Publications

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01 Mar 2011
News

Changing the Culture

To address Dean Nitin Nohria’s concern that HBS can be a difficult place for some groups to thrive, the School has launched a new Culture and Community Initiative to ensure that all members of the community can achieve their full... View Details

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

May 2024
Article

Going Beyond the 'Self' in Self-control: Interpersonal Consequences of Commitment Strategies

By: Ariella S. Kristal and Julian Zlatev

Commitment strategies are effective mechanisms individuals can use to overcome self-control problems. Across seven studies (and two supplemental studies), we explore the negative interpersonal consequences of commitment strategy choice and use. In Study 1, using an... View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Trust

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October 1996 (Revised January 1997)
Case

MacTemps: Building Commitment in the Interim Workforce

MacTemps is a provider of temporary workers skilled in computer graphics and database management. Unlike many temporary agencies that treat temps as a commodity, MacTemps has attempted to build relationships with temps through offering benefits and training. This case... View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Organizational Design; Personal Development and Career; Information Technology Industry; Employment Industry

01 Oct 1999
News

Culture Clash: Exploring Cross Cultural Conflicts in Business

course-development project in 1997. Writing cases on firms in China, Japan, Thailand, Argentina, Nigeria, and Russia, she focused on businesses indigenous to each culture as well View Details

Keywords: Judith A. Ross

September 2013 (Revised April 2014)
Teaching Note

Transitions Asia: Managing Across Cultures

By: Roy Y.J. Chua, Sharon Mozgai and Dawn Lau

The director of an interim executive research firm, Chee Lung Tham, faced a clash of culture and management styles when his mainland China client threatened to fire the American interim manager that Tham had assigned. The client, Wong Lung, ran a family-owned garment... View Details

Keywords: China; Cross-cultural Management; Family Business; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Management Style; Service Industry; China

December 2012
Case

Chobani: Growing a Live and Active Culture

By: Joshua D. Margolis and Matthew Preble

Hamdi Ulukaya, CEO of the Greek yogurt company Chobani, Inc., was reflecting on what explained his young company's meteoric rise. The company held over half of the U.S. Greek yogurt market, and nearly 20% of the total yogurt market. The company's innovative approach to... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Growth Strategy; Growth Management; Yogurt; Innovation Strategy; Leadership; Culture; Entrepreneurship; Marketing; Agribusiness; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Canada; Australia

2008
Working Paper

Cultural Notes on Chinese Negotiating Behavior

By: James K. Sebenius and Cheng (Jason) Qian

Western businesses negotiating with Chinese firms face many challenges, from initiating and smoothing communication to establishing long-lasting relationships and mutual trust, and from bargaining and drafting agreements to securing their implementation. Chinese... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Style; Perception; Societal Protocols; China

April 2013 (Revised April 2014)
Case

Transitions Asia: Managing Across Cultures

By: Roy Y.J. Chua and Dawn H. Lau

The director of an interim executive search firm, Chee Lung Tham, faced a clash of culture and management styles when his mainland Chinese client threatened to fire the American interim manager that Tham had assigned. The client, Wong Lung, ran a family-owned garment... View Details

Keywords: China; Cross-cultural Management; Management Style; Conflict Management; Family Business; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Service Industry; China

2014
Working Paper

Mobilizing Culture for Public Action: Community Participation and Child Rights in Rural Uttar Pradesh

By: Akshay Mangla

Community-based initiatives that work to empower the poor and promote their participation have gained strong support among scholars and practitioners of development. Yet the questionable assumptions about culture and development that inform these initiatives render it... View Details

Keywords: India; Culture; Child Rights; Caste Relations; Child Education; Child Health; India

21 Jul 2020
News

Starbucks Commits to Raising Awareness of Racial Bias

14 May 2018
Research & Ideas

Amazon vs. Whole Foods: When Cultures Collide

bad guy" Harvard Business School professors Dennis Campbell and Tatiana Sandino took notice, suspecting a clash of corporate cultures was at work. Their forthcoming case study discusses the limits of trying to force one View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Food & Beverage

01 Sep 2012
News

HBS Is Committed to Increasing Alumni Engagement

frequency of their two-way interactions with HBS.Â Alumni would like to be a resource for students and the School in new and different ways. The School will be looking into opportunities to expand alumni engagement in areas such as FIELD... View Details

Keywords: Lisa Skeete Tatum; engagement; Educational Support Services; Educational Services

November 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Starbucks: Reaffirming Commitment to the Third Place Ideal

By: Francesca Gino, Katherine B. Coffman and Jeff Huizinga

On April 12, 2018, two African American entrepreneurs had scheduled a business meeting at a Starbucks in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square neighborhood. They sat without ordering, waiting for a local businessman to show up for the meeting. The store manager called 911... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Values and Beliefs; Prejudice and Bias; Crisis Management; Employees; Training

2009
Working Paper

Female Empowerment: Impact of a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines

By: Nava Ashraf, Dean Karlan and Wesley Yin

Female "empowerment" has increasingly become a policy goal, both as an end to itself and as a means to achieving other development goals. Microfinance in particular has often been argued, but not without controversy, to be a tool for empowering women. Here, using a... View Details

Keywords: Saving; Microfinance; Personal Finance; Decision Making; Microeconomics; Gender; Power and Influence; Philippines