Publications

November 2021
Article

The Comprehensive Effects of Sales Force Management: A Dynamic Structural Analysis of Selection, Compensation, and Training

By: Doug J. Chung, Byungyeon Kim and Byoung G. Park

This study provides a comprehensive model of an agent’s behavior in response to multiple sales management instruments, including compensation, recruiting/termination, and training. The model on agents’ behavior takes into account many of the key elements that... View Details

Keywords: Salesforce Management; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Compensation and Benefits; Resignation and Termination; Training; Behavior; Analysis

Find at Harvard

July 2002 (Revised January 2003)
Case

Harrah's Entertainment, Inc: Rewarding Our People

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Vineeta Vijayaraghavan

Marilyn Winn, head of human resources at Harrah's Entertainment, must make a recommendation to the company's president and CEO about whether the existing bonus payout program is effective at motivating employees or whether it should be revised and/or replaced. A recent... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Human Capital; Management Style; Motivation and Incentives; Alignment; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

April 2012 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Dovernet

By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred

This case illustrates the implications of using stringent performance measurement systems to create performance pressure, motivate employee achievement, and sharpen a firm's competitiveness. It opens by describing the downsides of the ruthlessly competitive culture at... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Information Technology; Competitive Advantage; Decision Choices and Conditions; Organizational Culture; Performance Evaluation; Compensation and Benefits; Web Services Industry; Information Technology Industry; Vancouver

17 Aug 2021
Blog Post

Applying the MBA Skillset to Global Health Challenges: Summer Fellow Vasilis Theodorou (MBA 2022)

The HBS Summer Fellows Program enables students to apply their classroom training as they explore career opportunities in roles or regions where compensation is generally lower than the traditional MBA level. This summer, we are... View Details

January 2004 (Revised July 2006)
Case

Executive Remuneration at Reckitt Benckiser plc

By: Jay W. Lorsch, V.G. Narayanan, Krishna G. Palepu, Lisa Brem and Ashley Robertson

Reckitt Benckiser plc has developed an executive compensation system. This case outlines the structure of the system, its emphasis on performance-based pay and a global outlook, and explains the role of the human resources department, the board of directors, and... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Employee Relationship Management; System; Executive Compensation; Retention; Performance; Human Resources; Recruitment; Business and Shareholder Relations

August 2019
Background Note

Note on Shared Ownership

By: Ethan Bernstein and Nick Rekenthaler

While several tactics can drive company performance by instilling a sense of shared ownership among employees, perhaps the most direct is to actually share ownership with employees. Many public and private companies across industries have done just that, and studies... View Details

Keywords: Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Human Resources; Employees; Human Capital; Ownership; Cooperative Ownership; Employee Ownership; Customer Ownership; Governance

12 Oct 2016
Research & Ideas

Break the Rules of How Business is Done

doesn’t always have to be time consuming or distracting. The company Amplitude challenged how businesses handle equity compensation by extending the company options exercise windows to years versus the standard 90-day window most... View Details

Keywords: by Julia B. Austin

25 Aug 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Managerial Practices That Promote Voice and Taking Charge among Frontline Workers

Keywords: by Julia Rose Adler-Milstein, Sara J. Singer & Michael W. Toffel; Health

Article

Why Do Pro Forma and Street Earnings Not Reflect Changes in GAAP? Evidence from SFAS 123R

By: Ian D. Gow, Mary E. Barth and Daniel Taylor

This study examines how key market participants—managers and analysts—responded to SFAS 123R's controversial requirement that firms recognize stock-based compensation expense. Despite mandated recognition of the expense, some firms' managers exclude it from pro forma... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Employee Stock Ownership Plan

14 Dec 2010
First Look

First Look: Dec. 14

and suggests that corporate diversification can serve an important insurance function for investors. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-101.pdf The Psychological Costs of Pay-for-Performance: Implications for Strategic View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 Oct 2021
Blog Post

Mobilizing Private Sector Action For Racial Equity in Milwaukee: SE Summer Fellow Zach Komes (MBA 2022)

The HBS Summer Fellows Program enables students to apply their classroom training as they explore career opportunities in roles or regions where compensation is generally lower than the traditional MBA level. We are connecting with some... View Details

Eliminate Strategic Overload

As companies respond to intensifying competitive pressures and challenges, they ask more and more of their employees. But organizations often have very little to show for the efforts of their talented and engaged workers. By selecting fewer initiatives with... View Details

2024
Working Paper

Smaller than We Thought? The Effect of Automatic Savings Policies

By: James J. Choi, David Laibson, Jordan Cammarota, Richard Lombardo and John Beshears

Medium- and long-run dynamics undermine the effect of automatic enrollment and default savings-rate auto-escalation on retirement savings. Our analysis of 401(k) plans incorporates the facts that employees frequently leave firms (often before matching contributions... View Details

Keywords: Personal Finance; Saving; Retirement; Behavioral Finance; Compensation and Benefits

05 Jun 2014
Research & Ideas

Fixing the ‘I Hate Work’ Blues

The New York Times ran a troubling story, "Why You Hate Work," in last week's "Sunday Review." The article indicated that employees work too hard and find little meaning from their work. The anecdotes we all hear about... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

March 2010 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Alibaba Group

By: Julie M. Wulf

Discusses how Alibaba Group successfully managed new business ventures to become a leader in China's online marketplaces. Students follow Alibaba Group's transition from a startup to a multibusiness firm with over 15,000 employees in just over a decade. They analyze... View Details

Keywords: History; Business Subsidiaries; Competition; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Strategy; Executive Compensation; Business Headquarters; Cooperation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth and Development Strategy; China