Publications

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Article

Paradise Lost (and Restored?): A Study of Psychological Safety over Time

By: Derrick P. Bransby, Michaela Kerrissey and Amy C. Edmondson

Although prior research indicates that psychological safety can fluctuate, questions about when and why remain. To gain insights into the emergence and temporal dynamics of psychological safety, we explored longitudinal data representing more than 10,000 health care... View Details

Keywords: Analytics and Data Science; Research; Attitudes; Working Conditions; Well-being; Health Industry

2012
Book

Sleeping with Your Smartphone: How to Break the 24-7 Habit and Change the Way you Work

By: Leslie A. Perlow

Does it have to be this way? Can't resist checking your smartphone or mobile device? Sure, all this connectivity keeps you in touch with your team and the office—but at what cost? In "Sleeping with Your Smartphone," Leslie Perlow reveals how you can disconnect and... View Details

Keywords: Time Management; Internet and the Web; Groups and Teams; Performance Productivity; Globalized Firms and Management; Service Industry

01 Nov 2024
In Practice

Layoffs Surging in a Strong Economy? Advice for Navigating Uncertain Times

each month in 2024, mean it’s time for tech leaders to ask themselves three questions about layoffs. 1. What is this layoff for? HR teams do not decide who to lay off—that’s the job of tech company leaders. They do it either badly or... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology; Information Technology

15 Nov 2022
Op-Ed

Why TikTok Is Beating YouTube for Eyeball Time (It’s Not Just the Dance Videos)

Jax song was charting on Billboard and the CEO of Victoria’s Secret had been drawn into the discussion. “What struck us right away was how fast 'Victoria’s Secret' had spread, at least five times faster than the United Breaks Guitars... View Details

Keywords: by John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

2011
Case

Xinxing Ductile Iron Pipes: Transforming the Management Control System in Time of Crisis

By: Ning Jia, F. Warren McFarlan and Xiaohui Li

Xinxing Ductile Iron Pipes Co. is a Chinese state-owned enterprise (SOE) that manufactures cast pipe products and steel products. The company had grown to become a dominant player in the ductile iron pipe industry, holding more than 40% domestic market share and nearly... View Details

Keywords: Control Systems; Cost Centers; Manufacturing; Profit Centers; China

January – February 2012
Article

How Managers Use Multiple Media: Discrepant Events, Power, and Timing in Redundant Communication

By: Paul Leonardi, Tsedal Neeley and Elizabeth M. Gerber

Several recent studies have found that managers engage in redundant communication; that is, they send the same message to the same recipient through two or more unique media sequentially. Given how busy most managers are, and how much information their subordinates... View Details

Keywords: Communication; Media; Information; Groups and Teams; Projects; Management Style; Power and Influence; Motivation and Incentives; Technology

Register to Read

2020
Book

Think Outside the Building: How Advanced Leaders Can Change the World One Smart Innovation at a Time

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Over a decade ago, renowned innovation expert Rosabeth Moss Kanter co-founded and then directed Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative. Her breakthrough work with hundreds of successful professionals and executives, as well as aspiring young entrepreneurs, identifies... View Details

Keywords: Leaders; Advanced Leadership; Advanced Leadership Initiative; Community; Change Leadership; Innovation; Problem Solving; Cross-sector Collaboration; Institutional Change; Leadership; Change; Leading Change; Communication; Innovation Leadership; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business and Community Relations; Civil Society or Community

Research Summary

Microwedges: Challenging power one small opening at a time [Dissertation, job market paper]

Based on a 31-month qualitative inductive study of multidisciplinary change teams, I introduce the concept of the “microwedge”—a small action or series of actions by team members that allows the team to examine their own assumptions so that they can begin to engage... View Details

19 Aug 2015
Research & Ideas

Codeacademy’s Delicate Work of Adding Monetization Without Crushing Mission

A good way to build a large base of users is to offer something valuable for free. That's been the strategy so far behind Codeacademy. In just a few short years since its inception in 2011, the company has grown into one of the world's... View Details

Keywords: Re: Jeffrey J. Bussgang; Technology

2011
Teaching Note

Xinxing Ductile Iron Pipes: Transforming the Management Control System in Time of Crisis (TN)

By: Ning Jia, F. Warren McFarlan and Xiaohui Li

Xinxing Ductile Iron Pipes Co. is a Chinese state-owned enterprise (SOE) that manufactures cast pipe products and steel products. The company had grown to become a dominant player in the ductile iron pipe industry, holding more than 40% domestic market share and nearly... View Details

Keywords: Control Systems; Cost Centers; Manufacturing; Profit Centers; China; Iron ＆ Steel; China

January–February 2024
Article

The Challenge of Maintaining Passion for Work over Time: A Daily Perspective on Passion and Emotional Exhaustion

By: Joy Bredehorst, Kai Krautter, Jirs Meuris and Jon M. Jachimowicz

Passion for work is highly coveted, but many employees report struggling to maintain their passion over time. In the current research, we explain the challenge of pursuing passion by conceptualizing passion as an attribute with temporal variation. Viewed through a... View Details

Keywords: Passion; Work-Life Balance; Employees; Emotions

21 Feb 2019
Research & Ideas

Voter ID Laws Don't Work (But They Don't Hurt Anything, Either)

editor-in-chief of HBS Working Knowledge. Image: adamkaz Related Reading: Why People Don’t Vote—and How a Good Ground Game Helps Research Paper: Voter Registration Costs and Disenfranchisement Ground Game, Air Wars, and Other Marketing... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

29 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Work 3.0: Redefining Jobs and Companies in the Uber Age

time crunched, the last thing we want to do is squander labor market opportunity and flexibility. Yet that’s what could happen if new companies are forced to build workforces based on dated assumptions about employees and independent... View Details

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu; Transportation; Web Services

Research Summary

Managing the Advantages and Tradeoffs of Collaborative Structures

By: Ethan S. Bernstein

To solve complex problems, organizations must both collect facts and use them to solve problems. In one study, my coauthors and I show that increased connectivity—measured as network... View Details

Keywords: Networks; Human Behavior; Performance; Virtual Work; Hybrid Work; Office Space; Workplace Design; Communication; Social and Collaborative Networks; Behavior; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Leadership; Management

23 Feb 2021
Research & Ideas

COVID-19 Shines New Light on Working Conditions in Supply Chains

like when Apple was the subject of a New York Times feature about working conditions at its supplier, Foxconn. When you have the hundreds of workers killed in a garment factory fire in Pakistan or the... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Apparel & Accessories

February 2013
Case

Diamond Foods, Inc.

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Tim Gray

The Diamonds Foods, Inc. case describes the major accounting blow up at the company in late 2011 that was triggered by a report by Off Wall Street, a prominent short selling research firm. Diamond Foods, a high flying growth company in 2011, grew from a walnut farmers'... View Details

Educators

2021
Book

Glass Half-Broken: Shattering the Barriers That Still Hold Women Back at Work

By: Colleen Ammerman and Boris Groysberg

Why does the gender gap persist and how can we close it? For years women have made up the majority of college-educated workers in the United States. In 2019, the gap between the percentage of women and the percentage of men in the workforce was the smallest on record.... View Details

Keywords: Women; Career; Gender Gap; Glass Ceiling; Gender; Employment; Personal Development and Career; Equality and Inequality; Organizational Culture; Diversity; Management; Strategy