Strategic Human Resource Management - Publications - Faculty & Research

08 May 2006
Lessons from the Classroom

Writing the Case for Public School Reform

transforming a human resources department from a paper-pushing backwater to an entity that is strategically incorporated into the district's overall mission. "One... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Education

July 2019 (Revised November 2022)
Case

Backstage at Boston Ballet

By: David G. Fubini, Ryan Raffaelli, Begum Agca Okutgen and Julia Kelley

This case asks students to consider how to prioritize goals when placed in a new leadership role. In August 2014, Meredith “Max” Hodges became the youngest Executive Director (ED) in the Boston Ballet’s 51-year history. In her first year, she was able to claim several... View Details

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August 2001 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Consumer-Driven Health Care: Medtronic's Health Insurance Options

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, John Hurwitch and Seth Bokser

Describes the variety of health insurance plans that this medical device company offers, including a high-deductible, consumer-driven health plan with a health reimbursement account that also enables health care providers to quote their own prices. Asks students to... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Decision Choices and Conditions; Compensation and Benefits; Demand and Consumers

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January 1989 (Revised February 1993)
Case

Warner Cable (A)

The new general manager of Warner Cable's Medford, Massachusetts complex faces a number of turnaround challenges in 1985, including service deficiencies, customer complaints, high turnover, and low employee morale. By 1988 he has turned the situation around, but some... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Style; Human Resources; Telecommunications Industry; Massachusetts

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March 2017
Case

Swagbucks

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Matthew G. Preble

In early 2016, Chuck Davis, chairman and CEO of Prodege LLC, parent company of the brand promotion business Swagbucks, and Josef Gorowitz, Prodege’s founder and president, must decide whether to acquire MyPoints, a competitor to Swagbucks, after the company’s... View Details

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September 2016 (Revised October 2018)
Case

Springfield Hospital

By: Susanna Gallani and Robert Kaplan

One of the key roles of costing systems is to support the evaluation of performance and facilitate appropriate resource allocations. Through participation in a comparative cost study, management at Springfield Hospital, known for its heavy focus on operational... View Details

Keywords: Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing; Variance Analysis; Activity Based Costing and Management; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

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August 2018
Background Note

Note on Hackathons

By: Ethan Bernstein

Organizations have often sought to meet the pressures of rapid change through novel ways of managing human capital to boost innovation and productivity. Hackathons have emerged as one of the latest approaches to do just that. How can those responsible for managing... View Details

Keywords: Hackathon; Crowdsourcing; Hack; Innovation; Productivity; Minimum Viable Product; Time; Transparency; Bootcamp; Design; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Management; Organizational Structure; Performance Productivity; Technology; Technology Industry

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2023
Working Paper

When Does Gamified Training Improve Performance? The Roles of Office and Leader Engagement

By: Ryan W. Buell, Wei Cai and Tatiana Sandino

Gamified training is a novel management control system in which companies use gamification techniques to engage and motivate employees to learn. This study empirically examines the performance consequences of gamified training using data from a natural field... View Details

Keywords: Gamified Training; Management Control Systems; Employee Engagement; Employees; Learning; Training; Motivation and Incentives; Performance

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June 2018
Case

Candor at Clever

By: Ethan Bernstein and Om Lala

Clever, a high-growth EdTech company based in San Francisco, had grown quickly in market share and headcount. As with many high-growth companies, however, early employees (many of whom had never managed people before) had been given the opportunity to manage teams, and... View Details

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Teaching Interest

Leadership and Organizational Behavior (LEAD)

This first-year MBA course focuses on how managers become effective leaders by addressing the human side of enterprise. The first modules examine teams, individuals, and networks; the intermediate modules look at successful leaders "in action"; and the final... View Details

April 2012
Case

Pret A Manger

By: Frances X. Frei, Rick Goldberg and Stephanie van Sice

Pret A Manger, a London-based chain of sandwich shops, was known for its fast, genuine service and pre-packaged sandwiches prepared on-site daily. Instructed by its board to grow at 15 percent per year, Pret considered opening "twin" shops in locations too small to... View Details

Keywords: Customer Service Excellence; Growth Planning And Management; Employee Performance Management; Information Management; Production Planning; Employee Attitude Development And Empowerment; Employee Retention; Leadership Development And Career Planning; Service Delivery; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Employees; Performance; London

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September 2023
Supplement

David Beckham (B): Signing Lionel Messi to Inter Miami CF

By: Anita Elberse and David Moreno Vicente

In June 2023, David Beckham, co-owner of Major League Soccer team Inter Miami CF, is hoping to find a way to bring Lionel Messi, widely regarded as one of the best players the world of soccer has ever seen, to his team. But Messi—a seven-time winner of the Ballon d’Or... View Details

Keywords: Soccer; Football; Superstars; General Management; Sports; Negotiation Offer; Competitive Strategy; Compensation and Benefits; Entertainment; Media; Marketing; Sports Industry; Miami

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08 Oct 2020
Research & Ideas

Keep Your Weary Workers Engaged and Motivated

by allocating rewards and resources for both traditional performance and for learning activities. What has changed and what hasn’t? The four drives themselves, fundamental to human psychology, have not... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

January 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Roush Performance: How to Design a Sales Force Compensation Plan

By: Doug J. Chung

Roush Performance manufactured and marketed factory-modified performance vehicles and high-end aftermarket automotive performance parts. Since its inception, Roush Performance had focused on building its engineering technology competency and diversifying its product... View Details

Keywords: Sales Force Management; Motivation; Compensation; Salary; Commissions; Bonuses; Quotas; Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives

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January 2013 (Revised March 2017)
Case

CloudFlare, Inc.: Running Hot?

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Alex Godden

In July 2012, the cofounders of CloudFlare, a Silicon Valley startup that protects websites and accelerates their traffic, are considering the implications of five employees' resignations over the prior three months. Was this natural attrition for a high-tech venture... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Employee Relationship Management; Organizational Structure; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth Management; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Resignation and Termination; Business Startups; Information Technology Industry; Web Services Industry; California

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July 2002 (Revised January 2003)
Case

Harrah's Entertainment, Inc: Rewarding Our People

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Vineeta Vijayaraghavan

Marilyn Winn, head of human resources at Harrah's Entertainment, must make a recommendation to the company's president and CEO about whether the existing bonus payout program is effective at motivating employees or whether it should be revised and/or replaced. A recent... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Human Capital; Management Style; Motivation and Incentives; Alignment; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

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Research Summary

Research Summary

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer

Jeff Polzer is the UPS Foundation Professor of Human Resource Management in the Organizational Behavior Unit at Harvard Business School. He studies how people collaborate in teams and across... View Details

Research Summary

Research Summary

By: Ranjay Gulati

My research focuses on how to unlock organizational potential and unleash human potential.

Unlocking organizational potential involves a deep dive into how enterprises can achieve enduring success. This includes applying strategic frameworks to drive... View Details

06 May 2021
News

"Hybrid" Return-to-Office Models Could Create Subcaste of Workers

May 1994 (Revised January 1995)
Case

Warner Cable (A) and (B) (Condensed)

The new general manager of Warner Cable's Medford, Massachusetts complex faces a number of turnaround challenges in 1985, including service deficiencies, customer complaints, high turnover, and low employee morale. By 1988 he has turned the situation around, but some... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Style; Change Management; Performance Improvement; Telecommunications Industry; Massachusetts

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