Messaging - Publications - Faculty & Research

15 Feb 2016
Research & Ideas

Want Your Employees to Plan Better for Retirement? Don't Do This

message I take away from this is that it’s natural to suggest this type of social norms intervention,” Beshears said. “It’s relatively soft touch; it’s suggestive but not coercive. And in a lot of situations, it works in the intended way.... View Details

Keywords: Re: John Beshears; Financial Services

11 Jun 2001
Research & Ideas

E-Commerce Unplugged

after she finishes work. His cell phone beeps: It's a message from the Soda X portal. The Chicago Fire soccer team is playing tonight, and the Guess? store that Tommy is approaching is offering him half-price tickets for the game if he... View Details

Keywords: by Nitin Nohria & Marty Leestma

01 Oct 2020
What Do You Think?

Are CEOs the Wrong Leaders for Stakeholder Capitalism?

leverage have to include large institutional investors. I was reminded of this when I read of David Swenson’s recent message to organizations managing Yale’s money under Swenson’s highly successful supervision. He told them that their... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

02 Jun 2014
Research & Ideas

Secrets to a Successful Social Media Strategy

that companies adopt two different approaches. The first approach, which he terms "digital strategy on social platforms," uses social media to broadcast commercial messages and seek customer feedback. The second approach, "social strategy... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

07 Jan 2015
What Do You Think?

SUMMING UP: What Are the Limits On Workplace Transparency?

Summing Up What Isn't Off Limits When it Comes to Transparency? The discussion of this month's column on corporate transparency to employees made it clear that we have reached a point at which disclosure of pay information in organizations is no longer much of an... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

17 Feb 2010
First Look

First Look: Feb. 17

superfluous. Specifically, when ads contain no information, a targeting equilibrium does not exist. Together, these results reveal how advertising conveys information both through the content of the message and the firm's choice of... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

12 Jan 2009
Research & Ideas

The Value of a ‘Portable’ Career

are not so different from organizational teams in other fields of life, including business. And watching the career moves of football stars may shed light on how you, too, can plan your next step. That's the message of new research by HBS... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Sports

13 Nov 2000
Research & Ideas

Managing to Learn: How Companies Can Turn Knowledge into Action

him with a problem, his response focuses on helping them come to their own decision rather than telling them what he thinks they should do. In addition, says Garvin, the top management of a learning organization should allow individual workers to experiment without... View Details

Keywords: by Laurie Joan Aron

24 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Global Brands: Connecting With Consumers Across Boundaries

products filling world markets, truly unique selling propositions—the staple of advertisers for decades—are now few and far between, according to Ingo Krauss. "The venerable USP [unique selling proposition] has become the unique communication proposition," he... View Details

Keywords: by James E. Aisner

08 Mar 2004
Research & Ideas

Secret to Success: Go for “Just Enough”

self-examination caused many to ask whether they were making all they could of their lives. Author Po Bronson struck a newly exposed nerve with the book What Should I Do with My Life? His message is about a good life measured by peace and... View Details

Keywords: by Laura Nash & Howard Stevenson

11 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

Sexual Harassment: What Employers Should Do Now

building a culture based on collaboration, teamwork, and respect—and not tolerating employees who dominate or treat other employees as if they are there to serve them. Leaders sometimes inadvertently send the wrong message by excusing—or... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

14 May 2012
Research & Ideas

Breaking the Smartphone Addiction

Editor's note: Check out the crowd at a concert, a movie, a school play, a beach—heck, even a funeral—and you'll likely see several people sneaking prolonged peeks at their smartphones. They just can't help themselves. Ringtones and View Details

Keywords: by Leslie A. Perlow

15 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Find Your Pragmatic Path through Radical Uncertainty

would love to know when life will return to “normal” even if it is a different normal than what we have previously experienced. Many companies are running ads or issuing CEO messages that say: “We are in this together.” Perhaps it is more... View Details

Keywords: by Howard Stevenson, Eugene B. Kogan, and Shirley Spence

01 Nov 2010
Research & Ideas

How IT Shapes Top-Down and Bottom-Up Decision Making

decision-making toward the bottom of the corporate ladder. Communication systems, such as e-mail and instant messaging applications, will push the decision-making process toward the top. And that means developing an IT strategy isn't all... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

23 Feb 2004
Research & Ideas

It’s Back to Business-Basics for Nonprofits

To transform lofty aspirations into quantifiable impact, nonprofits need to become more familiar with traditional business tools such as business plans, precise mission statements, and goal setting to improve their performance. That was the View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls

01 Jul 2002
Research & Ideas

What it Takes to Lead Through Turmoil

When electronic component distributor Arrow decided it had to be on the Internet, it gave the Arrow.com team terrific new offices, hired young newcomers, and essentially sent a message to mainstay Arrow employees that they were now... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

23 May 2016
Research & Ideas

A Little Understanding Motivates Copyright Abusers to Pay Up

settling in the first 30 days by 12 percent, and increased the amount of settlement revenue by 80 percent. Adding messages that also include a deadline increased the settlement rate by up to 19 percent, and the revenue by 130 percent.... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Media & Broadcasting; Publishing

25 Sep 2017
Research & Ideas

Why Politics is Failing America, and What Business Can Do To Help

that align strategy and business competition with the needs of society, which will mean a different relationship with government,” the paper concludes. Business community action required In the coming weeks, Porter and Gehl will bring their View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette

28 Aug 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, August 28, 2018

and from electronic communication servers—the effect of open office architectures on employees' face-to-face, email, and instant messaging (IM) interaction patterns. Contrary to common belief, the volume of face-to-face interaction... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

22 Aug 2005
Research & Ideas

Balancing the Future Against Today’s Needs

of the business," Phanstiel says. To keep people in the core "focused on the hard work of growing the old business, we had to make it clear that everyone's effort mattered." The message was clear: "Your job is to... View Details

Keywords: by Paul Michelman

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