Publications

Article

Why Do Firms Have 'Purpose'? The Firm's Role as a Carrier of Identity and Reputation

By: Rebecca Henderson and Eric Van den Steen

Why do so many firms publicly espouse a "purpose" beyond simple profit maximization? And why do so many managers and employees appear to care deeply about this purpose and to believe that it is critically important? In this paper we argue that the conventional answers... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Identity; Reputation

December 1997 (Revised May 1998)
Case

CUC and HFS: Corporate Identity for a "Merger of Equals"

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Robert J. Crawford

In the wake of a major $20 billion market capitalization "merger of equals," two large consumer service firms must determine a new name for the new entity. Neither CUC nor HFS is well known among consumers. The CUC Services (e.g., shopping, travel, credit card... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Capital; Brands and Branding; Identity; Customization and Personalization; Value; Service Industry

14 Feb 2023
HBS Case

Is Sweden Still 'Sweden'? A Liberal Utopia Grapples with an Identity Crisis

country is shifting away from the liberal Social Democratic Party that has been the benchmark of its system. Fewer young Swedes are joining unions, and American-style private schools and medical care have taken root. “Americans, myself... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

2025
Working Paper

Lessons from an App Update at Replika AI: Identity Discontinuity in Human-AI Relationships

By: Julian De Freitas, Noah Castelo, Ahmet Kaan Uğuralp and Zeliha Oğuz-Uğuralp

As consumers increasingly interact with AI applications specialized for social relationships, what is the nature and depth of these relationships among actual users, and can company actions influence these dynamics? We find that active users of the US-based AI... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Welfare; Loss; Well-being; Identity; Perception; Relationships

SSRN

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Research Summary

Overview

In industries characterized by extreme dynamism, complexity, and uncertainty, formal structure often “falls behind” actual work processes. The nature of work in these environments evolves continuously while formal structure can only do so at specific times in discrete... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Organizational Design; Organizational Identity; Identity Work; Strategy; Strategic Change; Collaboration; Cross-functional Integration; Cognition; Organizational Evolution; Organizational Alignment; Social Media

July 1995
Exercise

Workshop on Understanding and Communicating About Our Group Identities and Our Differences

By: Mary C. Gentile and James I. Cash Jr.

Keywords: Identity; Interpersonal Communication; Groups and Teams

1995
Chapter

The Role of Dominant Identity and Experience in Organizational Work on Diversity

By: R. J. Ely

Keywords: Working Conditions; Identity; Experience and Expertise; Diversity

December 2011
Article

Identity Work in Business Schools: From Don Quixote, to Dons and Divas

By: Rakesh Khurana and Scott A. Snook

Keywords: Identity; Business Education

1 Aug 2006
Conference Presentation

Unmasking Manly Men: How Organizations Can Redefine the Boundaries of Masculine Identity

By: R. Ely

Keywords: Gender; Organizations; Identity

2019
Presentation

Courageous Self Awareness for Social Change

2018
Article

Cracking the Organizational Challenge of Pursuing Joint Social and Financial Goals: Social Enterprise as a Laboratory to Understand Hybrid Organizing

By: Julie Battilana

While in recent decades the social and business sectors have evolved on fairly separate tracks, today companies are increasingly expected to generate social value in addition to profit. As a result, they also increasingly face the distinct challenge of pursuing social... View Details

Keywords: Hybrid Organizations; Hybrid Organizing; Multiple Goals; Social Enterprise; Goals and Objectives; Organizational Design; Organizational Culture

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2002
Chapter

Making Sense of Officership: Developing a Professional Identity for 21st Century Army Officers

By: George B. Forsythe, Scott Snook, Philip Lewis and Paul T. Bartone

Keywords: Leadership; Identity

July – August 2005
Article

Identity Development During the College Years: Findings From the West Point Longitudinal Study

By: Scott Snook, Philip Lewis, Paul Bartone, Forsythe B. Forsythe, Craig Bullis and Patrick Sweeney

Keywords: Growth and Development; Education; Identity; Information

1995
Chapter

Diversity, Social Indentity, and Performance: Emergent Social Dynamics in Cross-functional Teams

By: G. Northcraft, J. Polzer, M. Neale and R. Kramer

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Identity; Performance; Diversity

17 Feb 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Breaking Them In or Revealing Their Best? Reframing Socialization around Newcomer Self-Expression

Keywords: by Dan Cable, Francesca Gino & Brad Staats

12 Feb 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Platform Competition, Compatibility, and Social Efficiency

Keywords: by Ramon Casadesus-Masanell & Francisco Ruiz-Aliseda; Computer

Article

The Future of Economic, Business, and Social History

By: G. Jones, Marco H.D. van Leeuwen and Stephen Broadberry

Three leading scholars in the fields of business, economic, and social history review the current state of these disciplines and reflect on their future trajectory. Geoffrey Jones reviews the development of business history since its birth at the Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: Economic History; Business History; History; Asia; Africa; Europe; Latin America; North and Central America

Web

Social Enterprise - Faculty & Research

Social Enterprise Social Enterprise April 2013 Article Who Is Governing Whom? Executives, Governance, and the Structure of Generosity in Large U.S. Firms By: Christopher Marquis and Matthew Lee We examine... View Details

December 2018
Supplement

The Global-Local Tension: Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao Leading with 'International Values and Local Roots' (B)

By: Tsedal Neeley

Vittorio Colao, CEO of telecommunication giant Vodafone, must respond to reports of disturbing accounting practices at two of Vodafone’s operating companies. In one case, €60 million have been misreported due to a series of failures to check manual accounting... View Details

Keywords: GLOBAL-LOCAL; Global Identity; Local Identity; Accounting Discrepency; Globalization; Leadership; Trust; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Organizations; Identity; Local Range; Global Range; Values and Beliefs; Accounting Audits