Performance - Publications - Faculty & Research

2012
Article

Specialization and Variety in Repetitive Tasks: Evidence from a Japanese Bank

By: B. Staats and F. Gino

Sustaining operational productivity in the completion of repetitive tasks is critical to many organizations' success. Yet research points to two different work-design-related strategies for accomplishing this goal: specialization to capture the benefits of repetition... View Details

Keywords: Motivation; Productivity; Specialization; Variety; Work Fragmentation; Boundaries; Performance Productivity; Organizations; Research; Strategy; Motivation and Incentives; Opportunities; Market Transactions; Resource Allocation; Performance; Goals and Objectives; Learning

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09 Nov 2021
Research & Ideas

The Simple Secret of Effective Mentoring Programs

companies would be better off making mentoring mandatory for all new workers since that would yield much higher productivity and performance gains, the researchers say. "You have to make the program apply to everyone, not just those who... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

18 Mar 2024
Research & Ideas

When It Comes to Climate Regulation, Energy Companies Take a More Nuanced View

Common wisdom holds that oil and gas companies, electric utilities, and other industries known for their large carbon emissions generally oppose clean energy policies. Now, a study of corporate advocacy spanning 30 years reveals that many companies are more flexible... View Details

Keywords: by Desmond Dodd; Energy; Utilities

2012
Working Paper

When Supply-Chain Disruptions Matter

By: William Schmidt and Ananth Raman

Supply-chain disruptions have a material effect on company value, but this impact can vary considerably. Thus, it is important for managers and investors to recognize the types of disruptions and the organizational factors that lead to the worst outcomes. Prior... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain; Operations; Performance Efficiency

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Organize Care Around Medical Conditions - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

the most serious of cases. Outcomes of care should be reviewed on a regular basis with transparent information about team performance and individual performance in multidimensional outcomes. Lastly,... View Details

Web

Entrepreneurship - Faculty & Research

understand? Keywords: Entrepreneurship ; Climate Change ; Environmental Sustainability ; Technological Innovation ; Market Entry and Exit ; Performance Efficiency ; Business Strategy ; Florida Citation Educators Purchase Related Kanter,... View Details

January–February 2013
Article

Fairness, Efficiency and Flexibility in Organ Allocation for Kidney Transplantation

By: Dimitris Bertsimas, Vivek F. Farias and Nikolaos Trichakis

We propose a scalable, data-driven method for designing national policies for the allocation of deceased donor kidneys to patients on a waiting list, in a fair and efficient way. We focus on policies that have the same form as the one currently used in the United... View Details

Keywords: Health Care Policy; Healthcare; Fairness; Resource Allocation; Policy; Health Care and Treatment; Medical Specialties; Health Industry; United States

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2025
Working Paper

Management and Firm Dynamism

By: Nicholas Bloom, Jonathan S. Hartley, Raffaella Sadun, Rachel Schuh and John Van Reenen

We show better-managed firms are more dynamic in plant acquisitions, disposals, openings and closings in U.S. Census and international data. Better-managed firms also birth better-managed plants, and improve the performance of the plants they acquire. To explain these... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices; Productivity; Management Practices and Processes; Mergers and Acquisitions; Competition; Business or Company Management; Performance Productivity

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31 Oct 2018
What Do You Think?

What is the Function of Fear in Leadership?

culture, won’t even scratch the surface of the performance problem.” As Jerry put it, “My experience with fear based management was that employees were reluctant to innovate because there was a risk that if anything went awry they would... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

TeachingInterests

Strategy Execution

By: Dennis Campbell

This course takes strategy as given and teaches what students need to know to execute and win in highly competitive markets. Using fundamental building blocks based on accountability systems and structures, this course is divided into seven modules:

1.... View Details

September 2011 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Building Watson: Not So Elementary, My Dear!

By: Willy Shih

This case is set inside IBM Research's efforts to build a computer that can successfully take on human challengers playing the game show Jeopardy! It opens with the machine named Watson offering the incorrect answer "Toronto" to a seemingly simple question during the... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Standards; Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mathematical Methods; Research and Development; Information Technology

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27 Nov 2006
Research & Ideas

Manly Men, Oil Platforms, and Breaking Stereotypes

company's level of productivity (number of barrels), efficiency (cost per barrel), and reliability (production "up" time) came to exceed the industry's previous benchmark. Two of the company's newer platforms had been designed from the start to reflect the... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Energy; Utilities

2012
Book

Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate, and Compete in the Knowledge Economy

By: Amy C. Edmondson

Continuous improvement, understanding complex systems, and promoting innovation are all part of the landscape of learning challenges today's companies face. I show that organizations thrive, or fail to thrive, based on how well the small groups within those... View Details

Keywords: Change; Interpersonal Communication; Learning; Values and Beliefs; Innovation and Invention; Management; Performance Improvement; Groups and Teams; Research; Strategy; Complexity; Value

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07 Mar 2023
HBS Case

ChatGPT: Did Big Tech Set Up the World for an AI Bias Disaster?

Her Gender Shades project with Joy Buolamwini found that facial recognition services offered by IBM, Microsoft, and other companies misidentified Black women as much as 35 percent of the time while performing nearly perfectly with white... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis; Technology

March 1987 (Revised October 1993)
Case

Au Bon Pain: The French Bakery Cafe, The Partner/Manager Program

By: W. Earl Sasser

In recent years, Au Bon Pain (ABP), a chain of upscale French bakeries/sandwich cafes based in Boston, confronted a set of human resource problems endemic to the fast food industry (i.e., a labor shortage which made it difficult to attract and maintain quality crew... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Managerial Roles; Retention; Employees; Performance Improvement; Recruitment; Problems and Challenges; Compensation and Benefits; Food and Beverage Industry; Service Industry; Boston

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18 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

What Your Non-Binary Employees Need to Do Their Best Work

researchers asked survey respondents a wide range of questions related to their beliefs and preferences. They found that overall, non-binary individuals: Underestimated their own performance more than women, who also underestimate their... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Web

2023 Reunion Presentations - Alumni

in buying and selling, why understanding the difference matters, and the implications for areas such as sales hiring, training, pricing, use of new tools, and performance management. Slides How to Make Hybrid Work Work Associate Professor... View Details

09 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

Uncompromising Leadership in Tough Times

that avoids liquidation of human and cultural assets." The book looks broadly at what it takes to build a high commitment, high performance (HCHP) system inside companies. It asks and answers questions such as: What outcomes must... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

24 Apr 2017
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Courage: The Defining Characteristic of Great Leaders

team to deliver strong near-term performance while continuing to invest in her transformation strategy. Nooyi’s arch-rival, Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent, decided instead to concentrate on sugar-based soft drinks while ignoring these obvious... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Auto; Food & Beverage

August 2007 (Revised June 2020)
Case

Trouble with a Bubble

By: Tom Nicholas

Examines technology, firm performance, and the stock market during the 1929 Great Crash and the Great Depression of the 1930s. The 1920s was an extraordinary period of technological progress marked by a strong run-up in stock market prices. Firms invested heavily in... View Details