Publications

04 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

Is Government Just Stupid? How Bad Decisions Are Made

The main goal of any government should be, the authors maintain, to enlarge the pie of resources that society has available to distribute. This is done by identifying wise tradeoffs for society as a whole. But it's not just politicians... View Details

Keywords: by Max H. Bazerman, Jonathan Baron & Katherine Shonk

17 Apr 2022
Book

How to Avoid the 'Ethical Slide' That Leads Companies Astray

Company managers have likely heard the old quip: Business ethics is a contradiction in terms. That’s because too often, business is viewed as a hard-hearted enterprise, driven by getting ahead at all costs, even if that means cutting... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

31 Oct 2023
Research & Ideas

Beyond the 'Business Case' in DEI: 6 Steps Toward Meaningful Change

managers exposed to the business case were less inclined to promote a Black candidate than those who weren’t exposed to this messaging. Superficial efforts don’t stick, even if they generate early results Standing up an effective... View Details

Keywords: by Katherine Hutt Scott and Barbara DeLollis

December 2000 (Revised January 2002)
Background Note

Incentives and Controllability: A Note and Exercise

By: Brian J. Hall

Describes three performance measures for "plants" or businesses: cost centers, revenue centers, and profit centers. Discusses what should be done if a function outside of the "controllability" of the manager affects the performance measure and therefore compensation. View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Cost; Profit; Revenue; Compensation and Benefits; Managerial Roles; Performance Evaluation; Motivation and Incentives

November–December 2024
Article

Why Employees Quit

By: Ethan Bernstein, Michael B. Horn and Bob Moesta

The so-called war for talent is still raging. But in that fight, employers continue to rely on the same hiring and retention strategies they’ve been using for decades. Why? Because they’ve been so focused on challenges such as poaching by industry rivals, competing in... View Details

Keywords: Retention; Recruitment; Talent and Talent Management; Employee Relationship Management; Motivation and Incentives

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30 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 31, 2006

poor financial markets, b) increases in the share of FDI or the relative productivity of the foreign firm leads to higher additional growth in financially developed economies compared to those observed in financially under-developed ones, and c) other local conditions... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2021
Working Paper

Multi-location Workers in Multinational Firms? Tradeoffs in Contextual Specialization of Employees and Organizational Outcomes

By: Hise O. Gibson, Ryan W. Buell and Prithwiraj Choudhury

We study how “contextual specialization,” the act of focusing workers’ organizational tasks within a particular locational context, and “contextual non-specialization,” the practice of diversifying workers’ organizational tasks among multiple locational contexts,... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Performance; Experience and Expertise; Selection and Staffing; Strength and Weakness; Personal Development and Career

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Web

Research Services - Faculty & Research

problems. Some specific research services available to HBS faculty include: Computing resources HBS provides an expansive computing infrastructure for research, as well as the guidance and expertise of programmers, statisticians, database... View Details

January 1992 (Revised April 1993)
Case

FBO, Inc.

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

FBO, Inc. is a fixed-base operator at a large metropolitan airport. The general manager must decide if the current pooling format is the appropriate way to staff the commercial refueling operations. If pooling is deemed inappropriate then the implementation of a... View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Labor Unions; Operations; Labor and Management Relations; Aerospace Industry

Web

HBS - The year in Review

experienced colleagues. Assistant Professors Anjali M. Bhatt Organizational Behavior Julian De Freitas Marketing Summer R. Jackson Organizational Behavior Jung Koo Kang Accounting & Management Rebecca A. Karp Strategy Shirley Lu... View Details

June 2010 (Revised November 2011)
Case

Zensar: The Future of Vision Communities (A)

By: David A. Garvin and Rachna Tahilyani

Zensar is a rapidly growing, mid-sized Indian IT services company with a collaborative management philosophy and innovative HR policies. One of its practices, Vision Communities, is an inclusive forum for innovation and strategy formulation. As the company grows,... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Leadership Style; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Cooperation; Information Technology Industry; India

14 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 14

Transparency Trap By: Bernstein, Ethan Abstract—To get people to be more creative and productive, managers increase transparency with open workspaces and access to real-time data. But less transparent work environments can yield... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 Mar 2002
Research & Ideas

Don’t Lose Money With Customers

maintaining underperforming customer relationships. This research addresses the final phase of the process—comparing the resources invested in managing customer relationships with the results they generate,... View Details

Keywords: by Peter K. Jacobs

08 Sep 2014
Research & Ideas

The Strategic Way To Hire a Sales Team

management," says Cespedes, a senior lecturer in the Entrepreneurial Management unit at Harvard Business School. "But far fewer confront a basic fact: Companies typically spend much more money and hire many more people,... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

09 Jun 2022
HBS Case

From Truck Driver to Manager: US Foods’ Novel Approach to Staff Shortages

workers to select and manage products in its warehouses. By the middle of 2021, US Foods, which employs about 26,000 workers, had 1,000 unfilled driving and warehouse positions. "You’re saying you might be a truck driver for a while, but... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

2007
Case

Continuous Process Improvement at Deere & Company

By: Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble

After decades of tense relationships with the United Auto Workers, Deere & Company broke through with a landmark agreement that built an expectation of continuous improvement into the compensation plan. The company then built a set of management forums and processes to... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Machinery and Machining; Agreements and Arrangements; Management Practices and Processes; Labor Unions; Compensation and Benefits; Auto Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry