human behavior - Publications - Faculty & Research

04 Nov 2022
News

How Bullying Manifests at Work - and How to Stop It

01 Mar 2017
News

Ask the Expert: Capital Architect

Skydeck podcast BRUNELL: Human motivation for supporting or catalyzing change only comes from within. We can’t “make” people’s behavior or “mandate” mindset. Citizens must have reason to care, want, and... View Details

November 2007
Case

Differences at Work: Jenny (A)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Rachel Gordon

Differences at Work: Jenny (A) HBS Case No. 9-408-017 is set in Amsterdam. Accompanied by her boss, Jenny is pitching a marketing engagement, but the prospective client keeps making comments about how attractive he finds her. View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Personal Characteristics; Employees; Diversity; Netherlands

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01 Jun 2024
News

Action Plan: Role-Play

When you encounter the phrase private investigator, chances are good the character you conjure up in your mind doesn’t resemble Sarah Carson (MBA 1971). So much the better for Carson, whose work has often required convincing people she was a small-business employee... View Details

Keywords: Christine Speer Lejeune; photo by Christina Gandolfo; detective; private investigator; undercover; acting

11 Mar 2008
First Look

First Look: March 11, 2008

important for mechanism designers to think more about creating learnable mechanisms, the clamped second price auction mechanism in fact produces slower learning in human subjects than the standard second price auction mechanism. Our... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

March 2025
Article

Does Communicating Measurable Diversity Goals Attract or Repel Historically Marginalized Job Applicants? Evidence from the Lab and Field

By: Erika L. Kirgios, Ike Silver and Edward H. Chang

Many organizations struggle to attract a demographically diverse workforce. How does adding a measurable goal to a public diversity commitment—for example, “We care about diversity” versus “We care about diversity and plan to hire at least one woman or racial minority... View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Recruitment; Diversity; Goals and Objectives; Communication Intention and Meaning; Behavior

Citation

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August 2013
Article

The Timing of Pay

By: Christopher Parsons and E. Van Wesep

There exists large and persistent variation in not only how, but when employees are paid, a fact unexplained by existing theory. This paper develops a simple model of optimal pay timing for firms. When workers have self-control problems, they under-save... View Details

Keywords: Payday Lending; Hyperbolic Discounting; Self-control Problems; Pay Frequency; Payday Loan Legislation; Paycheck Frequency; Time Inconsistency; Wages; Behavior; Employee Relationship Management

Citation

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23 May 2000
Research & Ideas

Minding the Muse: The Impact of Downsizing on Corporate Creativity

disrupted by substantial changes in membership during the downsizing had poorer work environments and lower levels of creative behavior than those that remained stable amidst the chaos. Overall, lower creativity resulted from the degraded... View Details

Keywords: by Peter K. Jacobs

Web

Design: At, Into, & Beyond - Race, Gender & Equity

better discern. It aims to listen deeply and respond mindfully to the issues/challenges/provocative questions of the day – and does so by humanizing the cost of poor implementation. An inclusive designer might ensure that HTML is written... View Details

21 Jan 2022
News

How Leaders Can Build Connection in a Disconnected Workplace

30 Jul 2024
News

Reddit’s Rise

does a good job of always reflecting the natural parts of human behavior in being an online community? Not ever creating interactions that are unnatural, which I do think that there are platforms that have... View Details

31 May 2013
News

Seeing the Light

is all about the light—I love Vermeer as the master of light. My work includes still-lifes, animal, and some human portrait work. I have sold 170 originals worldwide." Evans has also sold in excess of 1,000 limited-edition giclee prints.... View Details

Keywords: painting; Arts, Entertainment

19 Nov 2018
News

Acts of Kindness

Michael Robertson (AMP 82, 1979) is the interim minister at Plymouth Congregational Church in Racine, Wisconsin. In this interview, he shares his thoughts on service to his community and the importance of advocating for kindness in our View Details

30 May 2025
News

Galas in NYC and Mexico City; NFL Coach Shares Leadership Insights in Charlotte

HBS Club of Mexico Celebrates Connection with Gala Dinner The HBS Club of Mexico joined the Harvard Club of Mexico in celebrating the latter’s 75th anniversary with the Harvard Gala Mexico, held on May 12 at the Club de Industriales in Mexico City. Approximately 275... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

19 Jun 2017
News

Can Neuroscience Find You the Perfect Job?

no career matches available because we hadn't built that side of the platform. So we learned interesting things about the general cognitive and emotional traits that we all have as human beings but not the career matching. And,... View Details

18 Dec 2019
News

Thinking Smart About Numbers

brought into society. It also touched upon Desai’s earlier book, The Wisdom of Finance: Discovering Humanity in the World of Risk and Return. Professor Mihir Desai talks about finance and his new book in New Delhi. Professor Mihir Desai... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

28 Oct 2020
News

What Workers Lose by Working from Home for Long Periods—or Permanently

01 Oct 1999
News

Eight Among Many: Antoinette J. ("Toni") Rapone

Behavioral ecologist Toni Rapone knows that natural selection is the law of the planet. But for the vibrant and down-to-earth MBA-cum-scientist, that knowledge comes from more than textbooks. Rapone, whose given name, Antoinette, honors... View Details

Keywords: Marguerite Rigoglioso

01 Feb 1999
News

Short Takes

development. Tacit dimensions of human behavior can also point to new directions in product creation, say Leonard and Sensiper. In designing an automobile navigation system, for example, researchers at the... View Details

Keywords: Judith A. Ross