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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(365)
- News (103)
- Research (169)
- Events (2)
- Multimedia (6)
- Faculty Publications (78)
- 12 Apr 2017
- News
The Busy Trap: How Keeping Busy Became a Status Symbol
- Research Summary
Rethinking Brand Contamination: How Consumers Maintain Distinction When Symbolic Boundaries Are Breached"
If consumers view their brands as extensions of themselves, what happens when undesirable consumers adopt these same brands? I address this question by examining an issue that is of great concern to managers of high-status brands: the rampant spread... View Details
- Research Summary
Simultaneous Distinction, Democratization and Omnivorism Effects: A Longitudinal Analysis of Dynamic Symbolic Boundaries in Counterfeit Consumption Networks
Sociologists have long examined the interactive relationship between social structure, taste and power. This literature has overwhelmingly fallen into three, ostensibly competing, theoretical “camps”: Distinction, where high-status consumers use... View Details
- June 2017
- Article
Conspicuous Consumption of Time: When Busyness and Lack of Leisure Time Become a Status Symbol
By: Silvia Bellezza, Neeru Paharia and Anat Keinan
While research on conspicuous consumption has typically analyzed how people spend money on products that signal status, we investigate conspicuous consumption in relation to time. We argue that a busy and overworked lifestyle, rather than a leisurely lifestyle, has... View Details
Bellezza, Silvia, Neeru Paharia, and Anat Keinan. "Conspicuous Consumption of Time: When Busyness and Lack of Leisure Time Become a Status Symbol." Journal of Consumer Research 44, no. 1 (June 2017): 118–138.
- Article
Lords of the Harvest: Symbolic Signaling and Regulatory Approval of Genetically Modified Organisms
By: Shon R. Hiatt and Sangchan Park
Hiatt, Shon R., and Sangchan Park. "Lords of the Harvest: Symbolic Signaling and Regulatory Approval of Genetically Modified Organisms." Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings (2010).
- April 2022
- Article
Consumers Value Effort over Ease When Caring for Close Others
By: Ximena Garcia-Rada, Mary Steffel, Elanor F. Williams and Michael I. Norton
Many products and services are designed to make caregiving easier, from premade meals for feeding families to robo-cribs that automatically rock babies to sleep. Yet, using these products may come with a cost: consumers may feel they have not exerted enough effort.... View Details
Keywords: Effor; Caregiving; Close Relationships; Symbolic Meaning; Signaling; Relationships; Consumer Behavior; Perception
Garcia-Rada, Ximena, Mary Steffel, Elanor F. Williams, and Michael I. Norton. "Consumers Value Effort over Ease When Caring for Close Others." Journal of Consumer Research 48, no. 6 (April 2022): 970–990.
- 18 Jul 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Beyond Symbolic Responses to Private Politics: Examining Labor Standards Improvement in Global Supply Chains
- 1 Aug 2010
- Conference Presentation
Lords of the harvest: Symbolic signaling and regulatory approval of genetically modified organisms in the nascent U.S. agriculture-biotechnology sector
By: Shon R. Hiatt and Sangchan Park
Keywords: Science; Information Technology; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Biotechnology Industry; United States
Hiatt, Shon R., and Sangchan Park. "Lords of the harvest: Symbolic signaling and regulatory approval of genetically modified organisms in the nascent U.S. agriculture-biotechnology sector." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Montreal, Canada, August 01, 2010.
- Web
Concrete Symbols - A Concrete Symbol: The Building of Harvard Business School 1908-1927 – Baker Library | Bloomberg Center, Historical Collections
HBS Quick Links HBS Home MBA Executive Education Doctoral Programs Faculty and Research Alumni Publishing Site Index HBS Home Contact Us Map/Directions A Concrete Symbol The Exhibition Introduction Educating Business Administrators Core... View Details
- 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.")
- 11 Aug 2011
- News
Fluor Joins Softbank as Companies Buy Back Stock in Slump
- 9 Dec 2011 - 10 Dec 2011
- Conference Presentation
Taste Contested: The Construction of American Wine Culture, 1967-1976
By: Ai Hisano
This paper examines the role of taste in American consumer society by analyzing how wine came to symbolize sophistication during the 1960s and 1970s. View Details
Hisano, Ai. "Taste Contested: The Construction of American Wine Culture, 1967-1976." Paper presented at the International Conference on Food Studies, Food Studies Knowledge Community, Las Vegas, NV, December 9–10, 2011.
- 2022
- Presentation
Pushkala Prasad presents at the 2022 Gender and Work Symposium
- Article
On the Causality and Cause of Returns to Organizational Status: Evidence from the Grands Crus Classés of the Médoc
By: Daniel Malter
This paper identifies the causal symbolic effect of status on the prices organizations charge for their products. I exploit the classification of the châteaux of the Médoc, which sorted 61 wine producers into five growth classes in 1855, as a fixed hierarchical symbol... View Details
Keywords: Organizational Status; Quality Signals; Conspicuous Consumption; Wine Classification Of 1855; Grand Cru; Status and Position; Quality; Reputation; Price; France
Malter, Daniel. "On the Causality and Cause of Returns to Organizational Status: Evidence from the Grands Crus Classés of the Médoc." Administrative Science Quarterly 59, no. 2 (June 2014): 271–300.
- March 29, 2021
- Editorial
Research: A Little Recognition Can Provide a Big Morale Boost
By: Shibeal O'Flaherty, Michael Sanders and A.V. Whillans
As organizations large and small face the twin challenges of increasingly strained budgets and burned out workforces, what can managers do to keep employees engaged—without breaking the bank? In this piece, the authors share new research on the power of symbolic awards... View Details
O'Flaherty, Shibeal, Michael Sanders, and A.V. Whillans. "Research: A Little Recognition Can Provide a Big Morale Boost." Harvard Business Review (website) (March 29, 2021).
- October 1987 (Revised October 1989)
- Background Note
Moving Ideas into Action: Mastering the Art of Change
Discusses elements in organizing a large scale change effort: defining a shared vision, coalition building, management structure and process, communication and education, local participation and innovation, standards and measures, and symbols and signals. View Details
Keywords: Change Management; Communication; Policy; Innovation and Invention; Standards; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategy
Kanter, Rosabeth M. "Moving Ideas into Action: Mastering the Art of Change." Harvard Business School Background Note 388-002, October 1987. (Revised October 1989.)
- Awards
Alden G. Clayton Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Competition
Winner of the 2018 Alden G. Clayton Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Competition from the Marketing Science Institute for her dissertation "Branding in the New World: How Luxury Consumption, Social Comparison, and Brand Secrecy Impact Symbolic Consumption." View Details
- 12 Dec 2013
- News
Mexico’s Pride, Its Oil, May Reopen to Big Multinationals
- October 2021
- Article
Board Design and Governance Failures at Peer Firms
By: Shelby Gai, J. Yo-Jud Cheng and Andy Wu
Our study introduces board committees as a crucial determinant of board actions. We examine how directors who structurally link different board committees—referred to as multi-committee directors (MCDs)—explain why some board actions are merely symbolic while others... View Details
Keywords: Board Committees; Board Monitoring; New Director Nomination; Peer Financial Restatements; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Performance Effectiveness
Gai, Shelby, J. Yo-Jud Cheng, and Andy Wu. "Board Design and Governance Failures at Peer Firms." Strategic Management Journal 42, no. 10 (October 2021): 1909–1938.