Labor - Publications - Faculty & Research

14 Oct 2021
In Practice

Reunited and It Feels (Not) So Good: Tips for Managing a Rocky Return

this period of renaissance, and the fiercest labor market in recent memory, companies should take steps to redefine the purpose of the office as a tool rather than a destination. For example, the office can become a tool to enhance... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

08 Nov 2011
First Look

First Look: Nov. 8

Age-Dependent Taxes Author:Matthew C. Weinzierl Publication:Review of Economic Studies 78, no. 4 (October 2011) Abstract This article provides a new, empirically driven application of the dynamic Mirrleesian framework by studying a feasible and potentially powerful tax... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: January 17

Structure and the Division of Labor in Top Management Authors:Maria Guadalupe, Hongyi Li, and Julie Wulf Abstract This paper shows that top management structures in large U.S. firms have radically changed since the mid-1980s. While the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Jul 2016
What Do You Think?

How Do We Pay for the Costs of Globalization?

of backlash fostered by a long period of neglect of globalization’s effect on labor markets worldwide. Globalization takes many forms: common markets; free flows of workers including refugees and migrants; and multinational organizations... View Details

Keywords: by James L. Heskett; Manufacturing

09 Jun 2022
HBS Case

From Truck Driver to Manager: US Foods’ Novel Approach to Staff Shortages

make jobs more appealing. “The question is, are all these demands that employees are making transitional?” asks Bell. “Are labor shortages going to be with us in the longer term? Maybe this is just a temporary consequence of COVID, but... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

November, 2016
Article

Fixing Discrimination in Online Marketplaces

By: Ray Fisman and Michael Luca

Online marketplaces such as eBay, Uber, and Airbnb have the potential to reduce racial, gender, and other forms of bias that affect the off-line world. And in the early days of Internet commerce, the relative anonymity of transactions did make it harder for... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Race; Gender

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25 Jun 2018
Research & Ideas

In America, Immigrants Really Do Get the Job Done

either way, labor market competition among firms would close these gaps over time for mobile workers. Immigrants account for large percentage of patents Outside immigrant business owners, Kerr’s previous research shows that immigrants... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Agriculture & Agribusiness; Technology; Service

05 May 2020
Research & Ideas

China Tariffs and Coronavirus a Double Hit to American Retailers

from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that is more detailed than the US Census data economists typically examine. In addition, they relied on a database called the Billion Prices Project, which Cavallo first developed as a Ph.D. student at... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

07 May 2014
What Do You Think?

How Should Wealth Be Redistributed?

one's labor only serve to make fruit salad for everyone else?" Gerald Schultz commented that democracy "is the only way to bring back equality The problems are being identified. Voters will make changes happen eventually. I hope... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

September 2019 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Google: To TVC or Not to TVC?

By: William R. Kerr and Carl Kreitzberg

In late 2018, evidence emerged that many of Google’s temporary help agency workers, vendors, and independent contractors (“TVCs”) were unhappy with the company. TVCs, who reportedly made up 49.95% of Google’s 170,000-person global workforce, had raised concerns of... View Details

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09 Jan 2020
Book

Rethinking Business Strategy in the Age of AI

control specialists. A lot of people think of this as disruption, like the taxi industry is being disrupted by Uber. It’s not disruption. Rather, it’s a completely different kind of firm. This hasn’t happened in more than 100 years. Firms have been designed with... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

01 Feb 2021
What Do You Think?

Has the New Economy Finally Arrived?

Shutterstock/Thomas Barrat Twenty years ago in this column we discussed whether the economic activity of that time actually represented the New Economy that Time magazine first touted in a 1983 cover article. Some economists picked up the notion in the 1990s that we... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

03 Dec 2020
Research & Ideas

Cut Payroll Costs with Transparency, Fairness, and Compassion

2020 has been a challenging year for leaders, their companies, and their employees. When we asked 600 CEOs earlier this year what keeps them awake at night during this global pandemic, many cited the need to reduce expenses, including payroll costs, in response to... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Sarah Abbott

08 Nov 2022
Research & Ideas

How Centuries of Restrictions on Women Shed Light on Today's Abortion Debate

strong incentives to impose restrictions on women’s promiscuity. “The gender gaps in labor market participation, micro-entrepreneurship, or business ownership more generally seem to also partly reflect this social norm against women.”... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

July 1990 (Revised October 1999)
Case

Nordstrom: Dissension in the Ranks? (A)

By: Robert L. Simons and Hilary Weston

In 1989, the performance measurement systems and compensation policies of Nordstrom Department Stores unexpectedly came under attack by employees, unions, and government regulators. The case describes the "sales-per-hour" monitoring and compensation system that many... View Details

Keywords: Performance Consistency; Performance Evaluation; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Labor Unions; Salesforce Management; Retention; Growth and Development; Industrial Products Industry; Utilities Industry

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10 May 2010
Research & Ideas

What Top Scholars Say About Leadership

of a global view. Too much of leadership research is conducted in the United States or western Europe. This is despite the reality that some of the most disruptive leadership practices and new business models are coming out of the emerging markets, as they abandon... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Education

03 May 2022
Research & Ideas

Desperate for Talent? Consider Advancing Your Own Employees First

Job openings in the United States continue to hover at record high levels, exacerbated by the Great Resignation and a sputtering emergence from the pandemic. Competition remains fierce among companies struggling to find qualified workers. Yet many employers,... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

02 Jun 2020
Research & Ideas

Coronavirus Careers: Cloud Kitchens Are Now Serving

There are other cost savings, too, including no need for front-of-house staff such as servers, cashiers, hosts, and bartenders. Restaurant operators simply provide their own culinary staff while the cloud kitchen provider typically offers shared View Details

Keywords: by Lena Ye and Geoffrey Jones; Food & Beverage

November 2023
Case

UST's Adoption of Open Talent

By: Christopher Stanton and Kristen Senz

This case details the 2020 launch and subsequent scaling of UST’s Open Talent initiative, a program to integrate freelancers from digital platforms into its workforce. The case highlights how the shifting post-pandemic world, including layoffs, wage inflation, and... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Employment; Working Conditions; Organizational Change and Adaptation

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November 2015 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Nestle's Creating Shared Value Strategy

By: Michael E. Porter, Mark R. Kramer, Kerry Herman and Sarah McAra

This case considers Nestlé’s creating shared value (CSV) strategy, which focused on the three categories of nutrition, water, and rural development. In the packaged food and beverage industry, pressure had mounted since the 1990s to improve supply chain sustainability... View Details