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- Faculty Publications (103)
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- All HBS Web (534)
- Faculty Publications (103)
- 2021
- Working Paper
CEO Activism, Consumer Polarization, and Firm Performance
By: Young Hou and Christopher W. Poliquin
CEOs are increasingly engaging in activism on controversial social and political issues that do not directly affect their businesses. Simultaneously, the general public is increasingly polarized. We examine how CEO support for gun control after two mass shootings... View Details
Keywords: CEO Activism; Guns; Polarization; Non-market Strategy; Social Issues; Leadership; Consumer Behavior; Performance
Hou, Young, and Christopher W. Poliquin. "CEO Activism, Consumer Polarization, and Firm Performance." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-106, February 2021.
- February 2013 (Revised March 2013)
- Case
Agero: Enhancing Capabilities for Customers
By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred
This case illustrates the importance of choosing a primary customer as the basis for organization design. Cross Country Group managers adjusted resource allocation, organization design and performance measures over time to transform Cross Country Group from an... View Details
Keywords: Entrepreneurial Management; Entrepreneurial Gap; Entrepreneurship; Auto Industry; Insurance; Performance Management; Performance Measurement; Performance Measures; Performance Pressure; Decisions; Family Business; Resource Allocation; Organizational Design; Customer Focus and Relationships; Performance Evaluation; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Industry
Simons, Robert, and Natalie Kindred. "Agero: Enhancing Capabilities for Customers." Harvard Business School Case 113-001, February 2013. (Revised March 2013.)
- Research Summary
Performance Measurement and Accountability in the Social Sector
Professor Ebrahim's research examines the pressures for accountability facing social sector organizations, and their implications for organizational performance. How can nonprofits and social enterprises measure performance in order to achieve better results? This... View Details
- February 2020
- Article
Using Charity Performance Metrics as an Excuse Not to Give
By: Christine L. Exley
There is an increasing pressure to give more wisely and effectively. There is, relatedly, an increasing focus on charity performance metrics. Via a series of experiments, this paper provides a caution to such a focus. While information on charity performance metrics... View Details
Keywords: Charitable Giving; Prosocial Behavior; Altruism; Excuses; Self-serving Biases; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Performance; Measurement and Metrics; Behavior
Exley, Christine L. "Using Charity Performance Metrics as an Excuse Not to Give." Management Science 66, no. 2 (February 2020): 553–563.
- 2024
- Working Paper
You've Got Mail! The Late 19th Century U.S. Postal Service Expansion, Entrepreneurship, and Firm Performance
By: Astrid Marinoni and Maria P. Roche
This paper examines the impact of the expansion of the US Postal Service in the late 19th century
on firm creation and performance. Utilizing newly digitized archival data on historic business establishments,
post office locations, and road networks in California,... View Details
Keywords: Institutional Innovation; Knowledge Exchange; US Postal Service; Firm Performance; Infrastructure; Expansion; Government Administration; Communication; Business History; Entrepreneurship; Public Administration Industry; California
Marinoni, Astrid, and Maria P. Roche. "You've Got Mail! The Late 19th-Century U.S. Postal Service Expansion, Firm Creation, and Firm Performance." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 23-022, October 2022. (Revised July 2024.)
- 2010
- Working Paper
The Limits of Nonprofit Impact: A Contingency Framework for Measuring Social Performance
By: Alnoor Ebrahim and V. Kasturi Rangan
Leaders of organizations in the social sector are under growing pressure to demonstrate their impacts on pressing societal problems such as global poverty. We review the debates around performance and impact, drawing on three literatures: strategic philanthropy,... View Details
Keywords: Development Economics; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Leadership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance Expectations; Nonprofit Organizations; Social Issues
Ebrahim, Alnoor, and V. Kasturi Rangan. "The Limits of Nonprofit Impact: A Contingency Framework for Measuring Social Performance." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 10-099, May 2010. (Recipient of 2010 Academy of Management, Public and Nonprofit Division, Carlo Masini Award for Innovative Scholarship runner-up prize; and, selection for the Best Papers proceedings.)
- Spring 2014
- Article
What Impact? A Framework for Measuring the Scale & Scope of Social Performance
By: Alnoor Ebrahim and V. Kasturi Rangan
Organizations with social missions, such as nonprofits and social enterprises, are under growing pressure to demonstrate their impacts on pressing societal problems such as global poverty. This article draws on several cases to build a performance assessment framework... View Details
Ebrahim, Alnoor, and V. Kasturi Rangan. "What Impact? A Framework for Measuring the Scale & Scope of Social Performance." California Management Review 56, no. 3 (Spring 2014): 118–141.
- 1998
- Chapter
Economic Performance, Strategic Position, and Vulnerability to Ecological Pressures among U.S. Interstate Motor Carriers
By: Jack A. Nickerson and Brian S. Silverman
Keywords: Truck Transportation; Environmental Management; Competitive Strategy; Performance; Shipping Industry; United States
Nickerson, Jack A., and Brian S. Silverman. "Economic Performance, Strategic Position, and Vulnerability to Ecological Pressures among U.S. Interstate Motor Carriers." In Disciplinary Roots of Strategic Management Research. Vol. 15, edited by Joel A. C. Baum, 37–61. Advances in Strategic Management. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1998.
- 09 Jul 2001
- Research & Ideas
Does Misery Love Companies? How Social Performance Pays Off
history of empirical work on the search for a relationship between corporate social performance (CSP) and corporate financial performance (CFP). Second, we critically appraise the quality of this work. And... View Details
Keywords: by Joshua D. Margolis & James P. Walsh
- 2023
- Article
Conduit Incentives: Eliciting Cooperation from Workers Outside of Managers' Control
By: Susanna Gallani
Can managers use monetary incentives to elicit cooperation from workers they cannot reward for their efforts? I study “conduit incentives,” an innovative incentive design, whereby managers influence bonus-ineligible workers’ effort by offering bonus-eligible employees... View Details
Keywords: Organizational Behavior Modification; Peer Monitoring; Persistence Of Performance Improvements; Crowding Out; Implicit Incentives; Compensation; Healthcare; Social Pressure; Image Motivation; Incentives; Motivation; Performance; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Compensation and Benefits; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Organizational Culture; Health Industry; California
Gallani, Susanna. "Conduit Incentives: Eliciting Cooperation from Workers Outside of Managers' Control." Accounting Review 93, no. 3 (2023): 1–28.
- November 2020
- Article
When the Boss Comes to Town: The Effects of Headquarters' Visits on Facility-Level Misconduct
By: Jonas Heese and Gerardo Pérez Cavazos
We study the effects of headquarters’ visits on facility-level misconduct. We use the staggered introduction of airline routes to identify exogenous travel-time reductions between headquarters and facilities and test whether such reductions affect facility-level... View Details
Keywords: Corporate Misconduct; Visits By Management; Flight Routes; Control Systems; Compliance Programs; Performance Pressure; Business or Company Management; Management Systems; Governance Controls; Governance Compliance; Performance Expectations
Heese, Jonas, and Gerardo Pérez Cavazos. "When the Boss Comes to Town: The Effects of Headquarters' Visits on Facility-Level Misconduct." Accounting Review 95, no. 6 (November 2020): 235–261.
- 27 Jun 2016
- Research & Ideas
These Management Practices, Like Certain Technologies, Boost Company Performance
performance Several factors corresponded with higher management scores. Those with the best scores faced a high degree of competition within their industries—possibly due to badly managed firms being weeded out and better managed firms... View Details
Keywords: by Michael Blanding
- 2010
- Working Paper
Disagreement about the Team's Status Hierarchy: An Insidious Obstacle to Coordination and Performance
By: Heidi K. Gardner
Hierarchies are pervasive in groups, generally providing clear guidelines for the dominance and deference behaviors that members are expected to show based on their relative ranks. But what happens when team members disagree about where each member ranks on the... View Details
Keywords: Performance Effectiveness; Groups and Teams; Behavior; Conflict and Resolution; Perception; Status and Position; Cooperation
Gardner, Heidi K. "Disagreement about the Team's Status Hierarchy: An Insidious Obstacle to Coordination and Performance." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 10-113, June 2010.
- 2018
- Working Paper
Managing Through Organizational Change: Employee Alignment in the Presence of Unexpected Career Concerns
By: Ohchan Kwon and Jee-Eun Shin
This study examines performance consequences due to unexpected career concerns – layoff risks due to institutional reasons. Exploiting a company-wide announcement of a merger decision by management as a trigger event for unexpected career concerns, we examine employee... View Details
- October 2011
- Case
Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service
By: Robert Simons and Michael Mahoney
In January 2010, U.S. luxury goods retailer Raleigh & Rosse is being sued by its employees for encouraging "off the clock" hours. At the center of the class action lawsuit is the famous Raleigh & Rosse performance measurement system previously thought to be the core of... View Details
Keywords: Control Systems; Performance Measurement; Goal Setting; Compensation; Incentives; Motivation; Sales Compensation; Motivation and Incentives; Goals and Objectives; Growth Management; Lawsuits and Litigation; Organizational Culture; Management Systems; Customer Focus and Relationships; Employees; Performance Evaluation; Compensation and Benefits; Retail Industry; United States
Simons, Robert, and Michael Mahoney. "Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service." Harvard Business School Brief Case 114-353, October 2011.
- December 2011
- Article
CEO and Board Chair Roles: To Split or Not to Split?
By: Aiyesha Dey, Ellen Engel and Xiaohui Liu
We examine the performance and compensation implications of firms' decisions to combine the roles of CEO and board chairman (duality). We document that firms that split the CEO and chairman positions due to investor pressure have significantly lower announcement... View Details
Keywords: CEO Duality; Board Chairman; Firm Performance; Pay-performance Sensitivity; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Leadership; Performance Efficiency
Dey, Aiyesha, Ellen Engel, and Xiaohui Liu. "CEO and Board Chair Roles: To Split or Not to Split?" Journal of Corporate Finance 17, no. 5 (December 2011): 1595–1618.
- October 2013
- Article
How Firms Respond to Mandatory Information Disclosure
By: Anil R. Doshi, Glen W.S. Dowell and Michael W. Toffel
Mandatory information disclosure regulations seek to create institutional pressure to spur performance improvement. By examining how organizational characteristics moderate establishments' responses to a prominent environmental information disclosure program, we... View Details
Keywords: Information Disclosure; Institutional Theory; Environmental Strategy; Mandatory Disclosure; Environmental Performance; Information; Corporate Disclosure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Performance Improvement; Environmental Sustainability; Manufacturing Industry; United States
Doshi, Anil R., Glen W.S. Dowell, and Michael W. Toffel. "How Firms Respond to Mandatory Information Disclosure." Strategic Management Journal 34, no. 10 (October 2013): 1209–1231. (Featured in The Regulatory Review.)
- 2020
- Article
Research on Corporate Sustainability: Review and Directions for Future Research
By: Jody Grewal and George Serafeim
We review the literature on corporate sustainability and provide directions for future research. Our review focuses on three actions: measuring, managing and communicating corporate sustainability performance. Measurement is the least developed of the three and... View Details
Keywords: Sustainability; Sustainability Reporting; Sustainability Management; Nonfinancial Disclosure; Nonfinancial Information; Nonfinancial Performance; Materiality; ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; ESG Disclosure; ESG Disclosure Metrics; ESG Ratings; ESG Reporting; Inequality; Corporate Social Responsibility; Accounting; Finance; Management; Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Diversity; Equality and Inequality; Corporate Disclosure; Measurement and Metrics; Corporate Governance; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact
Grewal, Jody, and George Serafeim. "Research on Corporate Sustainability: Review and Directions for Future Research." Foundations and Trends® in Accounting 14, no. 2 (2020): 73–127.
- 2018
- Working Paper
Corporate Sustainability: A Strategy?
By: George Serafeim
We explore the conditions under which firms maintain their competitive advantage through sustainability-based differentiation when faced with imitation pressures by industry peers. We document growing intraindustry convergence on sustainability actions over time for... View Details
Keywords: Sustainability; Corporate Performance; Industry Analysis; CSR; ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Environment; Social Responsibility; Strategy And Execution; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Strategy; Performance; Corporate Strategy
Ioannou, Ioannis, and George Serafeim. "Corporate Sustainability: A Strategy?" Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-065, January 2019. (Revised April 2021.)
- March–April 2016
- Article
Scrutiny, Norms, and Selective Disclosure: A Global Study of Greenwashing
By: Christopher Marquis, Michael W. Toffel and Yanhua Zhou
Under increased pressure to report environmental impacts, some firms selectively disclose relatively benign impacts, creating an impression of transparency while masking their true performance. We identify key company- and country-level factors that limit firms' use of... View Details
Keywords: Disclosure Strategy; Disclosure; Environmental Performance; Environmental Strategy; Environment; Symbolic; Reporting; Corporate Disclosure; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact
Marquis, Christopher, Michael W. Toffel, and Yanhua Zhou. "Scrutiny, Norms, and Selective Disclosure: A Global Study of Greenwashing." Organization Science 27, no. 2 (March–April 2016): 483–504. (Formerly titled "When Do Firms Greenwash? Corporate Visibility, Civil Society Scrutiny, and Environmental Disclosure.")