despite the alleged importance of telegraphs, there are very few works published on their economic history.

(When) Are Religious People Nicer? Religious Salience and the 'Sunday Effect' on Pro-social Behavior

Abstract

Prior research has found mixed evidence for the long-theorized link between religiosity and pro-social behavior. To help overcome this divergence, we hypothesize that pro-social behavior is linked not to religiosity per se, but rather to the salience of religion and religious norms. We report on a field experiment that examines when auction participants will respond to an appeal to continue bidding for secular charitable causes. The results reveal that religious individuals are more likely than non-religious individuals to respond to an appeal for charity only on days that they visit their place of worship; on other days of the week, religiosity has no effect. Notably, the result persists after controlling for a host of factors that may influence bidding, but disappears when the appeal for charity is replaced by an appeal to bid for other reasons. Implications for the link between religion and pro-social behavior are discussed.

The Evolution of Science-Based Business: Innovating How We Innovate

Abstract

Science has long been connected to innovation and to business. As early as the late 19th century, chemical companies, realizing the commercial potential of science, created the first industrial research laboratories. During much of the 20th century, large-scale business enterprises like DuPont, GE, Westinghouse, IBM, Kodak, Xerox (PARC), and AT&T (Bell Laboratories) created in-house labs capable of first-rate basic scientific research. In recent decades, however, the connection between science and business has begun to change in important ways. While the corporate lab declined, new "science-based businesses" in sectors like biotech, nanotech, and energy emerged. Universities also became active players in the commercialization of science. In short, science has become a business. This essay examines the institutional and organizational challenges created by this convergence of science and business through a Chandlerian lens. It highlights three fundamental challenges of science-based businesses: 1) managing and rewarding long-term risk, 2) integrating across technical disciplines, and 3) learning. Whereas these challenges were once managed inside the boundaries of corporate R&D labs—under the auspices of Chandler's visible hand—today the invisible hand of markets increasingly governs them. An assessment of this form of governance against the requirements of science-based businesses suggests a gap and a need for organizational innovation.

Download the paper: http://icc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/dtq013?ijkey=WB7zzaO3bsqcw4t&keytype=ref

Pension Fund Design in Developing Economies

An abstract is unavailable at this time.

Download the paper: http://www.people.hbs.edu/lviceira/Optimal%20Portfolios.pdf

Toyota Was in Denial. How About You?

An abstract is unavailable at this time.

Read the article: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_16/b4174076731775.htm?chan=magazine+channel_business+views