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- June 29, 2022
- Other Article
Strategic Complexity? Using Experiments to Understand and Overcome Obfuscation
By: Michael Luca, Ginger Zhe Jin and Daniel Martin
Credit card companies must decide what product features to disclose to consumers, such as payment schedules, penalties, and fees--and also whether to present them clearly or bury them in the fine print. Firms face similar choices in settings ranging from privacy...
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- 2022
- Working Paper
Beliefs about Gender Differences in Social Preferences
By: Christine L Exley, Oliver P. Hauser, Molly Moore and John-Henry Pezzuto
While there is a vast (and mixed) literature on gender differences in social preferences, little is known about believed gender differences in social preferences. This paper documents robust evidence for believed gender differences in social preferences. Across a wide...
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- May 2022
- Case
Rawbank's Illico Cash: Can 'Fast Money' Overcome Cash Dependency in the DRC?
By: Lauren Cohen and Grace Headinger
Thomas de Dreux-Brézé, the Head of Strategy and Project Management at Rawbank Congo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), was perplexed as he reviewed annual adoption rates for the bank’s launch of Illico Cash 2.0. As the bank’s mobile money app, Illico Cash...
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Keywords:
Fintech;
Inflation;
Deflation;
Rural;
Urban;
Emerging Market;
Mobile Technology;
Finance;
Money;
Inflation and Deflation;
Business Growth and Maturation;
Decision Choices and Conditions;
Demographics;
Developing Countries and Economies;
Corporate Entrepreneurship;
Behavioral Finance;
Currency;
Banks and Banking;
Commercial Banking;
Financial Strategy;
Rural Scope;
Urban Scope;
Innovation Strategy;
Emerging Markets;
Network Effects;
Consumer Behavior;
Mobile and Wireless Technology;
Technology Adoption;
Banking Industry;
Financial Services Industry;
Technology Industry;
Congo, Democratic Republic of the
- May 2022
- Article
Complex Disclosure
By: Ginger Zhe Jin, Michael Luca and Daniel Martin
We present evidence that unnecessarily complex disclosure can result from strategic incentives to shroud information. In our lab experiment, senders are required to report their private information truthfully, but can choose how complex to make their reports. We find...
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- April 2022
- Supplement
Mastercard Labs (B)
When Ajaypal (Ajay) Banga became the CEO of Mastercard in 2010, digital technologies were on the rise, and innovation needed to become a strategic imperative at the company. Banga tasked Garry Lyons, who had joined Mastercard through the 2009 acquisition of Orbiscom,...
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Keywords:
Organizational Behavior;
Culture;
Transformation;
Organizational Culture;
Culture Change;
Organizational Adaptation;
Organizational Effectiveness;
Alignment;
Leadership;
Leadership Development;
Innovation;
Innovation Ecosystems;
Diversity;
Collaboration;
Co-creation;
Learning Organizations;
Empowerment;
Ecosystem;
Agility;
Prototype;
Experiment;
Partnerships;
Operating Model;
Risk Management;
Digital Transformation;
Metrics;
Payments;
Financial Industry;
Financial Inclusion;
Ambidexterity;
Corporate Innovation;
Innovation Lab;
Accelerator;
Start-up;
Fintech
- April 2022 (Revised May 2022)
- Case
Mastercard Labs (A)
When Ajaypal (Ajay) Banga became the CEO of Mastercard in 2010, he shifted the company’s competitive focus from card networks to cash itself. Mastercard’s new vision of a “World Beyond Cash” distilled into a three-pronged framework: Grow the core business, Diversify...
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Keywords:
Organizational Behavior;
Culture;
Organizational Culture;
Culture Change;
Organizational Adaptation;
Organizational Effectiveness;
Alignment;
Leadership;
Leadership Development;
Innovation;
Innovation Ecosystems;
Ecosystem;
Diversity;
Collaboration;
Co-creation;
Learning Organizations;
Empowerment;
Globalization;
Agility;
Prototype;
Experiment;
Partnerships;
Operating Model;
Risk Management;
Metrics;
Payments;
Financial Inclusion;
Financial Industry;
Ambidexterity;
Corporate Innovation;
Innovation Lab;
Digital Transformation;
Digital Strategy;
Credit Cards;
Innovation Leadership
- April 2022 (Revised May 2022)
- Case
Mastercard Labs (A) (Abridged)
When Ajaypal (Ajay) Banga became the CEO of Mastercard in 2010, he shifted the company’s competitive focus from card networks to cash itself. Mastercard’s new vision of a “World Beyond Cash” distilled into a three-pronged framework: Grow the core business, Diversify...
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Keywords:
Organizational Behavior;
Culture;
Organizational Culture;
Culture Change;
Organizational Adaptation;
Organizational Effectiveness;
Alignment;
Leadership;
Leadership Development;
Innovation;
Innovation Ecosystems;
Diversity;
Collaboration;
Co-creation;
Learning Organizations;
Empowerment;
Ecosystem;
Agility;
Prototype;
Experiment;
Partnerships;
Operating Model;
Risk Management;
Metrics;
Payments;
Financial Inclusion;
Financial Industry;
Ambidexterity;
Corporate Innovation;
Innovation Lab;
Accelerator;
Start-up;
Intrapreneurship;
Competitive Strategy;
Business Model;
Technological Innovation;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Digital Transformation
- December 2021
- Case
Pairwise
By: José B. Alvarez and Annelena Lobb
Pairwise discusses the strategic approach of a company aiming to “snackify” fruits and vegetables by using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to create nutritious, bite-sized foods that could compete with packaged snacks. The company is confronting a number of challenges,...
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- November 2021
- Article
Ratings, Reviews, and the Marketing of New Products
By: Itay P. Fainmesser, Dominique Olié Lauga and Elie Ofek
We study how user-generated content (UGC) about new products impacts a firm's advertising and pricing decisions and the effect on profits and market dynamics. We construct a two-period model where consumers value quality and are heterogeneous in their taste for the new...
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- 2021
- Working Paper
Loan Officers Impede Graduation from Microfinance: Strategic Disclosure in a Large Microfinance Institution
By: Natalia Rigol and Benjamin N. Roth
One of the most important puzzles in microfinance is the low rate of borrower graduation to larger, more flexible loans. Utilizing observational and experimental data from a large Chilean microfinance institution, we demonstrate that loan officers impede borrower...
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- July 2021
- Article
Information Transparency, Multihoming, and Platform Competition: A Natural Experiment in the Daily Deals Market
By: Hui Li and Feng Zhu
Platform competition is shaped by the likelihood of multi-homing (i.e., complementors or consumers adopt more than one platform). To take advantage of multi-homing, platform firms often attempt to motivate their rivals’ high-performing complementors to adopt their own...
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- May 2021 (Revised May 2022)
- Case
Headspace vs. Calm: A Mindful Competition
By: Ayelet Israeli and Anne Wilson
By 2021, the mindfulness app wars reached their apex. Over 2,000 meditation apps were available to consumers, but two apps, Headspace and Calm, dominated the space, jointly holding about 70% of the total market. Headspace had established itself as the approachable...
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Keywords:
Marketing Communication;
Integrated Strategy;
Brand;
Brand ＆ Product Management;
Brand Communication;
Brand Differentiation;
Brand Building;
Brand Management;
E-Commerce Strategy;
Ecommerce;
App;
App Development;
Applications;
COVID;
COVID-19;
Pandemic;
Pricing;
Pricing Strategy;
Subscription Model;
Subscription;
Partnerships;
Strategic Partnerships;
B2B Vs. B2C;
B2B;
Health ＆ Wellness;
Wellbeing;
Digitization;
Commoditization;
Mobile App;
Mobile App Industry;
Mobile Healthcare;
Mobile Marketing;
Digital Brand;
Digital Health;
Consumer Health;
Apps;
Online Business;
Online Competition;
Online Community;
Online Entertainment;
Entertainment And Leisure;
Meditation;
Marketing;
Marketing Communications;
Brands and Branding;
Price;
Strategy;
Competition;
Competitive Strategy;
Competitive Advantage;
Partners and Partnerships;
Health;
Well-being;
Mobile and Wireless Technology;
Communication;
Communication Strategy;
Disruption;
Consumer Behavior;
Digital Marketing;
E-commerce;
Applications and Software;
Health Industry;
Technology Industry;
Communications Industry;
United States;
North America;
United Kingdom
- May 2021
- Article
Is No News (Perceived as) Bad News? An Experimental Investigation of Information Disclosure
By: Ginger Zhe Jin, Michael Luca and Daniel Martin
This paper uses laboratory experiments to directly test a central prediction of disclosure theory: that strategic forces can lead those who possess private information to voluntarily provide it. In a simple sender-receiver game, we find that senders disclose favorable...
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- 2021
- Working Paper
Information Avoidance and Image Concerns
By: Christine L. Exley and Judd B. Kessler
A rich literature finds that individuals avoid information, even information that is instrumental to their choices. A common hypothesis posits that individuals strategically avoid information to hold particular beliefs or to take certain actions--such as behaving...
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- December 2020
- Supplement
France Télécom (C): An Unprecedented Trial
In the C case we learn that former CEO Didier Lombard, Deputy Chief Executive Louis-Pierre Wenes, Human Resources Head Olivier Barberot and France Telecom itself were charged for institutional harassment by French authorities, a first for a CAC 40 company. In December...
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Keywords:
Human Behavior;
Human Dignity;
Human Resource Practices;
Corporate Change And Sustainability;
Corporate Culture;
Strategic Corporate Decisions;
Strategic Change;
Strategic Decision Making;
Emotion;
Management Challenges;
Corporate Accountability;
Organizational Culture;
Human Resources;
Crisis Management;
Law;
Courts and Trials;
Labor;
Labor and Management Relations;
Management Practices and Processes;
Employees;
Well-being;
Telecommunications Industry;
Europe;
European Union
- November 2020
- Article
Casting Conference Calls
By: Lauren Cohen, Dong Lou and Christopher J. Malloy
We explore a subtle but important mechanism through which firms can control information flow to the markets. We find that firms that “cast” their conference calls by disproportionately calling on bullish analysts tend to underperform in the future. Firms that call on...
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- September 2020
- Teaching Note
Uber: Competing Globally
Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 720-404.
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Keywords:
Business Ventures;
Business Growth and Maturation;
Business Model;
Geography;
Geographic Location;
Geographic Scope;
Global Strategy;
Globalization;
Multinational Firms and Management;
Globalized Markets and Industries;
Governance;
Governance Controls;
Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms;
Innovation and Invention;
Disruptive Innovation;
Innovation Strategy;
Law;
Management;
Growth and Development;
Growth Management;
Markets;
Demand and Consumers;
Consumer Behavior;
Network Effects;
Emerging Markets;
Market Design;
Market Entry and Exit;
Market Participation;
Supply and Industry;
Industry Structures;
Planning;
Strategic Planning;
Relationships;
Business and Community Relations;
Business and Government Relations;
Business and Stakeholder Relations;
Labor and Management Relations;
Networks;
Adaptation;
Strategy;
Business Strategy;
Competition;
Competitive Advantage;
Competitive Strategy;
Expansion;
Information Technology;
Mobile and Wireless Technology;
Digital Platforms;
Transportation Networks;
Transportation;
Transportation Industry;
Technology Industry;
Africa;
Ghana;
Asia;
China;
Shanghai;
Shanghai Shi;
India;
New Delhi;
Europe;
United Kingdom;
London;
England;
Latin America;
North and Central America;
United States;
New York (city, NY);
New York (state, US);
South America;
Colombia
- August 2020
- Article
Machine Learning and Human Capital Complementarities: Experimental Evidence on Bias Mitigation
By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Evan Starr and Rajshree Agarwal
The use of machine learning (ML) for productivity in the knowledge economy requires considerations of important biases that may arise from ML predictions. We define a new source of bias related to incompleteness in real time inputs, which may result from strategic...
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- July 2020
- Case
Amanda and Kristen: Mented Cosmetics
By: Steven Rogers, Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Alterrell Mills
The co-founders (Black HBS alumnae) of an e-commerce beauty startup explore the unmet needs within the beauty industry. This case study examines the entrepreneurial opportunities that come from identifying an underserved market, specifically within the Black community...
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Keywords:
Brands and Branding;
Competition;
Customers;
Disruption;
Disruptive Innovation;
Distribution Channels;
Entrepreneurship;
Finance;
Macroeconomics;
Marketing;
Marketing Channels;
Marketing Communications;
Marketing Strategy;
Mission and Purpose;
Organizational Culture;
Product Design;
Product Development;
Product Positioning;
Sales;
Social Issues;
Social Marketing;
Business Startups;
Strategic Planning;
Strategy;
Supply Chain Management;
Venture Capital;
Beauty and Cosmetics Industry;
Advertising Industry;
Public Relations Industry;
Chemical Industry;
Manufacturing Industry;
Retail Industry;
North and Central America;
United States;
New York (city, NY);
New York (state, US)
- June 2020
- Teaching Note
Understanding the Brand Equity of Nestlé Crunch Bar
By: Jill Avery and Gerald Zaltman
Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 519-061 and 519-062. In early 2018, Nestlé announced the sale of its U.S. candy-making division and a select collection of twenty of its confectionery brands, including the Nestlé Crunch Bar, to Ferrero SpA for $2.8 billion. Under the...
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