Managing Difficult Interactions - Publications - Faculty & Research

26 Feb 2007
Research & Ideas

The Power of the Noncompete Clause

passed, often twelve to twenty-four months. Such a clause, for instance, sparked a public legal battle two years ago when Google hired away a top Microsoft executive, Kai-Fu Lee. But disputes and tensions over noncompetes are not isolated instances. As most View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

16 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

Transitions of Power Are Difficult. What Joe Biden and Other Incoming Leaders Need to Know.

keep their eyes on the work to be done. Silverthorne: For new CEOs, what should their initial steps be in assuming power and laying out an agenda for action? Kanter: New CEOs need to be adequately informed. One thing that makes turnarounds View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

08 Dec 2015
Research & Ideas

You Won't Make It If You Fake It

single drops from the finger. Holmes’ rapid rise to fame put her on a fast track to success, with high expectations and intense pressures. Yet she hadn’t had adequate leadership experience leading people through difficult and complex... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

14 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Ethics Bots and Other Ways to Move Your Code of Business Conduct Beyond Puffery

impacting people’s behavior and underlying firm culture,” he says. Accenture rethinks its code Compliance can be difficult for employees when they are faced with a 50-page document filled with generic principles and discussions of... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

10 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

Reinventing the Industrial Giant

manner of Dell and Cisco. Because the majority of these transformations are ongoing, the ultimate success or failure of these undertakings is difficult to evaluate. General Motors, for example, is attempting to rehaul its business in four... View Details

Keywords: by Nitin Nohria, Davis Dyer & Frederick Dalzell; Manufacturing

02 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

Why Good Deeds Invite Bad Publicity

concludes Oberholzer-Gee. In other words, at least when it comes to oil spills, the goodwill "insurance policies" weren't worth the paper they were written on. Lessons Learned One lesson to take away from the findings is that managing... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Energy

17 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

America Needs a Manufacturing Renaissance

battery cells used in electric vehicles. Theme 3: There Is Nothing "Natural" About Erosion of the Industrial Commons—Management and Policy Matter The erosion of the industrial commons in the United States is the result not of the "invisible hand" of markets but rather... View Details

Keywords: by Gary P. Pisano & Willy C. Shih; Manufacturing

04 Aug 2003
What Do You Think?

Are We Facing an Attitude Shortage?

pointed out that "So many managers are afraid that attitude is too soft, too difficult to assess and to use as a key hiring criteria." Saurabh Dwivedy commented that "...attitude, morals,... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

18 Nov 2016
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Making a Fast Start on a New Job

Experience Lacking experience, contract workers find it difficult to advance to a job with expanded responsibilities. But it can be done. Research into the the concept of "stretchwork." Reflecting on Work Improves Job... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

23 May 2017
First Look

First Look at New Ideas and Research: May 23, 2017

founders who already had a more hands-on management style themselves, these interactions also increase top-line employee growth via an increase in hiring rates. Our study demonstrates View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

22 Dec 2003
Research & Ideas

Why Negotiation is Like Jazz

negotiation requires adapting your communication acts to the most advantageous pattern. Learning The Notes Imagine you're a sales rep negotiating with the procurement manager of a professional services firm. Your company is the only... View Details

Keywords: by Kathleen L. McGinn

08 Apr 2009
Research & Ideas

Clayton Christensen on Disrupting Health Care

information accessible and portable, have been talked about for a long time. One hurdle to progress on this relates, again, to the existing business model, which makes it difficult for information stored on one health-care provider's... View Details

Keywords: by Deborah Blagg; Health

02 Sep 2016
Op-Ed

The Twitter Election

don't know what Twitter is. In 2015, the average American spent more than one-third of her media interaction time online and around one-third watching television, 10 percent reading magazines and newspapers, and 10 percent listening to... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch and Thales Teixeira

05 Mar 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, March 5, 2019

tighter coupling is more likely in suppliers with certain types of managerial structures (certified management system and unions). We also find important interactions between these organizational structures:... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

23 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

Putting the Project Puzzle Together

portfolio management so hard to put into practice? A: Project portfolio management is particularly difficult because each project emerges from the bottom of the organization... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

01 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

How Much Time Should CEOs Devote to Customers?

product managers spent on average only three percent of their time in contact with end consumers. Terry Leahy, CEO of Tesco, the UK supermarket chain, spends two days a week in stores interacting with... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

01 Jul 2019
Research & Ideas

The Airbnb Lesson for Startups? Success Takes More Than Technology

They haven't encroached much on each other's territory. Part of the reason is that it's very expensive to go beyond their markets. If you’re an airline, you’re buying airplanes. Building and owning hotels is expensive. If you’re Boston Duck Tours, View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Travel; Tourism

26 Jan 2016
First Look

January 26, 2016

sites quickly become choked with low-quality content. While clicks rise, customer satisfaction plummets. The glitches, say the authors, are not in the algorithms but in the way we interact with them. View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 Sep 2012
Research & Ideas

US Competitiveness at Risk

people—so it's just more difficult to think strategically and long term here as opposed to in South Korea or Singapore. China has had the luxury, or curse, of a high degree of centralization that makes long-term thinking much easier. Q:... View Details

Keywords: Re: Michael E. Porter & Jan W. Rivkin

03 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 3, 2009

and complementary effects across channels to provide sales forecasting, promotion planning, and customer relationship management guidance to multichannel managers. We investigate three contingencies in a sales analysis of a leading U.S.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Publications