Publications

Educators

17 Jan 2023
In Practice

8 Trends to Watch in 2023

As 2023 begins, businesses and employees face an uncertain economy and labor market, as the twin dilemmas of inflation and interest rates weigh on forecasts. Harvard Business School faculty share the top trends that they believe will shape the workplace and markets... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

24 Oct 2023
HBS Case

From P.T. Barnum to Mary Kay: Lessons From 5 Leaders Who Changed the World

backroom of a Vermont saloon in 1898, Wilson was drawn to drinking after his parents divorced, leaving him with grandparents and a deep insecurity that he didn’t belong. Driven and charismatic, but falling down drunk much of the time, the... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

10 Sep 2007
Research & Ideas

High Note: Managing the Medici String Quartet

professional and professor. Reliable innovation is "a weird concept," Austin admits. "Reliability in business is about things aimed at consistency of outcome. Reliable innovation means... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Music

2006
Working Paper

Defining the Attributes and Processes that Enhance the Effectiveness of Workforce Diversity Initiatives in Knowledge Intensive Firms

By: Modupe Akinola and David A. Thomas

Workforce diversity continues to be a key focus for organizations, driven by globalization of the U.S. economy and the desire for organizations to more accurately reflect the demographic diversity of the US population. Yet, most research on diversity in organizations... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Globalization; Employees; Retention; Knowledge Sharing; Research; United States

06 Feb 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas: February 6, 2018

communities) and the moderating effects of team leader experience. We test our moderated mediation model in a sample of 121 teams that filed patents in a Fortune 50 company’s India R&D center between 2005 and 2015 using proprietary View Details

22 Nov 2023
Research & Ideas

Humans vs. Machines: Untangling the Tasks AI Can (and Can't) Handle

Consulting Group employees work with AI: Humans are still needed to make that call. To operationalize AI successfully, managers must carefully select its applications, train workers in using it properly, and quickly move the line as AI... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Information Technology; Technology

16 Jan 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, January 16, 2018

companies offer a direct stake in the company's performance through stock, a share in profits, or both. Companies with employee stock ownership plans report significantly higher sales growth and higher revenue per View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2018
Case

Sealed Air Corporation: Deciding the Fate of VTID (Abridged)

By: Elie Ofek

In mid-2010 the Sealed Air Corporation has to decide on next steps for its novel video tracking technology (called VTID) after unsuccessful attempts to market it in three different industry settings. The company must determine whether its most recent target market, the... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technological Innovation; Marketing Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Commercialization; Service Industry

Educators

January–February 2022
Article

Algorithm-Augmented Work and Domain Experience: The Countervailing Forces of Ability and Aversion

By: Ryan Allen and Prithwiraj Choudhury

How does a knowledge worker’s level of domain experience affect their algorithm-augmented work performance? We propose and test theoretical predictions that domain experience has countervailing effects on algorithm-augmented performance: on one hand, domain experience... View Details

Keywords: Automation; Domain Experience; Algorithmic Aversion; Experts; Algorithms; Machine Learning; Future Of Work; Employees; Experience and Expertise; Decision Making; Performance

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14 Jul 2009
First Look

First Look: July 14

difference between both kinds of firms is that OS share their technological advances on the primary good, while P keep their innovations private. The main contribution of the paper is to determine conditions under which OS and P coexist... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 2009 (Revised August 2021)
Supplement

Jieliang Phone Home! (B)

By: Willy Shih, Ethan Bernstein and Nina Bilimoria

At Precision Electro-Tek's mobile phone manufacturing facility in southern China, thousands of operators—bright and capable young men and (mostly) women like Jieliang Hao—are motivated to improve line productivity through small innovations for faster assembly and have... View Details

Keywords: Managing People; Motivation and Incentives; Behavior; Production; Innovation and Invention; Performance Productivity; Groups and Teams; Management Practices and Processes; Compensation and Benefits; Labor; Surveys; Decisions; Manufacturing Industry; China

February 2009 (Revised July 2012)
Supplement

Jieliang Phone Home! (C)

By: Willy Shih, Ethan Bernstein and Nina Bilimoria

At Precision Electro-Tek's mobile phone manufacturing facility in southern China, thousands of operators - bright and capable young men and (mostly) women like Jieliang Hao are motivated to improve line productivity through small innovations for faster assembly and... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Compensation and Benefits; Surveys; Innovation and Invention; Management Practices and Processes; Production; Performance Productivity; Groups and Teams; Labor and Management Relations; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Manufacturing Industry; Telecommunications Industry; China

09 Jan 2024
In Practice

Harnessing AI: What Businesses Need to Know in ChatGPT’s Second Year

will companies and their employees adjust to the new world of AI? Harvard Business School faculty members take a look at emerging AI trends and offer some advice for businesses on how to make the most of this new technology in 2024.... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Information Technology

16 May 2023
HBS Case

How KKR Got More by Giving Ownership to the Factory Floor: ‘My Kids Are Going to College!’

day-to-day job.” An innovative move started to turn the tide. KKR set aside $1 million a year for capital improvements that the employees could choose. Workers wanted an air-conditioned factory—an almost... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

2020
Working Paper

No Line Left Behind: Assortative Matching Inside the Firm

By: Achyuta Adhvaryu, Vittorio Bassi, Anant Nyshadham and Jorge Tamayo

How do firms pair workers with managers, and which constraints affect the allocation of labor within the firm? We characterize the sorting pattern of managers to workers in a large readymade garment manufacturer in India and then explore potential drivers of the... View Details

Keywords: Assortative Matching; Productivity; Global Buyers; Readymade Garments; Management; Employees; Performance Productivity

24 Aug 2010
First Look

First Look: August 24

S&P 500 index and are only marginally higher than the risk-free rate as of the end of 2008. The combined impression from these results is that the return experience of hedge fund investors is much worse than previously thought. View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

18 Dec 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 18, 2018

2018 Innovation Policy and the Economy The Orphan Drug Act at 35: Observations and an Outlook for the Twenty-First Century By: Bagley, Nicholas, Benjamin Berger, Amitabh Chandra, Craig Garthwaite, and Ariel Dora Stern Abstract—On the 35th... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

May 2022
Article

When Harry Fired Sally: The Double Standard in Punishing Misconduct

By: Mark Egan, Gregor Matvos and Amit Seru

We examine gender differences in misconduct punishment in the financial advisory industry. We find evidence of a “gender punishment gap”: following an incident of misconduct, female advisers are 20% more likely to lose their jobs and 30% less likely to find new jobs... View Details

Keywords: Financial Advisers; Brokers; Gender Discrimination; Consumer Finance; Financial Misconduct And Fraud; FINRA; Financial Institutions; Employees; Crime and Corruption; Gender; Prejudice and Bias; Personal Finance; Financial Services Industry

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June 2011
Article

Implicit Voice Theories: Taken-for-granted Rules of Self-censorship at Work

By: J. R. Detert and Amy C. Edmondson

This article examines, in a series of four studies, the nature and impact of implicit voice theories-largely taken-for-granted beliefs about when and why speaking up at work is risky or inappropriate. In Study 1, qualitative data from 190 interviews conducted in a... View Details

Keywords: Spoken Communication; Interpersonal Communication; Employees; Managerial Roles; Organizational Culture; Risk and Uncertainty; Behavior

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