Publications

28 Mar 2019
News

The one benefit workers want more than anything

08 Apr 2013
Research & Ideas

How to Demotivate Your Best Employees

restaurant or store; the winner's name was drawn at a meeting attended by all the employees. At the end of the sixth month, the plant manager held another drawing for a $100 gift card for all employees with perfect attendance records over... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Service

January 2025
Case

Reimagining the Employee Experience at the LEGO Group

By: Amy Edmondson, Mark Mortensen and Elisabeth Powell

In 2024, the LEGO Group faced a decision about the future of LEGO’s Benefits Experience Strategy and the “Best of Both” remote/hybrid work policy. With over 28,500 employees spanning global hubs, retail stores, and manufacturing plants, LEGO leaders had to consider... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Employee Relationship Management; Values and Beliefs; Organizational Culture; Alignment; Compensation and Benefits; Europe

November 2020 (Revised March 2022)
Teaching Note

Social Salary Setting at Spiber

By: Ashley Whillans and John Beshears

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 920-050. The case tells the story of Spiber, a Japanese technology start-up company. To reflect the company’s values, the leadership team implemented a new and unique salary-setting process: each employee had the authority to choose their... View Details

Keywords: Compensation; General Management; Employee Benefits; Incentives; Motivation; Compensation and Benefits; Fairness; Motivation and Incentives; Management; Happiness; Negotiation; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Japan

October 2001 (Revised February 2007)
Background Note

Accounting for Employee Stock Options

Employees who have been granted stock options have the right to purchase shares of their company's stock at a specified price within a specified time period. The accounting for such employee stock options has been a controversial and complex topic for decades. The... View Details

Keywords: Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Accounting

23 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

How to Keep Employees Productive: Support Caregivers

the economic impact of offering caregiving benefits, such as reductions in turnover and absenteeism. Why risk losing high-level, proficient employees due to temporary work-life imbalances? Gather more information about your workforce’s... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

Article

Prosocial Bonuses Increase Employee Satisfaction and Team Performance

By: Lalin Anik, Lara B. Aknin, Elizabeth W. Dunn, Michael I. Norton and Jordi Quoidbach

In three field studies, we explore the impact of providing employees and teammates with prosocial bonuses, a novel type of bonus spent on others rather than on oneself. In Experiment 1, we show that prosocial bonuses in the form of donations to charity lead to happier... View Details

Keywords: Satisfaction; Groups and Teams; Performance; Compensation and Benefits; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Banking Industry; Sports Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Canada; Belgium; Australia

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2013
Working Paper

Prosocial Bonuses Increase Employee Satisfaction and Team Performance

By: Lalin Anik, Lara B. Aknin, Michael I. Norton, Elizabeth W. Dunn and Jordi Quoidbach

In two field studies, we explore the impact of providing employees and teammates with prosocial bonuses, a novel type of bonus spent on others rather than on oneself. In Experiment 1, we show that prosocial bonuses in the form of donations to charity lead to happier... View Details

Keywords: Satisfaction; Groups and Teams; Performance; Compensation and Benefits; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Banking Industry; Sports Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Canada; Belgium; Australia

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09 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

The Benefits of “Not Invented Here”

of its operating income, while P&G has a policy of licensing any patented technology not in use in one of its own businesses within three years. Q: What are the benefits for a business actively following an open innovation paradigm?... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

30 Aug 2010
Research & Ideas

Turning Employees Into Problem Solvers

research has focused on the underuse of incident-reporting systems. After all, the thinking went, a system used to collect and report incidents will only help an organization learn from its mistakes and lead to better safety results—to the extent that View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Health

04 Oct 2010
Research & Ideas

Introverts: The Best Leaders for Proactive Employees

hardly any talk. To that end, a team of passive followers benefits from an extraverted leader. "Often the leaders end up doing a lot of the talking, and not listening to any of the ideas that the followers are trying to... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

March 1996
Case

FASB and Employee Stock Options, The

Summarizes the accounting principles governing employee stock options, including the recently issued accounting standard SFAS 123, Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation. Presents the theoretical issues involved with valuation and measurement of employee stock-based... View Details

Keywords: Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Accounting

08 Mar 2022
Cold Call Podcast

France Telecom: Corporate Restructuring and Employee Well-Being

Keywords: Re: Cynthia A. Montgomery & Ashley V. Whillans

12 Jan 2015
Research & Ideas

Regulators Ease Up on Companies Generating Political Benefits

employment rolls in the form of reduced enforcement? To test his theory, Heese gathered 30 years of data on publicly traded companies, classifying them by "employment intensity"—that is, the number of a firm's employees relative... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

June 10, 2022
Article

What Top Executives Can Learn from Junior Employees

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Having reached the pinnacle of their careers, many top executives think their learning days are over. Their role, as they see it, is to make pronouncements, define strategy and impart to others the benefits of their vast experience—that is, to tell the employees below... View Details

Keywords: Executives; Mentoring; Innovation; Leadership; Employees; Learning; Change

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04 Jun 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Prosocial Bonuses Increase Employee Satisfaction and Team Performance

Keywords: by Lalin Anik, Lara B. Aknin, Michael I. Norton, Elizabeth W. Dunn & Jordi Quoidbach

July 2007 (Revised September 2007)
Background Note

Compensating Family Employees in a Family Business

By: John A. Davis

Explores the core issues involved in compensating family employees in a family business. Explains family interests and other factors that shape family employee compensation practices. Distinguishes between achieving effective compensation practices, which help to... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Employees; Compensation and Benefits