Publications

2011
Working Paper

Managerial Practices That Promote Voice and Taking Charge among Frontline Workers

By: Julia Adler-Milstein, Sara J. Singer and Michael W. Toffel

Process-improvement ideas often come from frontline workers who speak up by voicing concerns about problems and by taking charge to resolve them. We hypothesize that organization-wide process-improvement campaigns encourage both forms of speaking up, especially voicing... View Details

Keywords: Communication; Employees; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Management Practices and Processes; Operations; Business Processes; Performance Improvement

SSRN

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Article

On the Origin of Shared Beliefs (and Corporate Culture)

By: Eric J. Van den Steen

This article shows how corporate culture, in the sense of shared beliefs and values, originates (often unintentionally) through screening, self-sorting, and manager-directed joint learning. It shows that such culture will be stronger among more important employees and... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Learning; Values and Beliefs; Employees; Decisions; Power and Influence; Performance; Perspective

Read Now

December 2008
Background Note

Incentives in the NFL (Abridged)

By: Brian J. Hall, Andrew Wasynczuk, Jonathan Paul Lim, Sara del Nido and Katherine Dowd

This note briefly describes compensation and incentive issues in one of the major US professional sports leagues, the National Football League (NFL). It first provides some background information on the labor market for players and the salary cap, and then describes... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Wages; Groups and Teams; Conflict of Interests; Motivation and Incentives; Sports Industry; United States

Educators

March 2010
Article

Interpersonal Authority in a Theory of the Firm

By: Eric J. Van den Steen

This paper develops a theory of the firm in which a firm's centralized asset ownership and low-powered incentives give the manager, as an equilibrium outcome, interpersonal authority over employees (in a world with open disagreement). The paper thus provides... View Details

Keywords: Theory; Assets; Ownership; Motivation and Incentives; Governance Controls; Power and Influence; Projects; Perspective; Employees

August 2007 (Revised September 2008)
Case

Baker & McKenzie (A): A New Framework for Talent Management

By: Boris Groysberg and Eliot Sherman

Describes the process by which the largest law firm in the world developed a unique framework for personnel management. In 2004, John Conroy is about to take the reigns as the leader of Baker and McKenzie, the largest law firm in the world by employees, with offices in... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Framework; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Retention; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Adoption; Legal Services Industry

Educators

2008
Working Paper

Structural Closure and Exposure: Formation of Structural Inequality in Managerial Labor Markets

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski

Positional advantages arise when actors obtain rewards attached to positions they occupy, but these rewards are not merited by their performance. Existing theory suggests that in competitive markets there should be no positional advantages. This paper proposes a model... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Jobs and Positions; Managerial Roles; Performance Improvement; Alignment; Competitive Advantage; Equality and Inequality

January 2008
Article

How to Change the World

By: Howard H. Stevenson

Alan Wilson has a decision to make. The CEO of his company, Grepter, wants him to relocate to Zurich, where he can gain valuable experience for a rise to the top. Karl, his best friend, hopes to lure him to a hedge fund that promises big money fast. Shiori, an enticing... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Values and Beliefs; Compensation and Benefits; Personal Development and Career; Power and Influence

September 2003 (Revised January 2005)
Case

Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Health Care to Life

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer, Ingrid Marie Nembhard and Robert Galvin

General Electric launched Bridges to Excellence Diabetes Care Link, a program through which enrolled physicians receive bonuses of up to 10% of their salary for delivering quality care to diabetic patients covered by a participating employer or health plan. A day... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Motivation and Incentives; Programs; Ethics; Quality; Moral Sensibility; Service Delivery; Compensation and Benefits; Health Industry

Educators

06 Mar 2013
What Do You Think?

Who Should Manage Our Work Time?

CRM and voicemail systems Technology can scale human efficiency, but only up to a point." Ganesh Ramakrishnan added, "The technologies to communicate, collaborate and access infinite information have evolved and spread much... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

05 May 2010
What Do You Think?

Is Denial Endemic to Management?

Summing Up How best is denial managed? Denial is endemic to management. It is a natural part of human nature, closely related to the survival instinct. It can be useful or disastrous. And it can be managed. That sums up at least many of... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

02 Oct 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, October 2, 2018

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=55043 Machine Learning and Human Capital: Experimental Evidence on Productivity Complementarities By: Choudhury, Prithwiraj, Evan Starr, and Rajshree Agarwal Abstract—Machine learning... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

May 2008
Supplement

Kenny Kahn at Muzak (B)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Stecker

Supplemental Material for 408-057 View Details

Keywords: Organizations; Geographic Location; Innovation and Invention; Employees; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Design; Music Industry

March 2006 (Revised March 2014)
Teaching Note

Founder-CEO Succession at Wily Technology (TN)

By: Noam Wasserman

Teaching Note to 805150. View Details

Keywords: Management Succession; Governing and Advisory Boards; Selection and Staffing; Transformation; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Decisions

01 Oct 1999
News

Four Promoted to Full Professor

Technology Group. A member of the HBS faculty since 1990, David A. Thomas teaches organizational behavior and human resource management. He is a noted authority on executive development, mentoring, and the... View Details

01 Sep 2005
News

Get Ready for Saudi Oil Shock

Photo Courtesy MATTHEW R. SIMMONS In his new book, Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy (John Wiley & Sons, 2005), Matthew Simmons (MBA ’67) sounds an alarm about a finite resource that he believes is... View Details

Keywords: Lewis I. Rice; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services; Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing; Manufacturing

October 2016
Supplement

24 Hour Fitness (B): Ownership Changes, 2005–2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In 2016, 24 Hour Fitness was the number-two fitness chain in the United States, generating revenues of $1.4 billion from 441 clubs serving 3.8 million members. Based in San Ramon, California, 24 Hour Fitness operated clubs in 13 states. Having grown rapidly to become... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Buildings and Facilities; Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Age; Training; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Health; Nutrition; Business History; Human Resources; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Journals and Magazines; Human Capital; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Social Marketing; Demand and Consumers; Market Entry and Exit; Media; Organizational Design; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Groups and Teams; Sales; Salesforce Management; Situation or Environment; Welfare or Wellbeing; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Software; Web Sites; Value; Valuation; Health Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States; California; San Francisco