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    First Look: July 14, 2015

    First Look

    14 Jul 2015

    Big Data Or Big Hype?

    Is big data being oversold? In an article in the May-June issue of European Business Review, Sunil Gupta takes a realistic look at what big data can bring to business decion-making. "While some of the claims of big data were clearly hyped, there are indeed invaluable opportunities offered by these data," Gupta writes.

    Evaluating Accountable Care Organizations

    Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are collections of health care providers and hospitals that voluntarily coordinate to provide high quality care to Medicare patients. The case study "Transforming Care at UnityPoint Health-Fort Dodge" details the transformation of a health care delivery system, UnityPoint Health-Fort Dodge, into a Pioneer Accountable Care Organization. Three programs are studied: reducing readmissions, creating advanced medical teams, and creating a palliative care program.

    Investing In Affordable Schools In Developing Countries

    The case "Pearson Affordable Learning Fund" confronts a decision often contemplated by VC funds: Should fund directors allocate more internal money to a fund, or should they open it up to third party investors? The case also considers the concept of private, for-profit affordable schools in emerging markets.

    —Sean Silverthorne
    LinkedIn
    Email
     

    Publications

    • May-June 2015
    • Human Resource Management

    Back to the Future: Implications for the Field of HRM of the Multi-stakeholder Perspective Proposed 30 Years Ago

    By: Beer, Michael, Paul Boselie, and Chris Brewster

    Abstract—Thirty years on from the seminal work Managing Human Assets (MHA) by Beer et al., we examine how the subject has developed. We offer a normative review, based on that model, and we critique the assumption that the business of HRM is solely to improve returns to owners and shareholders. We identify the importance of a wider view of stakeholders to practitioners and how academic studies on the periphery of HRM are beginning to adopt such a view. We argue that the HRM studies so far have given us much valuable learning but that the subject has now reached a point where we need to take a wider, more contextual, more multilayered approach founded on the long-term needs of all relevant stakeholders. The original Beer et al. model remains a valuable guide to the next 30 years of HRM.

    Publisher's link: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49360

    • Forthcoming
    • Innovation Policy and the Economy

    Innovation Experiments: Researching Technical Advance, Knowledge Production and the Design of Supporting Institutions

    By: Boudreau, Kevin J., and Karim R. Lakhani

    Abstract—No abstract available.

    Publisher's link: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49361

    • May-June 2015
    • European Business Review

    Big Data: Big Deal or Big Hype?

    By: Gupta, Sunil

    Abstract—Google Flu Trends article of November 2008 heralded a new age for big data where it is possible to leverage the vast amount of data to speak for itself, without theory or expert knowledge of the subject matter. However, in a short span, the pendulum swung from big data being a big deal to becoming a big hype. As is usually the case, the truth is somewhere between these two extremes. This article highlights the potential impact of big data on business practices in three broad areas: applications, methods, and infrastructure.

    Publisher's link: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49346

    • In press
    • Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

    Hormones and Ethics: Understanding the Biological Basis of Unethical Conduct

    By: Lee, Jooa Julia, Francesca Gino, Ellie Shuo Jin, Leslie K. Rice, and Robert A. Josephs

    Abstract—Globally, fraud has been rising sharply over the last decade, with current estimates placing financial losses at greater than $3.7 trillion dollars annually. Unfortunately, fraud prevention has been stymied by lack of a clear and comprehensive understanding of its underlying causes and mechanisms. In this paper, we focus on an important but neglected topic-the biological antecedents and consequences of unethical conduct-using salivary collection of hormones (testosterone and cortisol). We hypothesized that pre-performance cortisol would interact with pre-performance levels of testosterone to regulate cheating behavior in two studies. Further, based on the previously untested cheating-as-stress-reduction hypothesis, we predicted a dose-response relationship between cheating and reductions in cortisol and negative affect. Taken together, this research marks the first foray into the possibility that endocrine system activity plays an important role in the regulation of unethical behavior.

    Publisher's link: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49337

    • May-June 2015
    • NACD Directorship

    Higher-Ambition CEOs Need Higher-Ambition Boards

    By: Ludwig, Edwig, Elise Walton, and Michael Beer

    Abstract—The authors opine that ambitious chief executives (CEOs) of corporations need corporate boards that are also ambitious and accommodative of them. According to the authors, good corporate governance and financial performance are the main requirements for good board-CEO relations. Topics including CEO recruitment and succession are discussed.

    Publisher's link: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49358

    • 2014
    • Research in Organizational Behavior

    Morality Rebooted: Exploring Simple Fixes to Our Moral Bugs

    By: Zhang, Ting, Francesca Gino, and Max Bazerman

    Abstract—Ethics research developed partly in response to calls from organizations to understand and solve unethical behavior. Departing from prior work that focused mainly on examining the antecedents and consequences of dishonesty, we examine two approaches to mitigating unethical behavior: (1) values-oriented approaches that broadly appeal to individuals' preferences to be more moral and (2) structure-oriented approaches that redesign specific incentives, tasks, and decisions to reduce temptations to cheat in the environment. This paper explores how these approaches can change behavior. We argue that integrating both approaches while avoiding incompatible strategies can mitigate the risk of adverse effects that arise from taking a single approach.

    Publisher's link: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49334

     

    Working Papers

    Selling to a Moving Target: Dynamic Marketing Effects in U.S. Presidential Elections

    By: Chung, Doug J., and Lingling Zhang

    Abstract—We examine the effects of various political campaign activities on voter preferences in the domain of U.S. Presidential elections. We construct a comprehensive data set that covers the three most recent elections, with detailed records of voter preferences at the state-week level over an election period. We include various types of the most frequently utilized marketing instruments: two forms of advertising-candidate's own and outside advertising, and two forms of personal selling-retail campaigning and field operations. Although effectiveness varies by instrument and party, among the significant effects we find that a candidate's own advertising is more effective than outside advertising, and that advertising and retail campaigning work more favorably towards Republican candidates. In contrast, we find field operations to be more effective for Democratic candidates, primarily through get-out-the-vote efforts. We do not find any between-party differences in the effectiveness of outside advertising. Lastly, we also find a moderate but statistically significant carryover effect of campaign activities, indicating the presence of dynamics of marketing efforts over time.

    Download working paper: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49339

     

    Cases & Course Materials

    • Harvard Business School Case 715-016

    The Sino-Russian Rapprochement: Energy Relations in a New Era

    The United States could enhance or threaten China's energy security, but China was unsure of the U.S. intentions. China and the United States were both friends and potential foes. In the meantime, Russia's own ambivalent relationship with the United States and its Western allies has worsened. In this context, China and Russia have grown closer. Bilateral ties in the energy trade quickly improved: Russian oil exports expanded, while disagreements on the terms of natural gas supplies have been resolved. The case describes the impact of the interplay of great power politics, domestic political considerations, and economic factors on the efforts of the Chinese and Russian energy companies to expand business ties.

    Purchase this case:
    https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/715016-PDF-ENG

    • Harvard Business School Case 915-417

    Key Elements for Excellence in Classroom Cases and Teaching Notes

    No abstract available.

    Purchase this case:
    https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/915417-PDF-ENG

    • Harvard Business School Case 315-109

    Pearson Affordable Learning Fund

    An in-house venture capital fund for affordable private schools at the base of the pyramid established by Pearson, the world's largest education company, PALF sought to invest in business models providing superior educational outcomes in emerging markets on a profitable and scalable basis. With Pearson's overall strategy shifting from the developed to the developing world and from a supplier of books to a host of other learning products and services, the company thought PALF's lessons might be applicable to Pearson's core businesses. By 2014, Katelyn Donnelly, the managing director of PALF, and her team had made seven investments in Africa and Asia and were close to fully committing the $15 million earmarked for the initiative. In the upcoming meeting of PALF's Investment Committee, Donnelly must present a recommendation: should Pearson allocate more internal money to the fund, or should they open it up to third party investors?

    Purchase this case:
    https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/315109-PDF-ENG

    • Harvard Business School Case 215-038

    The Complexity of Vanguard's Entry Decision into ETFs (A)

    No abstract available

    Purchase this case:
    https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/215038-PDF-ENG

    • Harvard Business School Case 615-052

    Transforming Care at UnityPoint Health-Fort Dodge

    This case details the transformation of a health care delivery system, UnityPoint Health-Fort Dodge, into a Pioneer Accountable Care Organization (ACO) after the passage of health reform in the United States. The case explores in detail how the hospital CEO and staff designed and implemented new models of care delivery and built relationships across health care delivery settings in an effort to better coordinate patient care and lower health care costs. Using patient stories, care delivery prior to the formation of the ACO is compared to care delivery after the formation of the ACO. Three novel programs that were cornerstones to transformation efforts are highlighted: 1) reducing readmissions, 2) creating advanced medical teams, and 3) creating a palliative care program.

    Purchase this case:
    https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/615052-PDF-ENG

    • Harvard Business School Case PEL-073

    Between Compliance and Support: The Role of the Commonwealth in District Takeovers

    No abstract available

    Purchase this case:
    https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/PEL073-PDF-ENG

    • Harvard Business School Case 515-102

    AIP Healthcare Japan: Investing in Japan's Retirement Home Market

    The CEO of a health-care based REIT is considering alternative nursing home investment strategies. Students must consider macro-industry trends, scale and scope issues, and consumer segmentation data in making their recommendations.

    Purchase this case:
    https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/515102-PDF-ENG

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