Included in the 2023 Thinkers50 Radar list—a list of 30 "up-and-coming thinkers whose ideas we predict will make an important impact on management thinking in the future."
Raffaella Sadun
Charles Edward Wilson Professor of Business Administration
Charles Edward Wilson Professor of Business Administration
Raffaella Sadun is Charles E. Wilson Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Her research focuses on managerial and organizational drivers of productivity and growth in corporations and the public sector. She co-founded several large-scale projects to measure management practices and managerial behavior in organizations, such as the World Management Survey, the Executive Time Use Study, and the first large scale management survey in hospitals, MOPS-H, conducted in partnership with the US Census Bureau. Her work has helped uncover the extent to which the diffusion of “basic” management and organizational practices varies across organizations within and across countries, and how this affects productivity at the micro and macro level.
Sadun currently co-leads the Digital Reskilling Lab at HBS, where she studies the effectiveness of large-scale digital training investments made in private and public sector organizations. She also serves as director of the of the National Bureau of Economic Research Working Group in Organizational Economics, faculty co-chair of the Harvard Project on the Workforce, co-editor for the Journal of Law, Economics and Organization and associate editor for Management Science. She is the author of articles published in journals such as The Quarterly Journal of Economics, American Economic Review, and Journal of Political Economy.
Sadun served as an economic advisor to the Italian government in 2020 and 2022 and received the honor of Grande Ufficiale dell'Ordine "Al Merito della Repubblica Italiana," the highest-ranking order of the Republic awarded for “merit acquired by the nation” in 2021. In 2022 she was awarded the Prize “Fondazione de Sanctis per le Scienze Economiche.” Sadun received her PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics.
Please see Professor Sadun's personal website at https://scholar.harvard.edu/rsadun/
- Journal Articles
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- Alfaro, Laura, Nick Bloom, Paola Conconi, Harald Fadinger, Patrick Legros, Andrew F. Newman, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen. "Come Together: Firm Boundaries and Delegation." Journal of the European Economic Association (forthcoming). View Details
- Scur, Daniela, Raffaella Sadun, John Van Reenen, Renata Lemos, and Nicholas Bloom. "The World Management Survey at 18: lessons and the way forward." Oxford Review of Economic Policy 37, no. 2 (Summer 2021): 231–258. View Details
- DeFilippis, Evan, Stephen Michael Impink, Madison Singell, Jeff Polzer, and Raffaella Sadun. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Digital Communication Patterns." Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 9, no. 180 (May 2022). View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella, Joseph B. Fuller, Stephen Hansen, and PJ Neal. "The C-Suite Skills That Matter Most." Harvard Business Review 100, no. 4 (July–August 2022): 42–50. View Details
- Teodorovicz, Thomaz, Andrew L. Kun, Raffaella Sadun, and Orit Shaer. "Multitasking While Driving: A Time Use Study of Commuting Knowledge Workers to Assess Current and Future Uses." International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 162 (June 2022). View Details
- Teodorovicz, Thomaz, Raffaella Sadun, Andrew L. Kun, and Orit Shaer. "How Does Working from Home during COVID-19 Affect What Managers Do? Evidence from Time-Use Studies." Human-Computer Interaction 37, no. 6 (2022): 532–557. View Details
- Aghion, Philippe, Nicholas Bloom, Brian Lucking, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen. "Turbulence, Firm Decentralization and Growth in Bad Times." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 13, no. 1 (January 2021): 133–169. View Details
- Impink, Stephen Michael, Andrea Prat, and Raffaella Sadun. "Measuring Collaboration in Modern Organizations." AEA Papers and Proceedings 110 (May 2020): 181–186. View Details
- Bloom, Nicholas, Renata Lemos, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen. "Healthy Business? Managerial Education and Management in Healthcare." Review of Economics and Statistics 102, no. 3 (July 2020): 506–517. View Details
- Bandiera, Oriana, Stephen Hansen, Andrea Prat, and Raffaella Sadun. "CEO Behavior and Firm Performance." Journal of Political Economy 128, no. 4 (April 2020): 1325–1369. View Details
- Bandiera, Oriana, Renata Lemos, Andrea Prat, and Raffaella Sadun. "Managing the Family Firm: Evidence from CEOs at Work." Review of Financial Studies 31, no. 5 (May 2018): 1605–1653. (Lead article.) View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella, Nicholas Bloom, and John Van Reenen. "Why Do We Undervalue Competent Management? Neither Great Leadership Nor Brilliant Strategy Matters Without Operational Excellence." Harvard Business Review 95, no. 5 (September–October 2017): 120–127. (Winner of 59th Annual HBR McKinsey Award.) View Details
- Bloom, Nicholas, Renata Lemos, Raffaella Sadun, Daniela Scur, and John Van Reenen. "International Data on Measuring Management Practices." American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings 106, no. 5 (May 2016): 152–156. View Details
- Tsai, Thomas C., Ashish K. Jha, Atul A. Gawande, Robert S. Huckman, Nicholas Bloom, and Raffaella Sadun. "Hospital Board and Management Practices Are Strongly Related to Hospital Performance on Clinical Quality Metrics." Health Affairs 34, no. 8 (August 2015): 1304–1311. View Details
- Bloom, Nicholas, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen. "Do Private Equity Firms Have Better Management Practices?" American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings 105, no. 5 (May 2015): 442–446. View Details
- Bloom, Nicholas, Renata Lemos, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen. "Does Management Matter in Schools?" Economic Journal 125, no. 584 (May 2015): 647–674. View Details
- Bloom, Nicholas, Renata Lemos, Raffaella Sadun, Daniela Scur, and John Van Reenen. "The New Empirical Economics of Management." Journal of the European Economic Association 12, no. 4 (August 2014): 835–876. View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella. "Does Planning Regulation Protect Independent Retailers?" Review of Economics and Statistics 97, no. 5 (December 2015): 983–1001. View Details
- Bloom, Nicholas, Luis Garicano, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen. "The Distinct Effects of Information Technology and Communication Technology on Firm Organization." Management Science 60, no. 12 (December 2014): 2859–2885. View Details
- Bandiera, Oriana, Luigi Guiso, Andrea Prat, and Raffaella Sadun. "Matching Firms, Managers, and Incentives." Journal of Labor Economics 33, no. 3 (July 2015): 623–681. View Details
- Bloom, Nicholas, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen. "The Organization of Firms Across Countries." Quarterly Journal of Economics 127, no. 4 (November 2012). (Slides from 2008, Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 12-005, August 2011.) View Details
- Bloom, Nicholas, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen. "Does Management Really Work?" Harvard Business Review 90, no. 11 (November 2012). View Details
- Bloom, Nicholas, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen. "Americans Do IT Better: US Multinationals and the Productivity Miracle." American Economic Review 102, no. 1 (February 2012): 167–201. (Slides; Summary; The Economist; Financial Times; New York Times.) View Details
- Bloom, Nicholas, Christos Genakos, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen. "Management Practices across Firms and Countries." Academy of Management Perspectives 26, no. 1 (February 2012): 12–33. View Details
- Haskel, Jonathan, and Raffaella Sadun. "Regulation and UK Retailing Productivity: Evidence from Microdata." Economica 79, no. 315 (July 2012): 425–448. View Details
- Bloom, Nicholas, Christos Genakos, Ralf Martin, and Raffaella Sadun. "Modern Management: Good for the Environment or Just Hot Air?" Economic Journal 120, no. 544 (May 2010): 551–572. View Details
- Bloom, Nicholas, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen. "Does Product Market Competition Lead Firms to Decentralize?" American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings 100, no. 2 (May 2010): 434–438. View Details
- Bloom, Nicholas, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen. "Recent Advances in the Empirics of Organizational Economics." Annual Review of Economics 2 (2010): 105–137. View Details
- Working Papers
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- Hansen, Stephen, Peter John Lambert, Nick Bloom, Steven J. Davis, Raffaella Sadun, and Bledi Taska. "Remote Work across Jobs, Companies, and Space." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 31007, March 2023. (Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 23-059, March 2023.) View Details
- Impink, Stephen Michael, Andrea Prat, and Raffaella Sadun. "Communication within Firms: Evidence from CEO Turnovers." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 29042, July 2021. (Revised September 2022.) View Details
- Gaynor, Martin, Adam Sacarny, Raffaella Sadun, Chad Syverson, and Shruthi Venkatesh. "The Anatomy of a Hospital System Merger: The Patient Did Not Respond Well to Treatment." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 29449, November 2021. (Revised in 2022, Revise & Resubmit, Review of Economics and Statistics.) View Details
- Hansen, Stephen, Raffaella Sadun, Tejas Ramdas, and Joseph B. Fuller. "The Demand for Executive Skills." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-133, June 2021. View Details
- Yang, Mu-Jeung, Michael Christensen, Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun, and Jan Rivkin. "How Do CEOs Make Strategy?" Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-063, October 2020. View Details
- Bloom, Nicholas, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen. "Management as a Technology?" Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 16-133, June 2016. (Revised October 2017.) View Details
- Janke, Katharina, Carol Propper, and Raffaella Sadun. "The Impact of CEOs in the Public Sector: Evidence from the English NHS." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 18-075, March 2018. (Revised September 2020.) View Details
- Bandiera, Oriana, Luigi Guiso, Andrea Prat, and Raffaella Sadun. "What Do CEOs Do?" Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 11-081, February 2011. (Media: The Economist, May 5th 2011.) View Details
- Book Chapters
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- Bennett, Victor Manuel, Megan Lawrence, and Raffaella Sadun. "Are Founder CEOs Good Managers?" Chap. 4 in Measuring Entrepreneurial Businesses: Current Knowledge and Challenges. Vol. 75, edited by John Haltiwanger, Erik Hurst, Javier Miranda, and Antoinette Schoar, 153–185. Studies in Income and Wealth (NBER). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017. View Details
- Bloom, Nicholas, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen. "Do Private Equity-owned Firms Have Better Management Practices?" Chap. 1 in The Global Economic Impact of Private Equity Report 2009, edited by Josh Lerner and Anuradha Gurung, 1–23. Globalization of Alternative Investments Working Papers. Geneva, Switzerland: World Economic Forum, 2009. (Slides.) View Details
- Haskel, Jonathan, and Raffaella Sadun. "Entry, Exit and Labour Productivity in U.K. Retailing: Evidence from Micro Data." Chap. 7 in Producer Dynamics: New Evidence from Micro Data, edited by Timothy Dunne, J. Bradford Jensen, and Mark J. Roberts. University of Chicago Press, 2009. (Working Paper version.) View Details
- Draca, Mirko, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen. "Productivity and ICTs: A Review of the Evidence." Chap. 5 in The Oxford Handbook of Information and Communication Technologies, edited by Robin Mansell, Chrisanthi Avgerou, Danny Quah, and Roger Silverstone, 100–147. Oxford University Press, 2007. (August 2006 version available at IDEAS.) View Details
- Cases and Teaching Materials
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- Bohmer, Richard M.J., Gary P. Pisano, Raffaella Sadun, and Thomas C. Tsai. "How Hospitals Can Manage Supply Chain Shortages as Demand Surges." Harvard Business Review (website) (April 3, 2020). View Details
- Khanna, Tarun, Raffaella Sadun, and Susie L. Ma. "Engineering an Inclusive Bioeconomy." Harvard Business School Case 720-356, September 2019. (Revised August 2020.) View Details
- Nanda, Ramana, Raffaella Sadun, and Olivia Hull. "Accomplice: Scaling Early Stage Finance." Harvard Business School Case 719-403, October 2018. View Details
- Gallani, Susanna, Francesca Gino, and Raffaella Sadun. "Cooking Down a Storm: Changing Culture at Pasta Serafina (A)." Harvard Business School Case 120-013, September 2019. (Revised December 2022.) View Details
- Gallani, Susanna, Francesca Gino, and Raffaella Sadun. "Cooking Down a Storm: Changing Culture at Pasta Serafina (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 120-014, September 2019. (Revised December 2022.) View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella, and Greta Friar. "Videojet (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 718-410, March 2018. View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella. "Irene Rosenfeld at Mondelez International: Crafting a Corporate Strategy video supplement." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 718-803, March 2018. View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella. "Corporate Strategy: Scope." Harvard Business School Module Note 718-461, March 2018. View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella. "Corporate Strategy: Resources." Harvard Business School Module Note 718-460, March 2018. View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella. "Corporate Strategy: Course Introduction 2018." Harvard Business School Course Overview Note 718-459, March 2018. View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella. "Irene Rosenfeld at Mondelēz International: Crafting a Corporate Strategy." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 718-492, March 2018. View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella. "Alphabet Eyes New Frontiers." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 718-407, March 2018. View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella. "Becton Dickinson: Innovation and Growth (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 718-493, March 2018. View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella, and Greta Friar. "Weathering the Storm at NYU Langone Medical Center." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 718-506, March 2018. (Revised March 2018.) View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella, and Greta Friar. "VMware and the Public Cloud (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 718-412, March 2018. View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella, and Greta Friar. "CyberArk: Protecting the Keys to the IT Kingdom." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 718-490, March 2018. View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella, and Greta Friar. "Alere." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 718-411, March 2018. View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella, David J. Collis, Amram Migdal, and Kerry Herman. "Irene Rosenfeld at Mondelēz International: Crafting a Corporate Strategy." Harvard Business School Case 718-403, November 2017. (Revised November 2021.) View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella, David Yoffie, and Margot Eiran. "CyberArk: Protecting the Keys to the IT Kingdom." Harvard Business School Case 718-418, September 2017. (Revised July 2018.) View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella, Michael Beer, and James Weber. "Becton Dickinson: Innovation and Growth (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 717-504, July 2017. (Revised October 2017.) View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella, Michael Beer, and James Weber. "Becton Dickinson: Innovation and Growth (A)." Harvard Business School Case 717-419, June 2017. (Revised October 2017.) View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella, and Christine Snively. "VMware and the Public Cloud (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 717-515, May 2017. (Revised February 2018.) View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella, and Christine Snively. "VMware and the Public Cloud." Harvard Business School Case 717-480, March 2017. (Revised February 2018.) View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella. "Where Should Pat Gelsinger's Time Go?" Harvard Business School Supplement 717-802, January 2017. View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella. "Where Should Pat Gelsinger's Time Go?" Harvard Business School Case 717-408, January 2017. View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella, Catherine Slater, and Channing Spencer. "Alere." Harvard Business School Case 717-402, August 2016. (Revised July 2019.) View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella, Bharat Anand, and Eric Van den Steen. "Videojet (A)." Harvard Business School Case 717-403, August 2016. (Revised March 2018.) View Details
- Alcacer, Juan, Raffaella Sadun, Olivia Hull, and Kerry Herman. "Alphabet Eyes New Frontiers." Harvard Business School Case 717-418, July 2016. (Revised February 2018.) View Details
- Raffaelli, Ryan, Raffaella Sadun, and Kathy Qu. "Moleskine (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 716-464, May 2016. (Revised November 2018.) View Details
- Raffaelli, Ryan, Raffaella Sadun, and Kathy Qu. "Moleskine (A)." Harvard Business School Case 716-407, April 2016. (Revised March 2019.) View Details
- Huckman, Robert S., Raffaella Sadun, and Michael Norris. "Weathering the Storm at NYU Langone Medical Center." Harvard Business School Case 616-026, February 2016. (Revised February 2018.) View Details
- Collis, David, Raffaella Sadun, and Matthew Shaffer. "The Transformation of NCR." Harvard Business School Case 715-438, April 2015. (Revised June 2016.) View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella. "Transforming Tommy Hilfiger (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 714-493, March 2014. View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella. "Henry Schein: Doing Well by Doing Good?" Harvard Business School Teaching Note 714-492, March 2014. View Details
- Henderson, Rebecca, Raffaella Sadun, Aldo Sesia, and Russell Eisenstat. "Henry Schein: Doing Well by Doing Good?" Harvard Business School Case 714-450, January 2014. (Revised January 2014.) View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella, Hanoch Feit, Vaibhav Gujral, and Gerard Zouein. "Transforming Tommy Hilfiger (A)." Harvard Business School Case 714-451, March 2014. View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella, Hanoch Feit, Vaibhav Gujral, and Gerard Zouein. "Transforming Tommy Hilfiger (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 714-452, March 2014. View Details
- Oberholzer-Gee, Felix, Raffaella Sadun, and Richard G. Hamermesh. "Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey - Managing in the Shadow of Health Care Reform." Harvard Business School Case 711-403, March 2011. (Revised March 2011.) View Details
- Other Publications and Materials
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- Kun, Andrew, Raffaella Sadun, Orit Shaer, and Thomaz Teodorovicz. "Where Did the Commute Time Go?" Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (December 10, 2020). View Details
- Pisano, Gary P., Raffaella Sadun, and Michele Zanini. "Lessons from Italy's Response to Coronavirus." HO5ITU. Harvard Business Review (website) (March 27, 2020). View Details
- Bandiera, Oriana, Raffaella Sadun, Andrea Prat, and Stephen Hansen. "A Survey of How 1,000 CEOs Spend Their Day Reveals What Makes Leaders Successful." H03Y2R. Harvard Business Review (website) (October 12, 2017). View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella. "Google's Secret Formula for Management? Doing the Basics Well." Harvard Business Review (website) (August 24, 2017). View Details
- Teti, Kimberly, Mu-Jeung Yang, Nicholas Bloom, Jan Rivkin, and Raffaella Sadun. "The Different Approaches Firms Use to Set Strategy." Harvard Business Review (website) (April 10, 2017). View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella, and Frieda Klotz. An Interview with Raffaella Sadun: "Information" vs. "Communication:" The Battle to Influence Decision Making. Art. 57407. MIT Sloan Management Review (website) (April 5, 2016). View Details
- Sadun, Raffaella. "Managing Firms in an Emerging Economy: Evidence from the Time Use of Indian CEOs." Working Paper, 2013. View Details
- Awards & Honors
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Awarded the Premio Fondazione de Sanctis for excellence in economics research in 2022.Recipient of the Grande Ufficiale dell'Ordine "Al merito della Repubblica Italiana" in 2021.Received the 2021 Robert F. Greenhill Award for Outstanding Service to the HBS Community.Winner of the first-place HBR McKinsey Award for the Best Article in Harvard Business Review in 2017 for "Why Do We Undervalue Competent Management?” with Nicholas Bloom and John Van Reenen.Named Harvard Business School Richard Hodgson Fellow in 2013.Named a Research Affiliate at the Center for Economic Policy Research in 2013.Recipient of a 2012 Kauffman Foundation Junior Faculty Fellowship in Entrepreneurship Research.Named a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research in 2010.Named a Research Associate at the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2009.
- Additional Information
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Affiliations
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