First Look

Abstract—Pseudo-set framing—arbitrarily grouping items or tasks together as part of an apparent “set”—motivates people to reach perceived completion points. Pseudo-set framing changes gambling choices (Study 1), effort (Studies 2 and 3), giving behavior (Field Data and Study 4), and purchase decisions (Study 5). These effects persist in the absence of any reward, when a cost must be incurred, and after participants are explicitly informed of the arbitrariness of the set. Drawing on Gestalt psychology, we develop a conceptual account that predicts what will—and will not—act as a pseudo-set and defines the psychological process through which these pseudo-sets affect behavior, concluding that over and above typical reference points, pseudo-set framing alters perceptions of (in)completeness, making intermediate progress seem less complete. In turn, these feelings of incompleteness motivate people to persist until the pseudo-set has been fulfilled.

Publisher's link: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52665

Abstract—This paper documents a set of stylized facts about leverage and financial fragility in the nonfinancial corporate sector in emerging markets since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Corporate debt vulnerability indicators prior to the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC) attributed to corporate financial roots provide a benchmark for comparison. The firm-level data suggest that emerging markets post-GFC have lower leverage ratios than the five Asian crisis countries (Asian Five) in the run-up to the AFC. However, a broader set of emerging market countries show weaker liquidity, solvency, and profitability indicators. More countries are also in the Altman Z-score's “grey zone,” that is, at risk for corporate distress. Regression estimates confirm that leading up to the AFC and in the aftermath of the GFC, firms with higher leverage have Z-scores that are closer to the financial distress range. The data also corroborate two macro-related hypotheses: first, that leverage interacted with currency depreciation had a statistically significant adverse impact on Z-scores in pre-AFC; and second, that in countries with higher GDP growth leverage is correlated with less corporate financial fragility. Consistent with Gabaix (2011) this paper finds a granularity effect in that large firms are systemically important—idiosyncratic shocks to large firms significantly correlate with GDP growth in our emerging markets sample. Also, the more-levered large firms are more vulnerable to exchange rate shocks than smaller firms with comparable levels of leverage. While this result holds for the average country in our sample, there is substantial cross-country heterogeneity.

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Abstract—Management styles and practices are important determinants of firm performance. Yet, substantial variation exists across organizations with regard to management, suggesting frictions in the broader diffusion of management knowledge. We argue that peer networks may allow for the diffusion of productive management across firms. Using a randomized field experiment with 100 high-growth technology firms, we show that founders who received advice from other founders with more “hands-on” management styles were more likely to reorient their own management activity and, subsequently, experience lower employee attrition and higher rates of firm survival eight months after the intervention. For founders who already had a more hands-on management style themselves, these interactions also increase top-line employee growth via an increase in hiring rates. Our study demonstrates management can indeed diffuse across young firms via networks, though the process might be uneven and slow in practice.

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Abstract—There is considerable controversy about the causes of regional variations in health care expenditures. We use vignettes from patient and physician surveys linked to fee-for-service Medicare expenditures to test whether patient demand-side factors or physician supply-side factors explain regional variations in spending. We find patient demand is relatively unimportant in explaining variation in spending after accounting for physician beliefs. Physician organizational factors matter, but the single most important factor is physician beliefs about treatment: 35% of Medicare end-of-life spending, 12% of spending for heart attack patients, and 12% of total Medicare spending are associated with physician beliefs unsupported by clinical evidence.

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Abstract—We examine if, and under what conditions, disclosure of sustainability information identified as investor relevant by market-driven innovations in accounting standard setting is associated with stock prices reflecting more firm-specific information and thereby lower synchronicity with market and industry returns. We find that firms voluntarily disclosing more sustainability information, identified as material by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), have lower stock price synchronicity. This result is stronger for firms with higher exposure to sustainability issues, institutional and socially responsible investment fund ownership, and coverage from analysts with less firm-specific experience and lower portfolio complexity. Moreover, we find intra-industry information transfers to firms with low sustainability disclosure within industries with high sustainability disclosure. We also document that sustainability information not identified by the accounting standard setting process is not associated with stock price synchronicity.

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Abstract—Scientists have spent decades creating powerful and detailed descriptions of how people make decisions. Unfortunately, many of these theories make contradictory predictions and are difficult to understand and implement. We introduce the 4 Minds framework as a practical tool for understanding and applying the science of decision-making in the marketplace. We synthesize previous research on decision-making into four broad approaches customers can take to making choices. These four decision-making “Minds”—Ideal Point Mind, Market Comparison Mind, Local Comparison Mind, and Image Mind—lead to very different outcomes and behaviors. We have developed the 4 Minds framework to serve as a diagnostic tool to help identify which clusters of decision-making research are most likely to apply in any given situation. By learning how these decision-making Minds differ, and the factors and environments that precipitate each one, marketers can better anticipate and serve their intended customers.

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Abstract—High-quality ideas and the individuals who generate them are critical to the success of organizations. In this article, we take a micro-network perspective on idea generation and incorporate personality theory into a multi-level model of information acquisition and idea generation. We posit that innovator and peer personality are critical factors conditioning who will generate high-quality ideas, and that our proposed mechanisms have implications at both individual and team levels. Using data from a randomized field experiment embedded in a startup boot camp for early stage entrepreneurs, our findings show that innovators who are more open to experience do generate better ideas, but only when they converse with extroverted peers. Further, we find that teams populated with such openness-extroversion dyads perform substantially better—having both a higher pool of novel information and better recombinative capability with the team. We discuss implications for future research on the individual and social determinants of innovation.

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Abstract—This working paper examines the remarkable growth of wine consumption in the United States since the 1960s. The country is now the largest wine consumer in the world, exceeding the wine-producing European countries such as France and Italy, which had long dominated world markets. The paper identifies the late 1960s and 1970s as the major turning point by analyzing the role of businesses in reinventing the image of wine from a cheap and very alcoholic beverage to a sophisticated natural product and fine accompaniment for gourmet food. By creating wine as a symbol of social status, the reimagined wine industry became a reinforcer of social and class divisions in the United States.

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Founded in 2002, Hangzhou, China–based Beingmate was a major producer of infant formula and related products in the high-demand Chinese market. After an infamous 2008 food safety episode in China, in which toxic infant formula sickened thousands of babies and led to the collapse of several domestic infant formula brands, Beingmate—whose products tested clean—had risen to become a leader among China’s many infant formula brands. But while Beingmate was not implicated in the 2008 scandal, the company could not escape the deep consumer distrust of domestic infant formula brands that still pervaded China in 2016. Foreign brands, priced at a substantial premium, were strongly preferred by consumers who could afford them. The field of domestic infant formula brands was crowded and extremely competitive, leading to price wars and intense margin pressure. This case allows students to discuss the keys to Beingmate’s past successes and debate its existing strategy in the context of a very complicated market. One key question is how Beingmate might leverage its partnerships with Ireland-based Kerry Group and New Zealand’s Fonterra to enhance its competitive position.

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When Joe Jimenez became CEO of Swiss-based Novartis in 2010, replacing longtime CEO Dan Vasella, he assumed control of one of the top pharmaceutical companies in the world. Vasella, an avowed advocate of diversification, had expanded the scope of the company and structured it into 16 distinct business units ranging from animal health to oncology while “actively fostering competition between those divisions for resources.” Shortly after assuming his position, Jimenez initiated a strategic review that sought to concentrate the portfolio on businesses where Novartis could be at global scale in attractive markets. Rather than following competitors, like Pfizer, in a single mega-acquisition, Jimenez and his M&A team decided to achieve this goal through targeted transactions or “precision M&A.” By 2014, after examining 20 or so possible deals, the company was in the process of negotiating a multibillion dollar asset swap with Glaxo-Smith Kline (GSK) that was unprecedented in the pharma industry. Although Novartis would improve its position in oncology by acquiring GSK’s promising drug portfolio, it had to sell its vaccines and animal health businesses, while giving up control of the over-the-counter (OTC) business. Jimenez and his team knew the offer was “all-or-nothing” and struggled over whether to accept it or reject it and move in another direction.

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No abstract available.

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The case traces the birth of Shang Xia, a joint venture between the Hermès Group and Chinese designer Jiang Qiong Er. Launched in 2009 in Shanghai, the new brand's core mission is to revive and promote China’s 5,000-year-old cultural heritage and leverage Chinese craftsmanship to design contemporary products. Describing the brand evolution over its first eight years of existence, the case allows for an exploration of the challenges associated with creating a luxury brand and reconciling several strategic imperatives: the need to build a strong, desirable, and prestigious brand identity and grow a profitable and sustainable business. The case also provides an opportunity to discuss the benefits and challenges associated with 1) building a luxury brand from scratch and 2) being a luxury brand “made in China” with global ambitions.

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Following the March 2016 launch of DB11, Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd.’s first new sports car platform in over a decade, this case discusses the future strategy of the famed British luxury auto manufacturer. Since its founding in 1902, Aston Martin has been characterized by leading automotive design of bespoke luxury vehicles. In 2016, CEO Andy Palmer faced decisions about the company’s future direction in an automotive industry in the midst of a digital tornado with the arrival of autonomous, internetworked, clean-energy-propelled vehicles. Palmer’s Second Century Plan called for Aston Martin to diversify into new vehicle categories and increase overall production volume in an effort to boost earnings without compromising Aston Martin’s reputation for exclusivity, style, and engineering. As one of the few luxury car companies not backed by a larger automaker, Palmer and Aston Martin faced the challenge of funding the development of new vehicles and maintaining a position of leadership in automotive design. “The big question is whether the Second Century Plan has us departing from our traditional role as a sports car and luxury manufacturer and moving into new segments, new businesses,” said Palmer in late 2016. “Is that a wise choice? How does a high-end premium provider in any business grow without losing its exclusive reputation? That is the eternal business question.”

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No abstract available.

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