Publications

May 2018
Article

The Downside of Downtime: The Prevalence and Work Pacing Consequences of Idle Time at Work

By: Andrew Brodsky and Teresa M. Amabile

Although both media commentary and academic research have focused much attention on the dilemma of employees being too busy, this paper presents evidence of the opposite phenomenon, in which employees do not have enough work to fill their time and are left with hours... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Working Conditions; Performance Consistency; Performance Productivity

Find at Harvard

Read Now

March 2012
Article

Perspectives on the Social Psychology of Creativity

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Julianna Pillemer

Scholars began serious study into the social psychology of creativity about 25 years after the field of creativity research had taken root. Over the past 35 years, examination of social and environmental influences on creativity has become increasingly vigorous, with... View Details

Keywords: Social Psychology; Creativity; Performance

November 2007 (Revised May 2008)
Case

Creativity under the Gun at Litmus Corporation

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Yana Litovsky

Teaches students to diagnose the circumstances under which time pressure can facilitate or hinder creativity. A team's creative "genius", Miles Grady, who previously conceptualized a revolutionary material for an important new product, must now significantly change... View Details

Keywords: Situation or Environment; Creativity; Innovation and Management; Problems and Challenges

December 2005 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Nest Fresh Eggs (A)

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Victoria Winston

Cyd Szymanski's cage-free egg business was threatened by large caged-hen companies that saw new profit potential in the industry she had helped build. Szymanski had based her company, Nest Fresh Eggs, on a strong personal belief that people deserved healthier... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives

January 2003 (Revised June 2007)
Case

Satera Team at Imatron Systems, Inc. The, (B)

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Elizabeth Schatzel

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

August 2000
Case

Alison Brown of Compass Records

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Amy Blitz

Highly acclaimed recording artist, banjo player, and jazz/blue grass composer Alison Brown has used her artistic experience and MBA-based business savvy to found a successful independent record company with bassist/husband Garry West. Representing a stellar roster of... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Industry Structures; Service Delivery; Business Strategy; Expansion; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Music Industry

August 1999 (Revised May 2000)
Case

E Ink

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Susan Archambault

E Ink is a high-technology start-up attempting to revolutionize print communication through electronic ink displays. The founders and top managers of this two-year-old firm are striving to translate a technological breakthrough into a working prototype, move from... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Industry Structures; Organizational Structure; Commercialization; Technology; Information Technology Industry

March 1999 (Revised February 2000)
Case

Ken Hakuta: AllHerb.com

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Nicole Tempest

Ken Hakuta had been an entrepreneur all his life. Having started a number of consumer-oriented ventures, he became well-known as "Dr. Fad," the initiator of the "Wacky Wallwalker" toy craze in the 1980s. Wishing to strike out in an exciting new direction in 1998, he... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Health; Information Publishing; Leadership Style; Problems and Challenges; Web Sites

Find at Harvard

March 1997 (Revised March 1997)
Case

Business Teams at Rubbermaid, Inc.

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Dean Whitney

Rubbermaid, a consumer-products company widely praised for its innovation, has instituted a company-wide experiment to stimulate innovation even further. The experiment consists of creating small cross-functional business teams within each division, with each team... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Innovation Strategy; Groups and Teams; Innovation and Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Consumer Products Industry; United States

01 Mar 1994
Conference Presentation

Environmental Determinants of Work Motivation, Creativity, and Innovation: The Case of R&D Downsizing

By: Teresa M. Amabile and R. Conti

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Creativity; Innovation and Invention; Research and Development

1 Apr 1980
Conference Presentation

Perceptions of Negative Evaluators: Unlikeable but Smart

By: Teresa M. Amabile and D. Schlesinger

Keywords: Social Psychology

1 Apr 1980
Conference Presentation

When Self-Descriptions Contradict Behavior: Do Actions Speak Louder than Words?

By: Teresa M. Amabile and L. Kabat

Keywords: Behavior; Identity

September 1998 (Revised May 1999)
Case

Arnold Communications

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Jeremiah Weinstock

The new owner and CEO of Arnold Advertising, a relatively small regional agency, aims to build it into Arnold Communications--a much larger, stronger firm competing successfully for national accounts. As part of this growth strategy, the agency develops a process for... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Creativity; Entrepreneurship; Advertising; Business Processes; Brands and Branding; Growth and Development Strategy; Advertising Industry

January 1997 (Revised June 1997)
Case

Corporate New Ventures at Procter & Gamble

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Dean Whitney

Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble is faced with an urgent need to revitalize new-product innovation, given its recent focus on incremental product improvements and its aggressive growth goals. As part of this effort, the company's top executives form a small,... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Strategy; Creativity; Working Conditions; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Groups and Teams; Retail Industry; Ohio

1 Apr 1995
Conference Presentation

Problem Solving Among Computer Science Students: : The Effects of Skill, Evaluation Expectation, and Personality on Solution Quality

By: R. Conti and Teresa M. Amabile

Keywords: Education; Problems and Challenges; Outcome or Result; Social Psychology; Quality

January 2014
Article

J. Richard Hackman (1940–2013)

By: Ruth Wageman and Teresa M. Amabile

When J. Richard Hackman died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on January 8, 2013, psychology lost a giant. Six and a half feet tall, with an outsize personality to match, Richard was the leading scholar in two distinct areas: work design and team effectiveness. In both... View Details

Keywords: Social Psychology; Organizational Design; Groups and Teams; Personal Development and Career; Education Industry; Cambridge

January 2012
Article

How Leaders Kill Meaning at Work

By: Teresa Amabile and Steven J. Kramer

Senior executives routinely undermine creativity, productivity, and commitment by damaging the inner work lives of their employees in four avoidable ways. This article is based on analysis of hundreds of work diaries from professionals describing everyday events that... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Creativity; Performance Productivity; Motivation and Incentives; Innovation Strategy; Performance; Strategic Planning; Leading Change; Balanced Scorecard; Mission and Purpose

Find at Harvard

Read Now

January 2004 (Revised July 2007)
Case

Lumen and Absorb Teams at Crutchfield Chemical Engineering, The

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Elizabeth Schatzel

Large discrepancies have developed between two elite technology development teams at Crutchfield Chemical Engineering in terms of motivation and creativity. To investigate, Paul Burke, director of corporate technology development, commissioned a study of the day-by-day... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Managerial Roles; Projects; Groups and Teams; Behavior; Creativity; Motivation and Incentives