Always On - Publications - Faculty & Research

10 Jul 2007
What Do You Think?

How Much of Leadership Is About Control, Delegation, or Theater?

are always on stage being watched, analyzed, and interpreted." But as Adam Lawrence, an actor, warns us, " acting, or theatrics, is never about pretending to be something you are not."... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

17 Dec 2008
Lessons from the Classroom

‘Ted Levitt Changed My Life’

The details differ slightly, but the story, in its telling, is always the same. Ninety or so MBA students sit nervously awaiting the start of their first Marketing class. At the appointed time—not a minute more or less—a slight man with... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Education; Retail

27 Jan 2020
Research & Ideas

Hard Work Isn't Enough: How to Find Your Edge

We’re told that the secret to success is hard work. But the truth is, hard work alone doesn’t always pay off. After all, career advancement isn’t always neatly tied to your skills, effort, or even the... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

14 Jul 2022
Research & Ideas

When the Rubber Meets the Road, Most Commuters Text and Email While Driving

A majority of commuters admit to multitasking on the road, including texting and reading emails, according to new research that reveals the widespread extent of distracted driving. About 87 percent of commuters are engaged in at least... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

15 Oct 2007
Research & Ideas

Businesses Beware: The World Is Not Flat

power of states. But the world is not flat, argues HBS professor Pankaj Ghemawat. Think of it as partly globalized, or "semiglobalized." "Strategies that presume complete global integration tend to place far too much emphasis View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

04 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

Navigating Consumer Data Privacy in an AI World

entity calling the shots for everyone on what's good or not. Huang: While the approaches are different, investing in privacy is always a smart move for companies. In Europe, you might get a direct call from... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology; Information Technology

03 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Transforming Manufacturing Waste into Profit

It's been said that "one man's trash is another man's treasure." HBS Assistant Professor Deishin Lee, however, has taken that old adage a step further in her recent working paper Turning Waste into By-Product by showing how it's possible for companies to turn... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Manufacturing

12 Sep 2023
What Do You Think?

Who Gets the Loudest Voice in DEI Decisions?

practicing policies designed to increase inclusion and diversity, if not always equity, are more creative and productive than those that ignore such policies. Companies in the top quartile of gender and ethnic/racial diversity are 25... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

19 Dec 2023
Research & Ideas

15 Podcast Episodes That Grabbed Listeners in 2023

Global Sustainability Personal at Bühler The global food supply chain is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental challenges. Many companies avoid these issues or make token efforts to reduce their impact View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

23 May 2012
Research & Ideas

Five Ways to Make Your Company More Innovative

consumer. So, even thinking about what features you put into a product affects how easy it will be to market. There's always this idea of feature creep that leads to adding bells and whistles. But every time you add bells and whistles,... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons, Julia Hanna & Roger Thompson

07 Feb 2017
Research & Ideas

The Right Way to Cry in Front of Your Boss

position for criers That may not always be the case depending on the relationship between the person in distress and the observer, as well as the organization’s “display rules.” In other words, are you in a... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland

30 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 30

chlorine tablets to purify their drinking water? Behavioral economics has shown us that we don't always act in our own best interests. This is as true of health decisions as it is of economic ones. An array of biases, limits View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

22 Nov 2010
Research & Ideas

Seven Strategy Questions: A Simple Approach for Better Execution

your primary customer will allow you to devote all possible resources to meeting their needs and minimize resources devoted to everything else. This is the path to competitive success. It's easy to try to duck the tough choice implied by the adjective primary by... View Details

Keywords: by Robert Simons

04 Jan 2017
What Do You Think?

How Much Bureaucracy is a Good Thing in Government and Business?

always seems to be accompanied by several similar themes. One theme is change. For some reason, change has an appeal to voters, pretty much regardless of the performance of the incumbent, at least at the... View Details

Keywords: by James L. Heskett

19 Sep 2023
Research & Ideas

What Chandrayaan-3 Says About India's Entrepreneurial Approach to Space

the world, and our MBA students feel they need exposure to it. Going back to my graduate years at Harvard, there were many valuable classes on economic development—including in economics, in political science, at HKS—but what I View Details

Keywords: by Clea Simon, Harvard Gazette; Aerospace

06 Jun 2016
Research & Ideas

Skills and Behaviors that Make Entrepreneurs Successful

financed them—declared such brick-and-mortar businesses were dinosaurs on their way to extinction. The success of Bluemercury proved the critics wrong. “We’ve always had a hard time being able to identify... View Details

Keywords: by HBS Working Knowledge

19 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

What Motivates People to Give Generously—and Why We Sometimes Don't

because you feel obligated. There are tactics that you can use to increase giving in, in the short-term, but it’s always important to consider the effects of this short-term success on people’s feelings... View Details

Keywords: by Jen McFarland Flint, HBS Alumni Bulletin

27 Jul 2020
Book

Reflection: The Pause That Brings Peace and Productivity

useful day by day, task by task, and problem by problem. As the senior executive put it, reflection can help you with “adjusting and trying to stay on the wave.” As another manager put it, “I always have... View Details