Publications

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2023
Working Paper

The Impact of Unionization on Consumer Perceptions of Service Quality: Evidence from Starbucks

By: Isamar Troncoso, Minkyung Kim, Ishita Chakraborty and SooHyun Kim

The US has seen a rise in union movements, but their effects on service industry marketing outcomes like customer satisfaction and perceptions of service quality remain understudied. In this paper, we empirically study the impact on customer satisfaction and... View Details

Keywords: Labor Unions; Customer Satisfaction; Perception; Public Opinion; Employees; Food and Beverage Industry

SSRN

December 2004 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Managing Diversity at Spencer Owens & Co.

By: Robin J. Ely and Ingrid Vargas

Spencer Owens & Co, a disguised consulting firm, focuses on domestic and international economic development. As an extension of the firm's commitment to social justice, 20 years ago, Spencer Owens management introduced an affirmative action hiring and promotion... View Details

Keywords: Working Conditions; Selection and Staffing; Development Economics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Employees; Diversity; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Consulting Industry

26 Aug 2014
First Look

First Look: August 26

Abstract—To create social ties to support their professional or personal goals, people actively engage in instrumental networking. Drawing from moral psychology research, we posit that this intentional behavior has unintended consequences... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Eva Arias

Keywords: Mining

24 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

Behavioral Economists Can Make You a Healthier Consumer and Smarter Marketer

Click Here If people made purely rational decisions, life might be much easier for marketers in selling products and services. But few of us are that rational. Instead, our decisions are based on illogical biases such as loss aversion and over optimism that drive our... View Details

Keywords: by Amelia Kunhardt

The Treasure You Seek: A Guide to Developing and Leveraging Your Leadership Capital

Most leadership books are written for people who are already labeled as “leaders”—corporate execs, high-ranking managers, entrepreneurs. They may not speak to the underrepresented young person or uncommon experienced person with a dream to create change in the... View Details

21 May 2024
Cold Call Podcast

The Importance of Trust for Managing through a Crisis

Keywords: Re: Sandra J. Sucher; Tourism

July 2012
Case

Performance Management at Vitality Health Enterprises, Inc.

By: John Bingham and Michael Beer

Vitality Health Enterprises, a medium-sized firm that manufactures health and personal care products, has experienced six straight quarters of strong revenue growth. James Hoffman, the new Senior Vice President of Human Resources, fears that the chain of success is... View Details

Keywords: Performance Evaluation; Motivation and Incentives; Compensation and Benefits; Talent and Talent Management; Health Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States

November 2003 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Internal Governance and Control at Goldman Sachs: Block Trading

By: Malcolm S. Salter and Ratna Sarkar

Although the explicit problem presented in the case concerns pricing a block trade, the real issue involves the decision-making and oversight processes used to arrive at a price that is appropriate for both the client and Goldman Sachs. Asks students in assignment... View Details

Keywords: Price; Governance Controls; Trust; Organizational Culture; Decision Making; Financial Services Industry

March 2011 (Revised March 2012)
Case

Arck Systems

By: Ian Larkin

The Arck Systems series of cases describes the dilemmas faced by a senior sales manager in determining a sales compensation plan at an enterprise software company. The existing compensation plan is aggressive and highly rewards "star" performers. The cases track a... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Retention; Performance Effectiveness; Salesforce Management; Motivation and Incentives; Software; Information Technology Industry

December 2022
Article

Scarlet Letters: Rehabilitation Through Transgression Transparency and Personal Narrative Control

By: Erin L. Frey, Ethan Bernstein and Nick Rekenthaler

When employees commit transgressions, organizations often use tools of organizational control to prevent them from transgressing again. We investigate whether organizations can use transgression transparency to rehabilitate transgressors. Although making transgressions... View Details

Keywords: Transparency; Workplace; Transgressions; Qualitative Research; Management Practices and Processes; Organizations; Employees; Reputation; Communication

Find at Harvard

02 Dec 2022
Blog Post

Why Does Your Company Exist?

When was the last time you thought about your company's mission statement? Maybe it appears on a slide deck that employees see in their onboarding process, or spotlighted in the annual report. Or perhaps your company's website features... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

20 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Activist CEOs Are Rising Up—and Their Customers Are Listening

When former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced earlier this year he was thinking about running for president of the United States, it wasn’t a new idea. Past CEOs seeking the White House have included Carly Fiorina, Ross Perot, Herman Cain, Steve Forbes, Mitt... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

05 Dec 2018
Working Paper Summaries

The Salary Taboo: Privacy Norms and the Diffusion of Information

Keywords: by Zoë B. Cullen and Ricardo Perez-Truglia

July 2020 (Revised January 2021)
Case

Rosalind Fox at John Deere

By: Anthony Mayo and Olivia Hull

Rosalind Fox, the factory manager at John Deere’s Des Moines, Iowa plant, has improved the financial standing of the factory in the three years she’s been at its helm. But employee engagement scores—which measured employees’ satisfaction with working conditions and... View Details

April 2019 (Revised December 2021)
Case

Sears: The Demise of an American Icon

By: Kristin Mugford and Sarah L. Abbott

In 2019, ESL Investments’ $5.2 billion offer to purchase Sears Holdings out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, was accepted, despite opposition from the company's unsecured creditors and other parties. ESL, which was led by Eddie Lampert, had acquired a stake in Sears following... View Details

Keywords: Bankruptcy; Reorganization; Bonds; Restructuring; Business Divisions; Transformation; Fairness; Borrowing and Debt; Credit; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Corporate Governance; Motivation and Incentives; Retail Industry; United States

2012
Book

Talk, Inc. : How Trusted Leaders Use Conversation to Power Their Organizations

By: Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind

How can leaders make their big or growing companies feel small again? How can they recapture the "magic"--the tight strategic alignment, the high level of employee engagement--that drove and animated their organization when it was a start-up? As more and more... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Interpersonal Communication; Organizational Culture; Social and Collaborative Networks; Spoken Communication