Publications

SSRN

February 2024
Article

Representation and Extrapolation: Evidence from Clinical Trials

By: Marcella Alsan, Maya Durvasula, Harsh Gupta, Joshua Schwartzstein and Heidi L. Williams

This article examines the consequences and causes of low enrollment of Black patients in clinical trials. We develop a simple model of similarity-based extrapolation that predicts that evidence is more relevant for decision-making by physicians and patients when it... View Details

Keywords: Representation; Racial Disparity; Health Testing and Trials; Race; Equality and Inequality; Innovation and Invention; Pharmaceutical Industry

2010
Chapter

Women and Leadership: Defining the Challenges

By: Robin J. Ely and Deborah L. Rhode

We use the experience of Carly Fiorina as an introduction to the continued challenges faced by women in top leadership roles. Although Fiorina, on becoming CEO of Hewlett Packard in 1999, asserted that "there is not a glass ceiling," her memoir eight years later... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Leadership; Perception; Behavior; Attitudes; Gender

November 2022
Case

Wendy Estrella: Scaling Multiple Businesses

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Sarah Mehta

Entrepreneur Wendy Estrella, a self-made, Latina millionaire based in Lawrence, Massachusetts, is attempting to simultaneously scale her law practice as well as her property management and development company. What path should she take for each and can she do it all,... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Change; Competency and Skills; Decision Making; Demographics; Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Legal Services Industry; Real Estate Industry; Massachusetts

July 2022 (Revised September 2022)
Case

Birla Carbon Egypt: Building Soft Power in a Foreign Country

By: Jeremy Friedman and Malini Sen

Birla Carbon, a flagship business of the nearly $60-billion global conglomerate and India-headquartered Aditya Birla Group (ABG), is one of the world's top manufacturers and suppliers of high-quality carbon black. The largest among its 16 manufacturing plants is Birla... View Details

20 Jan 2023
News

Free Spirits

Illustrations by Edmon DeHaro “Cheers!” As her father’s wedding toast comes to a close, Vanessa Royle (MBA 2022) raises her champagne flute into the evening air to clink glasses with the groom, Andy. She tilts her glass to take a sip and, with the flavors of the drink... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Food Services and Drinking Places; Hospitality

February 13, 2023
Editorial

The Secret Tax on Women’s Time

By: Lauren C. Howe, Lindsay B. Howe and Ashley V. Whillans

When studies revealed the so-called pink tax, showing in 2015 that personal hygiene products “for her” cost 13% more than similar products for men, it caused outrage and action. The irony that women, despite generally having fewer financial resources than men, are... View Details

Keywords: Gender; Equality and Inequality; Work-Life Balance

Find at Harvard

October 2012
Case

Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (A)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Elena Corsi

Royal Dutch Shell has been among the early players to implement diversity and inclusion policies in the 1990s, first in the U.S. and then globally. In May 2009, Peter Voser, CFO and soon-to-be CEO, wants to adjust the company's business, headcount, and cost levels to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Managerial Roles; Restructuring; Resignation and Termination; Diversity; Financial Crisis; Energy Industry; Netherlands

04 Oct 2018
Research & Ideas

Diversity Boosts Profits in Venture Capital Firms

began gathering demographic information on individual VCs to better understand if their gender or race influenced a firm’s performance. “It was a real guerilla research effort,” he says. Starting with commercial data on 14,000 VC... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Banking; Financial Services

10 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Retailing Revolution: Category Killers on the Brink

migrate to the web for your category of goods (for example ALDI and Dollar General). There is an argument to be made that, for certain combinations of demographic groups and categories, Internet penetration will remain low, and therefore... View Details

Keywords: by Rajiv Lal & Jose B. Alvarez; Retail

July 2021 (Revised February 2022)
Case

Mary Kay Inc.: Enriching Women's Lives while Embracing Change

By: Elie Ofek, K. Shelette Stewart and Julia Kelley

In December 2020, Mary Kay Inc. Chief Marketing Officer Sheryl Adkins-Green considered several strategic dilemmas. Founded in 1963 by Mary Kay Ash, Mary Kay was a direct sales company whose Independent Beauty Consultants purchased its beauty and cosmetics products at... View Details

24 May 2017
News

Ilene H. Lang, MBA 1973

Return to Alumni Achievement Awards main page TIMELINE 1943 Born, Chicago, Illinois 1965 Earns AB, History and Literature, Radcliffe College 1966 Joins PHI as Technical Editor 1968 Joins Cambridge Computer Associates as Technical Writer 1972 Launches Frameworks 1973... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

March 2025
Article

Differentiating on Diversity: How Disclosing Workforce Diversity Influences Consumer Choice

By: Maya Balakrishnan, Jimin Nam and Ryan W. Buell

Companies are facing increased pressure to “walk the talk” on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in their operations. One specific call-to-action from stakeholders is the public disclosure of EEO-1s. Companies with 100+ employees are federally mandated to annually... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Corporate Disclosure; Diversity; Employees; Perception

2021
White Paper

Hidden Workers: Untapped Talent

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Manjari Raman, Eva Sage-Gavin and Kristen Hines

Companies are increasingly desperate for workers. As they continue to struggle to find people with the skills they need, their competitiveness and growth prospects are put at risk.

At the same time, an enormous and growing group of people are unemployed or... View Details

Keywords: Hiring; Talent; Skills Gap; Selection and Staffing; Diversity; Talent and Talent Management; Competency and Skills

2008
Chapter

Overcoming Barriers to Collaboration: Psychological Safety and Learning in Diverse Teams

By: A. Edmondson and Kate Roloff

We review research on psychological safety and team learning to identify core ideas and findings in these closely related literatures and to propose a model in which a negative relationship between team member diversity and team collaboration is moderated by... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Groups and Teams; Social and Collaborative Networks; Performance Improvement; Learning; Diversity

June 2021
Case

Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani at avatarin (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2016, Akira Fukabori and Kevin Kajitani, aeronautical engineers at All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd., began to wonder why, in a world of accelerating globalization and digital connectivity, those who lived in far-remote villages or impoverished urban areas could not... View Details

Keywords: Agility; Ecosystem; Innovation Ecosystems; Crowdsourcing; Open Innovation; Partnership; Government; Collaboration; Co-creation; Purpose; Impact; Social Impact; Movement; Organizational Behavior; Organizational Ambidexterity; Ambidexterity; Culture; Culture Change; Global Teams; Experimentation; Space; Airline Industry; Start-up; Platform Business; Platform Strategy; Platform; Digital; Robotics; Robots; Mobility; Strategy; COVID-19; Intrapreneurship; Public-private Partnership; XPRIZE; Space Industry; Avatar; Telepresence; Innovation Lab; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Partners and Partnerships; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Alignment; Leadership; Leading Change; Diversity; Organizational Culture; Change Management; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Transportation Industry; Aerospace Industry; Japan

November 1995 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Luna Pen (A)

By: Kathleen McGinn and Michael Wheeler

Discusses the negotiation of a possible trademark infringement involving a German conglomerate and a Taiwanese trading firm. View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Law; Negotiation Tactics; Decision Choices and Conditions; Gender; Culture; Trademarks; Power and Influence; Germany; Taiwan

Web

Organizational Behavior Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

Community. Lakshmi Ramarajan : Finalist for 2021 Best Article in Academy of Management Journal for “Relational Reconciliation: Socializing Others Across Demographic Differences” (April 2020) with Erin Reid. Lakshmi Ramarajan : Winner of... View Details

12 Oct 2017
News

Fighting Poverty One Neighborhood at a Time

Photography by Craig Hall Like many people who work for change in struggling urban neighborhoods, John Majors (MBA 2000) believes that high-quality education for all children is a vital link to future success. He’s also convinced that education alone can’t transform... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg

November 2004 (Revised July 2006)
Case

Patrimonio Hoy

By: Arthur I Segel, Michael Chu and Gustavo Herrero

Patrimonio Hoy is a program targeting the housing needs of the low-income population by CEMEX, a major Mexican company and a leading global cement producer. Originally conceived as a project to understand the customers in the self-construction segment better, a major... View Details

Keywords: Housing; Construction; Product Design; Globalized Firms and Management; Microfinance; Income; Market Entry and Exit; Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Construction Industry; Mexico