Publications

24 Aug 2020
Working Paper Summaries

When Do Experts Listen to Other Experts? The Role of Negative Information in Expert Evaluations for Novel Projects

Keywords: by Jacqueline N. Lane, Misha Teplitskiy, Gary Gray, Hardeep Ranu, Michael Menietti, Eva C. Guinan, and Karim R. Lakhani

Article

Lessons From Hollywood: A New Approach To Funding R&D

By: Gary P. Pisano and Andrew W. Lo

Companies find it increasingly difficult to justify long-term, risky R&D investments—particularly in science-based fields such as biotechnology, advanced materials, and energy. We argue in this article that the traditional venture model has limits for such investments... View Details

Keywords: Financial Innovation; Financial Strategy; Project Management; R＆D; Start-up; Innovation Strategy; Business Model; Research and Development; Financial Management; Risk Management; Strategy

01 Aug 1979
Conference Presentation

Can Industrial Workers Reform Their Own Work? A Sociologically-Oriented Quality-of-Worklife Project in an Electronics Factory

By: R. M. Kanter, B. A. Stein, D. Brinkerhoff and Daniel J. Isenberg

Keywords: Employees; Working Conditions; Change; Electronics Industry

Article

Leaders as Decision Architects: Structure Your Organization's Work to Encourage Wise Choices

By: John Beshears and F. Gino

Everyone from CEOs to frontline workers commits preventable mistakes—for example, underestimating how long it will take to finish a project or focusing too much on information that supports their current view. It is extraordinarily difficult to rewire the human brain... View Details

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Article

Scandal, Social Movement, and Change: Evidence from #MeToo in Hollywood

By: Hong Luo and Laurina Zhang

Social movements have the potential to effect change in firm decision-making. In this paper, we examine whether the #MeToo movement, spurred by the Harvey Weinstein scandal, led to changes in the likelihood of Hollywood producers working with female writers on new... View Details

Keywords: Gender Inequality; Social Movement; Scandal; Creative Industries; Project Selection; Gender; Equality and Inequality; Social Issues; Film Entertainment; Projects; Change

2013
Case

Career Pathways, Performance Pay, and Peer-review Promotion in Baltimore City Public Schools

By: Susan Moore Johnson, John J-H Kim, Geoff Marietta, S. Elisabeth Faller and James Noonan

In the fall of 2012, Dr. Andres Alonso had much to celebrate about in his five-year tenure as CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools, including the approval and implementation of an innovative teachers' contract with a jointly-governed four-tier career pathway that tied... View Details

Keywords: Labor Management; Public Education; PELP; Union; Compensation; Collaboration; Public Education Leadership Project; Education; Labor; Compensation and Benefits; Education Industry; United States

2009
Working Paper

Walking Through Jelly: Language Proficiency, Emotions, and Disrupted Collaboration in Global Work

By: Tsedal Beyene, Pamela J. Hinds and Catherine Durnell Cramton

In an ethnographic study comprised of interviews and concurrent observations of 145 globally distributed members of nine project teams of an organization, we found that uneven proficiency in English, the lingua franca, disrupted collaboration for both native and... View Details

Keywords: Spoken Communication; Interpersonal Communication; Globalized Firms and Management; Groups and Teams; Behavior; Emotions; Social and Collaborative Networks

28 Feb 2023
Research & Ideas

Can Apprenticeships Work in the US? Employers Seeking New Talent Pipelines Take Note

Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School, examines an alternative route for American teenagers and companies alike: The apprenticeships popular in many European countries. Looking closely at a successful US apprentice program in which high school... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

2021
White Paper

Working to Learn: Despite a Growing Set of Innovators, America Struggles to Connect Education and Career

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Rachel Lipson, Jorge Encinas, Tessa Forshaw, Alexis Gable and J.B. Schramm

In the wake of COVID-19 and growing inequality, America needs more pathways that bridge education and career. New research from the Project on Workforce at Harvard draws on data from New Profit's Postsecondary Initiative for Equity to identify opportunities for the... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Education; Training; Employment; Personal Development and Career; Health Pandemics

02 Apr 2019
Research Event

Women Pay a Higher Career Price in Today's Always-On Work Culture

long-work-hours culture was detrimental to both women and men, but women paid a higher price,” says the article, Explaining the Persistence of Gender Inequality: The Work-family Narrative as a Social Defense against the 24/7 Work Culture,... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Consulting; Service

September–October 2015
Article

Crash and Burn: Why Silicon Valley's Notion That Failure Leads to Success Won't Work for the Rest of the World

By: Debora L. Spar

In the frenzied hills of Silicon Valley, going bust is common. Research attests that close to half of start-ups supported by venture capital chew through most or all of their backers' money and that the majority never achieve their projected returns on investment. But... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Failure; Learning; Situation or Environment

May, 2019
Article

Who Would You Like to Work With?: Use of Individual Characteristics and Social Networks in Team Formation Systems

By: Diego Gomez-Zara, Matthew Paras, Marlon Twyman, Jacqueline N. Lane, Leslie A. DeChurch and Noshir Contractor

People and organizations are increasingly using online platforms to assemble teams. In response, HCI researchers have theorized frameworks and created systems to support team assembly. However, little is known about how users search for and choose teammates on these... View Details

Keywords: Team Formation; Groups and Teams; Recruitment; Networks; Diversity

08 Jan 2016
Research & Ideas

Is it Worth a Pay Cut to Work for a Great Manager (Like Bill Belichick)?

team members in jobs and on projects that enable them to excel and to showcase their talents. If people have the expectation that they can monetize the value of their improved performance, they will be more willing to accept a lower... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg & Abhijit Naik; Sports

April 1996 (Revised November 1996)
Case

BAE Automated Systems (A): Denver International Airport Baggage-Handling System

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Ramiro Montealegre, Carin-Isabel Knoop and H. James Nelson

Describes the events surrounding the construction of the BAE baggage-handling system at the Denver International Airport. It looks specifically at project management, including decisions regarding budget, scheduling, and the overall management structure. Also examines... View Details

Keywords: Management; Decisions; Contracts; Time Management; Problems and Challenges; Projects; Budgets and Budgeting; Construction Industry; Air Transportation Industry; Colorado

Educators

November 2002 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Martha McCaskey

By: Joshua D. Margolis and Bart J. van Dissel

Martha McCaskey, a project leader at a consulting firm, is asked to complete a project at a crucial point in her career. Successful completion of the project would gain McCaskey a promotion and a significant raise. McCaskey, however, cannot see a way to complete the... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Personal Development and Career; Decision Making; Problems and Challenges; Consulting Industry

Educators

Spring 1992
Article

Student Environmental Organizations

By: Julian Keniry and Brian Trelstad

On campuses around the country, student groups are discovering the benefits of working on projects in cooperation with campus officials. View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Higher Education

2017
Book

Extreme Teaming: Lessons in Complex, Cross-Sector Leadership

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Jean-François Harvey

Today's global enterprises increasingly involve collaborative work by teams of experts operating across different professions, organizations, and industries. Extreme Teaming provides new insights into the world of complex, cross-industry projects and the ways... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Complexity