Publications

Article

When Being a Model Minority Is Good...and Bad: Realistic Threat Explains Negativity Toward Asian Americans.

By: W.W. Maddux, A. Galinsky, A.J.C. Cuddy and M. Polifroni

The current research explores the hypothesis that realistic threat is one psychological mechanism that can explain how individuals can hold positive stereotypical beliefs toward Asian Americans yet also express negative attitudes and emotions toward them. Study 1... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Prejudice and Bias; Ethnicity; Groups and Teams; Attitudes; Emotions

Find at Harvard

November 2007
Case

Differences at Work: Jason (A)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Rachel Gordon

Jason is a member of his firm's recruiting team, which has a mandate to create a more diverse workforce. When the group decides to interview a candidate based on the candidate's race, Jason wonders whether they made the right decision and how, in general, diversity... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Ethnicity; Job Interviews; Race; Recruitment; Diversity

19 Dec 2011
Research & Ideas

Climbing the Great Wall of Trust

Chinese senior executives from a random sample of firms in mainland China. In each interview, the researchers asked the executives to think of two overseas partners—one of Chinese ethnicity and the other of... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

25 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

We May Have Taken Too Much Credit for Easing Workplace Segregation

become more diverse: For white workers, exposure to nonwhite co-workers has steadily increased for 40 years. But the reverse isn’t true; during the same period, for nonwhite workers, particularly Hispanics and Asians, exposure to other... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

23 Oct 2012
First Look

First Look: October 23

several concrete managerial prescriptions for the selection problem based on this trade-off. Finally, we demonstrate the value of our framework in a case study that considers air traffic management. Ethnic Innovation View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

21 Dec 2015
Op-Ed

Without Immigrants, We Wouldn't Have Google

not take this attitude for granted. We should let it thrive with this generation’s outsiders, regardless of place of origin, ethnic background, religion, or gender. They can help bring a new set of perspectives View Details

Keywords: by Shane Greenstein; Information Technology

18 Jul 2018
Research & Ideas

No More General Tso's? A Threat to 'Knowledge Recombination'

the first patent for the medical use of the herb. “This knowledge had been locked in their home country for decades, if not centuries, and now these skilled ethnic migrants were able to transfer the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health; Food & Beverage; Accounting

May 2021
Case

Career at a Crossroads? (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Alex Green

A career professional at a major consumer goods company, Kym Lew Nelson is hoping to negotiate a promotion to vice president, which would make her one of the senior-most African American women in the organization. But when Nelson’s white German boss arrives in the... View Details

Keywords: Culture; Negotiation; Race; Gender; Organizational Culture; Prejudice and Bias; United States

14 Dec 2015
Research & Ideas

Airbnb Hosts Discriminate Against African-American Guests

Due to racial discrimination, white vacationers have an easier time booking an Airbnb rental property than African-Americans do, according to a new study from faculty at Harvard Business School. The problem seems to lie in all the personal information—names View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Accommodations; Web Services

January 1993 (Revised November 1997)
Case

BayBank Boston

In 1992, the Federal Reserve released a study of mortgage lending patterns in Boston. It concluded that even when credit factors were taken into account, black and Hispanic applicants experienced higher rejection rates. Richard Pollard, chairman of BayBank Boston, had... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Ethics; Race; Mortgages; Banking Industry; Boston

Find at Harvard

Article

The Mixed Effects of Online Diversity Training

By: Edward H. Chang, Katherine L. Milkman, Dena M. Gromet, Robert W. Rebele, Cade Massey, Angela L. Duckworth and Adam M. Grant

We present results from a large (n = 3,016) field experiment at a global organization testing whether a brief science-based online diversity training can change attitudes and behaviors toward women in the workplace. Our preregistered field experiment included an... View Details

Keywords: Diversity Training; Bias; Field Experiment; Training; Gender; Race; Prejudice and Bias

July 2024
Article

Demographic 'Stickiness': The Demographic Identity of Departing Group Members Influences Who Is Chosen to Replace Them

By: Edward H. Chang and Erika Kirgios

People tasked with replacing a departing group member are disproportionately likely to choose a replacement with the same demographic identity, leading to demographic “stickiness” in group composition. We examine this effect in 2,163 U.S. federal judge appointments... View Details

Keywords: Loss Aversion; Diversity; Race; Gender; Decisions

17 Jun 2015
Research & Ideas

Michael Porter on America’s Historic Energy Opportunity

A new report from experts Michael E. Porter, David S. Gee, and Gregory J. Pope at Harvard Business School and The Boston Consulting Group outlines a strategic approach for improving United States competitiveness while reducing environmental impact and making progress... View Details

Keywords: Re: Michael E. Porter; Energy; Utilities

August 2022 (Revised May 2025)
Case

Fresh Food Generation

By: Brian Trelstad, Amy Klopfenstein and Mel Martin

This case highlights one of five BIPOC entrepreneurs in the Boston area as part of the HBS Impact Investment Fund. In fall 2021, a team of HBS students reviewed the financial statements of Fresh Food Generation (FFG), a Dorchester, Massachusetts-based food service... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Investment; Entrepreneurial Finance; Entrepreneurship; Race; Food and Beverage Industry; Boston

March 2023 (Revised May 2023)
Case

OneTen at Delta Air Lines: Catalyzing Family-Sustaining Careers for Black Talent (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Lydia Begag

It was December 10, 2020, and Ed Bastian, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Delta Air Lines (Delta), had just finished a meeting with Joanne Smith, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, and Keyra Lynn Johnson, the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer.... View Details

Keywords: Recruitment; Training; Race; Equality and Inequality; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Job Design and Levels; Air Transportation Industry; United States

January 2019
Case

Richard Taylor—African-American Investors Break into Boston's Downtown Real Estate Market

By: Steven Rogers and Alyssa Haywoode

African-American investors in Boston could typically invest in commercial real estate opportunities that were located in the “community,” neighborhoods where people of color live. But it was tough to break in and invest in the downtown market. But when an opportunity... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Investing; African-american Investors; Hotels; Commercial Real Estate; Property; Investment; Opportunities; Race; Real Estate Industry; Boston

July 2004 (Revised August 2004)
Case

On Becoming a Board Member

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Ashley Robertson

A Hispanic executive is considering whether to join the board of directors of a company and receives advice from several more experienced directors. Teaching Purpose: To focus on the issues related to joining a board of directors. View Details

Keywords: Management; Leadership; Ethnicity; Governing and Advisory Boards

January 4, 2020
Article

The 10 Commitments Companies Must Make to Advance Racial Justice

By: Mark R. Kramer

In the wake of George Floyd’s tragic death in Minneapolis, major corporations have been voicing their support for racial justice in the United States. But we are way past the point when words alone suffice. Actions are needed. Corporations can and should make 10... View Details

Keywords: Racial Justice; Racial Equity; Race; Equality and Inequality; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

Register to Read

2016
Working Paper

Henry Kissinger: Negotiating Black Majority Rule in Southern Africa

By: James K. Sebenius, R. Nicholas Burns, Robert H. Mnookin and L. Alexander 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; Negotiation Process; Race; Negotiation Participants; Negotiation Deal; Government and Politics; Africa; United States

SSRN