Motivation - Publications - Faculty & Research

2011
Article

Bias in Search Results?: Diagnosis and Response

By: Benjamin Edelman

I explore allegations of search engine bias, including understanding a search engine's incentives to bias results, identifying possible forms of bias, and evaluating methods of verifying whether bias in fact occurs. I then consider possible legal and policy responses,... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Motivation and Incentives; Outcome or Result; Markets; Legal Liability; Policy; Search Technology; Performance Evaluation; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

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March 2005 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Sealed Air Taiwan (A) (Abridged)

By: Lynn S. Paine

The general manager for U.S.-based Sealed Air Corp.'s Taiwan subsidiary must decide how to improve productivity and achieve profitability. In addition to considering a new approach to compensation, he is wondering how to bridge the gap between Sealed Air's corporate... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Relationships; Service Operations; Motivation and Incentives; Management Skills; Compensation and Benefits; Taiwan; United States

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2023
Working Paper

Complexity and Time

By: Benjamin Enke, Thomas Graeber and Ryan Oprea

We provide experimental evidence that core intertemporal choice anomalies -- including extreme short-run impatience, structural estimates of present bias, hyperbolicity and transitivity violations -- are driven by complexity rather than time or risk preferences. First,... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Motivation and Incentives

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April 2018
Case

Happy UAE

By: Joshua Schwartzstein, Brian J. Hall, Tiffany Y. Chang, Karim Sameh and Alpana Thapar

This case centers on the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) national goal of raising the happiness of its residents and visitors through ambitious government initiatives. They combined this bold national goal with an accountability structure (incentive plan) built on Key... View Details

Keywords: Happiness; Welfare; Governance; Motivation and Incentives; United Arab Emirates

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21 Nov 2016
Research & Ideas

It Matters That Your CEO Doesn't Know Much About Sales

in many industries, but many executives hire on the basis of out-of-date generalizations. “Sales is an area especially susceptible to glib generalizations by many people: It’s all about relationships, or salespeople are ‘coin-operated’—if you want to View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

10 Sep 2014
Research & Ideas

Become a Value Creator

motivations at the door." More Pie For Everyone In general, value creators work cooperatively with others to make the corporate pie bigger for all, whereas value claimers focus on taking more of the pie for themselves—like a thief... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

06 Oct 2003
Research & Ideas

The Growth of the Social Enterprise

primarily for affiliates only. The fact that many of the key anticipated benefits for expansion were never realized is a stark reminder to nonprofit leaders to be realistic in their expectations of what benefits expansion will bring. Building a brand was consistently... View Details

Keywords: by Carla Tishler

29 May 2001
Research & Ideas

Race Does Matter in Mentoring

some minorities—those who eventually became executives—avoided that fate. What kept them motivated and prepared to take advantage of opportunities that arrived belatedly? A common thread among them was their relationships with mentors.... View Details

Keywords: by David A. Thomas

25 May 2021
Blog Post

The Surprising Power of Nostalgia at Work

colleagues and I have concluded that nostalgia is best described as a self-regulatory existential resource that people naturally and frequently use to navigate stress and uncertainty and find the motivation needed to move forward with... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

24 Sep 2014
Research & Ideas

The Business of Climate Change

On Sunday, 300,000 activists took to the streets of New York for the People's Climate March, the biggest climate protest in history, and the United Nations on Tuesday held the Climate Summit. In the spirit of Climate Week, we present insights from members of the... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty; Energy; Utilities

29 Sep 2003
Research & Ideas

Pride Goeth Before a Profit

into a very powerful motivating force. In a tough economic environment, when there is little money for bonuses and a lot of concern about layoffs, Katzenbach says it becomes even more important to communicate with employees about the... View Details

Keywords: by Theodore Kinni

10 Dec 2007
HBS Case

One Laptop per Child

faced a long road to seal the deals, and a lot of work lies ahead. "While on the surface it is a laudable vision to get one laptop to each child, and the motives are pristine, there are stumbling blocks in implementation,"... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Computer

Profile

Jason A. Kilar

right kind of person, it is very motivating because you don’t take anything for granted. You are constantly neurotic about the need to serve customers better than anyone else. I know the pressure is on and I like that kind of environment.... View Details

12 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

The Untold Story of ‘Green’ Entrepreneurs

contends that policy makers more often reacted to political motives and pressure from business interests, while couching their actions in green language. In fact, government activities such as electrification of rural America and... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

01 Sep 2024
News

Research Brief: Hear Me Out

that the study measured perceptions of extroverts, Zlatev says, rather than their actual listening skills. “We don’t have any evidence that extroverts are being less authentic in these social situations, so it’s more about the behaviors that they are exhibiting than... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

16 Jun 2014
Blog Post

Recruiting Millennials in a Global Market

first-hand the transition from serving and advising both Generation X and Generation Y. And while all individuals are different, members of each generational group share common characteristics that shape their behaviors and desires and result in different View Details

26 Jun 2025
Blog Post

Partner with a Student Club

about their industries and roles while engaging directly with highly motivated students. By collaborating with clubs, you not only educate students about your company and career opportunities but also deepen your campus presence and... View Details

March 1999
Case

MotivAction plc (A)

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

The owner/manager of MotivAction is developing a package of incentives and bonuses that he hopes will stimulate sales growth, encourage development of new autonomous teams, and increase profitability. If they are adopted, these new incentives will replace others... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Performance Improvement; Growth and Development Strategy; Decisions; Profit; Organizational Culture

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2013
Dissertation

Designing Freemium: A Model of Consumer Usage, Upgrade, and Referral Dynamics

By: Clarence Lee, Vineet Kumar and Sunil Gupta

Abstract. Over the past decade "freemium" (free + premium) has become the dominant business model among internet start-ups for its ability to acquire and monetize a large install-base with limited marketing resources. Freemium is a hybrid strategy where a firm offers... View Details

Keywords: Discrete-Continuous Choice Dynamic Structural Models; Bayesian Estimation; Word-of-Mouth; Digital Services; Freemium; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Motivation and Incentives; Marketing Strategy; Internet and the Web; Consumer Behavior; Marketing Reference Programs; Business Startups

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July 2012
Case

Johannes Linden: Managing the Global Executive Committee

By: Linda A. Hill and Mark Rennella

Johannes Linden is the Director of the Washer and Dryer division of Fluss, a large Swiss appliance manufacturer. Soon after the company completes its revenue projections and bonus targets for the upcoming year, Linden shares some good news with his leadership team, the... View Details