Publications

2023
Working Paper

Sending Signals: Strategic Displays of Warmth and Competence

By: Bushra S. Guenoun and Julian J. Zlatev

Using a combination of exploratory and confirmatory approaches, this research examines how people signal important information about themselves to others. We first train machine learning models to assess the use of warmth and competence impression management... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Personal Characteristics; Perception; Interpersonal Communication

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January 2021
Case

Cinépolis

By: Joshua D. Margolis and Fernanda Miguel

Two weeks after Cinepolis released a documentary film about corruption, a judge ordered its provisional suspension, claiming it had to be edited before it continued to be shown, against Mexican cinematography laws. Cinépolis, Latin America’s largest movie theater chain... View Details

Keywords: Movies; Entertainment; Corruption; Risk Assessment; Communication Strategy; Crime and Corruption; Decision Making; Film Entertainment; Ethics; Leadership; Risk Management; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Mexico; Latin America; North and Central America

2007
Chapter

Disrupting Gender, Revising Leadership

By: D. E. Meyerson, R. Ely and Laura Wernick

In this chapter, we present a case study of men on two off-shore oil platforms—a workplace that has traditionally rewarded men for their masculine displays of bravado and their interactions centered on proving masculinity—in which such displays and interactions were... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Safety; Leadership; Interpersonal Communication; Practice; Gender; Business Processes; Energy Industry

August 2004 (Revised July 2006)
Case

PROPECIA TM: Helping Make Hair Loss History

By: Marta Wosinska and Youngme E. Moon

In late 1997, Tom Casola, brand manager for Propecia, debates the best approach to market this breakthrough one-a-day pill for hair loss. This launch would be atypical for a prescription drug because of the key position of the consumer. As a result, the team's... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Communication Strategy; Customers; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product; Performance Effectiveness; Problems and Challenges; Quality; Pharmaceutical Industry

March 2011
Background Note

Pitching Business Opportunities

By: Lynda M. Applegate, William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell

This note can be used to develop a business plan pitch for a new venture. View Details

Keywords: Business Plan; Business Startups; Spoken Communication; Competency and Skills; Entrepreneurship

24 Jan 2012
News

The Power of Mentoring

Keywords: Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations; Personal Services

August 2020
Article

Workplace Knowledge Flows

By: Jason Sandvik, Richard Saouma, Nathan Seegert and Christopher Stanton

We conducted a field experiment in a sales firm to test whether improving knowledge flows between coworkers affects productivity. Our design allows us to compare different management practices and to isolate whether frictions to knowledge transmission primarily reside... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Sharing; Interpersonal Communication; Employees; Performance Productivity; Sales; Motivation and Incentives

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February 2012 (Revised June 2012)
Case

Rospil.info

By: Paul Healy, Karthik Ramanna and Matthew Shaffer

What should business leaders do about corruption? In December 2011, four HBS alumni met to debate how to engage the unprecedented protests against Vladimir Putin's corrupt government, which had erupted in Russia in response to alleged fraud in the recent parliamentary... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Crime and Corruption; Government and Politics; Social and Collaborative Networks; Blogs; Information Industry; Russia

June 1994 (Revised June 1995)
Case

Chandler Home Products: European Rationalization

By: Michael Y. Yoshino

Chandler, a large U.S. consumer products firm, is rationalizing its European operations. Tony Pesci, protagonist, is deciding which plants to close for maximum efficiency. The manufacturing/marketing relationship is strained as efficiency is being weighed against... View Details

Keywords: Debates; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Labor; Contracts; Operations; Performance Efficiency; Relationships; Consumer Products Industry; United States

14 Oct 2017
News

Johnson and Bloomberg Talk Innovation, Housing Costs, and Trump

November 2018
Article

Worthy of Swift Trust? How Brief Interpersonal Contact Affects Trust Accuracy

By: Oliver Schilke and Laura Huang

Organizational scholars have long underscored the positive consequences of trust, yet trust can also have dysfunctional effects if it is not placed wisely. Though much research has examined conditions that increase individuals’ tendencies to trust others, we know very... View Details

Keywords: Trust; Interpersonal Communication; Judgments; Perspective

September 2015
Article

Speaking of the Short-Term: Disclosure Horizon and Managerial Myopia

By: Francois Brochet, Maria Loumioti and George Serafeim

We study conference calls as a voluntary disclosure channel and create a proxy for the time horizon that senior executives emphasize in their communications. We find that our measure of disclosure time horizon is associated with capital market pressures and executives'... View Details

Keywords: Short-termism; Management Styles; Disclosure; Conference Calls; Investing; Earnings Management; Motivation and Incentives; Management Style; Forms of Communication

SSRN

May 2011
Article

Effective Managers Say the Same Thing Twice (or More)

By: Tsedal Neeley and Paul Leonardi

How do effective managers get employees to act promptly? New research suggests that it's by making their requests at least twice. Though you may think redundancy is unnecessary and even a waste of time, a new study indicates that it helps your message cut through... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Employees; Management Style; Performance Improvement

July 2010 (Revised August 2012)
Case

Assistant Professor Jo Worthington (A)

By: Dorothy A. Leonard

A relatively inexperienced professor struggles with managing a case discussion in a class based on numeric analysis. The class is lethargic and time is tight; she considers both a number of possible reasons for their disinterest and different teaching strategies to... View Details

Keywords: Education; Teaching; Strategy; Communication Strategy; Training; Leadership Style; Education Industry

November 2008
Supplement

Whole Foods Acquires Wild Oats (B)

Keywords: Communication Technology; Problems and Challenges; Acquisition; Management Teams; Retail Industry; United States

January 2005 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Irene Charnley at Johnnic Group (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Maria Farkas

When she becomes chairperson of a large telecommunications board, Irene Charnley must transform the mostly white-led company to be more representative of South Africa's demographics. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Demographics; Communication Technology; Telecommunications Industry; South Africa

2006
Book

Reflections from the Frontiers, Explorations for the Future: Gordon Research Conferences, 1931-2006

By: Arthur A. Daemmrich, Nancy Ryan Gray and Leah Shaper

Keywords: Research; Conferences; Cognition and Thinking; History

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February 2003
Case

Dubai Ports Authority (A)

The Dubai Ports Authority (DPA) wishes to digitize many of the documents it shares with its external partners, including shipping lines and agents, merchants, and the country's customs authority. DPA also wishes to automate the many document transmissions related to... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Information Technology; Cooperation; Globalized Markets and Industries; Shipping Industry; Dubai