human behavior - Publications - Faculty & Research

March–April 2014
Article

Do Bonuses Enhance Sales Productivity? A Dynamic Structural Analysis of Bonus-Based Compensation Plans

By: Doug J. Chung, Thomas Steenburgh and K. Sudhir

We estimate a dynamic structural model of sales force response to a bonus based compensation plan. Substantively, the paper sheds insights on how different elements of the compensation plan enhance productivity. We find evidence that: (1) bonuses enhance productivity... View Details

Keywords: Performance Productivity; Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits

Citation

Find at Harvard

20 Dec 2022
Op-Ed

Employee Feedback: The Key to Retention During the Great Resignation

Kroger, Amazon, and many others have experienced similar conflicts. A recent study finds that “toxic culture”—unethical leadership behavior and disregard for employees’ health, diversity, financial security, and self-respect—is a far more... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Beer

Sandra J. Sucher

Sandra Sucher, professor of management practice at Harvard Business School, is an internationally recognized trust researcher. The Power of Trust, her third book, is based on two decades of global research on how companies build stakeholder trust and how,... View Details

Keywords: apparel; banking; brokerage; clothing; fashion; financial services; furniture; hotels ＆ motels; retail financial services; retailing; service industry

30 Nov 2021
In Practice

What's the Role of Business in Confronting Climate Change?

The 26th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties, also known as COP26, ended with a hard-fought pact that called on businesses and governments to meet their climate change goals faster. The event followed an August report by the Intergovernmental... View Details

Keywords: by Lynn Schenk and Dina Gerdeman

08 Dec 2006
Working Paper Summaries

When Learning and Performance are at Odds: Confronting the Tension

Keywords: by Sara J. Singer & Amy C. Edmondson

Web

2023 Reunion Presentations - Alumni

Behavioral Finance and Financial Stability Project, have made tremendous strides in predicting financial market crashes, panics, and crises. Participants left this session understanding the state of the art in identifying financial market... View Details

Web

Research Resources - Doctoral

sources, designing your study, deciding which statistical methods to employ, interpreting results, and writing a statistical program. Behavioral Research Services Harvard Business School’s Behavioral... View Details

16 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

Can Consumers Be Saved From Their Misguided Decisions?

health, career—that an industry is evolving around motivating people to be smarter about their choices. The problem: solutions created by these researchers and other behavioral scientists, such as incentives to remind health care shoppers... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Consulting; Retail

August 2019
Case

Bark Gift Shop Ltd.

By: Susanna Gallani, Jan Bouwens and Peter Kroos

This case describes a setting in which the CFO of Bark Gift Shop Ltd., a gift items retailer, discovers an undesired pattern in the performance data suggesting that her shop managers that perform well during the first part of the year, purposely reduce their effort in... View Details

Keywords: Data Analytics; Employees; Behavior; Performance; Management; Goals and Objectives; Motivation and Incentives; Analysis

Citation

Educators

Purchase

04 Mar 2024
Research & Ideas

Want to Make Diversity Stick? Break the Cycle of Sameness

that diversity is good overall.” What’s driving these decisions? Chang speculates that a behavioral phenomenon known as “loss aversion,” in which people focus on avoiding losses rather than reaping potential gains, might be influencing... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

16 Aug 2016
First Look

August 16, 2016

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51481 The Value of Trading Relationships in Turbulent Times By: Di Maggio, Marco, Amir Kermani, and Zhaogang Song Abstract—This paper investigates how dealers’ trading relationships shape their trading View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

18 Jan 2016
Research & Ideas

Hazard Warning: The Unacceptable Cost of Toxic Workers

that included retail, financial services, and health care. Tip-offs to toxicity The data reveal three traits that indicate which would-be hire needs a warning label. Human resources managers should be alert to signs an applicant is... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland

03 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 3, 2009

credulity, and perverse incentives and suspect behavior on the part of issuers, rating agencies, and borrowers. Cross-cultural Research in Organizational Behavior Authors:Heidi K. Gardner and P. Christopher... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

08 Sep 2014
Research & Ideas

The Strategic Way To Hire a Sales Team

with engineering on custom applications, and up-selling or cross-selling additional services. Allocation of sales talent should change. Focus on behaviors in selection. In many firms, this means upgrading assessment skills. Managers are... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

2024
Working Paper

Determinants of Top-Down Sabotage

By: Hashim Zaman and Karim R. Lakhani

We investigate the conditions that motivate managers to impede the growth of talented subordinates due to fears of future competition for their own positions. Our research expands on existing tournament and contest theory literature that considers peer-to-peer sabotage... View Details

Keywords: Succession Planning; Organizational Hierarchy; Compensation; Promotions; Tournaments; Talent and Talent Management; Organizational Structure; Employee Relationship Management; Performance Evaluation; Organizational Culture; Management Skills

Citation

SSRN

Read Now

07 Oct 2008
First Look

First Look: October 7, 2008

30,000 megawatts of power, would change the face of European energy networks, use new technology, and help several European countries meet their Kyoto targets for reducing CO2. The issues are whether a small company like Airtricity has the View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Forthcoming
Article

Uprooting Loneliness: A Theory of Continuity-Breaking Self-Narrative Change

By: Jennifer Petriglieri and Elizabeth Sheprow

Through an inductive study of executives reporting persistent loneliness at work, we examine how problematic work experiences can be rooted in the self through narratives, and the process by which they can be uprooted. In the case of loneliness, we found that... View Details

Keywords: Lonelines; Narratives; Qualitative Method; Well-being; Emotions; Employees

Citation

Find at Harvard

Purchase

Web

Our Team - Impact Investments

her Ph.D. in sociology at Stanford University and served as a lecturer and researcher in organizational behavior and human resources management at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Leslie Jeng... View Details

Blog

What Can You Do to Foster Gender Equity?

to distributing assignments, to managing performance and promotions. Undermine stereotypes. If you're a man, model behavior that makes it safer for all men—and all people—to lean into caregiving. Take your full parental leave, for... View Details

June 23, 2021
Article

Research: When A/B Testing Doesn't Tell You the Whole Story

By: Eva Ascarza

When it comes to churn prevention, marketers traditionally start by identifying which customers are most likely to churn, and then running A/B tests to determine whether a proposed retention intervention will be effective at retaining those high-risk customers. While... View Details

Keywords: Customer Retention; Churn; Targeting; Market Research; Marketing; Investment Return; Customers; Retention; Research

Citation

Find at Harvard

Register to Read