Publications

January 1980
Case

Technotronics, Inc.

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger

Describes the problems of resolving differences between two departments in a decentralized company. Based on Voltamp Electric Co. by T.C. Raymond. View Details

Keywords: Conflict Management; Interpersonal Communication

02 Dec 2019
What Do You Think?

How Does a Company like Boeing Respond to Intense Competitive Pressure?

competitive pressure and highlighted how inherent conflict between an organization's departments can create disaster. The launch of Boeing's Starliner capsule took place 10 months after competitor SpaceX’s successful testing of its... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Air Transportation

August 1978 (Revised April 1987)
Supplement

Assistant Professor Graham and Ms. Macomber (B)

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Conflict Management; Interpersonal Communication; Leadership Style; Emotions; Education Industry

July 2010 (Revised August 2012)
Supplement

Assistant Professor Jo Worthington (C)

By: Dorothy A. Leonard

A professor has an awkward exchange with a student who has prepared numeric analysis, but whose numbers do not agree with her own. View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Learning; Teaching; Cases; Conflict Management

August 1978 (Revised April 1987)
Supplement

Assistant Professor Graham and Ms. Macomber (C)

By: C. Roland Christensen

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Conflict Management; Interpersonal Communication; Leadership Style; Emotions; Education Industry

July 2010 (Revised August 2012)
Supplement

Assistant Professor Jo Worthington (B)

By: Dorothy A. Leonard

A professor teaching a case discussion based on numeric analysis is pleased that a student finally "cracks" the case--but the numbers differ from her own. The instructor has to decide how to handle the discrepancy. View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Teaching; Cases; Mathematical Methods; Conflict Management

June 2008
Case

Professors Sven Larson and Kenneth Carpenter (A)

By: James L. Heskett and Tor Askild Aase Johannessen

Professor Kenneth Carpenter has received word that he has inadvertently offended one of his students. He is pondering a possible response. View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Higher Education; Learning; Teaching; Conflict and Resolution

November 2007
Supplement

Differences at Work: Emily (B)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Rachel Gordon

In Differences at Work: Emily (B) HBS Case No. 9-408-046 Emily considers whether to file a formal complaint with her Human Resources department about the emails but ultimately decides to confront the culprits herself, beginning by sending an email to one of her... View Details

Keywords: Working Conditions; Interpersonal Communication; Employees; Conflict and Resolution; Communication

08 Dec 2009
First Look

First Look: Dec. 8

there are both harmful and helpful effects of multiple identities on interpersonal problem solving depending on whether those identities are enhancing or conflicting: multiple identity conflict shuts down... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2009
Case

Wolf Elmore Brewer, Inc.

By: John A. Davis

This case describes how Alex Wolf, the founder of a small architecture and urban planning firm based in Portland, Oregon, decides to offer partnership to two trusted colleagues, and then how strains develop in their relationship. It asks what can be done to improve... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Interpersonal Communication; Entrepreneurship; Partners and Partnerships; Conflict Management

Find at Harvard

12 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

Waking Up a Sleeping Company

I joined the company. The company's long history of success had led to a soft underbelly that manifested itself in a lack of discipline. The company was extremely values-centered, but its internal norms of consensus decision making, View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

Forthcoming
Article

It Takes Two to Untangle: Illuminating How and Why Some Workplace Relationships Adapt While Others Deteriorate After a Workplace Microaggression

By: Summer R. Jackson and Basima A. Tewfik

Although scholars largely assume that workplace microaggressions negatively impact the work relationship between the target and the perpetrator, relational deterioration is not the only observable relational outcome. Indeed, there are instances of relational... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Interpersonal Communication; Motivation and Incentives; Relationships; Conflict and Resolution

Read Now

15 Jan 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, January 15, 2019

Human Decision Processes Seeker Beware: The Interpersonal Costs of Ignoring Advice By: Blunden, Hayley, Jennifer M. Logg, Alison Wood Brooks, Leslie John, and Francesca Gino Abstract—Prior advice research has focused on understanding when... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

04 Mar 2014
First Look

First Look: March 4

Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior Psychological Safety: The History, Renaissance, and Future of an Interpersonal Construct By: Edmondson, Amy C., and Zhike Lei Abstract—Psychological safety describes people's... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2011 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Ramesh Patel at Aragon Entertainment Limited

By: Anthony J. Mayo and Joshua D. Margolis

Ramesh Patel, a high potential employee, was excited to be named to the company's New Horizons Board, a select team responsible for producing recommendations for new products or line extensions for Aragon Entertainment. Patel's co-worker and friend, Jeremy Gibson was... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Conflict and Resolution; Conflict Management; Interpersonal Communication; Spoken Communication; Communication Intention and Meaning; Jobs and Positions; Performance; Entertainment and Recreation Industry