Organization Theory - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Mar 2024
News

The Internet's Next Frontier

While the Crypto, Fintech, and Web3 Lab—one of 13 labs contained within Harvard’s Digital Data Design Institute—might not have the Bunsen burners and test tubes found in science and engineering labs, it does share a philosophical construct: it is a sandbox—an... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Gillespie

17 Oct 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, October 17, 2017

startup organization for the thousands of employees who join a fledgling company and do the day-to-day work required to grow it into something of value. Entering StartUpLand is a practical, step-by-step guide that provides an insider's... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Feb 2002
News

It's academic. (Not!)

Photography by Jared Leeds "Our students use traditional academic theory to take on problems that have fundamental relevance in today's business world," says Janice McCormick, executive director of the HBS Doctoral Programs. "Many come in... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

04 Aug 2011
What Do You Think?

How Dangerous Is Common Sense to Managers?

propositions that most people consider prudent " Duncan Watts himself found it "surprisingly hard to pin down. Roughly speaking, it is the loosely organized set of facts, observations, experiences, insights, and pieces of... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

18 Oct 2017
Research & Ideas

How Economic Clusters Drive Globalization

(Photo source: iStock) Economic cluster theory has been used to describe the growth of many industries, including the automotive business around Detroit, high tech in Silicon Valley, and digital media in Seoul. These regions benefit by a... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Agriculture & Agribusiness

Web

Power and Influence for Positive Impact | HBS Online

gain influence and make an impact within your organization and society. 6 weeks 6-7 hours per week 6 modules Self-Paced with regular deadlines This course earns you a Certificate of Completion from HBS Online. What you earn . Overview... View Details

March 2017
Case

Intellectual Ambition at Harvard Business School: Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger

By: Jan W. Rivkin and Amram Migdal

This case, set in the 1920s and 1930s, discusses the contributions of Harvard Business School (HBS) Professors Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger to management research and to the Human Relations Movement in management scholarship. The case focuses on their research... View Details

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Entrepreneurial Management Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

University Press, 2018) William R. Kerr : Included in the 2019 Thinkers50 On the Radar list—a list of "emerging thinkers with the potential to make lasting contributions to management theory and practice." Scott Duke Kominers : Recipient... View Details

26 Nov 2001
Op-Ed

Why Corporate Budgeting Needs To Be Fixed

revenues—she increases her chances of getting a large bonus the following year. This is a variation on the "big bath" theory of corporate financial reporting: If you're going to take a loss, take as big a loss as possible.... View Details

Keywords: by Michael C. Jensen

22 May 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, May 22, 2018

incumbents do not achieve this objective because they encourage the survival and expansion of low-type firms. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54520 forthcoming Journal of Political Economy A Theory of... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

15 Jun 2007
Research & Ideas

Remembering Alfred Chandler

network of individual contracts or the vision of its entrepreneur. The people inside firms learned, developed effective routines, and innovated. While we have sophisticated theories of competition in economics, the cooperative teamwork... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

20 Oct 2003
Research & Ideas

Gaps in the Historical Record: Development of the Electronics Industry

illustration of first-mover advantages. From its beginning in 1914, it created an integrated learning base to commercialize a new data processing punched-card technology. By the 1920s, its initial factory in New York and a new one in Europe were supplying its worldwide... View Details

Keywords: by Alfred D. Chandler Jr.; Consumer Products

22 Jul 2019
Book

How to Be a Digital Platform Leader

organization that operate under a corporate umbrella. For example, Google Search is a classic transaction platform that connects end users to advertisers, and the Android operating system is a classic innovation platform that enables... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

27 Nov 2006
Research & Ideas

Manly Men, Oil Platforms, and Breaking Stereotypes

masculinity in the workplace. A resulting working paper, "Unmasking Manly Men: The Organizational Reconstruction of Male Identity," not only explores how organizations influence the way men enact their gender, but also looks at... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Energy; Utilities

23 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Psychology, Pathology, and the CEO

more productive." [New CEO] Greg Dyke virtually eliminated consultants at the BBC to force managers to think for themselves.— Rosabeth Moss Kanter Invensys's leadership team acted on this theory by adding new groups and roles,... View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

16 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 16

influence when the vast majority can't? The authors tracked 68 change initiatives in the UK's National Health Service, an organization whose size, complexity, and tradition can make reform difficult. They discovered several predictors of... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

19 Aug 2013
Research & Ideas

Studying How Income Inequality Shapes Behavior

voting. Moss offers a simple analogy: Imagine you want to test a theory that punches cause stomachaches. If you examine the data and find that some people get punched without getting stomachaches, and that others get stomachaches without... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

26 May 2015
Research & Ideas

Corporate Field Researchers Share Tricks of the Trade

won awards from both the Academy of Management's Organization and Management Theory Division and Organizational Behavior Division, was largely guided by the information that the factory workers shared with... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

04 Jul 2016
Research & Ideas

Is Your Org Chart Stuck in a Rut? Try a Scientific Experiment

not pursued.” To be clear, the o-Lab is not out to question the value of business consultants or CEOs. Rather, it aims to illustrate the value of the tools of business research. “If we, the HBS faculty, are going to claim that we have View Details