Publications

March 2022 (Revised April 2022)
Teaching Note

France Télécom (A), (B), and (C)

By: Ashley Whillans

This case series discusses the evolution of France Télécom (now Orange) from a national telephone monopoly to a private company. During this process, the company faced numerous challenges including the entry of new competition from other countries and a workforce that... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Compensation and Benefits; Employee Relationship Management; Business Organization; Well-being; Communications Industry; Communications Industry; France

March 1996 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Wildfire Communications, Inc. (A)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Mary Connor

Founder and CEO Bill Warner is faced with critical decisions regarding the product lines, target markets, and technology platforms that his start-up, Wildfire Communications, Inc., will pursue. In addition to the question of strategic focus across these lines of... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Resource Allocation; Organizational Culture; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Communications Industry; Communications Industry

Educators

December 1986 (Revised April 1987)
Case

Motorola's Japan Strategy

By: David B. Yoffie and John J. Coleman

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Corporate Strategy; Trade; Communications Industry; Communications Industry; Japan

January 2015 (Revised April 2025)
Technical Note

FIELD Global Capstone: Orchestrating a Compelling Presentation

By: Jill Avery

This note was written to help you organize and orchestrate your FIELD Global Immersion final project presentation to your global partner. It is designed to illustrate ways to make your final presentation persuasive, inspiring, and powerful—a presentation with presence.... View Details

Keywords: Presentation Skills; Communication; Communication Intention and Meaning; Communication Strategy; Interpersonal Communication; Management Skills

Educators

01 Dec 2017
News

Examining the Magnitude of Syria’s Refugee Crisis

Syrian communities was phase one of a large-scale survey Fabbe conducted to gain insight into the effects of the war on those who had fled from the conflict at home. Throughout 2016, Fabbe’s research team conducted interviews with more... View Details

15 Mar 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Backhanded Compliments: How Negative Comparisons Undermine Flattery

Keywords: by Ovul Sezer, Alison Wood Brooks, and Michael I. Norton

2025
Book

Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves

By: Alison Wood Brooks

We all struggle with difficult conversations, but we're often not very good at easy ones either. Though we do it all the time, conversation is one of the most complex, demanding, and delicate of all human tasks, rife with possibilities for misinterpretation and... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication

September 20, 2019
Editorial

Why Asking for Advice Is More Effective Than Asking for Feedback

By: Jaewon Yoon, Hayley Blunden, Ariella S. Kristal and A.V. Whillans

Conventional wisdom says you should ask your colleagues for feedback. However, research suggests that feedback often has no (or even a negative) impact on our performance. This is because the feedback we receive is often too vague—it fails to highlight what we can... View Details

Keywords: Feedback; Advice; Advice Seeking; Feedback Culture; Advice Taking; Interpersonal Communication

Read Now

June 1979
Background Note

Developing Skill in Listening

By: Arthur N. Turner

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication

Article

Why ‘Tell Them Something They Don't Know’ Is Bad Advice in B2B Sales

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Tracy DeCicco

Common advice in sales is to provide insights to customers during sales calls. But this advice generally stays at the level of “tell people something they don’t already know” and results in sales conversations littered with many irrelevant factoids. This article... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Interpersonal Communication; Communication Strategy

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