Publications

January 2018 (Revised June 2018)
Teaching Note

Womenomics in Japan

By: Boris Groysberg and David Lane

Teaching Note for HBS No. 417-002. View Details

June 2017 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Uber in 2017: One Bumpy Ride

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Jay W. Lorsch and Quinn Pitcher

Uber Technologies Inc., the popular ride-hailing company, entered 2017 having doubled its bookings in 2016 and achieving a valuation of nearly $70 billion, making it the largest venture capital-backed company in the world. Co-founder and CEO Travis Kalanick embodied... View Details

Keywords: Governance; Information Technology; Transportation; Venture Capital; Organizational Culture; Technology Industry; Transportation Industry; United States

10 May 2021
Research & Ideas

Who Has Potential? For Many White Men, It’s Often Other White Men

workplace equality. The partners took a hard look at the firm’s internal culture, and what they discovered was a roadblock to equity that trips up many companies: When challenging assignments for important clients cropped up, the... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

March 2025
Case

Fostering Community at Airbnb (A)

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer, Heather Whiteman and Sarah Mehta

Set in November 2020, this case explores Airbnb’s efforts to foster a culture of belonging, particularly given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company’s workforce. It details how Airbnb used employee surveys and organizational network analysis (ONA)—a... View Details

Keywords: Change; Communication; Competency and Skills; Human Resources; Information; Information Technology; Accommodations Industry; Technology Industry; Travel Industry; United States; California

27 Sep 2018
Research & Ideas

Religion in the Workplace: What Managers Need to Know

out from under you.” Related Reading: Altruistic Capital: Harnessing Your Employees’ Intrinsic Goodwill We May Have Taken Too Much Credit for Easing Workplace Segregation Collaborating Across Cultures What... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage; Apparel & Accessories

Research Summary

Overview

By: Rohit Deshpande

Customer Centricity Rohit Deshpandé's research program focuses on Customer-Centricity. A stream of projects examines the interaction between corporate and national culture as they influence the development and implementation of global marketing strategies in high... View Details

28 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

How Leaders Can Navigate Politicized Conversations and Inspire Collaboration

author Kristen Senz is a social media editor and writer for Harvard Business School Working Knowledge. . [Image: isayildiz] Related Reading How To Ask Better Questions It’s Not Nagging: Why Persistent, Redundant Communication Works How a New Leader Broke Through a... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

November–December 2020
Article

Getting Serious About Diversity: Enough Already with the Business Case

By: Robin Ely and David A. Thomas

Leaders may mean well when they tout the economic payoffs of hiring more women and people of color, but there is no research support for the notion that diversifying the workforce automatically improves a company’s performance. This article critiques the popular... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Change; Trust

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08 Aug 2023
Research & Ideas

Black Employees Not Only Earn Less, But Deal with Bad Bosses and Poor Conditions

evaluate their work environments, says Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Letian Zhang, because these softer measures of workplace quality matter to employees—in some cases, even more than pay. “When we think about racial gaps in... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

June 2014 (Revised September 2014)
Case

Johnson & Johnson: The Promotion of Wellness

By: John A. Quelch and Carin-Isabel Knoop

To create the world's healthiest workforce, diversified health care giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) mandated participation in its "Culture of Health" program globally, customized by location, culture, and specific health needs to offer prevention-focused education,... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Employee Motivation; Transformation; Ethics; Health; Human Resources; Leadership; Management; Personal Development and Career; Problems and Challenges; Strategy; Health Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; North and Central America; Middle East; Latin America; Europe; Asia

May–June 2018
Article

What Most People Get Wrong about Men and Women: Research Shows the Sexes Aren't So Different

By: Catherine H. Tinsley and Robin J. Ely

Why have women failed to achieve parity with men in the workplace? Contrary to popular belief, it’s not because women prioritize their families over their careers, negotiate poorly, lack confidence, or are too risk averse. Meta-analyses of published studies show that... View Details

Keywords: Working Conditions; Gender; Equality and Inequality; Organizational Culture; Change Management

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26 Apr 2024
HBS Case

Deion Sanders' Prime Lessons for Leading a Team to Victory

black socks in the training room may be the same person who costs you the game.” Companies can set similar expectations of employees. “Every profession has the equivalent of a uniform,” Sanders says. “Every workplace has rules.” 4. Send... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Sports

Research Summary

Works in Progress

"Hunkering Down and Venturing Out: Network Activation in Response to the Uncertainty of Organizational Restructuring." Under Review. Awarded Best Paper in Organizational Behavior: 2011 Trans-Atlantic... View Details

17 Jun 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Innovation Communication in Multicultural Networks: Deficits in Inter-cultural Capability and Affect-based Trust as Barriers to New Idea Sharing in Inter-Cultural Relationships

Keywords: by Roy Y.J. Chua & Michael W. Morris

December 2017 (Revised January 2018)
Case

NatureSweet

By: Jose Alvarez, Forest Reinhardt and Natalie Kindred

This case describes the business model and workplace philosophy of NatureSweet, a privately owned, vertically integrated greenhouse grower and marketer of fresh tomatoes with sales across the United States and $329 million in 2016 revenues. CEO Bryant Ambelang treated... View Details

02 Apr 2024
Research & Ideas

Employees Out Sick? Inside One Company's Creative Approach to Staying Productive

put the data in the system.” Sickness wasn’t the only reason for absences. Factory workers, who came to the city from rural areas all over the country, each celebrated holidays by attending cultural festivals, which varied depending on... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Fashion

March–April 2020
Article

What's Really Holding Women Back? It's Not What Most People Think

By: R. Ely and Irene Padavic

Ask people to explain why women remain so dramatically underrepresented in the senior ranks of most companies, and you will hear from the vast majority a lament that goes something like this: High-level jobs require extremely long hours, women's devotion to family... View Details

Keywords: Overwork; Employment; Gender; Equality and Inequality; Work-Life Balance; Organizational Culture