Publications
- February 2015
- RAND Journal of Economics
Performance Responses to Competition Across Skill-Levels in Rank Order Tournaments: Field Evidence and Implications for Tournament Design
Abstract—Tournaments are widely used in the economy to organize production and innovation. We study individual contestant-level data from 2,796 contestants in 774 software algorithm design contests with random assignment. Precisely conforming to theory predictions, the performance response to added contestants varies non-monotonically across contestants of different abilities, most respond negatively to competition, and highest-skilled contestants respond positively. In counterfactual simulations, we interpret a number of tournament design policies (number of competitors, prize allocation and structure, divisionalization, open entry) as a means of reconciling non-monotonic incentive responses to competition, effectively manipulating the number and skills distribution of contestants facing one another.
- February 2015
- GfK Marketing Intelligence Review
Beyond Bedlam: How Consumers and Brands Alike Are Playing the Web
Abstract—The new marketing order, as played out on media platforms like YouTube, Twitter and Instagram, is so unlike the order it is displacing that it might seem like bedlam, an asylum of sorts for ideas intelligible only to their creators. And yet, surely, something systematic is going on. It must have purpose; all the vigorous uploading, posting, commenting, and sharing must be generating results. We claim that the new order is, in fact, rule-governed, and the rules are the rules of play.
Publisher's link: http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/gfkmir.2014.6.issue-2/gfkmir-2014-0095/gfkmir-2014-0095.xml
- February 2015
- Emerging Trends in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: Interdisciplinary Directions
Diversity in Groups
Abstract—Diversity has the potential to either disrupt group functioning or, conversely, be the source of collective creativity and insight. These two divergent perspectives pose a paradox that has held the attention of scholars for many years. In response, researchers have marshaled evidence to specify the conditions under which diversity leads to more positive outcomes and explain why it does so under these conditions. After describing these foundational perspectives and more recent work that addresses this paradox, we outline several promising directions for research in this domain. We encourage researchers to develop integrative theoretical explanations, use new technologies to gain insight into group processes, study diversity in the context of virtual interaction, and take advantage of opportunities for cross-disciplinary research.
- February 2015
- European Business Review
Preparing for Uncertainty: How to Use Creaction at Work
Abstract—No abstract available.
Publisher's link: http://www.europeanbusinessreview.com/?p=6747
Working Papers
Price Coherence and Excessive Intermediation
Abstract—Suppose an intermediary provides a benefit to buyers when they purchase from sellers using the intermediary's technology. We develop a model to show that the intermediary would want to restrict sellers from charging buyers more for transactions it intermediates. With this restriction an intermediary can profitably raise demand for its services by eliminating any extra price buyers face for purchasing through the intermediary. We show that this leads to inflated retail prices, excessive adoption of the intermediaries' services, over-investment in benefits to buyers, and a reduction in consumer surplus and sometimes welfare. Competition among intermediaries intensifies these problems by increasing the magnitude of their effects and broadening the circumstances in which they arise. We discuss applications to payment card systems, travel reservation systems, rebate services, and various other intermediaries.
Download working paper: http://www.benedelman.org/publications/pricecoherence-2015-01-28.pdf
Cases & Course Materials
- Harvard Business School Case 314-122
The Tate's Digital Transformation
John Stack was the visionary head of digital transformation at the Tate, a collection of four major art galleries in the UK, including Tate Modern, the most visited gallery devoted to modern and contemporary art in the world. Stack was the architect of the Tate's "fifth gallery," its online presence. Stack had guided the Tate through two digital strategy planning processes, and his team had experienced much success in developing the Tate's fifth gallery into a virtual place filled with immersive and engaging content, activities, experiences, and communities. Looking to the future, Stack was working to execute a new digital strategy, one that included digital as a dimension of everything the Tate did, both physically and virtually. This effort was raising important questions about organizational structure, marketing strategy, product and service design, and return on investment. What would it take to be a truly digital organization where digital was the norm?
Purchase this case:
https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/314122-PDF-ENG
- Harvard Business School Case 315-060
The Basic LCA Framework
No abstract available.
Purchase this case:
https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/315060-PDF-ENG
- Harvard Business School Case 214-055
Restructuring JAL
Hideo Seto, the recently appointed chairman of the investment committee of the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation, must decide whether to push JAL group, Japan's largest airline, into bankruptcy or to act as a sponsor in an out-of-court restructuring. The bankruptcy of JAL would be the largest ever for an industrial firm in Japan's history. The case introduces the mechanics of bankruptcy, the tradeoff between out-of-court restructuring and bankruptcy, and the costs of financial distress. At the level of public policy, the case also serves as a useful backdrop to discuss the role of bankruptcy in the efficient functioning of the economy, as well as the related comparison between Japan and the U.S. in terms of both the bankruptcy code and the cultural attitudes toward corporate restructuring. This case can fit into an introductory course in a module on capital structure and the tradeoff between the costs and benefits of debt or in an advanced corporate restructuring course in a module on the effect of different legal and cultural environments on bankruptcy proceedings.
Purchase this case:
https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/214055-PDF-ENG
- Harvard Business School Case 815-044
DoubleDutch
Lawrence Coburn and Pankaj Prasad, co-founders of the event solution startup DoubleDutch, have to make a significant decision about their young company's sales function. DoubleDutch's key product was a mobile application (app) and event management platform that customers could use to better engage and connect with their event participants (e.g., attendees at a conference, employees at a quarterly sales meeting) and also to obtain detailed information from these participants to deliver a better future experience, understand how the event was received, and receive large amounts of valuable data. The company was growing quickly and rapidly adding new customers, but Coburn and Prasad wanted to make sure that in the drive to add new customers, existing clients whose contracts were expiring were not "slipping through the cracks" when it came time to renew. But who within the company should be responsible for renewals? Sales? The customer success team that helped customers develop and deploy the product? Or an entirely new team dedicated solely to renewals?
Purchase this case:
https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/815044-PDF-ENG
- Harvard Business School Case 714-036
Breaking Bad (the Rules): Argentina Defaults, Inflates (and Grows), 1997-2015
In late October 2011, after losing 1 billion of dollar reserves in one month, the Argentine government began imposing a series of currency controls, limiting the ability to buy foreign currency. As of October 2011, Argentina's tax collection agency AFIP had been granted the power to approve or reject all requests to buy dollars with pesos in Argentina's banking system. By June 2012, AFIP had removed "saving" as a legitimate explanation. While the official exchange rate was approaching six pesos to the dollar, the black market was demanding almost ten pesos to the dollar-a nearly 65% difference. These were not the first currency restrictions that Argentina had imposed on its citizens.
Purchase this case:
https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/714036-PDF-ENG
- Harvard Business School Case 614-064
Prodigy Network: Democratizing Real Estate Design and Financing
This case follows Rodrigo Nino, founder and CEO of commercial real estate development company Prodigy Network, as he develops an equity-based crowdfunding model for small investors to access commercial real estate in Colombia and then tests the model in the United States. U.S. regulations, starting with the Securities Act of 1933, effectively barred sponsors from soliciting small investors for large commercial real estate. However, the JOBS Act of 2013 loosened U.S. restrictions on equity crowdfunding. Nino believes that crowdfunding will democratize real estate development by providing a new asset class for small investors, revolutionizing the industry. The case also follows Nino's development of an online platform to crowdsource design for his crowdfunded buildings, maximizing shared value throughout the development process. Nino faces many challenges as he attempts to crowdfund an extended stay hotel in Manhattan, New York, as crowdfunded real estate faces resistance from industry leaders, especially in regards to the concern of fraud, and SEC regulations on crowdfunding remain undetermined at the time of the case.
Purchase this case:
https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/614064-PDF-ENG