human rights - Publications - Faculty & Research

08 Aug 2023
Research & Ideas

The Rise of Employee Analytics: Productivity Dream or Micromanagement Nightmare?

With more data available than ever before, why would any executive gamble on a hunch—especially for decisions that involve their own employees? An emerging field that uses data to study human behavior at work, “people analytics” is... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

01 Nov 2024
In Practice

Layoffs Surging in a Strong Economy? Advice for Navigating Uncertain Times

stations,” the Journal reported. “Doing a layoff for the right reason is not just smart strategically, it’s smart organizationally.” Two months earlier, in July, Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi published a note in the financial software firm’s... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology; Information Technology

06 Jul 2015
Research & Ideas

Money and Quotas Motivate the Sales Force Best

Chung says. "I think it's because they thought they were being compensated for past performance. The thinking is, 'Hey, I must be doing something right thus far. I think I may be overworking, so maybe I should slack off.'" An unintended... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Retail

22 Oct 2018
Sharpening Your Skills

Motivate Me, Please

governments to get citizens to do the right thing. Hiding From Managers Can Increase Your Productivity Forget management by walking around. Decreasing workplace transparency can increase worker productivity. Money and Quotas Motivate the... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

13 Sep 2006
Op-Ed

Rising CEO Pay: What Directors Should Do

Ask any thoughtful corporate board member what they are most concerned about these days, and it is not Sarbanes-Oxley. It is CEO pay. Directors worry because shareholders continue to express outrage, and the media attention to the issue will not go away. Directors are... View Details

Keywords: by Jay W. Lorsch

19 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

Do I Dare Say Something?

therefore a tendency toward silence—is over-determined by both the general nature of humans and the specific realities of the modern economy. Even from an evolutionary point of view, it seems we're all hard-wired to overestimate rather... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

23 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

Are Great Teams Less Productive?

instruction manual to follow for guaranteed results. Also, performance gains won't show up instantaneously. In a learning mode, it's awkward. It's a transition, or we hope it is anyway, because there is no guarantee we are doing the right... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

January 1992 (Revised December 1994)
Background Note

Note on E-Mail and Privacy: U.S. Law and Company Policies

By: Lynn S. Paine

Describes the legal landscape of employee privacy as it applies to e-mail interception: the various legal theories on which a privacy claim might be based and proposed federal legislation relevant to the subject. Also describes the policies companies like UPS,... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Information; Rights; Government Legislation; Internet and the Web; Interpersonal Communication; Ethics; Theory; Policy; Employees

Citation

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03 Feb 2016
What Do You Think?

How Do You Hire an 'Impostor'?

the right coaching in order to help to achieve a high self esteem...” Having inspired the question in the title, Joel then seemed to answer it by saying, “I think the answer lies in the demands of the role you hoped they’d fill. As a... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

22 Jun 2021
Research & Ideas

The COVID-19 Mutiny: When Teams Leave and Take Their Clients

companies, lift outs represent a gamble on credibility, portability of performance, and human capital. Such moves may destroy relationships—with former colleagues, clients, and vendors—and impair the employees’ effectiveness for years to... View Details

Keywords: by Robin Abrahams, Boris Groysberg, and Steven L. Manchel

07 Jan 2015
Research & Ideas

The Quest for Better Layoffs

companies, on communities, and, most of all, on employees. "The initial drive was to build empathy around the decisions that are so core on a human level," Sucher says. "They wanted people to learn about that." Green... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Manufacturing

27 Aug 2012
Research & Ideas

Employee-Suggestion Programs That Work

improvement in safety climate." “They're not going to get better by picking the right problem. They're going to get better by becoming better problem-solvers.” One reason for this is that employees are more likely to buy into improvement... View Details

Keywords: by Paul Guttry

June 25, 2022
Guest Column

CEOs Didn't Make the Roe Decision. It's Still Their Problem to Solve

By: Sandra Sucher

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Trust; Rights; Government Legislation; Social Issues; Employee Relationship Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; United States

Citation

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25 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

We May Have Taken Too Much Credit for Easing Workplace Segregation

Rights movement. One reason may be that much of the previous research was relatively narrow in scope, zeroing in on racial profiles within occupations; studying to what extent diversity was concentrated in entry-level, non-supervisory... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

19 Apr 2016
First Look

April 19, 2016

Guiding Principles into Action: Human Rights at Barrick Gold (A) In 2010, Human Rights Watch, a well-regarded international NGO, approached... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Spirit at Work: The Search for Deeper Meaning in the Workplace

into the workplace means creating a place where it's all right for people to bring their whole selves, with all their talents and complex emotions; where there's enough safety so that people can speak the truth openly at meetings, rather... View Details

Keywords: by Marguerite Rigoglioso

06 Apr 2007
What Do You Think?

Will Market Forces Stop Global Warming?

mankind is looking at the actual cause right now, and consequently that human innovation is not focusing on solving the right problem." Others were concerned about the... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Energy; Utilities

24 Jul 2013
Op-Ed

Detroit Files for Bankruptcy: HBS Faculty Weigh In

The economist John Maynard Keynes was right about the ultimate mortality of human beings ("In the long run, we are all dead," he once said.), but when it comes to places, it may be precisely the... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber, Robert C. Pozen, Eric D. Werker & Benjamin Kennedy; Auto

26 Sep 2024
HBS Case

If a Car Can Drive Itself, Can It Make Life-or-Death Decisions?

John Stuart Mill, philosophers have wrestled with the age-old questions autonomous vehicles are now raising—in new and urgent ways—for businesses and their leaders. “And by genuine ethical decisions, I mean decisions about the rights of... View Details

Keywords: by Tom Quinn; Auto; Technology

27 Feb 2006
Research & Ideas

Take Responsibility for Rising Stars

bench strength. At Starbucks, for example, the board oversees a formalized succession-planning process for 2,500 positions. Its goal is to make sure the company always has the right people with the right... View Details

Keywords: by Jeffrey M. Cohn, Rakesh Khurana & Laura Reeves

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