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(768)
- News (128)
- Research (540)
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- Multimedia (6)
- Faculty Publications (283)
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(768)
- News (128)
- Research (540)
- Events (6)
- Multimedia (6)
- Faculty Publications (283)
- 2015
- Working Paper
Understanding Conformity: An Experimental Investigation
By: B. Douglas Bernheim and Christine L Exley
Some theories of conformity hold that social equilibrium either standardizes inferences or promotes a shared understanding of conventions and norms among individuals with fixed heterogeneous preferences (belief mechanisms). Others depict tastes as fluid and hence... View Details
Keywords: Conformity; Norms; Image Motivation; Prosocial Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Behavior; Standards
Bernheim, B. Douglas, and Christine L Exley. "Understanding Conformity: An Experimental Investigation." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 16-070, December 2015.
- June 2019 (Revised July 2019)
- Case
Building a Meritocracy at Alghanim Industries
By: Paul M. Healy, Susanna Gallani and Esel Çekin
Building on his father’s legacy, Omar Alghanim (MBA 2002) had been working on strengthening a performance-driven culture based on meritocracy in the family business, Alghanim Industries. The task had been particularly challenging because of traditional Middle East... View Details
Keywords: Meritocracy; Social Norms; Family Business; Organizational Culture; Performance; Diversity; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Middle East; Kuwait
Healy, Paul M., Susanna Gallani, and Esel Çekin. "Building a Meritocracy at Alghanim Industries." Harvard Business School Case 119-019, June 2019. (Revised July 2019.)
- May–June 2019
- Article
U-Shaped Conformity in Online Social Networks
By: Monic Sun, Michael Zhang and Feng Zhu
We explore how people balance their needs to belong and to be different from their friends by studying their choices of a virtual-house wall color on a leading Chinese social-networking site. The setting enables us to randomize both the popular color and the adoption... View Details
Keywords: Conformity; Normative Social Influence; Social Networks; Field Experiment; Social and Collaborative Networks; Behavior; Attitudes; Social Media
Sun, Monic, Michael Zhang, and Feng Zhu. "U-Shaped Conformity in Online Social Networks." Marketing Science 38, no. 3 (May–June 2019): 461–480.
- 2012
- Working Paper
What Do Managers Do? Exploring Persistent Performance Differences among Seemingly Similar Enterprises
By: Robert Gibbons and Rebecca Henderson
Social networks and social groups have both been seen as important to discouraging malfeasance and supporting the global pro-social norms that underlie social order, but have typically been treated either as pure substitutes or as having completely independent effects.... View Details
Keywords: Social Norms; Social Networks; Triadic Closure; Social Groups; Group Identity; Groups and Teams; Identity; Performance Consistency; Social and Collaborative Networks; Societal Protocols; Social Media
Gibbons, Robert, and Rebecca Henderson. "What Do Managers Do? Exploring Persistent Performance Differences among Seemingly Similar Enterprises." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 13-020, August 2012.
- September 2022
- Article
Regulatory Spillover and Workplace Racial Inequality
By: Letian Zhang
This paper suggests that affirmative action bans in the U.S. public sector may influence racial inequality in the private sector. Since the 1990s, nine states have banned affirmative action practice in public universities and state governments. Though these bans have... View Details
Keywords: Inequality; Regulation; Law; Organizational Norm; CEO; Affirmative Action; Organizations; Private Sector; Equality and Inequality; Diversity; Race; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms
Zhang, Letian. "Regulatory Spillover and Workplace Racial Inequality." Administrative Science Quarterly 67, no. 3 (September 2022): 595–629.
- 2012
- Working Paper
With Us or Against Us? Networks, Identity and Order in a Virtual World
By: Magnus Thor Torfason
Social networks and social groups have both been seen as important to discouraging malfeasance and supporting the global pro-social norms that underlie social order, but have typically been treated either as pure substitutes or as having completely independent effects.... View Details
Keywords: Social Norms; Social Networks; Triadic Closure; Social Groups; Group Identity; Groups and Teams; Boundaries; Organizations; Identity; Social and Collaborative Networks; Societal Protocols
Torfason, Magnus Thor. "With Us or Against Us? Networks, Identity and Order in a Virtual World." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 13-019, August 2012. (Revise and Resubmit, American Journal of Sociology.)
- July 2022
- Article
When Alterations Are Violations: Moral Outrage and Punishment in Response to (Even Minor) Alterations to Rituals
By: Daniel H. Stein, Juliana Schroeder, Nicholas M. Hobson, Francesca Gino and Michael I. Norton
From Catholics performing the sign of the cross since the 4th century to Americans reciting the Pledge of Allegiance since the 1890s, group rituals (i.e., predefined sequences of symbolic actions) have strikingly consistent features over time. Seven studies (N = 4,213)... View Details
Keywords: Ritual; Morality; Groups; Norms; Commitment; Groups and Teams; Values and Beliefs; Change; Moral Sensibility; Behavior
Stein, Daniel H., Juliana Schroeder, Nicholas M. Hobson, Francesca Gino, and Michael I. Norton. "When Alterations Are Violations: Moral Outrage and Punishment in Response to (Even Minor) Alterations to Rituals." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 123, no. 1 (July 2022): 123–153.
- May–June 2023
- Article
Unmasking Behaviors During the Pandemic with Video Analytics
By: Shunyuan Zhang, Kaiquan Xu and Kannan Srinivasan
In 2020, as the novel coronavirus spread globally, face masks were recommended in public settings to protect against and slow down viral transmission. People complied to varying extents, and their reactions may have been driven by a variety of psychological factors.... View Details
Zhang, Shunyuan, Kaiquan Xu, and Kannan Srinivasan. "Unmasking Behaviors During the Pandemic with Video Analytics." Marketing Science 42, no. 3 (May–June 2023): 440–450.
- Article
'Many Others Are Doing It, So Why Shouldn't I?': How Being in Larger Competitions Leads to More Cheating
By: Celia Chui, Maryam Kouchaki and Francesca Gino
In many spheres of life, from applying for a job to participating in an athletic contest to vying for a date, we face competition. Does the size of the competition pool affect our propensity to behave unethically in our pursuit of the prize? We propose that it does.... View Details
Keywords: Unethical Behavior; Cheating; Competitors; Social Norms; Ethics; Behavior; Competition; Societal Protocols
Chui, Celia, Maryam Kouchaki, and Francesca Gino. "'Many Others Are Doing It, So Why Shouldn't I?': How Being in Larger Competitions Leads to More Cheating." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 164 (May 2021): 102–115.
- Article
Is Saving Lives Your Task or God's?: Religiosity, Belief in God, and Moral Judgment
By: Netta Barak-Corren and Max Bazerman
Should a Catholic hospital abort a life-threatening pregnancy or let a pregnant woman die? Should a religious employer allow his employees access to contraceptives or break with healthcare legislation? People and organizations of faith often face moral decisions that... View Details
Keywords: Normative Conflict; Inaction; Indirectness; Deontology; Utilitarianism; Sunday Effect; Religion; Moral Sensibility; Decisions; Judgments
Barak-Corren, Netta, and Max Bazerman. "Is Saving Lives Your Task or God's? Religiosity, Belief in God, and Moral Judgment." Judgment and Decision Making 12, no. 3 (May 2017): 280–296.
- 2020
- Working Paper
Building the Professional Firm: McKinsey & Co.: 1939-1968
By: Amar Bhidé
This case history analyzes how the founders of McKinsey & Co. built one of the world's leading management consulting firms by developing a “system” of professional norms, approach to serving clients, personnel policies, organization, governance, and ownership. The... View Details
Keywords: McKinsey ＆ Co.; Company History; Professional Norms; Vision; Organizations; Business History; Business Model; Strategy; Consulting Industry
Bhidé, Amar. "Building the Professional Firm: McKinsey & Co.: 1939-1968." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 95-010, January 1995. (Revised July 2020.)
- October 2013
- Article
License to Cheat: Voluntary Regulation and Ethical Behavior
By: F. Gino, E. Krupka and R. Weber
While monitoring and regulation can be used to combat socially costly unethical conduct, their intended targets are often able to avoid regulation or hide their behavior. This surrenders at least part of the effectiveness of regulatory policies to firms' and... View Details
Keywords: Ethical Behavior; Dishonesty; Regulation; Selection; Social Norms; Behavior; Ethics; Societal Protocols
Gino, F., E. Krupka, and R. Weber. "License to Cheat: Voluntary Regulation and Ethical Behavior." Management Science 59, no. 10 (October 2013): 2187–2203.
- March 2020
- Article
Governance Through Shame and Aspiration: Index Creation and Corporate Behavior
By: Akash Chattopadhyay, Matthew D. Shaffer and Charles C.Y. Wang
After decades of deprioritizing shareholders' economic interests and low corporate profitability, Japan introduced the JPX-Nikkei400 in 2014. The index highlighted the country's "best-run" companies by annually selecting the 400 most profitable of its large and liquid... View Details
Keywords: JPX-Nikkei 400 Index; Status Incentives; Return On Equity; Capital Efficiency; Social Norms; Index Inclusion; Reputation Incentives; Motivation and Incentives; Corporate Governance; Behavior; Investment Return; Status and Position; Japan
Chattopadhyay, Akash, Matthew D. Shaffer, and Charles C.Y. Wang. "Governance Through Shame and Aspiration: Index Creation and Corporate Behavior." Journal of Financial Economics 135, no. 3 (March 2020): 704–724.
- 20 Jan 2011
- Working Paper Summaries
Testing Coleman’s Social-Norm Enforcement Mechanism: Evidence from Wikipedia
- June 2008
- Article
How Are Preferences Revealed?
By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian
Revealed preferences are tastes that rationalize an economic agent's observed actions. Normative preferences represent the agent's actual interests. It sometimes makes sense to assume that revealed preferences are identical to normative preferences. But there are many... View Details
Beshears, John, James J. Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian. "How Are Preferences Revealed?" Journal of Public Economics 92, nos. 8-9 (June 2008): 1787–1794.
- 2013
- Working Paper
Testing Coleman's Social-Norm Enforcement Mechanism: Evidence from Wikipedia
By: Mikolaj J. Piskorski and Andreea Gorbatai
Since Durkheim, sociologists have believed that dense network structures lead to fewer norm violations. Coleman (1990) proposed one mechanism generating this relationship and argued that dense networks provide an opportunity structure to reward those who punish norm... View Details
Keywords: Governance Compliance; Governance Controls; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Information Publishing; Social and Collaborative Networks; Social Issues; Societal Protocols
Piskorski, Mikolaj J., and Andreea Gorbatai. "Testing Coleman's Social-Norm Enforcement Mechanism: Evidence from Wikipedia." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 11-055, December 2010. (Revised September 2011, March 2013.)
- 03 Nov 2016
- HBS Seminar
Thomas Fujiwara, Princeton University
- Article
Refined Configuration Results for Extremal Type II Lattices of Ranks 40 and 80
By: Noam D. Elkies and Scott Duke Kominers
We show that, if L is an extremal Type II lattice of rank 40 or 80, then L is generated by its vectors of norm min(L)+2. This sharpens earlier results of Ozeki, and the second author and Abel, which showed that such lattices L are generated by their vectors of norms... View Details
Keywords: Mathematical Methods
Elkies, Noam D., and Scott Duke Kominers. "Refined Configuration Results for Extremal Type II Lattices of Ranks 40 and 80." Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society 138, no. 1 (January 2010): 105–108.