Publications

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June 2020 (Revised May 2022)
Case

Vanguard Retail Operations (A)

By: Willy C. Shih and Antonio Moreno

The first two cases in this series are set in the financial services industry, and explore whether it is better for back-office workers to be generalists who provide the flexibility of being able to handle the complete range of transactions that the company faces or... View Details

Keywords: Pooling; Generalist Model; Specialist Model; Operations; Service Operations; Management; Job Design and Levels; Financial Services Industry; United States

December 2017 (Revised March 2018)
Case

Kellogg Company/eighteen94 capital

By: David Bell, Damien McLoughlin and Natalie Kindred

With 33,000 employees and revenues of $13 billion in 2016, Kellogg Company was the world’s largest producer of branded packaged cereal and a leader in branded convenience foods. Founded in 1906 and based in Michigan, the company had a proud history of product and... View Details

Article

What's Your Language Strategy?: It Should Bind Your Company's Global Talent Management and Vision

By: Tsedal Neeley and Robert Steven Kaplan

Language pervades every aspect of organizational life. Yet leaders of global organizations—where unrestricted multilingualism can create friction—often pay too little attention to it in their approach to talent management. By managing language carefully, firms can hire... View Details

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December 2001 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Netherlands:The, A "Third Way?"

By: Bruce R. Scott and Jamie Matthews

The economic success of The Netherlands in the 1960s can be attributed to Dutch wages that were kept substantially below those in neighboring countries. But increased pressures in the 1970s led to a wage explosion, which in turn pushed unemployment and disguised... View Details

Keywords: Wages; History; Policy; Problems and Challenges; Macroeconomics; Economic Systems; Employment; Performance Productivity; Jobs and Positions; Economic Growth; Netherlands

16 Jun 2020
Research & Ideas

Your Customers Have Changed. Here's How to Engage Them Again.

end-customers. Finally, Dettol created the #HandWashChallenge to encourage proper washing techniques while using its product, garnering over 20 billion views on TikTok. Firms that connect emotionally with their external and internal customers and emotionally and... View Details

Keywords: by Rohit Deshpandé, Ofer Mintz, and Imran S. Currim; Retail; Service

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

December 2021
Case

Burning Glass Technologies: From Data to Product

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Amy Klopfenstein

In May 2021, Matt Sigelman, CEO of Burning Glass Technologies, a company that provided labor market analytics for a variety of markets, navigates his company’s transition from data company to product company. Burning Glass originated as a service that used artificial... View Details

Web

Global Opportunity Fellowship GO: AFRICA - Alumni

Assistance Program , HBS Loan Reduction for Private Sector Employees Program , HBS Rock Center Loan Reduction for Entrepreneurs Program , and the HBS Search Fund Fellowship . Demand for the program (i.e., the size of the applicant pool... View Details

03 Jun 2013
Research & Ideas

The Power of Rituals in Life, Death, and Business

Norton says. "With consumption, rituals seem to work because they increase your involvement in the experience." Employee Morale And Productivity Later this year, the researchers plan to study how rituals affect productivity and... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

26 Jan 2015
Research & Ideas

National Health Costs Could Decrease if Managers Reduce Work Stress

for their workers, in some cases dropping health coverage or raising premiums on employees in order to combat escalating costs. On the other hand, companies are implementing health programs in an effort to keep workers healthy—and... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health

26 Jul 2016
First Look

July 26, 2016

Decision Processes Managing Perceptions of Distress at Work: Reframing Emotion as Passion By: Wolf, Elizabeth Baily, Jooa Julia Lee, Sunita Sah, and Alison Wood Brooks Abstract—Expressing distress at work can have negative consequences for employees: observers perceive... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Jun 2011
HBS Case

KFC’s Explosive Growth in China

says. "They'd be walking down the hall jostling, pushing, laughing. This is a group that has worked together a long time—unusual in a country where experienced management talent is at a premium ." It turns out that unusual View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Food & Beverage

22 Apr 2022
Research & Ideas

Companies Can Expand Their Talent Pool by Giving Ex-Convicts a Second Chance

Employers looking to fill critical job vacancies may want to turn to a largely untapped pool of willing workers: people with criminal records. Employers are often wary of hiring workers with past convictions, leading to double-digit unemployment rates for formerly... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

01 Aug 2022
What Do You Think?

Does Religious Belief Affect Organizational Performance?

several measures of religious belief and practice, outperformed competitors located elsewhere. These firms make “greater social contributions, provide greater employee protection, and have higher entertainment expenses, more patents, and... View Details

Keywords: Re: James L. Heskett

12 Dec 2005
Research & Ideas

Using the Law to Strategic Advantage

in-house training on those issues of particular sensitivity in their industry. Exhorting employees to be ethical is not enough. As one manager convicted of price-fixing put it: "I thought I had morals. I still think I do. I didn't... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Legal Services

October 1986 (Revised July 2010)
Case

Karen Leary (A)

By: Linda A. Hill

Describes the evolution of the working relationship of Karen Leary, a new manager of a Merrill Lynch retail branch, and Ted Chung, a new financial consultant in the branch. Leary has some concerns about her working relationship with Chung and with his performance.... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Employee Relationship Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Personal Development and Career; Performance Evaluation; Diversity; Financial Services Industry