Publications

September 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Recruitment of a Star

By: Boris Groysberg, Stephen Balog and Jennifer Haimson

Details power dynamics that unfold in the firm when one of its best and brightest threatens to leave. It focuses on the dynamics of attracting, hiring, compensating, negotiating, and leveraging a star performer in a professional service firm. In particular, traces the... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Compensation and Benefits; Recruitment; Resignation and Termination; Selection and Staffing; Job Interviews

05 May 2022
HBS Case

College Degrees: The Job Requirement Companies Seek, but Don't Really Need

Employers struggling to find workers during the current labor shortage might want to rethink their hiring criteria by taking a new look at job candidates who lack college degrees. American employers have routinely defaulted to requiring... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

16 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

As AI Upends Recruiting, Job Seekers Need a Waze App for Careers

immigration policy during a period of growing skills gaps. In a quest for efficiency, they rely on AI-powered hiring systems that inadvertently exclude skilled candidates due to minor shortcomings in their qualifications, are difficult to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Information Technology; Technology

05 Dec 2016
Research & Ideas

How To Deceive Others With Truthful Statements (It's Called 'Paltering,' And It's Risky)

Candidates Misled Us With Truthful Statements) In fact, in one of the pilot studies involving 184 mid- to senior-level business managers enrolled in an HBS Executive Education course—all of whom negotiate as part of their business... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

05 Dec 2023
Cold Call Podcast

What Founders Get Wrong about Sales and Marketing

Keywords: Re: Mark N. Roberge

November 2001 (Revised September 2007)
Case

Children's Hospital and Clinics (A)

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Michael Roberto and Anita L. Tucker

Describes the major phases of an initiative designed to transform the organization and enhance patient safety. Raises interesting questions about how to encourage candid discussion about failures while continuing to hold people accountable for their performance. View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Leading Change; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Performance Improvement; Safety; Health Industry

2008
Working Paper

Attitude-Dependent Altruism, Turnout and Voting

By: Julio J. Rotemberg

This paper presents a goal-oriented model of political participation based on two psychological assumptions. The first is that people are more altruistic towards individuals that agree with them and the second is that people's well-being rises when other people share... View Details

Keywords: Voting; Political Elections; Market Participation; Attitudes

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2025
Working Paper

Choosing and Using Information in Evaluation Decisions

By: Katherine Baldiga Coffman, Scott Kostyshak and Perihan O. Saygin

We use a controlled experiment to study how information acquisition impacts candidate evaluations. We provide evaluators with group-level information on performance and the opportunity to acquire additional, individual-level performance information before making a... View Details

Keywords: Discrimination; Beliefs; Stereotypes; Gender; Prejudice and Bias; Selection and Staffing; Performance Evaluation

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September 2010 (Revised July 2012)
Supplement

Recruiting Andrew Yard (C)

By: Brian J. Hall, Nicole Shae Bennett and Sara del Nido

This case describes a compensation negotiation between a global HR director and a candidate for a high-level executive position. The situation becomes awkward when the candidate feels insulted because he is given a monetary incentive to join the company more quickly... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Recruitment; Negotiation Offer; Performance Effectiveness; Emotions; Strategy

September 2010 (Revised July 2012)
Supplement

Recruiting Andrew Yard (B)

By: Brian J. Hall, Nicole Shae Bennett and Sara del Nido

This case describes a compensation negotiation between a global HR director and a candidate for a high-level executive position. The situation becomes awkward when the candidate feels insulted because he is given a monetary incentive to join the company more quickly... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Recruitment; Negotiation Offer; Performance Effectiveness; Emotions; Motivation and Incentives; Strategy

Second Quarter 2014
Article

Dynamics of the Board Interview

By: Blythe McGarvie

You want candidates who meet the requirements of cultural fit, the right skill set, and meaningful diversity. No one expects the candidate to know everything about the company during the interview process. Research shows that companies with more women on their boards... View Details

21 May 2008
Research & Ideas

Going Negative in Political Advertising

their strong suit. Negative ads ask us to vote against someone rather than for someone. This lesser-of-two-evils approach to political marketing inevitably breeds cynicism and sometimes backfires, but it often works against new candidates... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

2023
Working Paper

Keep Your Enemies Closer: Strategic Platform Adjustments during U.S. and French Elections

By: Rafael Di Tella, Randy Kotti, Caroline Le Pennec and Vincent Pons

A key tenet of representative democracy is that politicians' discourse and policies should follow voters' preferences. In the median voter theorem, this outcome emerges as candidates strategically adjust their platform to get closer to their opponent. Despite its... View Details

Keywords: Political Ideology; Political Elections; United States; France

Find at Harvard

May 2009
Case

Who is the Fairest of Them All? Choosing a Leader at Deronde International

By: Nitin Nohria and Martha Spaulding

Alain Deronde, the CEO of a French personal care company, has to choose a successor to head global product development from a diverse set of candidates with different backgrounds, strengths, and weaknesses. The candidates include Elise Bernier, Vice President of... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Management Succession; Diversity; Management Teams; Product Development; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; France

Teaching Interest

Startup Bootcamp

By: Julia B. Austin

The Startup Bootcamp is an immersion program for first-year HBS MBA candidates that uses a learning-by-doing approach to build skills required as an early stage entrepreneur. View Details

September 2010 (Revised December 2022)
Case

Recruiting Andrew Yard (A)

By: Brian J. Hall, Nicole S. Bennett and Sara del Nido

This case describes a compensation negotiation between a global HR director and a candidate for a high-level executive position. The situation becomes awkward when the candidate feels insulted because he is given a monetary incentive to join the company more quickly... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Interpersonal Communication; Executive Compensation; Negotiation; Negotiation Style; Emotions