Publications

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Article

Don't Let Power Corrupt You

By: Julie Battilana and Tiziana Casciaro

Although power is essential to taking charge and driving change, it makes leaders vulnerable to two traps that can not only erode their own effectiveness but also undermine their teams. Hubris—the excessive pride and self-confidence that can come with power—causes... View Details

Keywords: Humility; Empathy; Hubris; Leadership; Power and Influence; Moral Sensibility; Performance Effectiveness

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21 Jun 2012 - 24 Jun 2012
Conference Presentation

Visual Attention to Power Posers: People Avert their Gaze from Nonverbal Displays of Power

By: Elizabeth Baily Wolf

Existing literature suggests that people visually attend more to powerful/high-status people. However, previous studies manipulated target power/status via the target’s role (e.g., CEO or judge vs. mechanic or fry cook) or clothing (e.g., business suit vs. sweat suit).... View Details

Keywords: Nonverbal Communication; Behavior; Rank and Position; Emotions; Power and Influence

19 Dec 2014
Research & Ideas

China’s Complicated Relationship With Mother Nature

Despite its name, the Great Wall of China began as a series of smaller, isolated defensive fortifications. Those structures grew and were later unified into the imposing structure that exists today. The Great Wall is a great metaphor for the Chinese economy. By... View Details

Keywords: Re: William C. Kirby; Manufacturing

February 2024
Article

Are Many Sex/Gender Differences Really Power Differences?

By: Adam D. Galinsky, Aurora Turek, Grusha Agarwal, Eric M. Anicich, Derek D. Rucker, Hannah Riley Bowles, Nira Liberman, Chloe Levin and Joe C Magee

This research addresses the long-standing debate about the determinants of sex/gender differences. Evolutionary theorists trace many sex/gender differences back to natural selection and sex-specific adaptations. Sociocultural and biosocial theorists, in contrast,... View Details

Keywords: Gender; Genetics; Power and Influence; Social Issues

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21 Sep 2021
Office Hours

Readers Ask: How Can I Gain Power and Influence?

power is always relative. You may have great influence in one relationship and be completely dependent in another. Second, people confuse power with authority, but authority is... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

August 2007
Background Note

Assessing and Enhancing Individual Power in the Family Business System

By: John A. Davis

Describes how to asses and enhance an individual's bases, sources, and levels of power in a family business system. Relies on Franch and Raven's framework that identifies five bases of social power (reward, coercive, legitimate, referent, and expert), describing how... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Family and Family Relationships; Situation or Environment; Power and Influence

May 2010 (Revised August 2013)
Case

Delta Electronics Hybrid Power Train

By: Willy C. Shih and Jyun-Cheng Wang

Delta Electronics, the world's largest manufacturer of switching power supplies, hoped to enter the market for gasoline-electric hybrid power trains for automobiles by being a major component and subsystem supplier. While most public awareness of hybrid vehicles fell... View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Intellectual Property; Emerging Markets; Industry Clusters; Partners and Partnerships; Electronics Industry; China

08 Jan 2007
Research & Ideas

Who Rises to Power in American Business?

race, or nationality. In fact, a diverse perspective at the top may be a key to unleashing talent and fresh opportunities throughout the firm. Q: What is the relationship between business leadership and View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

May 2011
Article

The Power of Small Wins

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer

What is the best way to motivate employees to do creative work? Help them take a step forward every day. In an analysis of knowledge workers' diaries, the authors found that nothing contributed more to a positive inner work life (the mix of emotions, motivations, and... View Details

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January 2014 (Revised March 2015)
Technical Note

The Market Power of Platform-Mediated Networks

By: Benjamin Edelman

This note provides criteria to evaluate the power of a platform-mediated network. For a company considering building such a network or an investor considering funding such an effort, this analysis reveals the scope and desirability of the opportunity. Meanwhile, for a... View Details

Keywords: Intermediaries; Platforms; Platform Strategy; Business Model; Agreements and Arrangements; Distribution Channels; Networks; Technology Platform; Telecommunications Industry; Travel Industry; Financial Services Industry

23 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

The Power of Conversational Leadership

Instead, they are adopting a conversational approach. In their new book, Talk, Inc.: How Trusted Leaders Use Conversation to Power Their Organizations, Groysberg and communication professional Michael Slind show how several global... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

03 Jun 2013
Research & Ideas

The Power of Rituals in Life, Death, and Business

All over the world, people in pain turn to rituals in the face of loss—no matter if it's the death of a loved one (dressing in black, for example), the end of a relationship (burning old love letters), or the crushing defeat in a Little... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

February 2017 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Sarah Powers at Automated Precision Products

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer, Michael Norris, Julia Kelley and Kristina Tobio

In 2017, Sarah Powers, VP of Sales at an automation hardware firm, is trying to understand why some members of her sales team have been underperforming. She is tasked with analyzing her firm’s email and calendar data to try to find relationships between communications... View Details

Keywords: People Analytics; Sales Attainment; Communication Networks; Data; Human Resources; Business Processes; Sales; Communication; Analytics and Data Science; Analysis; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States

August 1999 (Revised February 2000)
Background Note

What It Really Means to Manage: Exercising Power and Influence

By: Linda A. Hill

Describes the realities versus the myths of what it means to be a manager. In particular, it focuses on the limitations of formal authority as a source of power and identifies other sources of power that effective managers rely upon. Also outlines a framework of... View Details

Keywords: Framework; Management Teams; Alliances; Power and Influence