Publications

December 2010
Article

The Hidden Advantages of Quiet Bosses

By: A. M. Grant, F. Gino and D. A. Hoffman

The article discusses research that identified situations where introverts are more apt to be effective leaders than extroverts. Although it is generally accepted that extroverts make the best leaders, the authors found that introverts can be better in unpredictable,... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Leadership; Management Style; Groups and Teams; Personal Characteristics

June 2008
Case

Professors Sven Larson and Kenneth Carpenter (A)

By: James L. Heskett and Tor Askild Aase Johannessen

Professor Kenneth Carpenter has received word that he has inadvertently offended one of his students. He is pondering a possible response. View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Higher Education; Learning; Teaching; Conflict and Resolution

November – December 2008
Article

Holding a Mirror up to Marketing

By: John A. Quelch and Katherine Jocz

The Dove campaign addressed a common concern that crossed cultural boundaries. Confronted by standard visual stereotypes of beauty in the global media, many young women develop self-image and self-esteem problems. The Dove Real Beauty campaign rejected these narrow... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Advertising Campaigns; Welfare; Diversity; Emotions; Government and Politics

2008
Working Paper

Learning Processes in Environmental Policy Making and Implementation

By: Alnoor Ebrahim

This paper explores how "learning" occurs in the context of environmental policy formulation and implementation. Rather than viewing policy learning as a rational and technocratic process, the emphasis here is on the political and institutional contexts within which... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Business and Government Relations; Natural Environment; Power and Influence; South Africa; Brazil

January 2002 (Revised April 2015)
Background Note

A Note on Maneuvering in War and Negotiation

By: Michael Wheeler and Gillian Morris

Military metaphors are commonplace in business writing about strategy, but they are rarely used in the negotiation literature. This case takes the Marine Corps philosophy of warfighting and compares it with the tactics and techniques of effective negotiators. Some of... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Tactics; Situation or Environment; Conflict and Resolution; War; Adaptation

April 1983
Supplement

Dansk Designs Ltd.: The Administration of Creativity, Video II

By: Hugo Uyterhoeven

Presents two divergent views on the administration of creativity. Jens Quistgaard, designer, discusses his feelings about Dansk's policy direction as it affects design creativity. Then Ted Nierenberg, president, discusses his type of management and some of the problems... View Details

Keywords: Management; Brands and Branding; Problems and Challenges; Creativity; Balance and Stability

August 2002
Article

Creativity Under the Gun

By: Teresa Amabile, Constance N. Hadley and Steven J. Kramer

If you're like most managers, you've worked with people who swear they do their most creative work under tight deadlines. You may use pressure as a management technique, believing it will spur people on to great leaps of insight. You may even manage yourself this way.... View Details

Keywords: Creativity; Innovation and Invention; Time Management; Working Conditions; Performance Evaluation

1995
Chapter

Overcoming Obstacles to a Successful Climate Convention

By: James K. Sebenius

Keywords: Negotiation; Conflict and Resolution; Climate Change; International Relations

22 Feb 2011
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Articles, Papers of the Decade

HBS Working Knowledge readers want it all, judging by our all-time most popular articles. Here you'll find stories on everything from maintaining a professional image to writing a business plan, from how to market on social media to why... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

September 2003 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Performance Pay for MGOA Physicians (A)

Examines the transition of an orthopedic surgical group at a premier teaching and research hospital from a system in which the surgeons are compensated with flat salaries to a system where they are compensated based on profitability. Allows for an examination of... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Motivation and Incentives; Nonprofit Organizations; Health Care and Treatment; Compensation and Benefits; Health Industry

1982
Article

Children's Artistic Creativity: Detrimental Effects of Competition in a Field Setting

By: T. M. Amabile

Girls whose ages ranged from 7 to 11 years made paper collages during 1 of 2 residential parties. Those in the experimental group were competing for prizes, whereas those in the control group expected that the prizes would be raffled off. Artist-judges later rated each... View Details

Keywords: Creativity; Early Childhood Education; Motivation and Incentives; Situation or Environment; Competition; Teaching

May 2019
Supplement

Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople with Incentive Compensation (D)

By: Doug J. Chung

Kjell & Company was a Swedish retail electronics chain. The company’s products consisted of home electronics and accessories. The company was noted for its excellent customer service and a fair “one-for-all” HR policy. Historically, the salespeople had been compensated... View Details

Keywords: Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Change Management; Behavior; Electronics Industry; Sweden

October 3, 2012
Blog Post

Tonight's Presidential Debate Will Be Decided by Body Language

By: Amy Cuddy

Keywords: Nonverbal Behavior; Persuasion; Influence; Public Speaking; Nonverbal Communication; Behavior; Debates; Power and Influence

March 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Akamai's Underwater Options (A)

By: Brian J. Hall, Houston Lane and Jonathan Lim

Akamai's stock price declines dramatically with the NASDAQ in 2000, causing virtually all employee options to go underwater. Ownership and retention incentives are largely destroyed, and employee morale falls sharply. Management weighs the pros and cons of various... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Stock Options; Attitudes; Compensation and Benefits

November–December 2024
Article

Retire Without Regrets

By: Teresa M. Amabile, Lotte Bailyn, Marcy Crary, Douglas T. "Tim" Hall and Kathy E. Kram

This article explores the significant transition of retirement and offers insights into creating a satisfying postcareer life. It highlights the contrasting experiences of Irene and Lawrence, two retirees who navigated this change differently. Irene embraced retirement... View Details

Keywords: Retirement; Satisfaction; Transition; Identity

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2024
Working Paper

How Real Is Hypothetical?: A High-Stakes Test of the Allais Paradox

By: Uri Gneezy, Yoram Halevy, Brian Hall, Theo Offerman and Jeroen van de Ven

Researchers in behavioral and experimental economics often argue that only incentive-compatible mechanisms can elicit effort and truthful responses from participants. Others argue that participants make less-biased decisions when the stakes are sufficiently high.... View Details

Keywords: Research; Behavioral Finance; Economics; Behavior; Prejudice and Bias

April 2025
Article

Transitioning Into Retirement: The Interplay of Self and Life Structure

By: Marcy Crary, Douglas T. (Tim) Hall, Kathy E. Kram, Teresa M. Amabile and Lotte Bailyn

This paper explores the psychological, social, and behavioral ways in which professionals end their corporate careers and reorient themselves and their lives in the transition from employment to retirement. Framed within life course theory, specifically the adult... View Details

Keywords: Retirement; Behavior; Transition; Identity

August 2020
Article

Do Physician Incentives Increase Patient Medication Adherence?

By: Edward Kong, John Beshears, David Laibson, Brigitte Madrian, Kevin Volpp, George Loewenstein, Jonathan Kolstad and James J. Choi

We conducted a randomized experiment (911 primary care practices and 8,935 nonadherent patients) to test the effect of paying physicians for increasing patient medication adherence in three drug classes: diabetes medication, antihypertensives, and statins. We measured... View Details

Keywords: Health Economics; Medication Adherence; Physician Payment Incentives; Primary Care; Quality Improvement; Health Care and Treatment; Motivation and Incentives; Behavior

Article

How Do Fairness Definitions Fare? Examining Public Attitudes Towards Algorithmic Definitions of Fairness

By: Nripsuta Saxena, Karen Huang, Evan DeFilippis, Goran Radanovic, David C. Parkes and Yang Liu

What is the best way to define algorithmic fairness? While many definitions of fairness have been proposed in the computer science literature, there is no clear agreement over a particular definition. In this work, we investigate ordinary people’s perceptions of three... View Details

Keywords: Fairness; Decision Making; Perception; Attitudes; Public Opinion