Publications

2024
Working Paper

Lost in Transmission

By: Thomas Graeber, Shakked Noy and Christopher Roth

For many decisions, people rely on information received from others by word of mouth. How does the process of verbal transmission distort economic information? In our experiments, participants listen to audio recordings containing economic forecasts and are paid to... View Details

Keywords: Information Trnasmission; Word Of Mouth; Word-of-Mouth; Narratives; Reliability; Knowledge Sharing; Spoken Communication; Cognition and Thinking

Read Now

April 1982
Supplement

General Electric: John F. Welch, Jr., Chairman of the Board, Video

By: Francis Aguilar and Richard G. Hamermesh

Welch discusses a variety of topics. View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Governing and Advisory Boards; Spoken Communication; Industrial Products Industry

January 2004 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Major Steckleson at the National Training Center (A)

By: Scott A. Snook, Robert Kaderavek and Jeremy Schneider

Major Steckleson is facing his toughest challenge yet. As an experienced observer-controller at the U.S. Army's National Training Center, Steckleson is responsible for helping leaders of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Squadron learn from a deadly mistake in simulated combat... View Details

Keywords: Organizations; Learning; Training; Spoken Communication; Groups and Teams; United States

February 2016
Article

Unearned Status Gain: Evidence from a Global Language Mandate

By: Tsedal Neeley and Tracy Dumas

Theories of status rarely address unearned status gain—an unexpected and unsolicited increase in relative standing, prestige, or worth, attained not through individual effort or achievement, but from a shift in organizationally valued characteristics. We build theory... View Details

Keywords: Status and Position; Equality and Inequality; Spoken Communication; Organizations; Japan; United States

2012
Book

Talk, Inc. : How Trusted Leaders Use Conversation to Power Their Organizations

By: Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind

How can leaders make their big or growing companies feel small again? How can they recapture the "magic"--the tight strategic alignment, the high level of employee engagement--that drove and animated their organization when it was a start-up? As more and more... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Interpersonal Communication; Organizational Culture; Social and Collaborative Networks; Spoken Communication

July 2016
Article

The Capital Market Consequences of Language Barriers in the Conference Calls of Non-U.S. Firms

By: Francois Brochet, Patricia L. Naranjo and Gwen Yu

We examine how language barriers affect the capital market reaction to information disclosures. Using transcripts from the English-language conference calls of non-U.S. firms, we find that the calls of firms in countries with greater language barriers are more likely... View Details

Keywords: Voluntary Disclosure; Capital Market Consequences; Non-plain English; Spoken Communication; Complexity; Capital Markets; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues

SSRN

March 2011
Background Note

Pitching Business Opportunities

By: Lynda M. Applegate, William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell

This note can be used to develop a business plan pitch for a new venture. View Details

Keywords: Business Plan; Business Startups; Spoken Communication; Competency and Skills; Entrepreneurship

01 Jun 2008
News

Tu Veux Sprechen Conmigo Online?

“It’s cool to say you speak six languages,” Karen Ong (MBA ’08) told the Boston Globe (March 12, 2008). “But the process of learning a language is boring.” So Ong decided to do something about it. She created MyHappyPlanet.com, an online social network in which... View Details

June 2011
Article

Implicit Voice Theories: Taken-for-granted Rules of Self-censorship at Work

By: J. R. Detert and Amy C. Edmondson

This article examines, in a series of four studies, the nature and impact of implicit voice theories-largely taken-for-granted beliefs about when and why speaking up at work is risky or inappropriate. In Study 1, qualitative data from 190 interviews conducted in a... View Details

Keywords: Spoken Communication; Interpersonal Communication; Employees; Managerial Roles; Organizational Culture; Risk and Uncertainty; Behavior

September 2009 (Revised August 2011)
Case

Urban Decay: A Great Idea

By: Lena G. Goldberg

Casual discussions of ideas for a new business can have unintended legal consequences and expectations about founder status and ownership shares may diverge widely. Using facts from a litigated case, the concept of inadvertent formation of a partnership is explored. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Spoken Communication; Lawsuits and Litigation; Ownership Stake; Partners and Partnerships

01 Jun 2001
News

HBS Alumni Association Board of Directors: President's Report

addition to the volunteer positions mentioned above, I realize that there are countless others of you working daily on behalf of HBS, committed to serving the School and to bettering the lives of its alumni. Dean Kim B. Clark has spoken... View Details

Keywords: Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

September 2007 (Revised March 2009)
Exercise

Pitch Yourself!

By: Thomas J. Steenburgh and Michael I. Norton

Helps students develop an elevator pitch for their most important asset—themselves. Before class students are asked to interview a potential employer and to develop preliminary elevator pitches. Once in class, students work through an exercise that helps them refine... View Details

Keywords: Spoken Communication; Selection and Staffing; Job Interviews; Marketing; Personal Development and Career

22 Jun 2023
News

Finding Her Place

wouldn’t say ‘innovation’ is a dirty word in nonprofits, but it is one that is not spoken often,” she acknowledges. Under Hudson’s leadership, the organization—which runs two facilities with about 800 beds and access to medical,... View Details

July 1995
Teaching Note

Managing Conflict in a Diverse Workplace TN

By: Mary C. Gentile and James I. Cash Jr.

Teaching Note for (9-395-090). View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Conflict Management; Spoken Communication; Employees; Culture; Diversity

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

March–April 2013
Article

Language Matters: Status Loss & Achieved Status Distinctions in Global Organizations

By: Tsedal Neeley

How workers experience and express status loss in organizations has received little scholarly attention. I conducted a qualitative study of a French high-tech company that had instituted English as a lingua franca, or common language, as a context for examining this... View Details

Keywords: Organizations; Status and Position; Loss; Spoken Communication; Emotions; Attitudes; Behavior; Globalization

25 Apr 2016
News

Trail Blazer

finds such gratification in the 47-mile bike and pedestrian route soon to connect the six-city region. It will be a legacy enjoyed by generations. “It’s very psychically rewarding,” he says. “It’s so much fun to be involved in something the entire View Details

Keywords: Jill Radsken; Food and Beverage Stores; Retail Trade; Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation; Transportation

2009
Working Paper

Walking Through Jelly: Language Proficiency, Emotions, and Disrupted Collaboration in Global Work

By: Tsedal Beyene, Pamela J. Hinds and Catherine Durnell Cramton

In an ethnographic study comprised of interviews and concurrent observations of 145 globally distributed members of nine project teams of an organization, we found that uneven proficiency in English, the lingua franca, disrupted collaboration for both native and... View Details

Keywords: Spoken Communication; Interpersonal Communication; Globalized Firms and Management; Groups and Teams; Behavior; Emotions; Social and Collaborative Networks