Publications

March 1990 (Revised October 1999)
Case

Mary Kay Cosmetics: Sales Force Incentives (A)

By: Robert L. Simons and Hilary Weston

Describes the incentive system by which Mary Kay Cosmetics motivates the sales force of 200,000 independent agents who comprise the firm's only distribution channel. Illustrates the powerful effect on sales-force behavior that results when creative types of employee... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Cost Management; Salesforce Management; Distribution Channels; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; United States

Educators

Most forward-thinking executives have embraced the notion that purpose-driven companies can solve social and environmental problems while also generating wealth, creating win-win outcomes that benefit everyone. But ideal solutions are rare. Many... View Details

12 PM – 1 PM EDT, 19 May 2016
Webinars: Trending@HBS

Design Thinking and Innovative Problem Solving

In their book, Rethinking the MBA: Business Education at a Crossroads, Professors Srikant Datar and David Garvin and researcher Patrick Cullen identified creative and innovative thinking as an essential skill for managers operating in a world of rapidly evolving... View Details

January 2005 (Revised August 2006)
Case

Lean Forward Media

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Victoria Winston

Jeff Norton and Michelle Crames, the co-founders of Lean Forward Media, face several options for producing the world's first interactive DVD film for children. Their vision is to build a company whose products simultaneously entertain children, engage them actively in... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Early Childhood Education; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Management Practices and Processes; Risk Management; Partners and Partnerships; Opportunities; Creativity

September 24, 2021
Article

A Labor Movement for the Platform Economy

By: Li Jin, Scott Duke Kominers and Lila Shroff

Platforms are fundamentally changing the contract between workers and companies—and the workers and creatives that create value for platform companies, and rely on platforms for their livelihoods, often have little power when it comes to getting their concerns... View Details

Keywords: Gig Workers; Decentralized Collective Action; Internet and the Web; Labor; Labor and Management Relations; Digital Platforms

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Other Article

My Favorite Slide: The Entrepreneurial Gap Applied to Health Care

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Robert Simons

Value-based health care increases physicians’ accountability for patient outcomes. Many have resisted, claiming that patient outcomes are influenced by many forces outside their control, such as patient’s compliance with post-acute and rehab care. The difference... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Outcome or Result; Motivation and Incentives

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Article

Embeddedness and New Idea Discussion in Professional Networks: The Mediating Role of Affect-Based Trust

By: Roy Y.J. Chua, M.W. Morris and P. Ingram

This article examines how managers' tendency to discuss new ideas with others in their professional networks depends on the density of shared ties surrounding a given relationship. Consistent with prior research which found that embeddedness enhances information flow,... View Details

Keywords: Information; Networks; Trust

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June 1989 (Revised May 1993)
Case

Rossin Greenberg Seronick & Hill, Inc. (A)

By: John A. Quelch

Rossin Greenberg Seronick & Hill (RGSH), a New England advertising agency, was keen to secure the account of Microsoft Corp. The case describes the bid for the account, which included the submission of a "flier" referring to knowledge of a competitor's plans, as a... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Marketing; Advertising; Advertising Industry; New England

Educators

21 Apr 2016
News

Harvard Business School Breaks Ground on Large-Scale Convening Center

Research Summary

Current Projects

To further study team coaching and creativity, I have undertaken two field-based studies. In collaboration with Teresa Amabile, I am exploring helping and collaborative behaviors though the analysis of daily diary entries from creative work teams at a design firm.... View Details

David A. Moss

David Moss is the Paul Whiton Cherington Professor at Harvard Business School, where he teaches in the Business, Government, and the International Economy (BGIE) unit. He earned his B.A. from Cornell University and his Ph.D. from Yale. In 1992-1993, he served as a... View Details

Keywords: banking; credit card; federal government; financial services; health care; insurance industry; state government

Linda A. Hill

Linda A. Hill is the Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and Faculty Chair of the Leadership Initiative. Hill is regarded as one of the top experts on leadership and innovation. Hill is... View Details

1984
Article

Children's Artistic Creativity: Effects of Choice in Task Materials

By: T. M. Amabile and J. Gitomer

Preschool boys and girls made collages using a subset of a large array of materials. Half of the children were allowed to choose those materials they would use. For the rest of the children, the choice was made by the experimenter. Children in the no-choice condition... View Details

Keywords: Creativity; Early Childhood Education; Social Psychology; Decision Choices and Conditions

30 Sep 2021
News

Soliciting Advice Rather Than Feedback Produces More Actionable Input According To Harvard Business School

17 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 17, 2018

through an industry’s vertical chain. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54706 The Creative Consulting Company By: Kaplan, Robert S., Richard Nolan, and David P. Norton Abstract—During the past 50... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

July 2012
Case

Droga5: Launching Jay-Z's Decoded

By: Anita Elberse and Kwame Owusu-Kesse

In 2010, David Droga and Andrew Essex, co-founders of advertising agency Droga5, hope to convince both John Meneilly, manager of hip-hop star Shawn Carter—better known as Jay-Z—and a partner in Carter's company Roc Nation and Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president of... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Entertainment; Advertising Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

Educators

2014
Book

Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation

By: Linda A. Hill, Greg Brandeau, Emily Truelove and Kent Lineback

Why can some organizations innovate time and again, while most cannot? You might think the key to innovation is attracting exceptional creative talent. Or making the right investments. Or breaking down organizational silos. All of these things may help—but there's only... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Innovation Leadership; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Innovation and Invention

2018
Book

Rebel Talent: Why It Pays to Break the Rules at Work and Life

By: F. Gino

The world’s best chef.
An airline captain who brought his flight to safety in a daring water landing.
A magician known for his sensational escape acts.
A computer scientist who founded a world-renowned animation studio.
What do all of these... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Personal Characteristics; Success; Behavior