Publications

20 Mar 2019
Research & Ideas

Gender-Diverse Companies Thrive Only Where Diversity is Embraced

Do gender-diverse companies make more money than businesses run primarily by men? If research says they perform better, that could bolster the argument that women should have more access to top positions in organizations. But previous... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

October 1981
Background Note

Note on Rewards Systems

By: Michael Beer

Looks at rewards in general, and pay in particular, and studies the conditions that may enhance or detract from employee satisfaction and organizational effectiveness. View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Wages; Organizations; Performance Effectiveness; Motivation and Incentives; Satisfaction

October 1996
Article

Assessing the Work Environment for Creativity

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

We describe the development and validation of a new instrument, KEYS: Assessing the Climate for Creativity, designed to assess perceived stimulants and obstacles to creativity in organizational work environments. The KEYS scales have acceptable factor structures,... View Details

Keywords: Creativity; Motivation and Incentives; Organizational Culture; Innovation and Invention; Groups and Teams; Performance; Research; Theory

April 2004 (Revised September 2007)
Case

Accounting Fraud at WorldCom

By: Robert S. Kaplan and David Kiron

The principal players in WorldCom's accounting fraud included CFO Scott Sullivan, the General Accounting and Internal Audit departments, external auditor Arthur Andersen, and the board of directors. The case provides sufficient detail to allow for a full discussion of... View Details

Keywords: Governance Controls; Governing and Advisory Boards; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Financial Reporting; Organizational Culture; Corporate Governance; Accounting Audits

28 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

Making the Decision to Franchise (or not)

customer-facing operating environment affects organizational design choices such as control systems, incentives, performance measurement, and ownership structures," explains Campbell. "Even firms that have... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

January 2023
Article

Psychological Safety Comes of Age: Observed Themes in an Established Literature

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Derrick P. Bransby

Since its renaissance in the 1990s, psychological safety research has flourished—a boom motivated by recognition of the challenge of navigating uncertainty and change. Today, its theoretical and practical significance is amplified by the increasingly complex and... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Risk and Uncertainty; Leadership; Working Conditions; Research; Performance; Learning; Organizational Culture

23 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Psychology, Pathology, and the CEO

turnaround. Consider the situations that confronted new CEOs in three companies: Gillette: Its performance was strong through the mid-1990s, but by the beginning of 2001, this global consumer-products company had experienced several years... View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

March–April 2021
Article

Network-biased Technical Change: How Information Management Tools Overcome Some Biases but Exacerbate Others.

By: Gerald C. Kane and Lynn Wu

Organizations have long sought to improve employee performance by managing knowledge more effectively. In this paper, we test whether the adoption of digital tools for expertise search and access within an organization, often referred to as a support to an... View Details

Keywords: Digital Tools; Social Media; Social Networks; Transactive Memory Systems; Augmented Intelligence; Artificial Intelligence; Social and Collaborative Networks; Gender; Equality and Inequality; Technology Adoption; Knowledge Management; Performance Improvement; Power and Influence; Organizational Change and Adaptation

2011
Article

Incentive Compensation and the Likelihood of Termination: Theory and Evidence from Real Estate Organizations

By: Christopher Parsons, G. Hallman and J. Hartzell

We analyze two managerial compensation incentive devices: the threat of termination and pay for performance. We first develop a simple model predicting that these devices are substitutes: when termination incentives are low, optimal contracts provide stronger... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Resignation and Termination; Compensation and Benefits; Real Estate Industry

2019
Flash Talks

Leveraging Minority Identities at Work

Research Summary

Current working papers

Organizational restructuring: the influence of formal and informal structure on tie formation. This paper considers how changes in formal structure and a key element of informal structure – the embeddedness of employee... View Details

24 Jun 2014
First Look

First Look: June 24

innovation is attracting exceptional creative talent. Or making the right investments. Or breaking down organizational silos. All of these things may help-but there's only one way to ensure sustained innovation: you need to lead it-and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2022
Book

The Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Economic Growth

By: Michael J. Andrews, Aaron Chatterji, Josh Lerner and Scott Stern

We live in an era in which innovation and entrepreneurship seem ubiquitous, particularly in regions like Silicon Valley, Boston, and the Research Triangle Park. But many metrics of economic growth, such as productivity growth and business dynamism, have been at best... View Details

Keywords: Productivity Growth; Production Technologies; Innovation and Invention; Entrepreneurship; Economic Growth; Competition; Organizational Design; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation

Register to Read

2009
Working Paper

Goals Gone Wild: The Systematic Side Effects of Over-Prescribing Goal Setting

By: Lisa D. Ordonez, Maurice E. Schweitzer, Adam D. Galinsky and Max H. Bazerman

Goal setting is one of the most replicated and influential paradigms in the management literature. Hundreds of studies conducted in numerous countries and contexts have consistently demonstrated that setting specific, challenging goals can powerfully drive behavior and... View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Performance Improvement; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives

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2012
Book

Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate, and Compete in the Knowledge Economy

By: Amy C. Edmondson

Continuous improvement, understanding complex systems, and promoting innovation are all part of the landscape of learning challenges today's companies face. I show that organizations thrive, or fail to thrive, based on how well the small groups within those... View Details

Keywords: Change; Interpersonal Communication; Learning; Values and Beliefs; Innovation and Invention; Management; Performance Improvement; Groups and Teams; Research; Strategy; Complexity; Value

05 May 2009
First Look

First Look: May 5, 2009

stage can continue to deliver the resources, capabilities, and platforms needed to fuel the emerging opportunities of the future. This business lifecycle view of innovation requires new leadership and organizational models and new... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

2012
Working Paper

When Supply-Chain Disruptions Matter

By: William Schmidt and Ananth Raman

Supply-chain disruptions have a material effect on company value, but this impact can vary considerably. Thus, it is important for managers and investors to recognize the types of disruptions and the organizational factors that lead to the worst outcomes. Prior... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain; Operations; Performance Efficiency

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Program

Advanced Management Program

tackle your organization's toughest strategic challenges, lead with greater confidence, inspire performance at all levels—and contribute more value as a member of your company's senior leadership team. Lead a global organization by... View Details

December 1987 (Revised August 1990)
Case

Florida Power & Light's Quality Improvement Program

Describes a major electric utility's highly successful effort to institute a comprehensive quality improvement program throughout the organization. Designed to be used in a comparative analysis of the quality improvement effort described in Paul Revere Insurance Co.... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Quality; Performance Productivity; Utilities Industry; Florida