Publications

SSRN

November 1981
Case

Assessing Managerial Talent at AT&T (A)

By: Michael Beer

Provides background on the assessment center used by AT&T to assess managerial potential for upper middle management. Contains assessment reports for two candidates. Raises questions about manpower training and development. Students may be asked which of the candidates... View Details

Keywords: Managerial Roles; Performance Evaluation; Management Teams; Executive Education; Management Skills

07 Dec 1999
Research & Ideas

Henry Heinz and Brand Creation in the Late Nineteenth Century

Today we might point to Heinz and Noble's skill in exploiting economies of scope, in developing additional goods that utilized existing inputs and organizational capabilities. 48 But neither man thought in... View Details

Keywords: by Nancy F. Koehn

11 Apr 2024
In Practice

Why Progress on Immigration Might Soften Labor Pains

for skilled and unskilled labor. Either way, immigration will be a critical issue during the US election season. The carefully negotiated bipartisan bill that failed in the House of Representatives earlier this year highlights the thorny... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

March 8, 2023
Article

How to Help Superstar Employees Fulfill Their Potential

By: Anthony J. Mayo

To better understand the leadership challenges and development opportunities facing high-potential employees, researchers analyzed more than 3,000 applications to Harvard Business School’s High Potentials Leadership Program over a nearly 20-year period. The... View Details

Keywords: Personal Characteristics; Leadership Development; Personal Development and Career; Management Skills; Business Education

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2012
Working Paper

Expertise Dissensus: A Multi-level Model of Teams' Differing Perceptions about Member Expertise

By: Heidi K. Gardner and Lisa Kwan

Why are some teams more effective than others at using their members' expertise to achieve short-term performance and longer term developmental benefits? We propose that a critical factor is expertise dissensus-members' differing perceptions of each other's level of... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Failure; Experience and Expertise; Research; Performance Effectiveness; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Perception; Personal Development and Career

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20 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Creating a Positive Professional Image

"predicament" or event that reflects poorly on their competence, character, or commitment at some point in time, due to mistakes they have made in the past that have become public knowledge, or competency gaps (e.g., shortcomings or limitations in View Details

Keywords: by Mallory Stark

October 2020
Case

PraDigi Open Learning: Transforming Rural India

By: John J-H Kim and Malini Sen

Pratham is a non-governmental organization, focusing on high-quality, low-cost and replicable interventions to address gaps in the Indian education system. Co-founder Madhav Chavan is interested in using technology for education but differed in the way it is used in... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Social Entrepreneurship; Education; Information Technology; Learning; Growth and Development Strategy; Non-Governmental Organizations; Social Issues; Education Industry; India; Asia

May 1994
Case

Colgate-Palmolive: Managing International Careers

Colgate-Palmolive, the U.S.-based consumer products firm, has long emphasized international experience for its managers and has developed a comprehensive policy to manage expatriate assignments. The rise in dual-career families has made some managers reluctant to... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Personal Development and Career; Experience and Expertise; Consumer Products Industry; United States

February 2025
Case

Luca de Meo at Renault Group (A)

By: Emily Truelove, Linda A. Hill and Lydia Begag

When Luca de Meo became CEO of Renault Group in 2020, the 122-year-old French automaker faced financial challenges and the double technological disruption of the automotive industry: the shift to electric vehicles (EVs) and the rise of software-defined vehicles (SDVs).... View Details

02 Apr 2024
Research & Ideas

Employees Out Sick? Inside One Company's Creative Approach to Staying Productive

absences even more difficult to anticipate. Prior to the study, the company’s CEO tried to solve the chronic absenteeism problem by calling in a big-name consultant, who attempted to develop a formal system for transferring workers among... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Fashion

03 Oct 2023
Research Event

Build the Life You Want: Arthur Brooks and Oprah Winfrey Share Happiness Tips

look at the data and it's very clear. That since the early 1990s there's been a subtle and but pretty constant degradation in the average level of happiness in the United States. And in most developed countries around the world. View Details

Keywords: by HBS Staff

31 Jan 2022
Research & Ideas

Where Can Digital Transformation Take You? Insights from 1,700 Leaders

growth, offering organizations unprecedented opportunities to develop new products and services, and even reimagine their businesses. In mid-2020, we set out to understand the challenges of leading in the digital era. Teaming with the... View Details

Keywords: by Linda A. Hill, Ann Le Cam, Sunand Menon, and Emily Tedards

April 1996 (Revised March 2008)
Exercise

Canonical Decision Problems

Involves seven canonical decision problems--basic problems in management that arise with surprising frequency. Although these exercises are simplified versions of these problems, they have been written to preserve the "essence" of the decision situations. The problems... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Management Skills; Negotiation; Problems and Challenges

17 Mar 2008
Research & Ideas

The Lessons of Business History: A Handbook

entrepreneurship, and the role of the state, also concerned Chandler, but they were not central to his concerns. There are also chapters on topics that Chandler had little or nothing to say, including corporate governance, industrial districts, business groups,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

Simultaneous Distinction, Democratization and Omnivorism Effects: A Longitudinal Analysis of Dynamic Symbolic Boundaries in Counterfeit Consumption Networks

Sociologists have long examined the interactive relationship between social structure, taste and power. This literature has overwhelmingly fallen into three, ostensibly competing, theoretical “camps”: Distinction, where high-status consumers use... View Details

February 2025
Case

Luca de Meo at Renault Group (A) (Abridged)

By: Emily Truelove, Linda A. Hill and Lydia Begag

When Luca de Meo became CEO of Renault Group in 2020, the 122-year-old French automaker faced financial challenges and the double technological disruption of the automotive industry: the shift to electric vehicles (EVs) and the rise of software-defined vehicles (SDVs).... View Details

21 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

Solving the Marketing Resources Allocation Puzzle

managers are being held to higher standards when it comes to justifying customer investments. We foresee the need for marketing professionals to develop even greater analytical skill as the field continues... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

17 Jan 2023
In Practice

8 Trends to Watch in 2023

As 2023 begins, businesses and employees face an uncertain economy and labor market, as the twin dilemmas of inflation and interest rates weigh on forecasts. Harvard Business School faculty share the top trends that they believe will shape the workplace and markets... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

September 2010
Supplement

Using Regression Analysis to Estimate Time Equations (CW)

By: Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez

This note presents a simple way to estimate time equations using regression analysis in Excel. The note quickly outlines regression analysis, then presents a real-life case example from the natural gas industry that students can use to gain experience developing and... View Details

Keywords: History; Management Practices and Processes; Activity Based Costing and Management; Learning; Outcome or Result; Financial Statements; Experience and Expertise; Adoption; Communication Technology; Knowledge Acquisition; Management Skills