Publications

Research Summary

Communication (and Coordination?) in a Modern, Complex Organization

This is a descriptive study of the structure of communications in a modern organization. We analyze a dataset with millions of electronic mail messages, calendar meetings and teleconferences for many thousands of employees of a single, multidivisional firm during a... View Details

September 1999
Background Note

Revolution in the Communications Switching Industry

By: Jay O. Light, Lynda M. Applegate and Daniel J. Green

As data packet switches threatened the voice circuit switch industry in 1999, major switch and router vendors began paying high premiums to acquire venture-backed switch companies. This note explains what a switch is and suggests why large vendors might be so anxious... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Restructuring; Capital; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Communications Industry; Communications Industry

01 Aug 1970
Conference Presentation

Communes of the Past and Present

By: R. M. Kanter

Keywords: Civil Society or Community

February 2021
Case

Threadless: The Renewal of an Online Community

By: Shane Greenstein, Karim Lakhani and Christian Godwin

Threadless, an online apparel company and artist community which Jake Nickell founded in 2000, continued to maintain its status as a top company in the online apparel industry during its second decade. From 2010 to 2020, Threadless continued to operate its... View Details

December 2001 (Revised June 2002)
Case

Compensation at Level 3 Communications

Level 3's unique compensation plan rewarded managers for the firm's performance only if the firm's stock price movement exceeded that of the market. This design was intended to maximize shareholder value by tying manager's performance more closely to that of the firm,... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Compensation and Benefits; Telecommunications Industry

August 1981
Background Note

Overview of Data Communications Technology

By: James I. Cash Jr.

Keywords: Information Technology

May 1998 (Revised August 2001)
Teaching Note

Timberland and Community Involvement TN

By: James E. Austin

Teaching Note for (9-796-156). View Details

Keywords: Apparel and Accessories Industry

March 1976
Teaching Note

King Community Hospital, Teaching Note

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

07 Jan 2013
Video

Harvard i-lab | 2012 Local Partners and Community Programs

29 Nov 2018
Blog Post

The HBS Community - Student Initiatives

helped teach us about the world around us. This year, the HBS Student Association started two initiatives, Eat & Engage and Community MyTakes, to help us get to know our HBS community even better,... View Details

March 1987
Background Note

Introduction to Computer and Communications Technology

By: James I. Cash Jr.

Keywords: Communication Technology; Hardware

April 2011 (Revised July 2014)
Case

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.: Driving Change Through Internal Communication

By: Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind

Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL), confronted in 2003 with an urgent need to change how it operated externally, adopted a highly innovative approach to communicating internally. This case, set in 2010, presents an overview of the new, more interactive model of employee... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Interpersonal Communication; Employee Relationship Management; Innovation and Management; Leading Change; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Corporate Strategy; India

Article

Choosing Between Lotteries: Remarkable Coordination Without Communication

By: Yoella Bereby-Meyer, Simone Moran, Brit Grosskopf and Dolly Chugh

The current research examines tacit coordination behavior in a lottery selection task. Two hundred participants in each of three experiments and 100 in a fourth choose to participate in one of two lotteries, where one lottery has a larger prize than the other.... View Details

Keywords: Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development; Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development; Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development; Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development; Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development

30 Aug 2019
News

Allocating capital to microentrepreneurs through community surveys in India

15 Aug 2012
News

Shaping a Business and a Community

December 2019
Article

Communicating with Warmth in Distributive Negotiations Is Surprisingly Counterproductive

By: M. Jeong, J. Minson, M. Yeomans and F. Gino

When entering into a negotiation, individuals have the choice to enact a variety of communication styles. We test the differential impact of being “warm and friendly” versus “tough and firm” in a distributive negotiation, when first offers are held constant and... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Style; Communication Strategy; Perception; Performance Effectiveness; Outcome or Result