Publications

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20 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Creating a Positive Professional Image

your persona that tells you what they think about your level of competence, character, and commitment. Other times, you may receive indirect signals about your image, through job assignments or referrals and recommendations. Taken... View Details

Keywords: by Mallory Stark

2015
Book

Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges

By: Amy Cuddy

We often meet life's challenges with fear and anxiety. We fail to be our best and end up feeling regretful and powerless. In Presence, Amy Cuddy presents a scientifically grounded way to align our speech and nonverbal behavior with our beliefs, abilities, and... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Attitudes; Emotions

October 2001 (Revised November 2002)
Supplement

Mark Pitts

Describes Peoplestreet, an Internet business being developed at Cambridge Incubator. Peoplestreet is attempting to hire a VP of business development and has identified a candidate, Mark Pitts. Includes an overview of the position, three different interviews with the... View Details

Keywords: Job Interviews

16 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

What Customers Want from Your Products

"People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!" With Levitt's words as a rallying cry, a recent Harvard Business Review article, "Marketing Malpractice: The Cause and the Cure," argues that the marketer's task is to... View Details

Keywords: by Clayton M. Christensen, Scott Cook & Taddy Hall; Consumer Products

14 Feb 2011
Research & Ideas

Clay Christensen’s Milkshake Marketing

discovered that 40 percent of the milkshakes were purchased first thing in the morning, by commuters who ordered them to go. The next morning, he returned to the restaurant and interviewed customers who left with milkshake in hand, asking... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail; Service; Consumer Products; Food & Beverage

13 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

Breaking Through the Self-Doubt That Keeps Talented Women from Leading

applying for job opportunities, particularly more advanced, higher-paying positions, because they’re concerned they aren’t qualified enough, whereas men don’t seem to worry about their skills matching the specific View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

03 Oct 2022
Research & Ideas

Why a Failed Startup Might Be Good for Your Career After All

Capital-Backed Entrepreneurs Via a Non-Wage Measure.” After exiting their startups, these entrepreneurs obtain jobs about three years more senior than their peers, according to the research. The findings suggest that companies value the... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

August 2021
Article

Improving Sales Hiring

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Sales hiring presents inherent challenges not found to the same extent in talent management in other functional areas. Moreover, common hiring practices make a tough job needlessly harder. This article suggests practical ways to improve sales hiring: Hire for the Task,... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Selection and Staffing

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20 Sep 2010
Research & Ideas

Power Posing: Fake It Until You Make It

surge of power and sense of well-being when it's needed: for example, during a job interview or for a key presentation to a group of skeptical customers. "Our research has broad implications for people... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

01 Jun 2023
HBS Case

A Nike Executive Hid His Criminal Past to Turn His Life Around. What If He Didn't Have To?

At age 32—feeling far removed from the violent street crimes that had consumed his teens and 20s—Larry Miller just knew he was nailing a job interview with a senior partner at Arthur Andersen. That is, until... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Apparel & Accessories

09 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Leadership Lessons of the Great Recession: Options for Economic Downturns

if an industry or company is suffering due to technological changes or market demands, that’s another story. If jobs are going away permanently, furloughs will only delay making layoffs or making other substantial workforce reallocations.... View Details

Keywords: by Sandra Sucher & Susan Winterberg; Aerospace; Electronics

March–April 2023
Article

The New-Collar Workforce

By: Colleen Ammerman, Boris Groysberg and Ginni Rometty

Many workers today are stuck in low-paying jobs, unable to advance simply because they don’t have a bachelor’s degree. At the same time, many companies are desperate for workers and not meeting the diversity goals that could help them perform better while also reducing... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Recruitment; Social Issues; Higher Education; Competency and Skills

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March–April 2020
Article

What's Really Holding Women Back? It's Not What Most People Think

By: R. Ely and Irene Padavic

Ask people to explain why women remain so dramatically underrepresented in the senior ranks of most companies, and you will hear from the vast majority a lament that goes something like this: High-level jobs require extremely long hours, women's devotion to family... View Details

Keywords: Overwork; Employment; Gender; Equality and Inequality; Work-Life Balance; Organizational Culture

08 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Knowledge Transfer: You Can't Learn Surgery By Watching

are you won’t ever learn how to pull off a triple bypass. And yet, in business, companies routinely expect employees to pick up new job knowledge through vicarious learning—through reading descriptions of tasks in knowledge-management... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health

December 1993 (Revised March 1997)
Case

Recruiting at Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co.

By: John J. Gabarro, Herminia M. Ibarra, John P. Kotter and Andrew P. Burtis

Examines the recruiting process of Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co. (BHC), an investment banking firm known for its work with middle market companies. Specifically, presents a profile of the firm and its recruiting process and then examines that process through the firm's... View Details

Keywords: Investment Banking; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Job Interviews; Banking Industry

November 2007
Case

Differences at Work: Alex (A)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Rachel Gordon

At an interview for his dream job, Alex has been asked an inappropriate question by the interviewer. How will Alex handle the situation? Should he accept the position is offered? View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Behavior; Job Interviews; Ethics; Human Resources; Diversity; Power and Influence

May 2003 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Carol Fishman Cohen: Professional Career Reentry (A)

By: Myra M. Hart, Robin J. Ely and Susan Wojewoda

Explores the career challenges facing highly successful women who leave the full-time workforce for several years to manage family commitments. Carol Cohen is a 1985 Harvard MBA who has professional line experience in a manufacturing environment, followed by a... View Details

Keywords: Work-Life Balance; Family and Family Relationships

April 2001 (Revised May 2002)
Case

Mark Pitts

Describes Peoplestreet, an Internet business being developed at Cambridge Incubator. Peoplestreet is attempting to hire a VP of business development and has identified a candidate, Mark Pitts. Asks students to assess which interview techniques seemed most effective in... View Details

Keywords: Recruitment; Internet and the Web; Job Interviews; Massachusetts