Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(888)
- Faculty Publications (162)
- November 2016 (Revised December 2016)
- Module Note
Strategy Execution Module 12: Aligning Performance Goals and Incentives
By: Robert Simons
This module reading explains how managers use performance goals and incentives to ensure that employee actions align with the overall business strategy of the organization. The module begins by discussing how managers use goals to communicate business strategy, the... View Details
- September 2016
- Case
Designing Performance Metrics at GoDaddy
By: C. Fritz Foley and Michael Lemm
Scott Wagner has recently joined GoDaddy, a leading provider of cloud-based software and services that helped individuals and small businesses establish a web presence, in the dual role of chief operating officer and chief financial officer. One of his first tasks is... View Details
- May 2016 (Revised September 2017)
- Case
Pal's Sudden Service—Scaling an Organizational Model to Drive Growth
By: Gary P. Pisano, Francesca Gino and Bradley R. Staats
Pal's Sudden Service has developed a unique operating model and organizational culture in the quick service restaurant business. With a deep emphasis on process control and improvement, zero defects, extensive training, and a high level of employee engagement, Pal's... View Details
- May 2016 (Revised September 2016)
- Case
Hillside Beach Club: Delivering the Ultimate Family Vacation in the Mediterranean
By: Rajiv Lal and Gamze Yucaoglu
In 2015, Edip Ilkbahar, HBC’s founder and CEO, was looking over the plans for a new branch in Cyprus. Since the inception of the company by the Alarko Group of companies in 1994, Ilkbahar’s company had enjoyed high occupancy, high guest satisfaction, and high... View Details
Keywords: Customer Experience; Customer Service; Hotel Industry; Emerging Market; Customer Focus; Leading Growth; Feedback Culture; Employee Empowerment; Employee Engagement; Employee Training; Staffing; Operations Management; Quality Management; Service Management; Service Quality; Continuous Improvement; Hillside; HBC; Turkey; Vacation; Customer Relationship Management; Quality; Employee Relationship Management; Service Operations; Organizational Culture; Customer Satisfaction; Selection and Staffing; Service Delivery; Competitive Advantage; Emerging Markets; Growth and Development; Accommodations Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Turkey
- Article
Can You Cut 'Turn Times' Without Adding Staff?
By: Ethan Bernstein and Ryan W. Buell
The president of RSA Ground, the subsidiary of Rising Sun Airlines responsible for servicing its planes at airports across Japan, goes undercover as a service crew member to discover how and whether his employees can speed up cleaning, checking, restocking, and... View Details
- March 2016
- Supplement
Trouble at Tessei
By: Ethan Bernstein and Ryan W. Buell
In 2005, Teruo Yabe is asked to revive Tessei, the 669-person JR-East subsidiary responsible for cleaning its Shinkansen ("bullet") trains. Operational mistakes, customer complaints, safety issues, and employee turnover are at or near all-time highs, even as the... View Details
Keywords: Service Management; Employee Engagement; Employee Motivation; Leadership And Managing People; Quality Improvement; Efficiency; Japan; Operational Transparency; Employee Coordination; Transparency; Leadership; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Employees; Quality; Transportation Industry; Japan
- Article
Three Principles to REVISE People's Unethical Behavior
By: Shahar Ayal, Francesca Gino, Rachel Barkan and Dan Ariely
Dishonesty and unethical behavior are widespread in the public and private sectors and cause immense annual losses. For instance, estimates of U.S. annual losses indicate $1 trillion paid in bribes, $270 billion lost due to unreported income, as well as $42 billion... View Details
- October 2015 (Revised February 2020)
- Teaching Note
Trouble at Tessei
By: Ethan Bernstein and Ryan Buell
In 2005, Teruo Yabe is asked to revive Tessei, the 669-person JR-East subsidiary responsible for cleaning its Shinkansen ("bullet") trains. Operational mistakes, customer complaints, safety issues, and employee turnover are at or near all-time highs, even as the... View Details
Keywords: Service Management; Employee Engagement; Employee Motivation; Leadership And Managing People; Quality Improvement; Efficiency; Japan; Operational Transparency; Employee Coordination; Transparency; Leadership; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Employees; Quality; Transportation Industry; Japan
- January 2015 (Revised October 2015)
- Case
Trouble at Tessei
By: Ethan Bernstein and Ryan W. Buell
In 2005, Teruo Yabe is asked to revive Tessei, the 669-person JR-East subsidiary responsible for cleaning its Shinkansen ("bullet") trains. Operational mistakes, customer complaints, safety issues, and employee turnover are at or near all-time highs, even as the... View Details
Keywords: Service Management; Employee Engagement; Employee Motivation; Leadership And Managing People; Quality Improvement; Efficiency; Japan; Operational Transparency; Employee Coordination; Transparency; Leadership; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Employees; Quality; Transportation Industry; Japan
- Article
What's Your Language Strategy?: It Should Bind Your Company's Global Talent Management and Vision
By: Tsedal Neeley and Robert Steven Kaplan
Language pervades every aspect of organizational life. Yet leaders of global organizations—where unrestricted multilingualism can create friction—often pay too little attention to it in their approach to talent management. By managing language carefully, firms can hire... View Details
- July–August 2014
- Article
Becoming a First-Class Noticer: How to Spot and Prevent Ethical Failures in Your Organization
By: Max Bazerman
We'd like to think that no smart, upstanding manager would ever overlook or turn a blind eye to threats or wrongdoing that ultimately imperil his or her business. Yet it happens all the time. We fall prey to obstacles that obscure or drown out important signals that... View Details
- June 2014
- Case
Making Progress at IDEO
By: Teresa M. Amabile and Katrina Flanagan
This case focuses on different types of client relationships at IDEO, the value of these relationships for IDEO and clients, and the implications for IDEO designers' everyday experience of work. As new types of client work have shifted away from the more classic design... View Details
- June 2014 (Revised September 2014)
- Case
Johnson & Johnson: The Promotion of Wellness
By: John A. Quelch and Carin-Isabel Knoop
To create the world's healthiest workforce, diversified health care giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) mandated participation in its "Culture of Health" program globally, customized by location, culture, and specific health needs to offer prevention-focused education,... View Details
Keywords: Healthcare; Employee Motivation; Transformation; Ethics; Health; Human Resources; Leadership; Management; Personal Development and Career; Problems and Challenges; Strategy; Health Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; North and Central America; Middle East; Latin America; Europe; Asia
- February 2014 (Revised January 2024)
- Case
Go Mobile: Aligning District Managers and Store Teams
By: Tatiana Sandino
Indian cell phone retailer Go Mobile had implemented high-powered incentives to motivate its store employees to behave as owners and provide exceptional service. As the company scaled up, it faced multiple challenges in building a layer of district managers that were... View Details
- November 2013
- Article
Simplification and Saving
By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian
The daunting complexity of important financial decisions can lead to procrastination. We evaluate a low-cost intervention that substantially simplifies the retirement savings plan participation decision. Individuals received an opportunity to enroll in a retirement... View Details
- September 2013 (Revised June 2016)
- Case
The Morning Star Company: Self-Management at Work
By: Francesca Gino, Bradley R. Staats, Brian J. Hall and Tiffany Y. Chang
Morning Star, a collection of affiliated companies, had grown steadily since 1970 when Chris Rufer, president and founder, started the business hauling tomatoes to processing plants in a truck. The company's main products continued to be tomato-based, including a... View Details
- September 2013
- Article
Great Leaders Who Make the Mix Work
By: Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly
Business leaders send a powerful message when they make a commitment to diversity that goes beyond rhetoric. But what motivates them to do so, and how do they actually create inclusive cultures? To find out, the authors interviewed 24 CEOs whose firms were known for... View Details
- Article
The Psychological Costs of Pay-for-Performance: Implications for the Strategic Compensation of Employees
By: Ian Larkin, L. Pierce and F. Gino
- Article
Employee Selection as a Control System
By: Dennis Campbell
Theories from the economics, management control, and organizational behavior literatures predict that when it is difficult to align incentives by contracting on output, aligning preferences via employee selection may provide a useful alternative. This study... View Details
- August 2012
- Case
ARISE: A Destination-for-a-Day Spa
By: Michael Beer and Lynda St. Clair
A new Dallas-based health and beauty spa aims to use a highly distinctive human resource system as the foundation of its competitive strategy. By encouraging employees to act as "personal wellness coaches" (PWCs) with high commitment and broad responsibilities, the... View Details