Publications

October 1998 (Revised April 2000)
Background Note

Complexity and Error in Medicine

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer

Reviews the issues underlying the rate of error in medical practice and discusses the range of potential management interventions to decrease the risk of error. View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Management Practices and Processes; Risk and Uncertainty; Complexity

Article

Recent Advances in the Empirics of Organizational Economics

By: Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun and John Van Reenen

We present a survey of recent contributions in empirical organizational economics, focusing on management practices and decentralization. Productivity dispersion between firms and countries has motivated the improved measurement of firm organization across industries... View Details

Keywords: Economics; Management Practices and Processes; Performance Productivity; Geographic Location; Motivation and Incentives; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Competition; Human Capital; Markets; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Multinational Firms and Management; India; Brazil; United States

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Prithwiraj (Raj) Choudhury is the Lumry Family Associate Professor at the Harvard Business School. He was an Assistant Professor at Wharton prior to joining Harvard. His research is focused on studying the Future of Work, especially the changing Geography of... View Details

09 Apr 2024
Book

Why Work Rituals Bring Teams Together and Create More Meaning

anyway? Bringing rituals into the workplace may feel awkward, Norton says—especially when employees balk at the “trust falls” and other “teambuilding exercises” that managers impose upon them. But the truth is, research shows that such... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

22 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

Master the One-on-One Meeting

But how we treat them as individuals can determine the way their DNA will impact the fabric of your organization. What are you doing, as their manager, to make sure they are satisfied and making the best contribution to your organization? I have View Details

Keywords: by Julia B. Austin

01 Dec 2014
News

Harvard Innovation in the 21st Century

August 2010
Supplement

Batson International, S.A. (B)

By: David F. Hawkins

A surprise internal audit of a division's accounting practices reveals a number of possible earnings management and accounting irregularities. View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Earnings Management; Financial Reporting; International Accounting; Standards; United States

2011
Book

Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader

By: Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback

You never dreamed being the boss would be so hard. You're caught in a web of conflicting expectations from subordinates, your supervisor, peers, and customers. You're constantly fighting fires. You're mired in office politics. You end each day exhausted and... View Details

Keywords: Management; Leadership; Management Skills; Employee Relationship Management; Personal Development and Career; Groups and Teams; Social and Collaborative Networks

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Amy C. Edmondson is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, a chair established to support the study of human interactions that lead to the creation of successful enterprises that contribute to the betterment of... View Details

Keywords: health care; nonprofit industry; professional services; consulting

2015
Working Paper

What Do Private Equity Firms Say They Do?

By: Paul A. Gompers, Steven N. Kaplan and Vladimir Mukharlyamov

We survey 79 private equity investors with combined assets under management (AUM) of over $750 billion about their practices in firm valuation, capital structure, governance, and value creation. Investors rely primarily on internal rate of return (IRR) and multiples to... View Details

Keywords: Governance; Value Creation; Private Equity; Capital Structure; Valuation; Management Practices and Processes

SSRN

19 Jan 2016
News

How Strong is the State of the Union?

March 2001 (Revised March 2002)
Background Note

Service Recovery

Discusses the value of service recovery to service organizations working to enhance customer loyalty. Also provides practical advice to managers and examines strategies proven helpful to service organizations in their recovery objectives. View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Operations; Service Industry

October 2008
Article

Organizational Responses to Environmental Demands: Opening the Black Box

By: Magali Delmas and Michael W. Toffel

This paper combines new and old institutionalism to explain differences in organizational strategies. We propose that differences in the influence of corporate departments lead their facilities to prioritize different external pressures and thus adopt different... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Management Practices and Processes; Decisions; Adoption

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2013
Chapter

Effective Teamwork and Collaboration

By: Heidi K. Gardner

Book Abstract: The ability to attract, develop, and retain talent has become one of the biggest competitive issues for law firms. But although talent management is now recognized as a business issue of prime importance, law firms often lack the experience, vision, and... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Legal Services Industry

March 1999 (Revised February 2001)
Background Note

New Product Development Imperative, The

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Edward T Smith

Introduces students to the best practices for managing new product development projects. Includes concepts and tools related to structuring teams consistent with the project objectives as well as concepts and processes for improving project execution. View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Product Development; Performance Improvement; Problems and Challenges; Groups and Teams

March 2005 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Sealed Air Taiwan (A) (Abridged)

By: Lynn S. Paine

The general manager for U.S.-based Sealed Air Corp.'s Taiwan subsidiary must decide how to improve productivity and achieve profitability. In addition to considering a new approach to compensation, he is wondering how to bridge the gap between Sealed Air's corporate... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Relationships; Service Operations; Motivation and Incentives; Management Skills; Compensation and Benefits; Taiwan; United States

20 Apr 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Why Every Company Needs a CSR Strategy and How to Build It

Keywords: by Kash Rangan, Lisa A. Chase & Sohel Karim

March 2023
Background Note

A Primer on OKRs

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan (Jason) Ni

The OKR framework is a popular goal-setting and strategy execution tool that uses goal setting through “Objectives” and measuring performance using “Key Results” on a periodic basis to measure and drive performance. The OKR framework has been adopted and practiced at... View Details

Keywords: Business Organization; Talent and Talent Management; Framework; Corporate Governance; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Management Practices and Processes; Management Skills; Management Systems; Measurement and Metrics; Outcome or Result; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Evaluation; Performance Expectations; Performance Productivity; Performance Efficiency

2009
Working Paper

Goals Gone Wild: The Systematic Side Effects of Over-Prescribing Goal Setting

By: Lisa D. Ordonez, Maurice E. Schweitzer, Adam D. Galinsky and Max H. Bazerman

Goal setting is one of the most replicated and influential paradigms in the management literature. Hundreds of studies conducted in numerous countries and contexts have consistently demonstrated that setting specific, challenging goals can powerfully drive behavior and... View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Performance Improvement; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives