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Showing posts with the label Harvard Business School

Money Can't Buy Love. But It Can Buy Happiness!

Can money buy happiness? As a matter of fact, it can. But not in the way you might think. Professor Michael Norton at the Harvard Business School did a series of fun experiments that found that if you spend money right, it can indeed lead to happiness. To come right to the point to be happy spending money, you can’t spend it on yourself . But let’s back up and explain how Norton and his colleagues Elizabeth Dunn and Lara Atkin at the University of British Columbia figured this out. They asked students at the University of British Columbia if they wanted to be in a study. If they said yes they tested their baseline happiness and gave them an envelope with cash in it. Some were instructed to spend the money on themselves by 5pm that day. Others got instructions to spend it on others by 5pm that day. Some got $5, some got $20. They called the students that night and found that they had spent the money the way they were asked. They also asked what the students had spent the money on and...

Finding the Entrepreneur That Wants to Support Your Cause Marketing

The latest numbers show that causes are still being squeezed on two sides: by increasing demands for services; and by donation rates that trail the increase in demand. Cause marketing can help fill part of the shortfall. But, as ever, causes face the challenge of knowing just who to approach. Wouldn’t it be great if there was some way for charities to know which business people are most likely to be open to their appeals? A survey published in Inc Magazine has some broad answers for charity fundraisers looking to partner with businesspeople. The survey results, published in the March 2012 issue of Inc , draw on the work of Professor Noam Wasserman, who teaches the popular course ‘Founders’ Dilemmas’ at Harvard Business School. Wasserman has a new book out called The Founder’s Dilemmas. Wasserman asked ‘roughly 2,000’ business founders what motivates them to start and operate businesses. The answers, not surprisingly, are different for women than men and change over time for both sex...