Publications

Article

Improving the Rhythm of Your Collaboration

By: Ethan S. Bernstein, Jesse Shore and David Lazer

In this article, we summarize our research on the value of intermittency for complex problem solving at work and give practical advice on how organizations can improve the rhythm of their people's collaboration. Executives have been counseled to be collaborative... View Details

Keywords: Problem Solving; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Internet and the Web; Leadership

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November 1997 (Revised July 1999)
Case

Guidant: Cardiac Rhythm Management Business (A)

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Mikelle Eastley

Examines the choices Guidant must make in research and development spending and new product development. More specifically, CEO Jay Graf considers the payoffs and tradeoffs of using product development skills that he learned in CPI's core business when applied to a... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Product Development; Business or Company Management; Management Skills; Research and Development; Business Strategy; Communication; Product Design; Market Design; Organizational Design; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

November 1997 (Revised July 1999)
Case

Guidant: Cardiac Rhythm Management Business (B)

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Mikelle Eastley

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

July 1999 (Revised July 1999)
Teaching Note

Guidant: Cardiac Rhythm Management Business (A) and (B) TN

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Edward T Smith

Teaching Note for (9-698-021) and (9-698-024). View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Product Marketing; Health Industry

September 2023
Article

The Dynamics of Team Learning: Harmony and Rhythm in Teamwork Arrangements for Innovation

By: Jean-François Harvey, Johnathan R. Cromwell, Kevin J. Johnson and Amy C. Edmondson

Innovation teams must navigate inherent tensions between different learning activities to produce high levels of performance. Yet, we know little about how teams combine these activities—notably reflexive, experimental, vicarious, and contextual learning—most... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Learning; Performance Effectiveness; Collaborative Innovation and Invention

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August 2003 (Revised August 2006)
Case

I've Got Rhythm: Selling Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, William Lagor, Christopher Perry and Scott St. Germain

The head of sales and marketing in a large medical devices firm must decide how to assign his sales force. He compares selling in the pharma, specialty pharma, and device industries and analyzes the reasons for the differences. View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Marketing Strategy; Industry Structures; Sales; Salesforce Management; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

December 1980 (Revised November 1982)
Background Note

Rhythms of the Semester: Overall Preparation, Evolving Roles, and Special Classes

2014
Article

Attentional Rhythm: A Temporal Analogue of Object-Based Attention

By: Julian De Freitas, Brandon Liverence and Brian J. Scholl

The underlying units of attention are often discrete visual objects. Perhaps the clearest form of evidence for this is the same-object advantage: Following a spatial cue, responses are faster to probes occurring on the same object than they are to probes occurring on... View Details

Keywords: Object-based Attention; Rhythm; Music Perception; Auditory Perception

August 2018
Article

Deep Help in Complex Project Work: Guiding and Path-Clearing Across Difficult Terrain

By: Colin M. Fisher, Julianna Pillemer and Teresa M. Amabile

How do teams working on complex projects get the help they need? Our qualitative investigation of the help provided to project teams at a prominent design firm revealed two distinct helping processes, both characterized by deep, sustained engagement that far exceeds... View Details

Keywords: Helping; Rhythm; Prosocial Behavior; External Team Leadership; Social Construction; Time; Qualitative Methods; Field Research; Groups and Teams; Projects; Behavior; Leadership; Social and Collaborative Networks

2017
Working Paper

Deep Help in Complex Project Work: Guiding and Path-Clearing Across Difficult Terrain

By: Colin M. Fisher, Julianna Pillemer and Teresa M. Amabile

How do teams working on complex projects get the help they need? Our qualitative investigation of the help provided to project teams at a prominent design firm revealed two distinct helping processes, both characterized by deep, sustained engagement that far exceeds... View Details

Keywords: Helping; Rhythm; Prosocial Behavior; External Team Leadership; Social Construction; Time; Qualitative Methods; Field Research; Groups and Teams; Projects; Behavior; Social and Collaborative Networks

July 2020
Background Note

Leadership for Change: Seven Enduring Skills for Experienced and Aspiring Change Leaders

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Leaders use seven leadership skills in conceiving and managing change projects, whether innovations in established organizations, culture and process changes, or entrepreneurial ventures for industry or social change. The skills leaders need are different at various... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Leading Change; Management Skills

May 3, 2023
Article

What Top-Performing Sales Managers Do Differently

By: Mike Schultz and Frank V. Cespedes

Sales managers hire reps, influence their training, provide (we hope) feedback and so reinforce good selling behaviors, and are key in the execution of growth and change initiatives. In a study of more than 1,000 sales managers and sellers across industries, we found... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Sales; Performance Effectiveness

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December 2023
Article

Looking Forward – To Better Strategy-Sales Coordination

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Business decisions are about tomorrow, not yesterday. A key to looking forward in most firms is the annual strategy meeting, where linking sales efforts with strategy is vital for implementation and profitable growth. But according to surveys, less than half of... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Strategy

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January–February 2021
Article

How to Help (Without Micromanaging)

By: Colin M. Fisher, Teresa M. Amabile and Julianna Pillemer

Extensive research shows that when employees get hands-on managerial support, they perform better than when they’re left to their own devices, but unnecessary or unwanted help can be demoralizing and counterproductive. So how do you intervene constructively? The... View Details

Keywords: Helping; Employees; Groups and Teams; Management