Conversation - Publications - Faculty & Research

13 Mar 2019
Research & Ideas

Ignore This Advice at Your Own Peril

approach While prior research has mostly taken the advice seeker’s perspective, this new paper provides a window into the advisor’s point of view. It also reveals that the two sides look at the purpose of these conversations in different... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

03 Jan 2019
Research & Ideas

Everyone Knows Innovation is Essential to Business Success—Except Board Directors

range of ideas into debates that can be used to formulate questions and strategic directives for management. Those conversations can’t happen if boards aren’t making time for them, however. “There can be a tendency for longer-term... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

05 Apr 2017
Research & Ideas

For Women Especially, It Pays to Know What Car Repairs Should Cost

off. The interpretation of that is that sellers don’t expect women to negotiate, and once they do, they are treated like anyone else,” she says. For men, it’s an advantage if they mention their price expectation into the conversation late... View Details

Keywords: by Wendy Guild Swearingen; Auto; Service

30 Jul 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

Teaching The Deal

conversation that a good deal is or isn't likely to see the light of day. Or, it can take years to figure it out. In situations that take a long time to develop, it's easy to fall prey to "the fat file syndrome," getting too... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Education

05 Feb 2001
Research & Ideas

The Ten Deadly Mistakes of Wanna-Dots

(Why worry about the hypothetical?) Celebrate your conversion to e-business by giving people in the rest of your organization tools they are unable to use, requiring changes they are confused about making. Tell people this will help them... View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

24 Apr 2020
Op-Ed

Lessons from the NFL: Virtual Hiring, Leadership, Building Teams and COVID-19

accomplishments speak for themselves - together they have developed the type of chemistry on and off the field that is crucial to success,” said the Buccaneers general manager, Jason Licht. When asked if he and Brady had ever discussed playing together again,... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Abbott , Boris Groysberg, Tali Groysberg, and Abhijit Naik; Sports

04 Dec 2007
First Look

First Look: December 4, 2007

Allianz supervisory board and the board of management in addition to the process of becoming an SE, including the change in the composition of the supervisory board as a result of the merger and the conversion to an SE. Purchase this... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

05 Oct 2009
Research & Ideas

The Vanguard Corporation

new CEO at IBM, led a conversation in which all 400,000 employees could participate on a Web chat over three days about what the company's values should be for the 21st century, a "values jam." People were in a conversation.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

24 Apr 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, April 24, 2018

retailer, we find that showrooms (1) increase demand overall and in the online channel as well; (2) generate operational spillovers to the other channels by attracting customers who, on average, have a higher cost-to-serve; (3) improve overall operational efficiency by... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

21 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

7 Successful Battle Strategies to Beat COVID-19

Organizational Responses to COVID-19 and Climate Change: A Conversation with Rebecca Henderson (Environmental Insights) Read COVID-19 coverage from Working Knowledge 4. Develop cross-functional teams able to make decisions in the field... View Details

Keywords: by Euvin Naidoo

23 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

The Gulf: It’s a Family Affair

A conversation with John Davis, author of "Challenges Facing Family Companies in the Gulf Region" Family Business Review, vol XIII, no. 3, September 2000. Q: Where does family business take you? Davis: I've been in this field... View Details

Keywords: by Wendy Guild & Andrea Schulman

20 Feb 2001
Research & Ideas

What’s Next for Japan

himself and coauthors Hirotaka Takeuchi and Mariko Sakakibara in their new book, Can Japan Compete?, before leading a discussion on approaches to Japan's economic recovery. The conversation sparked considerable debate around his own... View Details

Keywords: by Hilah Geer

20 Dec 2016
First Look

December 20, 2016

metrics, Kaggwa is preparing for her monthly performance conversations with two under-performing sales people. This case concerns a metrics-driven sales organization, challenges the students to combine quantitative and qualitative... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

31 Jan 2011
Research & Ideas

Taking the Fear out of Diversity Policies

amount of anxiety for people," says Lakshmi Ramarajan, an assistant professor of organizational behavior at Harvard Business School. "A lot of times the context of the conversation is around diversity as a problem—isolation,... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

22 Aug 2024
Research & Ideas

Reading the Financial Crisis Warning Signs: Credit Markets and the 'Red-Zone'

credit market dynamics—and investor behavior. HBS Working Knowledge spoke with Robin Greenwood, the George Gund Professor of Finance and Banking at Harvard Business School, about the role markets may play in shaping economic conditions. This View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Banking

07 Jan 2015
Research & Ideas

The Quest for Better Layoffs

employer with deep roots in the community." But Green and Rosales thought the conversation lacked a key element: a consideration of how layoffs might have devastated the factory employees at Malden Mills. They saw it as a lack of... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Manufacturing

11 Jan 2016
Research & Ideas

Is Group Loyalty a Force for Good or Evil?

See Evil or Engage in It. The paper—written with HBS colleague Max Bazerman, Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration; and Angus Hildreth, a doctoral candidate studying organizational behavior at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business—has its origins in... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

17 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

America Needs a Manufacturing Renaissance

Manufacturing commons are "webs of technological knowhow, operational capabilities, and specialized skills" that underlie many industries, universities, and the government. Also, see Professor Jim Heskett's conversation with his readers... View Details

Keywords: by Gary P. Pisano & Willy C. Shih; Manufacturing

31 Jul 2006
Research & Ideas

When Not to Trust Your Gut

over a short lunch, set aside an entire morning—remember, you've already decided that these talks are important. If someone catches you off guard and launches into discussions on the fly, ask to reschedule the conversation for a later... View Details

Keywords: by Max H. Bazerman & Deepak Malhotra

06 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 6

this article, I outline an agenda for strengthening the links between key institutions. Leaders, I argue, should focus on four goals: 1) linking knowledge creation to venture creation to speed the conversion of ideas into market-ready... View Details