Publications

September 2016
Case

Designing Performance Metrics at GoDaddy

By: C. Fritz Foley and Michael Lemm

Scott Wagner has recently joined GoDaddy, a leading provider of cloud-based software and services that helped individuals and small businesses establish a web presence, in the dual role of chief operating officer and chief financial officer. One of his first tasks is... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Management Practices and Processes; Performance Evaluation; Compensation and Benefits; Web Services Industry

December 2003 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Circon (A) (Abridged)

By: Brian J. Hall, Christopher Rose and Guhan Subramanian

In 1996, U.S. Surgical launched a hostile takeover bid against Circon Corp. CEO Richard Auhll recruited an old HBS friend, George Cloutier, to the Circon board to help him defend the company. Circon's primary defenses include a "poison pill" and a staggered board and... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Trust; Relationships; Acquisition; Business and Shareholder Relations; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States

January 2002 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Massachusetts Financial Services

By: Brian J. Hall and Jonathan Lim

This case describes the compensation and performance evaluations at an investment management company. The senior management team of Massachusetts Financial Services (MFS) Investment Management was contemplating an introduction of hedge funds at the firm, but many... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Organizational Culture; Performance Evaluation; Management Teams; Compensation and Benefits; Financial Services Industry; Massachusetts

March 2020 (Revised June 2020)
Case

Social Salary Setting at Spiber

By: Ashley Whillans and John Beshears

Can a “set your own salary” system boost employee happiness and motivation? Spiber made synthetic silk built from proteins mimicking the proteins found in spider silk, the world’s toughest known material by weight. Kazuhide Sekiyama and Junichi Sugahara established... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Happiness; Negotiation Tactics; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Biotechnology Industry; Japan; United States

January 1975 (Revised September 1982)
Case

First Federal Savings (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch

Raises questions about basing a reward system on profit and changing MBO indicators through time. View Details

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

January 2011 (Revised December 2017)
Case

Tombstones

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and David Lane

This case consists primarily of excerpts from term sheets and prospectuses for six securities offerings made by US companies during 2009-2010, just after the financial crisis and recession of 2008-09. There are three issues of senior unsecured notes, one floating rate... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Equity; Debt Securities; Bonds; Motivation and Incentives; United States

06 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

How Small Wins Unleash Creativity

All good managers understand the importance of making sure that every member of a team feels personally motivated and necessary throughout the workday, lest their work should stagnate View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

Article

Enfranchisement of Service Workers

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and James Heskett

Enfranchisement is achieved through an integration of empowerment with methods of pay for performance. Evidence from Ito Yokado Group in Japan and Nordstrom in the US demonstrates the positive effects of enfranchisement. Successful efforts to enfranchise employees: 1.... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Franchise Ownership; Employees; Compensation and Benefits; Service Industry; Japan; United States

February 7, 2013
Other Article

Is Doing Good ‘Good Enough’?: Unleashing the Power of Self-Interest in Philanthropy

By: Josh Baron

To take advantage of the unprecedented opportunities for philanthropy to make a difference in society, we have to encourage people to think more consciously and creatively about: "What's in this for me?" View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

02 Nov 2016
What Do You Think?

Are Employees Becoming Job 'Renters' Instead of 'Owners'?

ownership. Tema Frank suggested that “If you want employees to behave like owners, they need to be allowed to express opinions and have them taken seriously.” LuAnne suggested that, “If you want an ownership culture, invest in career... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

March 2025
Case

Sarojini Naidu: Courage of the Nightingale

By: Ranjay Gulati, Malini Sen and Anjali Raina

Indian poet and freedom fighter and mother of four, Sarojini (Chattopadhyay) Naidu, could not hold back. As the protestors marched ahead without retaliating against the police’s blows, she stepped forward to join them. A British officer approached Naidu and touched her... View Details

Keywords: Gender; Leadership; Personal Development and Career; Motivation and Incentives; Power and Influence; India; Asia

July – August 2008
Article

Buy-Side vs. Sell-Side Analysts' Earnings Forecasts

By: Boris Groysberg, Paul M. Healy and Craig James Chapman

We compare the earnings forecast performance of analysts at a large buy-side firm to that of sell-side analysts. Our tests show that the buy-side firm analysts make more optimistic and less accurate forecasts than their counterparts on the sell-side. These performance... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Business Earnings; Forecasting and Prediction; Performance Effectiveness

Find at Harvard

March 2025
Article

Boomerasking: Answering Your Own Questions

By: Alison Wood Brooks and Michael Yeomans

Humans spend much of their lives in conversation, where they tend to hold many simultaneous motives. We examine two fundamental desires: to be responsive to a partner and to disclose about oneself. We introduce one pervasive way people attempt to reconcile these... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Motivation and Incentives; Perception; Behavior

31 Oct 2004
Research & Ideas

The New CEO’s Wrong Message

the description? So are CEOs who are new to the role. Just when an executive feels he has reached the pinnacle of his career, capturing the coveted goal for which he has so long been striving, he begins to realize that the CEO's job is different View Details

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter, Jay W. Lorsch & Nitin Nohria

29 Mar 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Risky Trust: How Multi-entity Teams Develop Trust in a High Risk Endeavor

Keywords: by Faaiza Rashid & Amy C. Edmondson

02 Jun 2008
Research & Ideas

Spending on Happiness

Can money buy you happiness? Yes—so long as you spend the money on someone else. According to new research, giving other people even as little as $5 can lead to increased well-being for the giver. That's the insight into the secret of happiness by HBS professor Michael... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

05 Jun 2014
Research & Ideas

Fixing the ‘I Hate Work’ Blues

with first-line employees every day will have a much better sense of how their businesses are running, and their presence will be highly motivating and even inspiring. As a... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

August 2002 (Revised February 2005)
Case

Gillette Company (B): Leadership for Change

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and James Weber

Describes the actions and behavior of a new CEO in his first days and weeks as he sets expectations for his top management team and introduces processes and disciplines to begin the turnaround of a global consumer products company. View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Policy; Change Management; Leading Change; Motivation and Incentives; Strategic Planning; Retail Industry