by Harvard Management Update - Publications - Faculty & Research

22 Nov 2023
Research & Ideas

Humans vs. Machines: Untangling the Tasks AI Can (and Can't) Handle

Consulting Group employees work with AI: Humans are still needed to make that call. To operationalize AI successfully, managers must carefully select its applications, train workers in using it properly, and quickly move the line as AI... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Information Technology; Technology

03 Oct 2005
Research & Ideas

The Truck Driver Who Reinvented Shipping

Malcolm P. McLean, a truck driver, fundamentally transformed the centuries-old shipping industry, an industry that had long decided that it had no incentive to change. By developing the first safe, reliable, and cost effective approach to... View Details

Keywords: by Anthony J. Mayo & Nitin Nohria; Manufacturing; Transportation; Aerospace

12 Aug 2019
Research & Ideas

How Scale Changes a Manager's Responsibilities

listen to podcasts like Reboot or Masters of Scale. Put your ego aside! Managing is hard, let alone learning how to do it when you’re also trying to launch a company. From 20-30 employees. The best practice for team size is eight... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

11 Feb 2002
Research & Ideas

The Quiet Leader—and How to Be One

It sounds almost paradoxical. A quiet leader? Yet quiet leaders—managers who apply modesty, restraint, and tenacity to solve particularly difficult problems—are more common than we think, says Harvard Business School professor Joseph L.... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

13 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

The Color of Private Equity: Quantifying the Bias Black Investors Face

that fund young businesses are owned by Black or Hispanic founders and partners, traditionally the most likely source of capital for minority business ventures, says Josh Lerner, the Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking at... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds; Financial Services

01 Jun 2002
News

Profile: The Invisible Hand - Robert Massie and God's Green Earth

and social justice in the conduct of capitalism. When Massie was an infant, his youthful parents received a stunning diagnosis: Their lively firstborn was a hemophiliac. The family's life in New York's Westchester County became dominated View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; management; ethics

03 Oct 2023
HBS Case

Layoffs Can Be Bad Business: 5 Strategies to Consider Before Cutting Staff

corresponding increases in interest rates prompt fears of a recession. Indeed, a recent Harvard Business School case study details how four tech giants laid off almost 40,000 workers between November 2022 and March 2023. But an... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Telecommunications; Technology; Financial Services; Manufacturing

12 Feb 2021
News

How Dunkin’ Donuts Took Over the World

by the External Relations department at Harvard Business School and edited by Craig McDonald. It is available at iTunes and wherever you get your favorite podcasts. For more... View Details

Keywords: brands; leadership; management; strategy; operations; career; Food and Beverage Stores; Retail Trade

14 Mar 2018
Research & Ideas

Feeling Stressed? Try Sniffing Your Romantic Partner's Shirt

psychology at the University of British Columbia. She co-authored the study with colleagues Hanne K. Collins, now a research associate at Harvard Business School; Ashley V. Whillans, now an assistant professor in the Negotiations,... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

18 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

Industrial Decarbonization: Confronting the Hard Challenges of Cement

Cities like Cairo; Chongqing, China; Delhi; and Kinshasa, Congo are experiencing population explosions accompanied by unprecedented demand for homes, offices, factories, and infrastructure. In the United States, the Biden Administration’s policy-driven infrastructure... View Details

Keywords: by by Janelle Conaway; Green Technology; Energy; Industrial Products; Manufacturing

30 Aug 2010
Research & Ideas

Turning Employees Into Problem Solvers

for process improvement. For incident-reporting systems to fulfill their promise, employees must use the system to "speak up" when they encounter a problem. Managers receive additional value when reporters speak up constructively View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Health

17 Oct 2022
Research & Ideas

Why Quiet Quitters Need More Than Money to Re-Engage

community.” Paying employees fairly is just one way to show them they are valued, he says—but it’s also important to give them a sense of purpose, caring, and community. By flipping expectations of a boss-employee relationship and... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

01 Mar 2021
What Do You Think?

What Does Remote Work Mean for Middle Managers?

information, creating surprises for top management. That claim was part of the defense used by top management in the Wells Fargo customer fraud scandal. Even academics are loath to probe middle management. A... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

09 Jun 2022
HBS Case

From Truck Driver to Manager: US Foods’ Novel Approach to Staff Shortages

workers to select and manage products in its warehouses. By the middle of 2021, US Foods, which employs about 26,000 workers, had 1,000 unfilled driving and warehouse positions. "You’re saying you might be a... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

30 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

‘Intrinsic Joy’ Sparks Ideas Better than Cash

contributed far more “repos” (software packages placed and held in a repository) during the run-up to their payout than those who didn’t participate. Yet, once paid, a sponsored user’s community-driven contributions and long-term engagement tanked, finds recent... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology

10 Feb 2020
In Practice

6 Ways That Emerging Technology Is Disrupting Business Strategy

Even though the internet has been publicly available for almost three decades, executives at just about every company are wrestling with how to use digital technology to advance their business strategy. We asked professors from Harvard... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

17 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

What the Stockdale Paradox Tells Us About Crisis Leadership

[This is the fourth installment in a monthly series on management issues in the time of COVID-19.] “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

16 Mar 2009
Research & Ideas

When the Internet Runs Out of IP Addresses

allow paid transfers, if they conclude that such transfers are in the Internet's best interests. Governments definitely play a role. For example, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) mandated the installation of IPv6-capable... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Telecommunications

21 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

Are You Sabotaging Your Own Company?

morale, and impair the organization’s overall performance. Unlike the human interference instigated by operatives for the CIA, business leaders don’t typically throw up these work obstacles intentionally. After all, they may actually... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

28 Jun 2010
HBS Case

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

details how one institution has implemented its own version of health-care reform, taking overall performance levels from well below average to the top 10 percent in the industry. Coauthored by HBS assistant professor Anita Tucker and... View Details