front line employees - Publications - Faculty & Research

22 Oct 2007
Research & Ideas

Bringing ‘Lean’ Principles to Service Industries

the line, are not directly replicable in software as there is no line to stop. "What we hope to do," Upton says, "is to distill the relevant aspects of lean manufacturing so that managers can see how these tools were... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Computer

25 Jul 2013
Research & Ideas

Why Unqualified Candidates Get Hired Anyway

had performed well at an easier job (managing a relatively calm airport), while others had performed less well at a harder job (managing an unruly airport). As with the admissions officers, the executives consistently favored employees... View Details

Keywords: by Anna Secino; Education; Employment

30 Jul 2018
Research & Ideas

Why Ethical People Become Unethical Negotiators

their actions as being more in line with their values than they actually were. In recollecting how the talks went after the fact, Bazerman says negotiators often fail to see things from the other side’s perspective. Take the example of... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

23 Mar 2023
Research & Ideas

As Climate Fears Mount, More Investors Turn to 'ESG' Funds Despite Few Rules

Investor interest in social responsibility has skyrocketed in the past three years, even as US regulations to hold companies accountable remain in flux and the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) label itself draws backlash. Investors are willing to pay a... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services

09 Jan 2020
Book

Rethinking Business Strategy in the Age of AI

announcement at the Google I/O conference in front of seven thousand attendees, with more than one million people viewing on live streaming. Google’s strategic focus, Pichai said, was shifting from mobile to “AI first.” The announcement... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

03 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

Top Ten Legal Mistakes Made by Entrepreneurs

they have been exposed to a trade secret, they can't use it or disclose it without permission from the owner. Can entrepreneurs be sued by their funders for fraud? Yes.—Constance Bagley #3: Starting a business while employed by a potential competitor, or hiring View Details

Keywords: by Staff

01 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

Organizing the Family-Run Business

seat on the board. But draw a line so that the siblings do not appoint their heirs to assume their board seats when the ownership transitions to the Cousin Consortium stage. The board—not the shareholders, the family or the family... View Details

23 Apr 2013
First Look

First Look: April 23

Publications 2006 University of Chicago Press Manufacturing Morals: The Values of Silence in Business School Education By: Anteby, Michel Abstract—Corporate accountability is never far from the front page, and Harvard Business School... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

11 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

The High Risks of Short-Term Management

developed a long-term-oriented approach through formal (e.g., incentive systems) or informal institutions (e.g., building the corporate culture over time and employee selection). The finding that more long-term-oriented firms have lower... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services

09 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

When Benchmarks Don’t Work

indicate a range of expenses, typically measured by the cost of the support department as a percentage of total revenue or the number of full-time-equivalent (FTE) employees per billion dollars of revenue. Hackett presents summary... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan; Service

11 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

Why Budgeting Kills Your Company

clear line of sight for identifying and challenging the least valuable resources," Baxter continues. All too often, the CEO must opt for across-the-board cuts—even though he knows that this approach penalizes the high-performing... View Details

Keywords: by Loren Gary

22 Mar 2013
Research & Ideas

Pulling Campbell’s Out of the Soup

Douglas Conant is an introvert. But when he took over as president and CEO of struggling Campbell Soup Co., he realized he had to break out of his comfort zone, get in front of his staff, and make some bold declarations from the get-go.... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage

08 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

Book Excerpt: A Sense of Urgency

worse, not better. Big Mistake Number 2: Going over the line with a strategy that creates an angry backlash because people feel manipulated. No one wants to feel manipulated. If people sense that someone has created a crisis that... View Details

Keywords: by John P. Kotter

17 Jan 2011
Research & Ideas

Being the Boss

lines of authority. Many employees may be confused by what seem to them conflicting demands and expectations. Also, in virtual teams with members spread far apart, distance diminishes the ability of formal... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

06 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

Four Strategies for Making Concessions

that a concession was, in fact, made. For example, the manufacturer could have explained the effect of a 3 percent wage increase on his firm's bottom line or discussed how difficult it would be for him to justify it to his board of... View Details

Keywords: by Deepak Malhotra

20 Apr 2021
Book

A Simple Question That Can Guide Companies to Epic Success

but it's not going to create the kind of value that ultimately gets translated into financial success. Kost: In the first line of your book, you say that strategy is simple. Why is that such a provocative statement? Oberholzer-Gee:... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

31 Aug 2020
What Do You Think?

Why Don’t More Organizations Understand the Power of Diversity and Inclusion?

few at the top who have already made it. Transformation has to take place on the front lines and the middle levels as well. This takes effort and time, perhaps more than many organizations are willing to... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

10 May 2010
Research & Ideas

What Top Scholars Say About Leadership

Works on the subject of leadership weigh down bookstore shelves the world over. Tomes tell you how to be a 30-second manager, how to inspire your employees like Churchill, and the three keys to "strength-based leadership."... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Education

14 Apr 2022
Op-Ed

Let’s Move Forward from COVID—Without Forgetting What We’ve Learned

burned out. The virtual meeting that runs back-to-back has shed light on the need for mini-breaks and recovery time. The result of the remote work environment, in some industries, is that leaders believe that employees are accessible... View Details

Keywords: by Hise O. Gibson and MaShon Wilson

18 Dec 2017
Op-Ed

Why Employers Must Stop Requiring College Degrees For Middle-Skill Jobs

Credit: Pixsooz American companies have a problem. Over the past decade, they have begun to demand a bachelor’s degree in hiring workers for jobs that traditionally haven’t required one. This uptick in credentialing, or “degree inflation,” rested on the belief that... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph Fuller

Publications