Ethan Bernstein is an Assistant Professor of Leadership and Organizational
Behavior at the Harvard Business School, focused on topics related to
collaboration, learning, innovation, design thinking, and organizational
performance
In his current research, Professor Bernstein examines how, and under what
conditions, privacy makes groups more productive--and, more specifically,
how the sharing of information across and within boundaries affects learning,
innovation, and organizational performance. In a world obsessed with
transparency, his findings suggest that boundaries may sometimes provide
unanticipated benefits and be an underutilized managerial performance lever.
Put differently, attention matters for performance, and boundaries can be
strategically important in directing it.
His work has been published in the Administrative Science Quarterly, Research on Organizational
Change and Development, and the Cornell Law Review, among others. It has been covered by such media
as the Washington Post, Boston Globe, NPR, Inc., Yahoo! Finance, MSNBC’s The Bottom Line, and
TEDx Boston and has most recently won the Academy of Management’s 2013 Outstanding Publication in
Organizational Behavior award, the Academy of Management’s 2013 Best Publication in Organization
and Management Theory award, 2013 Fredric M. Jablin Doctoral Dissertation Award from the
International Leadership Association, the HBS Wyss Award, and the Susan G. Cohen Doctoral Research
Award.
Professor Bernstein teaches the first-year MBA course in leadership (LEAD) at HBS. In the past, he has
taught a wide range of topics and students: Accounting and Finance in the HBS MBA Analytics program,
Operations at the Samsung Premier Leadership Development Program, Economics at Harvard College,
and the Business Leadership Program at HBS. In all of his work and teaching, he draws on creative field
research and field experiments, half a decade of consulting experience at BCG, and experience as a Clevel senior executive at the newly formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Originally from Los Angeles, Professor Bernstein holds an A.B. in Economics from Amherst College and
an MBA, JD, and doctorate from Harvard. He has been a Kauffman Foundation Fellow in Law,
Innovation, and Growth, and he remains a member of the New York and Massachusetts Bar Associations.
In his spare time, Professor Bernstein is a self-declared culinary adventurer and avid cyclist, runner, skier,
reader, and "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" listener. He lives in Newton with his wife Maly and young son
Covell.
Ethan S. Bernstein Last Updated: December 3, 2013 P a g e | 1 Biography & CV ETHAN S. BERNSTEIN
HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL, BOSTON, MA 02163 USA  EBERNSTEIN@HBS.EDU
WORK: +1.617.496.4626  MOBILE: +1.617.682.7200
RESEARCH INTERESTS Learning and innovation, collaboration, design thinking, privacy, and teams in contexts involving Chinese manufacturing, global outsourcing, complex problem solving, and organizational improvisation; other on‐going interests include consumer finance, mortgage markets, and bankruptcy ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS 2013‐Present HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL Assistant Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior BOSTON, MA EDUCATION 2007‐2013 1999‐2003 HARVARD UNIVERSITY BOSTON, MA Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) in Management Dissertation: Does Privacy Make Groups Productive? Committee: Clayton M. Christensen, Amy Edmondson (co‐chair), J. Richard Hackman, Nitin Nohria (co‐chair), Bradley R. Staats Kauffman Foundation Fellow in Law, Innovation, and Growth HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL (HBS) & HARVARD LAW SCHOOL (HLS) Master in Business Administration (Honors) and Juris Doctor (cum laude) BOSTON, MA CAMBRIDGE, MA 1994‐1998 AMHERST COLLEGE & AMHERST, MA DOSHISHA UNIVERSITY (同志社大学) KYOTO, JAPAN Bachelor of Arts in Economics, magna cum laude, with additional focus in Japanese Top 1% of class. Elected to Phi Beta Kappa and awarded the George A. Plimpton Fellowship in Law. Alternate Fulbright Fellow for economics research at Osaka University PUBLISHED WORK 1.
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Ethan S. Bernstein Bernstein, E. S. (2012). The Transparency Paradox: A Role for Privacy in Organizational Learning and Operational Control. Administrative Science Quarterly 57(2): 181‐216. Lazer, D. & Bernstein, E. S. (2012). Problem Solving and Search in Networks. In Todd, P. M. & Robbins, T. (Eds.), Cognitive Search: Evolution, Algorithms, and the Brain, Chapter 17, 261‐273. Cambridge, MA: Strüngmann Forum Reports, MIT Press. Kennedy, L. J., McCoy, P. A., & Bernstein E. S. (July 21, 2012). The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Financial Regulation for the Twenty‐First Century. Cornell Law Review 97(5): 1141‐1176. Bernstein, E. S., & Barrett, F. J. (2011). Strategic Change and the Jazz Mindset: Exploring Practices that Enhance Dynamic Capabilities for Organizational Improvisation. In A. B. R. Shani, R. W. Woodman & W. A. Pasmore (Eds.), Research in Organizational Change and Development, Vol. 19, 55‐90. Cambridge, MA: Emerald. Bernstein, Ethan S. (2006). ʺAllʹs Fair in Love, War & Bankruptcy?: Corporate Governance Implications of CEO Turnover in Financial Distress.ʺ Stanford Journal of Law, Business and Finance 11, no. 2: 228‐325. Hara, George, Brunner, David James, Bernstein, Ethan S., and Nonomiya, Asumi. “公益資本主義 の確
立に向けて 株主至上主義・市場万能主義の限界.” 週刊ダイヤモンド (Diamond Weekly) 97, no. 40 (October 10, 2009): 164‐171. Last Updated: December 3, 2013 P a g e | 2 Biography & CV 7.
Hara, George, Brunner, David James, Bernstein, Ethan S., and Nonomiya, Asumi. “公益資本主義 の確
立に向けて公式・非公式の「制度」を再設計する.” 週刊ダイヤモンド (Diamond Weekly) 97, no. 41 (October 17, 2009): 132‐137. WORKING PAPERS 1.
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Bernstein, Ethan S. Seeing Too Much: Too Much In Sight, Too Little Insight? An Attention‐Driven View of Organizational Productivity. Accepted Submission to the 1st Management Theory Conference (September 2013). Shore, Jesse, Bernstein, Ethan S., & Lazer, David. Facts and Figuring: An Experimental Investigation of Network Structure and Performance in Information and Solution Spaces. Accepted Submission to the Organization Science Winter Conference 2013. RESEARCH IN PROGRESS 1.
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Bernstein, Ethan S. Importing Team Privacy into the Management Literature. Bernstein, Ethan S. & Lazer, David. Bittersweet Ties That Bind: Empirical Evidence on the Relationship Between Connectivity and Creation. Various (presently confidential) research at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau RECENT PRESS (SELECTED) 1.
NPR (AirTalk with Larry Mantle), “Does Watching Workers Increase or Decrease Productivity?” (December 3, 2013) (http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/2013/12/03/34927/does‐watching‐workers‐increase‐or‐decrease‐product/) 2. Yahoo! Finance, Rick Newman (The Exchange), “Why Your Boss Should Leave You Alone.” (December 3, 2013) (http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the‐exchange/one‐thing‐your‐boss‐may‐be‐doing‐wrong‐180627265.html) 3. Washington Post, Jena McGregor, “Stop Watching Your Workers.” (December 2, 2013) (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on‐leadership/wp/2013/12/02/stop‐watching‐your‐workers/) 4. Inc., Adam Vaccaro, “How Open Floor Plans are Killing Employee Productivity.” (December 2, 2013) (http://www.inc.com/adam‐vaccaro/when‐transparency‐and‐productivity‐are‐at‐odds.html) 5. Forbes, Carmen Noble, “Hiding from Managers Can Increase Your Productivity.” (November 25, 2013) (http://www.forbes.com/sites/hbsworkingknowledge/2013/11/25/why‐hiding‐from‐managers‐can‐increase‐worker‐productivity/) 6. Boston Globe, “Uncommon Knowledge: Productivity Trick: Hide!” (July 15, 2012) (http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2012/07/14/uncommon‐knowledge/g9VxvKXWAuFdKnT3m5Ex5O/story.html) 7. ManagementINK: “Does Privacy Make Us Productive?” (July 3, 2012) (http://managementink.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/does‐privacy‐make‐us‐productive/) 8. MSNBC’s The Bottom Line: Martha C. Smith, “Picture This: Bankrupt Kodak Wants to Give $13.5M in Bonuses.” (April 9, 2012) (http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/09/11102175‐picture‐this‐bankrupt‐kodak‐wants‐to‐give‐135‐million‐in‐bonuses) 9. MSNBC’s The Bottom Line: Martha C. Smith, “CEOs Rake in Huge Sums When Their Companies Go Bankrupt.” (January 27, 2012) (http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/27/10252581‐ceos‐rake‐in‐huge‐sums‐when‐their‐companies‐go‐bankrupt) 10. TEDx Boston Talk on the Transparency Paradox (July 15, 2011) (http://tedxboston.org/adventure/decision‐research‐lab‐at‐harvard) GRANT FUNDING Grant # W74V8H‐06‐D‐0008: Exploration and Exploitation in the E.L.I.C.I.T. Framework. United States Department of Defense, Command and Control Research Program. April 2009‐March 2010. Principal Investigator: David Lazer. Co‐PIs: Ethan Bernstein & Allan Friedman Ethan S. Bernstein Last Updated: December 3, 2013 P a g e | 3 Biography & CV PRESENTATIONS (SELECTED) Seeing Too Much: Too Much in Sight, Too Little Insight? An Attention‐Driven View of Organizational Productivity  1st Management Theory Conference (September 2013)  Network Science Meets the Science of Teams (October 2013) The Transparency Paradox: A Role for Privacy in Organizational Learning and Operational Control  Selected Job Talks (Winter 2012‐2013): Harvard Business School, Organizational Behavior Unit; Kellogg School of Management, Management and Organizations Department; MIT Sloan, Organization Studies Unit; Boston University School of Management, Organizational Behavior Unit.  Harvard University Groups Group, March 24, 2010  Harvard University Work, Organizations, and Markets Seminar, April 8, 2010  Naval Postgraduate School, Global Public Policy Academic Group Series, May 13, 2010 The Ties That Bind: Empirical Evidence on the Relationship Between Connectivity and Creation  Harvard University Work, Organizations, and Markets Seminar, April 28, 2009  Sunbelt XXIX (INSNA Annual Meeting), San Diego, CA, March 14, 2009 TEACHING EXPERIENCE HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL (BOSTON, MA)  Faculty, Leadership and Organizational Behavior (LEAD) course in the first‐year of the HBS MBA curriculum (2013‐)  Head Teaching Fellow, MBA Analytics Program, Fall 2010, with Professor Jan Hammond, Professor C. Fritz Foley, and Professor Tom Piper  Graduate Course Assistant (Finance & Accounting), Managing Health Care Delivery Executive Education Program, 2009‐2010  Graduate Course Assistant (Finance), MBA Analytics Program, Fall 2009, with Professor C. Fritz Foley and Professor Tom Piper  Graduate Course Assistant (Accounting), MBA Analytics Program, Fall 2008, with Professor V.G. Narayanan and Professor Tom Piper UX MANAGERS SYMPOSIUM (WELLESLEY, MA)  Invited Keynote, Fall 2013 SAMSUNG CORPORATION (SOUTH KOREA)  Operations Strategy Professor, Premier Executive Education Program (Week 6), 2008‐2010 HARVARD UNIVERSITY (BOSTON, MA)  Faculty, Harvard Business Leadership Program, 2002‐2012 (Annual) HARVARD UNIVERSITY (CAMBRIDGE, MA)  Relationship Economics Faculty, Sophomore Economics Tutorial, Harvard College, 2002‐2003 PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES Ethan S. Bernstein MEMBERSHIPS  Academy of Management  INFORMS  International Network for Social Network Analysis AD HOC REVIEWER  Administrative Science Quarterly  Management Science  Organization Studies  Academy of Management ACCREDITATIONS  New York State Bar Association (2003‐2012)  Massachusetts Bar Association (2003‐2012) Last Updated: December 3, 2013 P a g e | 4 Biography & CV COURSE MATERIALS 
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“Jieliang Phone Home!” HBS Cases 609‐080, 609‐081, 609‐082, 609‐083, 609‐084, and HBS Teaching Note, 2009. (Adopted in HBS Building and Sustaining Successful Enterprises course, Operations Strategy at UNC‐Chapel Hill, NPS, and a number of other universities) “A Giant Among Women.” HBS Case 610‐096, 2010. (Adopted at UNC‐Chapel Hill.) “Assembling Smartphones: Takt Time ≠ Cycle Time?” HBS Case 611‐012, 2010. (Adopted at HBS in the Technology and Operations required curriculum course) “Omron: Sensing Society.” HBS Case 309‐066 and HBS Teaching Note, 2010. “The Case of the Unidentified Healthcare Companies—2010.” HBS Case 611‐043 and HBS Teaching Note, 2011. (Adopted at HBS in MHCD Executive Education course) AWARDS 
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2013 Academy of Management Award for Best Publication in Organization and Management Theory 2013 Academy of Management Award for Best Publication in Organizational Behavior 2013 Fredric M. Jablin Doctoral Dissertation Award from the International Leadership Association 2012 Wyss Award for Excellence (Awarded by the Harvard Business School to HBS Doctoral students who have excelled at conducting outstanding, innovative academic research while enrolled in an HBS doctoral program) 2010 Susan G. Cohen Doctoral Research Award (Awarded by the Academy of Management, Organizational Development and Change Division, at the 2010 Annual Meeting) INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE 2011‐2012 2003‐2007 Ethan S. Bernstein WASHINGTON D.C. CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU (consumerfinance.gov) Chief Strategy Officer, Office of the Director (October 2011‐January 2013) Deputy Assistant Director, Mortgage Markets (January‐September 2011) Recruited by Elizabeth Warren to help stand‐up the newest U.S. federal agency, created by the Dodd‐
Frank Wall Street Reform Act in response to the financial crisis. (Senior Executive Service / CN‐82). 
Joined the CFPB Implementation Team (~70th employee), grew the Bureau to 1000+ employees 
Built the Mortgage Markets team to provide thought leadership, analytics, outreach, and an articulated, data‐driven perspective for all of the Bureau’s mortgage‐related policymaking 
Served as Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) and Performance Improvement Officer (PIO) for the entire Bureau; created the Bureau’s first strategic plan, quarterly performance review process, governance bodies, footprint strategy, and a number of other strategic initiatives THE BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP (www.bcg.com) TORONTO, CANADA Case Leader / Project Leader / Consultant TOKYO, JAPAN Global management consulting firm with $2.75B in revenues. Chosen as 2004/2005 Ambassador from Toronto to Tokyo office. (Each BCG office chooses one top performer per year to spend 12 months abroad on the “Ambassador Program.”) First consultant promoted to case leader in class in Toronto. 2005 “Paragon People Award” honoring leadership and office contributions. Experiences include: 
Led corporate function restructuring in an enterprise‐wide transformation of one of Canada’s largest banks 
Led restructuring of $100MM+ in‐flight IT project for major Canadian bank, accelerating the value realization from a long‐term replacement of their systems supporting the end‐to‐end personal credit lending process 
Led US strategy project for Japanese electrical connector company Last Updated: December 3, 2013 P a g e | 5 Biography & CV 
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Led Licensing, M&A, and offshoring modules of strategy reformulation for Japanese pharmaceutical company Built new overall strategy and organizational structure for one of the oldest and largest private equity firms in Japan Supported corporate function restructuring in a major organizational transformation of Canada’s largest bank; overall project resulted in the creation of ~$10Bn of market value in one year 2002‐2003 CENTER FOR ORGANIZATIONAL FITNESS (www.orgfitness.com) BOSTON, MA Associate & Special Assistant to the Directors Worked directly with Michael Beer, Russell Eisenstat and Nathaniel Foote to develop the intellectual capital of the Center, a hybrid between a boutique, long‐and‐thin consulting firm and an organizational strategy think tank. 
Consulted one‐on‐one to the incoming CEO of a top 10, publicly‐traded restaurant chain. Summer 2002 CRAVATH, SWAINE & MOORE (www.cravath.com) NEW YORK, NY Summer Associate – Corporate Group (M&A) 
Advised Asbury Automotive Group on its $250M offering of senior subordinated notes in a 144A offering. Summer 2001 J. P. MORGAN & COMPANY (www.jpmorgan.com) Investment Banking Summer Associate – Consumer Products / M&A 
Advised Sara Lee on their $2.8B acquisition of Earthgrains Summer 2000 SIMPSON THACHER & BARTLETT (www.simpsonthacher.com) Summer Associate – Corporate Group (Private Equity Clients) 1994 OFFICE OF THE U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE (EOP) Intern for Ambassador Michael Kantor, U.S. Trade Representative Ethan S. Bernstein NEW YORK, NY Last Updated: December 3, 2013 PALO ALTO, CA WASHINGTON, DC P a g e | 6 Biography & CV Ethan S. Bernstein Last Updated: December 3, 2013 P a g e | 7 Biography & CV