Social Norms - Publications - Faculty & Research

31 Jan 2022
Research & Ideas

Where Can Digital Transformation Take You? Insights from 1,700 Leaders

Customers demand more value and innovation than ever before, but they’re not always willing to pay more for that product or service. In fact, thanks to social media, dissatisfied customers can amplify their opinions about a company’s long... View Details

Keywords: by Linda A. Hill, Ann Le Cam, Sunand Menon, and Emily Tedards

2012
Working Paper

Conflict Policy and Advertising Agency-Client Relations: The Problem of Competing Clients Sharing a Common Agency

By: Alvin J. Silk

What restrictions should be placed on advertising agencies with respect to serving accounts or clients that are competitors of one another in order to avoid conflicts in interest? In recent decades, the advertising and marketing services industry has undergone a number... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Service Delivery; Competition; Conflict of Interests; Policy; Practice; Advertising Industry; United States

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January 2025
Case

Netflix: Takedown Troubles

By: Clayton S. Rose, Tom Quinn and Maxim Pike Harrell

In October 2021, Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos sent an all-staff email addressing backlash to comedian Dave Chappelle’s new stand-up special, The Closer. Released on October 5, the comedian’s depiction of the transgender community and other LGBTQ+ groups prompted... View Details

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05 May 2009
First Look

First Look: May 5, 2009

literature on inter-firm relations. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/09-126.pdf Do Friends Influence Purchases in a Social Network? Authors:Raghuram Iyengar, Sangman Han, and Sunil Gupta Abstract View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

29 Jul 2013
Research & Ideas

A Manager’s Moral Obligation to Preserve Capitalism

Ramanna, who holds appointments as the Henry B. Arthur Fellow, supporting the research and teaching of business ethics, and as a Marvin Bower Fellow, helping faculty launch innovative new business agendas. "Capitalism delivers on certain View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

27 Nov 2006
Research & Ideas

Manly Men, Oil Platforms, and Breaking Stereotypes

organizational scholars, we were interested in organizations as social and cultural contexts that shape how men make sense of themselves—the stories they tell themselves as men about what it means to be male—and in the effect this... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Energy; Utilities

07 Mar 2023
HBS Case

ChatGPT: Did Big Tech Set Up the World for an AI Bias Disaster?

the high ground, allowing it to influence norms and policies to mitigate AI bias. But the tech giant’s decision to push out pioneering AI researcher and ethicist Timnit Gebru set the company on a rocky course, contends Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis; Technology

20 Dec 2011
First Look

First Look: December 20

Nordgren, Maarten W. Bos, and Ap Dijksterhuis Publication:Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 47, no. 2 (2011) Abstract Two studies address the debate over whether conscious or unconscious mental processes best handle complex... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

07 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

How Teams Work: Lessons from the Pandemic

the first project, we didn’t have a virtual team room, and didn’t have a rhythm for working together and organizing our work,” the interviewee said. “In the second project, we had a smoother teaming process because we tried to relax the View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

Research Summary

Overview

By: Ashley V. Whillans

Engaged with field work in East Africa, South Asia, and in several large hybrid organizations in the United States, Professor Whillans places a focus on exploring questions with strong theoretical motivation in the social psychological literature and relevant... View Details

08 Mar 2021
In Practice

COVID Killed the Traditional Workplace. What Should Companies Do Now?

A year ago, COVID-19 forced many companies to send employees home—often with a laptop and a prayer. Now, with COVID cases subsiding and vaccinations rising, the prospect of returning to old office routines appears more possible. But will employees want to flock back to... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

01 Feb 2011
First Look

First Look: Feb. 1

clamor for accountability, it is tempting to accept the popular normative view that more accountability is better. But is it feasible, or even desirable, for nonprofit organizations to be accountable to everyone for everything? The... View Details

04 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

Navigating Consumer Data Privacy in an AI World

Harnessing customer data well is central to any modern business, as is earning consumers’ trust that their information will stay private. With data breaches growing more common, regulations are tightening across the globe to bolster security, creating a new web of... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology; Information Technology

06 May 2021
HBS Case

How Four Women Made Miami More Equitable for Startups

company and social impact accelerator adept at organizing campaigns through social media. “I chose these founders for their differences from one another,” Kanter says. “But then I saw how many similarities... View Details

Keywords: by Carolyn DiPaolo

11 Jan 2022
Research & Ideas

Feeling Seen: What to Say When Your Employees Are Not OK

the COVID-19 pandemic approaches its third exhausting year. Validating someone’s feelings can be as simple as pausing during the day to say, “You seem anxious,” says Zlatev, a professor in the Negotiation, Organizations & Markets Unit at HBS. "You're showing that... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

06 Aug 2019
Cold Call Podcast

Super Bowl Ads Sell Products, but Do They Sell Brands?

it was an advertising bro fest, but also a reflection of the cultural norms of the time. After all, the 1960s was the dawn of the golden age of advertising when agencies were evolving from product pitchers to storytellers. That first... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Sports; Entertainment & Recreation; Media & Broadcasting

18 Aug 2022
Op-Ed

Your Best Employees Are Burning Out: A Framework for Retaining Talent

firings and layoffs close to the age of retirement so businesses could avoid paying pensions. Also, instead of staying with one company for a lifetime, it became the norm for employees to change companies and roles during their careers.... View Details

Keywords: by Hise Gibson and MaShon Wilson

14 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Restarting Under Uncertainty: Managerial Experiences from Around the World

on intangible capabilities, such as the ability to assess the value of the knowledge and skills that are already present within the firm and in some instances within its broader ecosystem; to rapidly understand how to redeploy them in new activities; and to establish... View Details

Keywords: by Raffaella Sadun, Andrea Bertoni, Alexia Delfino, Giovanni Fassio, and Mariapaola Testa

16 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Restaurant Revolution: How the Industry Is Fighting to Stay Alive

employees at the same level as the comparable 2019 period. Moreover, 75 percent of loan proceeds were required to be used for payroll, at odds with an industry norm of payroll expenses totaling approximately 30 percent of revenue. As of... View Details

Keywords: by Michael S. Kaufman, Lena G. Goldberg, and Jill Avery; Food & Beverage

01 Feb 2010
Research & Ideas

The ‘Luxury Prime’: How Luxury Changes People

activate a social norm that it is appropriate to pursue interests beyond a basic comfort level, even at the expense of others. It may be this activated social View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

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