Publications

May 2012 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Wikipedia: Project Esperanza

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, Andreea Gorbatai and Tiona Zuzul

In October 2006, Wikipedia was the largest volunteer-run on-line encyclopedia which could be freely read and edited by anyone with internet access. Within almost six years of its founding in 2001, the project had attracted hundreds of thousands of editors who had... View Details

Keywords: Web-enabled Application; Internet; Information Publishing; Social and Collaborative Networks; Groups and Teams; Publishing Industry; United States

February 2004
Article

How Subgroup Interests and Reputations Moderate the Effect of Organizational Identification on Cooperation

By: J. Polzer

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Interests; Reputation; Organizations; Cooperation

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15 Jun 2021
News

Diversifying HBS's Case Collection

talent, we fail all of our students,” says Jan Rivkin, the senior associate dean and chair of the MBA Program and the C. Roland Christensen Professor of Business Administration. “We fail our students from underrepresented groups because... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Gillespie

2009
Article

Feeling the Heat: The Effects of Performance Pressure on Teams' Knowledge Use and Performance

By: Heidi K. Gardner

Why do some teams fail to use their members' knowledge effectively, even after having correctly identified each other's expertise? This paper identifies performance pressure as a critical barrier to effective knowledge utilization in teams. I theorize that performance... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Expectations; Groups and Teams

2012
Chapter

When Identities, Interests, and Information Collide: How Subgroups Create Hidden Profiles in Teams

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer, Lisa Kwan and Lisa B. Kwan

Purpose—We review how team members' identities and interests affect team functioning, paying special attention to subgroup dynamics triggered by fault lines and coalitions. This review sets the stage for describing novel pathways through which identities and... View Details

Keywords: Information; Conflict of Interests; Interests; Groups and Teams; Identity; Performance

Web

Changing Permissions on the HBSGrid - Research Computing Services

) and the project GROUP (the second group of three listed, also rwx ). The final triplet, usually not set, is for WORLD . Any files originating on the grid will usually have the permissions rwxrwx--- in a... View Details

2021
Article

Masked and Distanced: A Qualitative Study of How Personal Protective Equipment and Distancing Affect Teamwork in Emergency Care

By: Tuna Cem Hayirli, Nicholas Stark, Aditi Bhanja, James Hardy, Christopher Peabody and Michaela J. Kerrissey

Background: Newly intensified use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in emergency departments presents teamwork challenges affecting the quality and safety of care at the frontlines.
Objective: We conducted a qualitative study to categorize and... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Teamwork; Emergency Service; Hospital; Quality Of Health Care; Health Pandemics; Health Care and Treatment; Quality; Groups and Teams; Communication

June 2016
Article

Wicked Problem Solvers: Lessons from Successful Cross-industry Teams

By: Amy C. Edmondson

Companies today increasingly rely on teams that span many industries for radical innovation, especially to solve “wicked problems.” So leaders have to understand how to promote collaboration when roles are uncertain, goals are shifting, expertise and organizational... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Leadership Style; Collaborative Innovation and Invention

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February 2003
Background Note

Leading Teams

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer

This note which describes the architecture and processes that characterize effective teams, begins by detailing the steps involved in designing a team, from diagnosing the complexity, interdependence, and objectives of the task to harnessing the key resources teams... View Details

Keywords: Communication; Decision Making; Leadership; Managerial Roles; Performance Effectiveness; Groups and Teams

March 22, 2012
Article

Global Team Leaders Must Deliberately Create 'Moments'

By: Tsedal Neeley

Global teams face the challenge of having to operate with limited face-to-face contact and across vast distances, time zones, language backgrounds, and contexts, as well as cultural differences. In turn, these differences generate disruptions to team cohesion and top... View Details

Keywords: Global Range; Groups and Teams; Management Practices and Processes

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February 2021
Tutorial

What are Agile Teams?

By: Tsedal Neeley

This video explores the elements that constitute agile teams. From its history in the "Agile Manifesto," this philosophy for organizational behavior prioritizes working software over comprehensive documentation, customer collaboration over contract negotiation, and... View Details

Keywords: Agile Practices; Organization Behavior; Priorities; Groups and Teams; Decision Choices and Conditions; Values and Beliefs

2017
Article

High-Stakes Innovation: When Collaboration Undermines (and Sometimes Enhances) Innovation

By: Johnathan Cromwell and Heidi K. Gardner

Organizations must constantly innovate, or else they may suffer consequences that range in severity. In low-stakes situations, they may lose a small opportunity for growth; and in high-stakes situations, they may lose significant market share that threatens their... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Collaboration; Teams; Creativity Teams; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Groups and Teams; Creativity

2001
Case

Crown Point Cabinetry

By: Vijay Govindarajan, David VanderSchee and Julie Lang

In 1993, Brian Stowell, CEO of a family-owned cabinet manufacturing business, created a vision for his 85 employees that focused on high quality products with less rework and wasted material. Eliminating production line managers and adopting a team-based management... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Production; Groups and Teams; Business Strategy; Construction Industry; Consumer Products Industry

April 2012
Article

The Changing Ecology of Teams: New Directions for Teams Research

By: Ruth Wageman, Heidi K. Gardner and Mark Mortensen

The nature of collaboration has been changing at an accelerating pace, particularly in the last decade. Much of the published work in teams research, however, is still focused on the archetypal team that has well-defined membership, purposes, leadership, and standards... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Research; Change Management; Leadership; Standards; Performance Effectiveness; Theory; Civil Society or Community

December 2010
Teaching Note

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (TN)

By: C. Fritz Foley and Matthew Johnson

Teaching Note for 211032. View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Financing and Loans; Sales; Problems and Challenges; Credit; Markets; Innovation and Invention; Organizational Structure; Value; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States; United Arab Emirates

Greenberg helped grow American International Group into one of the world-wide leaders in insurance and financial services. Greenberg grew American International Group almost entirely internally, using his... View Details

Keywords: Finance

12 Dec 2012
Research & Ideas

Power to the People: The Unexpected Influence of Small Coalitions

areas of regulation," he explains. In most cases, new regulations emerged from political coalitions forged between specific industries and groups of activist consumers. Questioning The Unquestioned View Trumbull nods in agreement when... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard

December 2022
Article

Entry Points: Gaining Momentum in Early-Stage Cross-Boundary Collaborations

By: Eva Flavia Martínez Orbegozo, Jorrit de Jong, Hannah Riley Bowles, Amy Edmondson, Anahide Nahhal and Lisa Cox

To address complex social challenges, it is widely recognized that leaders from public, for-profit, and civic organizations should join forces. Yet, well-intended collaborators often struggle to achieve alignment and fail to gain traction in their joint efforts. This... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Social and Collaborative Networks; Goals and Objectives

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July 2012 (Revised July 2012)
Case

How Much? (A)

By: Clayton Rose

The leader of a small business team must deal with an employee who is unwilling to reveal to him the profitability of a transaction for the firm and client. View Details

Keywords: Culture; Client Responsibility; Leadership; Groups and Teams; Ethics; Finance; Conflict Management