Publications

Article

A Fair Game? Racial Bias and Repeated Interaction between NBA Coaches and Players

By: Letian Zhang

There is strong evidence of racial bias in organizations but little understanding of how it changes with repeated interaction. This study proposes that repeated interaction has the potential to reduce racial bias, but its moderating effects are limited to the treatment... View Details

Keywords: Discrimination; Bias; Interaction; NBA; Prejudice and Bias; Race; Equality and Inequality; Interpersonal Communication; Sports

February 9, 2021
Article

For a More Equitable Recovery, Corporations Must Stop Using a College Degree as a Proxy for Ability

By: Gerald Chertavian

Keywords: Race; Equality and Inequality; Recruitment; Talent and Talent Management

September 2020
Teaching Note

West Side United: Hospitals Tackle the Racial Health and Wealth Gap

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Joyce J. Kim

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 321-026. View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; COVID; Hospital; Coalition; Health Pandemics; Race; Health; Wealth and Poverty; Equality and Inequality; Change; Leadership; Chicago

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Article

Beating the Odds: Leadership Lessons from Senior African-American Women

By: Laura Morgan Roberts, Anthony Mayo, Robin Ely and David Thomas

Any list of top CEOs reveals a stunning lack of diversity. Among the leaders of Fortune 500 companies, for example, just 32 are women, three are African-American, and not one is an African-American woman. What’s going on? The authors studied the careers of the roughly... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Diversity; Race; Gender; Personal Characteristics; Relationships; Success

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September 2013
Article

Status Boundary Enforcement and the Categorization of Black-White Biracials

By: Arnold K. Ho, Jim Sidanius, Amy J.C. Cuddy and Mahzarin R. Banaji

Individuals who qualify equally for membership in more than one racial group are not judged as belonging equally to both of their parent groups, but instead are seen as belonging more to their lower status parent group. Why? The present paper begins to establish the... View Details

Keywords: Hypodescent; Social Dominance Orientation; Intergroup Threat; Hierarchy Maintenance; Equality and Inequality; Race; Rank and Position; Attitudes; Identity

Fall 2011
Article

Leveraging Tribal Sovereignty for Economic Opportunity: A Strategic Negotiations Perspective

By: Gavin Clarkson and James K. Sebenius

Indian tribes and U.S. states often find themselves at the bargaining table, often negotiating "compacts" to govern gaming operations on tribal lands. The operational success of the Pequot gaming operation in Connecticut, Foxwoods, and the substantial revenue shared... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Ethnicity; Negotiation Tactics; Race; Social Issues; Relationships; Government and Politics; Economics; United States

28 Jun 2016
First Look

June 28, 2016

Abstract—Several CEOs are receiving significant media attention for taking public positions on controversial social and environmental issues largely unrelated to their core business, ranging from LGBT rights to race relations to gender... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Article

We Have a Rare Opportunity to Create a Stronger, More Equitable Society

By: Shai Davidai, Martin Day, Daniela Goya-Tocchetto, Oliver Hauser, Jon M. Jachimowicz, M. Usman Mirza, Nailya Ordabayeva, L. Taylor Phillips, Barnabas Szaszi and Stephanie Tepper

Income inequality in the United States was at historic levels before the coronavirus hit. Now, as the disease—and the social and economic implications it brings—spread across the country, it is likely to create even deeper fissures between the poor and rich. View Details

Keywords: Socioeconomic Status; Coronavirus; Inequality; Work; Income; Equality and Inequality; Health Pandemics; Gender; Money; Policy; Race; Society

May 28, 2018
Article

How Companies Can Identify Racial and Gender Bias in Their Customer Service

By: Alexandra C. Feldberg and Tami Kim

Research shows that minority customers — blacks and Asians — regularly receive worse customer service than whites in ways that are not immediately obvious to onlookers (or even managers). These results prompt a couple of questions for executives and managers. One, does... View Details

Keywords: Internal Audit; Customers; Service Delivery; Prejudice and Bias; Race; Gender; Organizational Change and Adaptation

September 2017 (Revised March 2019)
Supplement

Henry Kissinger: Negotiating Black Majority Rule in Rhodesia (B)

By: James K. Sebenius and Laurence A. Green

In 1976, United States Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger conducted a series of intricate, multiparty negotiations in Southern Africa to persuade white Rhodesian leader Ian Smith to accede to black majority rule. Conducted near the end of President Gerald Ford’s... View Details

Keywords: Equality and Inequality; Race; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Participants; Negotiation Deal; Government and Politics; Africa; United States

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April 2013
Article

An fMRI Investigation of Racial Paralysis

By: Michael I. Norton, Malia F. Mason, Joseph A. Vandello, Andrew Biga and Rebecca Dyer

We explore the existence and underlying neural mechanism of a new norm endorsed by both black and white Americans for managing interracial interactions: "racial paralysis," the tendency to opt out of decisions involving members of different races. We show that people... View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Race; Judgments; Decision Choices and Conditions; Personal Characteristics; United States

February 2002 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Remaking the Rainbow Nation: South Africa 2002

By: Rawi E. Abdelal, Debora L. Spar and Katherine E. Cousins

In April 1994, the world witnessed a political milestone in South Africa. After decades of repression and racial segregation, South Africa's black majority came to power at last, as the African National Congress (ANC), led by the celebrated Nelson Mandela, rode into... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Race; Political Elections; Economic Growth; Business and Government Relations; South Africa

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27 Sep 2004
Research & Ideas

IBM Finds Profit in Diversity

Like many companies, IBM took big strides to eliminate discrimination by attempting to ignore cultural, racial, and other differences among its vast worldwide workforce. That ended when Lou Gerstner became CEO. Gerstner initiated a diversity task-force initiative that... View Details

Keywords: by David A. Thomas

April 1992 (Revised February 1993)
Supplement

Otis South Africa (B)

By: Michael Beer

Covers a June 1990 Social Responsibility Conference held by George David to evaluate the progress of his new management team in increasing the pace of nonwhite advancement. The U.S. CEO and the managing director of Otis South Africa disagree over the suitability of... View Details

Keywords: Conflict Management; Race; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Management Teams; South Africa