Publications

May 1996 (Revised November 2018)
Case

Ecolab, Inc.

By: Ashish Nanda

By 1993, Ecolab has established a dominant market position in the institutional cleaning industry. As the company’s principal competitor, Diversify, drives sales aggressively, Ecolab president Al Schuman faces a choice about how best to market Ecolab’s offerings.... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Employees; Retention; Marketing Strategy; Risk Management; Service Industry

30 Dec 2013
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Articles of 2013

Best Employees Many companies hand out awards such as "employee of the month," but do they work to motivate performance? Not really, says Ian Larkin. In fact, they may turn off your best employees... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

09 Jul 2024
Research & Ideas

Are Management Consulting Firms Failing to Manage Themselves?

After nearly a decade of uninterrupted growth, strategic consulting firms are now facing one of their most challenging periods in memory, prompting widespread cutbacks in staff and changes to recruiting. How did these firms get to this painful point? In response to... View Details

Keywords: by David Fubini; Consulting

04 Jan 2021
What Do You Think?

How Do We Sustain Organization Diversity?

successes, the distraction of a later effort to improve gender diversity, the disproportionate number of Black employees laid off in a major downsizing, a drop in the number of Black candidates in the pipeline, and weak View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

March 1987 (Revised October 1993)
Case

Au Bon Pain: The French Bakery Cafe, The Partner/Manager Program

By: W. Earl Sasser

In recent years, Au Bon Pain (ABP), a chain of upscale French bakeries/sandwich cafes based in Boston, confronted a set of human resource problems endemic to the fast food industry (i.e., a labor shortage which made it difficult to attract and maintain quality crew... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Managerial Roles; Retention; Employees; Performance Improvement; Recruitment; Problems and Challenges; Compensation and Benefits; Food and Beverage Industry; Service Industry; Boston

2022
White Paper

Building from the Bottom Up: What Business Can Do to Strengthen the Bottom Line by Investing in Front-line Workers

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Manjari Raman

A significant number of American workers—44%—are employed in low wage jobs at the front line of industries. Despite undertaking some of the most tedious, dirtiest, and most dangerous jobs, low-wage workers are—and have long been—the most likely to be overlooked by... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Labor Market; Low-wage Workers; Worker Welfare; Churn/retention; Morale; Jobs and Positions; Employees; Wages; Retention; Well-being; Human Resources

Read Now

26 Mar 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, March 26, 2019

engagement. In offices with high levels of employee engagement—with above-median rates of employee retention and willingness to log onto the training platform—each additional... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

22 Oct 2013
First Look

First Look: October 22

Publications August 2013 PLoS ONE Prosocial Bonuses Increase Employee Satisfaction and Team Performance By: Anik, Lalin, Lara B. Aknin, Elizabeth W. Dunn, Michael I. Norton, and Jordi Quoidbach Abstract—In three field studies, we... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

12 Apr 2016
First Look

April 12, 2016

or a combination—can catalyze leaders' listening skills, reveal what does or doesn't work inside the organization, highlight hidden challenges and opportunities, and generate essential competitive intelligence. It can promote engagement and enhance View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

Who Will Give You the Best Professional Guidance?

objective—especially given that they know the players and may be coaching them as well. If you are hiring an internal coach be thoughtful on who they will work with and how to measure their success vis-a-vis employees’ growth. Success metrics can be everything from... View Details

Keywords: by Julia B. Austin

01 Mar 2004
What Do You Think?

Are Customer Loyalty Initiatives Worth the Investment?

high [customer] retention can create a tremendous competitive advantage, boost employee morale, produce unexpected bonuses in productivity and growth, even reduce the cost of capital." Now comes Michael... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

March 2015
Case

Clifford Chance: Women at Work

By: Boris Groysberg, Katherine Connolly and Stephanie Marton

It was October 2013, and global law firm Clifford Chance was coming under fire for the second time in less than a year for reputedly failing to provide a supportive work environment for its female associates. A memo entitled "Speaking Effectively" was just issued to... View Details

Keywords: Women; Law; Fairness; Employee Relationship Management; Retention; Human Capital; Organizational Culture; Performance Expectations; Work-Life Balance; Public Opinion; Problems and Challenges; Legal Services Industry; United States

October 2024
Supplement

Skills-First Hiring at IBM

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah Mehta

A video supplement to accompany "Skills-First Hiring at IBM" (case no. 422-013) View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Experience and Expertise; Talent and Talent Management; Human Resources; Employees; Recruitment; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Jobs and Positions; Job Design and Levels; Job Interviews; Society; Social Issues; Technology Industry; United States; New York (state, US)

18 Jul 2024
Research & Ideas

New Hires Lose Psychological Safety After Year One. How to Fix It.

welcome. In fact, new hires often enter fresh roles feeling optimistic and confident their organizations are eager to hear from them, but over time, employees increasingly feel less “psychologically safe” to contribute ideas, new research... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health

19 Jan 2022
In Practice

7 Trends to Watch in 2022

As 2022 gets underway we asked our faculty to highlight some trends worth watching in the coming year. Ariel Stern: A new future for digital health care While 2020 and 2021 were years of rapid innovation and deployment of new health care technologies and delivery... View Details

Keywords: by HBS News

March 2022 (Revised March 2024)
Case

DaVita Responds to COVID

By: Susanna Gallani and David Lane

Early in August 2021, DaVita CEO Javier Rodriguez was assessing the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on his firm, which provided life-sustaining kidney dialysis to roughly 240,000 people. Effective infection control practices and information sharing had ensured... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Change Management; Communication; Talent and Talent Management; Fairness; Values and Beliefs; Corporate Accountability; Health Care and Treatment; Health Pandemics; Human Resources; Employee Relationship Management; Retention; Wages; Working Conditions; Leadership Style; Crisis Management; Organizational Culture; Health Industry; United States