Publications

December 2022
Article

The Emotional Rewards of Prosocial Spending Are Robust and Replicable in Large Samples

By: Lara B. Aknin, Elizabeth W. Dunn and Ashley V. Whillans

Past studies show that spending money on other people—prosocial spending—increases a person’s happiness. However, foundational research on this topic was conducted prior to psychology’s credibility revolution (or “replication crisis”), so it is essential to ask... View Details

Keywords: Happiness; Money

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24 Apr 2017
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Courage: The Defining Characteristic of Great Leaders

Source: guvendemir Courage is the quality that distinguishes great leaders from excellent managers. Over the past decade, I have worked with and studied more than 200 CEOs of major companies through board... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Auto; Food & Beverage

Research Summary

Overview

By: Nancy F. Koehn

My research focuses on crisis leadership and how leaders and their teams rise to the challenges of high-stakes situations. Using the lens of history, my work examines how individual leaders from business, government and other walks accomplish important—often seemingly... View Details

Keywords: Courageous Leadership In Turbulent Times; Emotional Experience Of Leaders; History Of Leadership; Leadership; Entrepreneurship; History; Media And Broadcasting Industry; Health Industry; Beauty And Cosmetics Industry; Fashion Industry; Advertising Industry; United States; Europe

2025
Working Paper

The Cybernetic Teammate: A Field Experiment on Generative AI Reshaping Teamwork and Expertise

By: Fabrizio Dell'Acqua, Charles Ayoubi, Hila Lifshitz, Raffaella Sadun, Ethan Mollick, Lilach Mollick, Yi Han, Jeff Goldman, Hari Nair, Stew Taub and Karim R. Lakhani

We examine how artificial intelligence transforms the core pillars of collaboration— performance, expertise sharing, and social engagement—through a pre-registered field experiment with 776 professionals at Procter & Gamble, a global consumer packaged goods company.... View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Teamwork; Human-machine Interaction; Productivity; Skills; Innovation; Field Experiment; AI and Machine Learning; Groups and Teams; Competency and Skills; Performance Productivity; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Product Development

SSRN

June 2025
Article

Riding the Passion Wave or Fighting to Stay Afloat? A Theory of Differentiated Passion Contagion

By: Emma Frank, Kai Krautter, Wen Wu and Jon M. Jachimowicz

Prior research suggests that employees benefit from highly passionate teammates because passion spreads easily from one employee to the next. We develop theory to propose that life in high-passion teams may not be as uniformly advantageous as previously assumed. We... View Details

Keywords: Passion; Emotional Contagion; Emotions; Groups and Teams; Employees; Power and Influence; Performance Improvement

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2010
Chapter

Identity-Based Leader Development

By: Scott Snook, Herminia Ibarra and Laura Ramo

Despite the wealth of managerial and scholarly attention paid to leadership development, only recently has a new perspective emerged that explicitly links leadership and identity. Research and theorizing on leadership development have yet to specify the processes that... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Development; Identity; Transition; Transformation; Perspective; Managerial Roles; Business Processes; Personal Development and Career

November 2006 (Revised May 2007)
Background Note

Developing Leaders

By: Boris Groysberg and Amanda Cowen

Provides an overview of leadership development for the manager charged with developing a single individual or corporate leadership program. Introduces a framework for understanding the components of developmental experiences and then applies it to a range of... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Development; Programs

Educators

Teaching Interest

Developing Yourself as a Leader

By: Ethan S. Bernstein

This course is an online leadership development program for the next generation of leaders (high-potential emerging leaders with rougly 7-15 years of work experience). Over 12 dynamic, high-impact weeks, a cohort of emerging leaders from around the globe engages... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Leadership Development And Career Planning; Self-assessment; Self-awareness; Design Thinking; Communication; Career Advancement; Leadership Development; Personal Development and Career

18 Dec 2006
Lessons from the Classroom

Grooming Next-Generation Leaders

Narayandas, faculty of the School's Executive Education offering "Program for Leadership Development (PLD): Accelerating the Careers of High-Potential Leaders," are experts on the subject. PLD... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

Research Summary

Growing as a Purposeful Leader

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger

Leaders today have to lead in the context of extraordinary changes and challenges. The demands of today's stakeholders have risen significantly, and what is expected of senior leaders is quickly evolving in terms of their mission (more than profit),... View Details

19 Nov 2007
Lessons from the Classroom

Teaching The Moral Leader

respond, and the value of the topic in the business world. Sarah Jane Gilbert: What led to your interest to develop and teach The Moral Leader course? Sandra Sucher: My interest in the topic View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Education

2020
Book

The Power of Experiments: Decision-Making in a Data-Driven World

By: Michael Luca and Max H. Bazerman

Have you logged into Facebook recently? Searched for something on Google? Chosen a movie on Netflix? If so, you've probably been an unwitting participant in a variety of experiments—also known as randomized controlled trials—designed to test the impact of changes to an... View Details

Keywords: Experiments; Randomized Controlled Trials; Organizations; Decision Making; Analytics and Data Science; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques

January 2021 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Arçelik: From a Dealer Network to an Omnichannel Experience

By: Ayelet Israeli and Fares Khrais

Arçelik Turkey, the country’s market leader in household appliances, was at an omnichannel crossroads in January 2020. Arçelik was a B2B player utilizing a dealership network with an umbrella of brands and had one of the largest brick-and-mortar store networks in... View Details

Educators

07 Feb 2005
Research & Ideas

How “Career Imprinting” Shapes Leaders

We all know the importance of mentors and other early career experiences in shaping the kind of leaders we ultimately become. But how important... View Details

Keywords: by Mallory Stark

February 2022
Article

How Global Leaders Gain Power Through Downward Deference and Reduction of Social Distance

By: Tsedal Neeley and Sebastian Reiche

We theorize about how people with positional power enact downward deference—a practice of lowering oneself to be equal to that of lower power workers—based on a study of 115 top global leaders at a large U.S. company. These leaders were charged with advancing... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Leadership Style; Global Range; Relationships; Rank and Position; Power and Influence; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues

25 Mar 2021
Research & Ideas

Steer Clear of the Blind Spots That Derail Experiments

of experimentation, both the design and analysis, are key skills in today’s data-centric economy and an important source of competitive advantage for companies. “Business View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

08 Nov 2024
HBS Case

What Wartime Service Taught These Historic Leaders

growing—with HBS Research Assistant Shirley Sun. Here, Simons discusses three leaders whose service left a powerful mark, leading to their own success. Business leaders might learn some important lessons... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Entertainment & Recreation

October 2013
Article

When Power Makes Others Speechless: The Negative Impact of Leader Power on Team Performance

By: Leigh Plunkett Tost, Francesca Gino and Richard P. Larrick

We examine the impact of subjective power on leadership behavior and demonstrate that the psychological effect of power on leaders spills over to impact team effectiveness. Specifically, drawing from the approach/inhibition theory of power, power-devaluation theory,... View Details

Keywords: Power; Leadership; Team Performance; Groups and Teams; Performance; Leadership Style; Power and Influence