Doctoral Student
Ethan S Bernstein
Does privacy make us productive?
I study how the sharing of information across and within boundaries affects learning, innovation, and performance. The prevailing body of knowledge on transparency and information sharing, in theory and practice, tends to adopt a lens of more is better, and focuses its attention on how to make groups, organizations, and networks more effective at information transfer. I, instead, focus on the circumstances under which sharing information can be detrimental to learning, innovation, and performance—or, put differently, the circumstances under which privacy makes us productive.
My research finds that privacy is an important management lever but remains generally underrecognized and underutilized, despite its potential to increase learning, innovation, and performance. Drawing on field experiments, lab experiments, and qualitative field work, my research contributes to a broad community of management scholars in organizational behavior, as well as managers and business leaders across industries.
For more detail, please see my job market website at http://www.people.hbs.edu/ebernstein/.
For the most up-to-date biography, please see my job market website at: http://www.people.hbs.edu/ebernstein/.
Ethan Bernstein is a Doctoral Candidate in Management at the Harvard Business School and a Kauffman Foundation Fellow of Law, Innovation, and Growth at Harvard Law School. His research on both sides of the river focuses on management issues related to learning and innovation.
Ethan's most recent research examines how, and under what conditions, privacy makes us more productive. More specifically, he studies how the sharing of information across and within boundaries affects learning, innovation, and performance. A core part of his dissertation work was recently published as a sole-authored article in the Administrative Science Quarterly.
In addition to his fieldwork and field experiments, Ethan conducts lab experiments. His recent lab work is focused on investigating the relationship between network structure and performance in complex problem-solving tasks.
Ethan received JD/MBA from Harvard University, as well as an A.B. in Economics from Amherst College. Prior to beginning his doctoral studies, he worked at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Toronto and Tokyo. From 2011-2012, Ethan took leave from Harvard to help Elizabeth Warren stand-up the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as a member of the CFPB Implementation Team, and subequently served as the CFPB's first Deputy Assitant Director, Mortgage Markets and its first Chief Strategy Officer.
Ethan has also held positions at the Center for Organizational Fitness, J.P. Morgan, Cravath, Swaine & Moore, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. He has taught Operations Strategy to executives in Samsung's Premier Leadership Program, Finance and Accounting in the MBA Analytics Program at the Harvard Business School, Economics at Harvard College, and is an annual guest lecturer at Harvard's Business Leadership Program. Ethan also worked in the White House during the Clinton Administration in the Executive Office of the President, supporting Ambassador Michael Kantor (U.S. Trade Representative). He currently serves as the Vice President of the Harvard Law School Association.
In his spare time, Ethan is an culinary adventurer and avid traveler, and he has completed five 500km+ cycling trips--through Ireland, Alaska, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and California.
For the most up-to-date biography, please see my job market website at: http://www.people.hbs.edu/ebernstein/.
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Article
| Stanford Journal of Law, Business & Finance
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All's Fair in Love, War, & Bankruptcy?: Corporate Governance Implications of CEO Turnover in Financial Distress
Ethan S Bernstein
Prior discussions of management turnover during financial distress have examined bankrupt and non-bankrupt firms as distinct groupings with little overlap. Separately investigating rates of turnover in-bankruptcy and out-of-bankruptcy, without a direct comparison between the two, has resulted in a narrowing of the accepted influence of bankruptcy law to post-petition, in-court decisions. Based on new evidence of CEO turnover in 2001, I argue empirically that this distinction between in-court and out-of-court restructuring has become meaningless from a governance perspective. In 2001, filing for bankruptcy did not change the rate of CEO turnover when one controls for financial condition. This statistically significant finding indicates that the shadow of bankruptcy has lengthened, making bankruptcy law a central tenet of governance policy regardless of whether a Chapter 11 petition is ever filed. After presenting these results, this article considers the implications of these results on the changing perceptions of the role of CEOs and the evolution of the multi-pronged U.S. corporate governance system.
Keywords: corporate governance;
bankruptcy;
restructuring;
CEO Turnover;
financial distress;
Restructuring;
Governance;
Corporate Governance;
Financial Markets;
Credit;
Borrowing and Debt;
Law;
Theory;
Organizational Structure;
Markets;
United States;
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Article
| Cornell Law Review
|
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Financial Regulation for the Twenty-First Century
Leonard J. Kennedy, Patricia A. McCoy and Ethan S Bernstein
After existing regulatory systems failed to prevent the recent financial crisis, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, a sweeping reform designed to alleviate the crisis and prevent its recurrence. Out of this Act, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was born. This new agency is charged with making markets for consumer financial products and services work for Americans, a task that was previously spread out among seven different federal agencies with varying priorities. This Article describes, with a series of concrete case studies, four key principles that have guided the Bureau as it strives to fulfill Congress's mandate. First, the Bureau has taken a market-based approach that reflects its belief in the power of markets and competition to produce increasingly better outcomes for consumers and responsible providers alike. Second, recognizing that understanding a market well is essential to effective regulation, the Bureau has relied on evidence-based analysis to inform all of its activities. Third, the Bureau has complemented its empirical analysis with input from
all segments of the public—including consumers, advocates, and regulated entities. To facilitate the kind of robust public participation that will make for more effective regulation, the Bureau has employed innovative technologies and strong transparency policies. Finally, the Bureau has studied and learned from historic regulatory experiences and has adopted best practices from the public and private sectors. These four principles, and others which cascade from them, define the Bureau's twenty-first century approach to promoting a well-functioning market for consumer financial services and effective consumer protection.
Keywords: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau;
Dodd-Frank;
CFPB;
financial crisis;
reform;
new agency;
market-based approach;
evidence-based analysis;
innovative technologies and transparency policies;
BEST practices;
Government and Politics;
Government Administration;
Finance;
Financial History;
Law;
Markets;
Organizations;
Organizational Design;
Business and Government Relations;
Balance and Stability;
Strategy;
Financial Services Industry;
Banking Industry;
United States;
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Article
| Research in Organizational Change and Development
|
Strategic Change and the Jazz Mindset: Exploring Practices That Enhance Dynamic Capabilities for Organizational Improvization
Ethan S Bernstein and Frank J. Barrett
How can leaders adopt a mindset that maximizes learning, remains responsive to short-term emergent opportunities, and simultaneously strengthens longer-term dynamic capabilities of the organization? This chapter explores the organizational decisions and practices leaders can initiate to extend, strengthen, or transform "ordinary capabilities" (Winter, 2003) into enhanced improvisational competence and dynamic capabilities. We call this leadership logic the "jazz mindset." We draw upon seven characteristics of jazz bands as outlined by Barrett (1998) to show that strategic leaders of business organizations can enhance dynamic capabilities by strengthening practices observed in improvising jazz bands.
Keywords: dynamic capabilities;
strategic change;
leadership;
jazz;
jazz mindset;
improvisation;
innovation;
Change Management;
Collaborative Innovation and Invention;
Innovation and Management;
Innovation Leadership;
Knowledge Use and Leverage;
Leading Change;
Leadership Style;
Leadership;
Management;
Management Style;
Organizational Change and Adaptation;
Organizational Culture;
Organizations;
Creativity;
Strategy;
Auto Industry;
Banking Industry;
Bicycle Industry;
Computer Industry;
Consulting Industry;
Consumer Products Industry;
Education Industry;
Electronics Industry;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry;
Financial Services Industry;
Food and Beverage Industry;
Health Industry;
Information Technology Industry;
Manufacturing Industry;
Music Industry;
Pharmaceutical Industry;
Retail Industry;
Semiconductor Industry;
Service Industry;
Technology Industry;
United States;
Japan;
Taiwan;
Europe;
Asia;
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Article
| Administrative Science Quarterly
|
The Transparency Paradox: A Role for Privacy in Organizational Learning and Operational Control
Ethan S Bernstein
Using data from embedded participant-observers and a field experiment at the second largest mobile phone factory in the world, located in China, I theorize and test the implications of transparent organizational design on workers' productivity and organizational performance. Drawing from theory and research on learning and control, I introduce the notion of a transparency paradox, whereby maintaining observability of workers may counterintuitively reduce their performance by inducing those being observed to conceal their activities through codes and other costly means; conversely, creating zones of privacy may, under certain conditions, increase performance. Empirical evidence from the field shows that even a modest increase in group-level privacy sustainably and significantly improves line performance, while qualitative evidence suggests that privacy is important in supporting productive deviance, localized experimentation, distraction avoidance, and continuous improvement. I discuss implications of these results for theory on learning and control and suggest directions for future research.
Keywords: transparency;
privacy;
organizational learning;
Operational Control;
organizational performance;
Chinese Manufacturing;
field experiment;
Performance Productivity;
Theory;
Boundaries;
Interpersonal Communication;
Collaborative Innovation and Invention;
Innovation and Management;
Job Design and Levels;
Working Conditions;
Leadership Style;
Business or Company Management;
Management Practices and Processes;
Production;
Organizational Design;
Groups and Teams;
Networks;
Labor and Management Relations;
Social and Collaborative Networks;
Power and Influence;
Adaptation;
Manufacturing Industry;
China;
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Chapter
| Cognitive Search: Evolution, Algorithms, and the Brain
| 2012
Problem Solving and Search in Networks
David Lazer and Ethan S Bernstein
This paper examines the role that networks play in facilitating/inhibiting search for solutions to problems at both the individual and collective levels. At the individual level, search in networks enables individuals to transport themselves to a very different location in the solution space than they could likely reach through individual experimental or cognitive search. Research on networks suggests that (1) diverse ties provides a wider menu of choices and insights for individuals, and (2) strong ties will be relatively more useful for complex information, and weak for simple information. At the collective level, these conclusions become less clear: the key question is how the collective operates to coordinate within the group and beyond it so as to balance experimentation and convergence towards a solution encouraged by either the external network or the internal group dynamic. Collective coordination of search, and collective evaluation of potential solutions, may significantly influence the previous recommendations for the optimal network structure for network search.
Keywords: search;
networks;
privacy;
transparency;
communication;
problem solving;
individual;
collective;
literature review;
Communication;
Information;
Innovation and Invention;
Knowledge;
Organizational Design;
Social and Collaborative Networks;
Citation: Lazer, David, and Ethan S Bernstein. " Problem Solving and Search in Networks." Chap. 17 in Cognitive Search: Evolution, Algorithms, and the Brain, edited by Peter M Todd, Thomas T Hills, and Trevor W Robbins, 261–273. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2012.
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Case
| HBS Case Collection
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2012
(Revised from original 2010 version)
Assembling Smartphones: Takt Time ≠ Cycle Time?
Willy Shih and Ethan Bernstein
The case was prepared to be used as part of a process review in the first year Technology and Operations Management course at HBS. It offers students an opportunity to discuss the context of a manufacturing process choice, and then examine actual production numbers that resulted from a series of choices. While there isn't a traditional case issue, the discussion should focus on the gap between theoretical process designs and the reality of practical implementations, with the impact of operator variability in pace and the complex intertwining with work scope. The case only meant for one discussion pasture to review the Hayes-Wheelwright product-process matrix, and the impact of variability on line performance. While comparative numbers for the process choices are provided, the hope would be to develop students' intuition around why the numbers change so much.
Keywords: Cognition and Thinking;
Research and Development;
Design;
Six Sigma;
Measurement and Metrics;
Production;
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Supplement
| HBS Case Collection
|
2012
(Revised from original 2009 version)
Jieliang Phone Home! (C)
Willy Shih, Ethan Bernstein and Nina Bilimoria
At Precision Electro-Tek's mobile phone manufacturing facility in southern China, thousands of operators - bright and capable young men and (mostly) women like Jieliang Hao are motivated to improve line productivity through small innovations for faster assembly and have discovered many ways to increase their performance. Meanwhile a globally-networked team of manufacturing experts led by Marty Cole, the case protagonist, is trying to spread best practice from other sites around the globe. Unfortunately these two processes sometimes inadvertently clash, presenting a management challenge. The case helps students examine the implicit assumptions managers make in organizing work inside a factory. These assumptions reflect theories of worker behavior and motivation in combination with managers' beliefs of what constitutes "best practice." Students are offered an opportunity to dissect these lean manufacturing theories and recognize that in this particular implementation, implementation of best practice without sufficient consideration of the interplay of theories on motivation has led to unexpected outcomes. The case offers an opportunity to explore the link between work design and compensation, and understand the differences between compensation and motivation. The case frames the role of the general manager in setting up work structures and compensation systems in a very traditional and explicit setting, one where linkages should be clearly visible yet assumptions are often deeply buried and implicit. Our expectation is that students will see the lessons generalize to most, if not all, of the organizations where they have worked. There are three cases: the (A) case describes the management view, the (B) case describes the direct labor worker view, and the (C) case details the results of an employee survey that was conducted on two manufacturing lines.
Keywords: Globalization;
Compensation and Benefits;
Surveys;
Innovation and Invention;
Management Practices and Processes;
Production;
Performance Productivity;
Groups and Teams;
Labor and Management Relations;
Behavior;
Motivation and Incentives;
Manufacturing Industry;
Telecommunications Industry;
China;
Citation: Shih, Willy, Ethan Bernstein, and Nina Bilimoria. " Jieliang Phone Home! (C)." Harvard Business School Supplement 609-082, July 2012. (Revised from original February 2009 version.)
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Case
| HBS Case Collection
|
2012
(Revised from original 2009 version)
Jieliang Phone Home! (A)
Willy Shih, Ethan Bernstein and Nina Bilimoria
At Precision Electro-Tek's mobile phone manufacturing facility in southern China, thousands of operators—bright and capable young men and (mostly) women like Jieliang Hao—are motivated to improve line productivity through small innovations for faster assembly and have discovered many ways to increase their performance. Meanwhile a globally networked team of manufacturing experts led by Marty Cole, the case protagonist, is trying to spread best practice from other sites around the globe. Unfortunately these two processes sometimes inadvertently clash, presenting a management challenge. The case helps students examine the implicit assumptions managers make in organizing work inside a factory. These assumptions reflect theories of worker behavior and motivation in combination with managers' beliefs of what constitutes "best practice." Students are offered an opportunity to dissect these lean manufacturing theories and recognize that in this particular implementation, implementation of best practice without sufficient consideration of the interplay of theories on motivation has led to unexpected outcomes. The case offers an opportunity to explore the link between work design and compensation and to understand the differences between compensation and motivation. The case frames the role of the general manager in setting up work structures and compensation systems in a very traditional and explicit setting, one where linkages should be clearly visible yet assumptions are often deeply buried and implicit. Our expectation is that students will see the lessons generalize to most, if not all, of the organizations where they have worked. There are three cases: the (A) case describes the management view, the (B) case describes the direct labor worker view, and the (C) case details the results of an employee survey that was conducted on two manufacturing lines.
Keywords: Compensation and Benefits;
Job Design and Levels;
Business Processes;
Behavior;
Motivation and Incentives;
Manufacturing Industry;
China;
Citation: Shih, Willy, Ethan Bernstein, and Nina Bilimoria. " Jieliang Phone Home! (A)." Harvard Business School Case 609-080, July 2012. (Revised from original February 2009 version.)
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Supplement
| HBS Case Collection
|
2012
(Revised from original 2009 version)
Jieliang Phone Home! (B)
Willy Shih, Ethan Bernstein and Nina Bilimoria
At Precision Electro-Tek's mobile phone manufacturing facility in southern China, thousands of operators - bright and capable young men and (mostly) women like Jieliang Hao are motivated to improve line productivity through small innovations for faster assembly and have discovered many ways to increase their performance. Meanwhile a globally-networked team of manufacturing experts led by Marty Cole, the case protagonist, is trying to spread best practice from other sites around the globe. Unfortunately these two processes sometimes inadvertently clash, presenting a management challenge. The case helps students examine the implicit assumptions managers make in organizing work inside a factory. These assumptions reflect theories of worker behavior and motivation in combination with managers' beliefs of what constitutes "best practice." Students are offered an opportunity to dissect these lean manufacturing theories and recognize that in this particular implementation, implementation of best practice without sufficient consideration of the interplay of theories on motivation has led to unexpected outcomes. The case offers an opportunity to explore the link between work design and compensation, and understand the differences between compensation and motivation. The case frames the role of the general manager in setting up work structures and compensation systems in a very traditional and explicit setting, one where linkages should be clearly visible yet assumptions are often deeply buried and implicit. Our expectation is that students will see the lessons generalize to most, if not all, of the organizations where they have worked. There are three cases: the (A) case describes the management view, the (B) case describes the direct labor worker view, and the (C) case details the results of an employee survey that was conducted on two manufacturing lines.
Keywords: Motivation and Incentives;
Behavior;
Production;
Innovation and Invention;
Performance Productivity;
Groups and Teams;
Management Practices and Processes;
Compensation and Benefits;
Labor;
Surveys;
Decisions;
Manufacturing Industry;
China;
Citation: Shih, Willy, Ethan Bernstein, and Nina Bilimoria. " Jieliang Phone Home! (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 609-081, July 2012. (Revised from original February 2009 version.)
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