Publications

Find at Harvard

12 Aug 2014
First Look

First Look: August 12

Publications August 2014 Journal of Economic Perspectives Seeking the Roots of Entrepreneurship: Insights from Behavioral Economics By: Åstebro, Thomas, Holger Herz, Ramana Nanda, and Roberto A. Weber Abstract—There is a growing body of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

The Architecture of the Integrated Organization

By: Ranjay Gulati

In this research I explore how organizations balance pressures for efficiency with the need to be responsive at the same time. Operating in turbulent global markets it is increasingly important for firms to embrace both global efficiency and also local responsiveness.... View Details

Christian Kaps

Christian Kaps is an Assistant Professor of business administration in the Technology and Operations Management (TOM) Unit at Harvard Business School. Kaps' research focuses on emerging topics in renewable electricity generation and storage - notably how new... View Details

March 2024
Article

Flight to Safety: How Economic Downturns Affect Talent Flows to Startups

By: Shai Bernstein, Richard Townsend and Ting Xu

Using proprietary data from AngelList Talent, we study how individuals’ job search and application behavior changed during the COVID-19 downturn. We find that job seekers shifted their searches toward more established firms and away from early-stage startups, even... View Details

Keywords: Startup Labor Market; Flight To Safety; COVID-19; Recession; Job Search; Behavior

Find at Harvard

2016
Working Paper

The Great Training Robbery

By: Michael Beer, Magnus Finnstrom and Derek Schrader

In 2012 U.S. corporations spent $164.2 billion on training and education. Overwhelming evidence and experience shows, however, that most companies are unable to transfer employee learning into changes in individual and organization behavior or improved financial... View Details

Keywords: Training; Organizations; Investment Return

SSRN

11 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

Sexual Harassment: What Employers Should Do Now

inappropriate behavior that can lead to an awkward office environment, lawsuits, and reputation damage. But how exactly can companies do better? Ammerman, along with three HBS faculty members, provided some practical advice executives can... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

2024
Working Paper

Private Regulation, Institutional Entrepreneurship and Climate Change: A Business History Perspective

By: Ann-Kristin Bergquist and Geoffrey Jones

Private regulatory systems, including voluntary efforts by firms to restrain their own behavior are the primary form of global climate change governance. However, when environmental challenges first rose up on the scientific and political agendas during the 1970s, the... View Details

Keywords: Certification; Climate Change; Environmental Regulation; Business History; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy

Research Summary

Innovation and Productivity

In this stream of research, Professor Steinwender examines how firms adjust their innovative behavior and productivity in response to changes in the external environment. Analyzing Spanish firm-level data, she finds that two mechanisms proposed in the economic... View Details

February 2021
Case

Measuring Impact at JUST Capital

By: Charles C.Y. Wang and Ethan Rouen

JUST Capital is a nonprofit organization that seeks to make public companies more "just" by measuring and ranking their overall impact on society, based on the priorities most important to the average American. This case examines JUST's strategy for influencing... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Ethics; Measurement and Metrics; Performance Evaluation; Social Issues; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

Educators

06 May 2014
First Look

First Look: May 6

approaches that redesign specific incentives, tasks, and decisions to reduce temptations to cheat in the environment. This paper explores how these approaches can change behavior. We argue that integrating both approaches while avoiding... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September – October 2011
Article

Manage the Culture Cycle

By: James L. Heskett

Organizational culture—the shared assumptions, values, and behaviors that determine "how we do things around here"—can be measured and shaped. In organizations with large numbers of customer-facing employees, it can account for up to half of the difference in operating... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Value; Behavior; Retention; Customer Focus and Relationships; Change Management; Learning; Innovation and Invention; Labor

10 Jan 2023
Op-Ed

Time to Move On? Career Advice for Entrepreneurs Preparing for the Next Stage

it’s ending a relationship, changing a job or transitioning from a household of kids to an empty nest. When it comes to our employment, we have our last day at an old job on a Friday and start our new job on Monday, perhaps taking a week... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

Research Summary

Overview

My work examines the social and economic processes that generate innovation and distribute its rewards in society, in the context of the United States over the past twenty years. For isntance, I have shown that in recent decades product innovations have... View Details

16 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

How the Coronavirus Is Already Rewriting the Future of Business

pandemic is likely to change how companies do business. Here’s what they said: Michael Beer: Organizations will develop trust-based cultures with employees The coronavirus challenge demands an organization-wide, honest conversation that... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

September 2, 2014
Article

Development of In-Group Favoritism in Children's Third-Party Punishment of Selfishness

By: Jillian J. Jordan, Katherine McAuliffe and Felix Warneken

When enforcing norms for cooperative behavior, human adults sometimes exhibit in-group bias. For example, third-party observers punish selfish behaviors committed by out-group members more harshly than similar behaviors committed by in-group members. Although evidence... View Details

Keywords: Ontogeny; Cooperation; Equality and Inequality

October 2017 (Revised March 2020)
Case

Medicetra Medtech Company, Inc.

By: Doug J. Chung

Medicetra MedTech Company is a dental equipment distributor, and senior management is deciding whether to implement a new incentive compensation program for the sales force. For many years, Medicetra had paid salespeople only a fixed salary. Although the current plan... View Details

Keywords: Sales Compensation; Sales Force Retention; Employee Fairness; Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Retention; Fairness; Performance Improvement

Educators

May 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Case

EU Verdict Against Microsoft

By: David B. Yoffie and Michael Slind

In 2004, following an investigation that began in 1998, the European Commission (EC) issued an antitrust judgment against Microsoft Corp., levying a record fine of 497 million euros ($613 million) and mandating changes of commercial behavior and bundling of Windows... View Details

Keywords: Judgments; Governance Compliance; Lawsuits and Litigation; Monopoly; Business and Government Relations; Competitive Strategy; Software; European Union; United States

Educators