Publications

11 Oct 2022
News

On Balance

small, 35-person Workplace Gender Equality Agency not only as a resource for business, but also as an advocate for societal change. Its current initiatives include a toolkit for companies that want to perform a gender-pay-gap audit and a... View Details

Keywords: April White

29 Jan 2019
Blog Post

Being a Mom and a Founder at HBS

focus on while pursuing my MBA. I now know from personal experience how similar being a mother and an entrepreneur can be. It Takes a Village – Resources for Moms at HBS Managing a household with kids, having a spouse that works... View Details

24 Sep 2014
Op-Ed

Stop Thinking of Climate Change as a Religious or Political Issue

or computers—wisely. We don't currently have anything resembling property rights for the ability of the atmosphere to absorb our carbon dioxide. But we should. If we priced that resource we would use it more sensibly. We've been through... View Details

Keywords: by Forest Reinhardt; Energy; Utilities

20 Mar 2000
Research & Ideas

No Place Like Home: America’s Housing Crisis and Its Impact on Business

it has with education and health care, using its influence, creativity, and resources to help address the issue. Decent, affordable, and stable housing is a basic human necessity; it is also a prerequisite... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons; Construction; Real Estate

November 1995 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Acme Investment Trust

By: Josh Lerner

Acme Investment Trust is considering investing in a private equity partnership that is seeking only 15% of the profits, instead of the standard 20%. The management fee requested, however, is higher than in its earlier fund. The pension managers must consider the... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Private Equity; Organizations; Investment Funds; Motivation and Incentives; Financial Services Industry

March 2022 (Revised October 2022)
Case

Transforming Kimball International, Inc. (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

Kimball International, Inc. (KII), led by CEO Kristie Juster, and its board of directors, chaired by Kim Ryan, faced critical questions about KII’s future in the spring of 2021. Two years earlier, the board had appointed Juster as the new CEO of KII, a publicly traded,... View Details

February 2022 (Revised January 2023)
Case

Creating and Measuring Purpose at Viega

By: Ethan Rouen, Suraj Srinivasan and James Barnett

At its headquarters in Attendorn, Germany, Viega’s chairwoman Anna Viegener gathered the company’s leadership team to discuss their progress on formalizing purpose-driven leadership as a strategic driver within the organization. Viega manufactured and distributed... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Employee Relationship Management; Leadership; Mission and Purpose; Expansion; Measurement and Metrics; Germany

March 2018
Article

Enacting Knowledge Strategy Through Social Media: Passable Trust and the Paradox of Non-work Interactions

By: Tsedal Neeley and Paul Leonardi

Despite the recognition that knowledge sharing among employees is necessary to enact knowledge strategy, little is known about how to enable such sharing. Recent research suggests that social media may promote knowledge sharing because they allow social lubrication and... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Sharing; Strategy; Social and Collaborative Networks; Employees; Interactive Communication; Trust

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April 2012
Case

Pret A Manger

By: Frances X. Frei, Rick Goldberg and Stephanie van Sice

Pret A Manger, a London-based chain of sandwich shops, was known for its fast, genuine service and pre-packaged sandwiches prepared on-site daily. Instructed by its board to grow at 15 percent per year, Pret considered opening "twin" shops in locations too small to... View Details

Keywords: Customer Service Excellence; Growth Planning And Management; Employee Performance Management; Information Management; Production Planning; Employee Attitude Development And Empowerment; Employee Retention; Leadership Development And Career Planning; Service Delivery; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Employees; Performance; London

2010
Working Paper

Do Bonuses Enhance Sales Productivity? A Dynamic Structural Analysis of Bonus-Based Compensation Plans

By: Doug J. Chung, Thomas J. Steenburgh and K. Sudhir

We estimate a dynamic structural model of sales force response to a bonus based compensation plan. The paper has two main methodological innovations: First, we implement empirically the method proposed by Arcidiacono and Miller (2010) to accommodate unobserved latent... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Performance Productivity; Mathematical Methods; Salesforce Management; Motivation and Incentives

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January 2006 (Revised October 2009)
Case

Negotiating Star Compensation at the USAWBL (A-1): Confidential Instructions for Jesse J.

By: Ian Larkin, James K. Sebenius and Guhan Subramanian

In this three-party negotiation exercise, Jesse J, star center in the U.S.A. Women's Basketball League, with her agent, is negotiating a possible compensation package with the Boston Sharks involving a base salary, a possible share of team merchandising profits, and a... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Contracts; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Tactics; Conflict and Resolution; Sports; Sports Industry; United States

November 1995
Case

Transformation of Pratt & Whitney North Haven (C)

By: H. Kent Bowen, Linda A. Hill, Andrew P. Burtis, Sylvie Ryckebusch and John Schiavone

As part of the Pratt & Whitney North Haven restructuring effort, Ed Northern and his business unit managers are encouraging workers to make decisions and take an active role in improving the manufacturing process at North Haven. Business Unit Manager Tom Hutton has... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Decisions; Capital; Human Resources; Agreements and Arrangements; Production; Problems and Challenges

August 1991 (Revised February 1992)
Case

Gain Sharing at Star Cablevision Group

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Sarah Ann Greene

Describes Star's experiment with gain sharing over a three-year period. Background on the industry and company's history are provided to establish the context for the shift to pay-for-performance. Describes the three different gain sharing programs, the resulting... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Service Delivery; Performance Productivity; Television Entertainment; Compensation and Benefits; Media and Broadcasting Industry

12 Feb 2025
Blog Post

How risk can be the key to a sustainable future with Sophie Levin (MS/MBA: Engineering Sciences 2022)

human health. During school, I co-founded a pet food company to purchase cell-cultured meat and convert it into premium dog food. Classes on entrepreneurship, the Rock Center, and the alumni network provided invaluable View Details

August 2011
Teaching Note

Before the Fall: Lehman Brothers 2008 (TN)

By: Clayton Rose and Sally Canter Ganzfried

Teaching Note for 309-093. View Details

Keywords: Resignation and Termination; Problems and Challenges; Management; Change; Performance; Rank and Position; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Investment Funds; Capital Structure; Service Industry

July 2010 (Revised February 2011)
Supplement

Eden McCallum: A Network-Based Consulting Firm (B)

By: Heidi K. Gardner and Erin McFee

To weather the 2009 financial crisis, Eden McCallum's cofounders must renegotiate partners' compensation, attract independent consultants to meet different client demands, and reassure their Advisory Board that their network-based consulting model remains sound. The... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Crisis; Entrepreneurship; Governing and Advisory Boards; Compensation and Benefits; Partners and Partnerships; Consulting Industry

January 2003 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Cat is out of the Bag, The: KANA and the Layoff Gone Awry (A)

By: Leslie A. Perlow and David Ager

Vicki Amon-Higa, vice president of KANA, a publicly traded, midsize development company, was working with Bryan Kettle, KANA's CFO, to plan a layoff in which KANA would reduce the size of its workforce by nearly 40%. Despite the best of intentions, news of the layoff... View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Employees; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Problems and Challenges; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Conflict Management