Weaknesses - Publications - Faculty & Research

06 Jan 2020
Research & Ideas

Motivate Your High Performers to Share Their Knowledge

pairs and filled out worksheets about their strengths and weaknesses as salespeople. They then compared notes and talked through how they could improve. In the other, pairs of employees received a financial bonus based on their combined... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

11 Oct 2023
Blog Post

A Journey of Discovery, Teamwork, and Impact with FIELD Global Immersion

required to produce quality work and the soft skills necessary for effective interpersonal relationships. Understanding each other’s working styles, strengths and weaknesses helped us work better as a unit. 3. Kindness is universal We... View Details

28 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Investor Lawsuits Against Auditors Are Falling, and That's Bad News for Capital Markets

when big scandals happen, like Enron and WorldCom, the weak link often turns out to be auditors. Managers are mostly truth-tellers but have incentives to embellish and sometimes commit fraud. So we rely on auditors to mitigate that... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services; Accounting

21 Feb 2005
Op-Ed

Is Business Management a Profession?

resulting void at the center of the business school curriculum eventually caused business educators to take a second look at the discipline of economics. Economics, in the decades prior to World War II, had occupied a relatively weak... View Details

Keywords: by Rakesh Khurana, Nitin Nohria & Daniel Penrice

Web

HBS - Financials | Supplemental Financial Information

endowment assets for fiscal 2022, net of investment expenses and fees, was -1.8 percent, reflecting significant weakness in the equity and bond markets during the past year caused by persistent inflation and tightening monetary policies.... View Details

02 Oct 2006
Research & Ideas

Negotiating in Three Dimensions

gap." "They're being unreasonable." "We're not communicating well." "We're in a weak position." Instead of focusing on the first explanation that leaps to mind, you should critically diagnose the key... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

18 Dec 2017
Op-Ed

Why Employers Must Stop Requiring College Degrees For Middle-Skill Jobs

Credit: Pixsooz American companies have a problem. Over the past decade, they have begun to demand a bachelor’s degree in hiring workers for jobs that traditionally haven’t required one. This uptick in credentialing, or “degree inflation,” rested on the belief that... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph Fuller

09 Jun 2008
Lessons from the Classroom

Monetizing IP: The Executive’s Challenge

value of their intellectual property. Q: How effective are copyright law and patent law, both here and globally, in protecting IP? What are the weaknesses that companies need to think about? A: The range of patent and copyright... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Video Game; Web Services

03 Dec 2014
What Do You Think?

Can the Brilliant Jerk Be Managed Effectively?

boss make a difference? Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman have written about "how to manage around a weakness" not by changing people but by balancing "the strengths and weaknesses of each individual." What have been... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

02 Jun 2010
What Do You Think?

How Do You Weigh Strategy, Execution, and Culture in an Organization’s Success?

execution." The importance of execution was advanced, for example, by Mercedes Fernandez, who reminded us that "execution makes things happen." Bob Legge said: "An outstanding strategy weakly executed will always be trumped by a View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

18 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

How New Managers Become Great Managers

successful. They should pursue situations in which their strengths are really needed, important weaknesses are not a serious drawback, and their core values are consistent with those of the organization; in other words, the stretch should... View Details

Keywords: by Linda Hill

15 Jan 2014
Research & Ideas

Managing the Family Business: It Takes a Village

of the family business system, we need to understand what capable leaders in family business systems actually do. I've spent much of my professional life figuring this out. I've gotten to know a number of excellent family business leaders in my long career, along with... View Details

10 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

Taking Advantage of Life’s (Few and Far Between) Inflection Points

promotion. What she did know was that the economy was weak and she had invested ten years at the company, so she was hoping for the best. When I finished the story, Howard shook his head, kicked a pinecone out of his path, and grumbled,... View Details

Keywords: Re: Howard H. Stevenson

03 May 2022
Research & Ideas

Desperate for Talent? Consider Advancing Your Own Employees First

Job openings in the United States continue to hover at record high levels, exacerbated by the Great Resignation and a sputtering emergence from the pandemic. Competition remains fierce among companies struggling to find qualified workers. Yet many employers,... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

27 Feb 2006
Research & Ideas

When Rights of First Refusal Are a Bad Deal

ultimatum game to allow us to study situations just like this one. Together they allowed us to study how the clause influenced outcomes in situations in which the right holder starts off in a powerful position, or a weak one. Q: Where... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Construction; Real Estate; Entertainment & Recreation

06 Sep 2004
Research & Ideas

The Innovator’s Battle Plan

serve its customers well, are weaknesses when the game changes and new capabilities are necessary. Fleeing from the disruptive attacker feels good in the short term but further deprives the incumbent of the necessary skills to compete.... View Details

Keywords: by Clayton M. Christensen, Scott D. Anthony & Erik A. Roth

31 Jul 2015
Blog Post

Transitioning From the Military to Business School

impactful during my time at HBS is self-reflection. Being surrounded by so many incredibly accomplished people at a place like HBS is a golden ticket to personal growth. I’ve found that my ability to be honest with myself about where I’m struggling relative to my peers... View Details

20 Oct 2010
Op-Ed

Export Competitiveness: Reversing the Logic

are right. The overall success on global export markets as well as the particular pattern of industries that successfully export provides valuable "revealed" information on underlying competitiveness conditions. Low levels of exports are an indication that... View Details

Keywords: by Christian Ketels

15 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

What You Don’t Know About Making Decisions

critical thinkers Patterns of behavior strive to persuade othersdefend your positiondownplay weakness present balanced argumentsremain open to alternativesaccept constructive criticism Minority views discouraged or dismissed cultivated... View Details

Keywords: by David A. Garvin & Michael A. Roberto

14 Feb 2019
Blog Post

LOVE At HBS

inherently results in exactly that. I hope we would more frequently and genuinely vocalize our love (no matter how weak or strong) for those we care about - not just at Valentine’s day. Ashley Maggard & Kyle Maggard, Class of 2020 She... View Details

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