Publications

SSRN

28 Feb 2011
Research & Ideas

The Importance of ‘Don’t’ in Inducing Ethical Employee Behavior

In trying to encourage good moral conduct, it's common for a company to come up with a list of don'ts—wording policies such that they focus on unethical behavior employees should avoid rather than on ethical acts they should strive to achieve. Don't cheat. Don't lie.... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

Article

Getting the Most Out of Giving: Concretely Framing a Prosocial Goal Maximizes Happiness

By: Melanie Rudd, Jennifer Aaker and Michael I. Norton

Across six field and laboratory experiments, participants assigned a more concretely-framed prosocial goal (e.g., making someone smile or increasing recycling) felt happier and reported creating greater personal happiness after performing a goal-directed act of... View Details

Keywords: Prosocial Behavior; Goal Framing; Affective Forecasting; Goals and Objectives; Happiness; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

1996
Article

Evidence to Support the Componential Model of Creativity: Secondary Analyses of Three Studies

By: R. Conti, H. Coon and T. M. Amabile

Amabile's (1983a, 1983b, 1988) componential model of creativity predicts that three major components contribute to creativity: skills specific to the task domain, general (cross-domain) creativity-relevant skills, and task motivation. If all three components actually... View Details

Keywords: Theory; Creativity; Research

2008
Working Paper

The Ontological Foundations of Leadership and Performance: Being a Leader, and the Effective Exercise of Leadership, A New Model

By: Werner Erhard, Michael C. Jensen, Steve Zaffron and Kari L. Granger

This paper is the (pre-course) introduction document to an experimental course developed by the authors and taught at the U. of Rochester Simon School of Business. The intention of the course is to leave the participants actually being leaders and being able to... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Business Education; Knowledge; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Performance Effectiveness; Attitudes; Behavior; Perspective

September 2011
Article

What Drives Sell-Side Analyst Compensation at High-Status Investment Banks?

By: Boris Groysberg, Paul M. Healy and David A. Maber

We use proprietary data from a major investment bank to investigate factors associated with analysts' annual compensation. We find compensation to be positively related to "All-Star" recognition, investment-banking contributions, the size of analysts' portfolios, and... View Details

Keywords: Investment Banking; Research; Compensation and Benefits; Investment Portfolio; Forecasting and Prediction; Resource Allocation; Status and Position; Business Earnings; Quality; Revenue; Stocks; Voting

Web

Topics - HBS Working Knowledge

Communication (42) Investment Activism (12) Investment Banking (6) Investment Funds (12) Investment Portfolio (8) Investment Return (12) Investment (78) Job Cuts and Outsourcing (12) Job Design and Levels (7) Job Interviews (3) Job Offer (3) Job Search (11) Jobs and... View Details

2011
Working Paper

The Dark Side of Creativity: Original Thinkers Can Be More Dishonest

By: Francesca Gino and Dan Ariely

Creativity is a common aspiration for individuals, organizations, and societies. Here, however, we test whether creativity increases dishonesty. We propose that a creative personality and creativity primes promote individuals' motivation to think outside the box and... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Behavior; Creativity; Motivation and Incentives; Personal Characteristics

May 1991
Article

Presidential Commitment and the Veto

By: Daniel E. Ingberman and Dennis Yao

A president's power to veto is widely recognized as an important weapon in the struggle with Congress over legislation. In this paper we investigate the effectiveness of the veto weapon with a simple model of presidential powers that incorporates informal institutional... View Details

Keywords: Government Legislation; Laws and Statutes; Financial Markets; Value; Taxation; Conflict and Resolution; Research; Performance Effectiveness; Legal Services Industry

Article

Brand Tourists: How Non-Core Users Enhance the Brand Image by Eliciting Pride

By: Silvia Bellezza and Anat Keinan

This research examines how core consumers of selective brands react when non-core users obtain access to the brand. Contrary to the view that non-core users and downward brand extensions pose a threat to the brand, this work investigates the conditions under which... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Attitudes; Brands and Branding

08 Oct 2020
Research & Ideas

Keep Your Weary Workers Engaged and Motivated

executives motivated who were asked to take a 50% salary reduction. Because we are now closed and have no revenue, we asked senior staff to take a 50% pay reduction until we reopen. Our CEO took a 100% pay reduction.” On the positive side... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

Article

Sadness, Identity, and Plastic in Over-shopping: The Interplay of Materialism, Poor Credit Management, and Emotional Buying Motives in Predicting Compulsive Buying

By: Grant Edward Donnelly, Masha Ksendzova and Ryan Howell

A comprehensive study is currently lacking to explain why material values strongly influence compulsive buying. The goal of the current study is to test if money management, buying motivations for improving mood and identity, and self-transformation expectations... View Details

Keywords: Credit Cards; Consumer Behavior; Identity; Emotions

01 Dec 2006
What Do You Think?

How Important Is Quality of Labor? And How Is It Achieved?

to take the initiative to risk one's safety to cross a border to support one's family a positive indicator of the kind of "attitude" sought by high-performing organizations? If so, will private industry as a matter of course... View Details

Keywords: by by Jim Heskett

2013
Working Paper

The Dirty Laundry of Employee Award Programs: Evidence from the Field

By: Timothy Gubler, Ian I. Larkin and Lamar Pierce

Many scholars and practitioners have recently argued that corporate awards are a "free" way to motivate employees. We use field data from an attendance award program implemented at one of five industrial laundry plants to show that awards can carry significant... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Service Delivery; Performance Productivity; Failure; Service Industry

SSRN

30 Sep 2019
Book

6 Steps to Building a Better Workplace for Black Employees

that prevents African Americans from ascending to leadership roles. The data is indeed bleak. While an increasing number of African Americans are earning bachelor’s and graduate degrees, the number of black people in management and senior executive View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

05 Mar 2009
What Do You Think?

How Frank or Deceptive Should Leaders Be?

Sridharan emphasized, "keep communication channels open for feedback to assuage any employee anxieties; be cautious in messaging about (the) here and now; stay positive about future plans!" Heather Neary raised questions for us... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

November 2022
Article

Opportunity Neglect: An Aversion to Low-probability Gains

By: Emily Prinsloo, Kate Barasz, Leslie K. John and Michael I. Norton

Seven preregistered studies (N = 2,890) conducted in the field, lab, and online document opportunity neglect: a tendency to reject opportunities with low probability of success, even when they come with little or no objective cost (e.g., time, money,... View Details

Keywords: Opportunities; Behavior; Risk and Uncertainty; Success; Perception

April 2013
Article

Gendered Races: Implications for Interracial Marriage, Leadership Selection, and Athletic Participation

By: Adam D. Galinsky, Erika V. Hall and Amy J.C. Cuddy

Six studies explored the overlap between racial and gender stereotypes and the consequences of this overlap for interracial dating, leadership selection, and athletic participation. Two initial studies, utilizing explicit and implicit measures, captured the stereotype... View Details

Keywords: Stereotypes; Attraction; Prejudice and Bias; Leadership; Race; Attitudes; Family and Family Relationships; Sports; Gender; United States

May 2008
Journal Article

Future Lock-in: Future Implementation Increases Selection of 'Should' Choices

By: Todd Rogers and Max Bazerman

People often experience tension over certain choices (e.g., they should reduce their gas consumption or increase their savings, but they do not want to). Some posit that this tension arises from the competing interests of a deliberative “should” self and an affective... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Research; Behavior; Conflict of Interests