Publications

26 Feb 2015 - 28 Feb 2015
Conference Presentation

Is That All There Is to Happiness?

By: J. Phillips, C. Mott, Julian De Freitas, J. Gruber and J. Knobe

Happiness researchers have started to converge on a conception of happiness that involves some combination of high positive affect, low negative affect, and high life satisfaction. We present three studies which demonstrate that the ordinary understanding... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Happiness; Personal Characteristics

Article

Olfactory Cues from Romantic Partners and Strangers Moderate Women's Responses to Stress

By: Marlise Hofer, Hanne Collins, Ashley V. Whillans and Frances Chen

The scent of another person can activate memories, trigger emotions, and spark romantic attraction; however, almost nothing is known about whether and how human scents influence responses to stress. In the current study, 96 women were randomly assigned to smell one of... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Personal Characteristics; Perception

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19 May 2023
News

Quiet Acceleration

member Steve Westly told the Wall Street Journal. “What you can’t do is surprise people, and he has not surprised people.” Kirkhorn has done much more than that, many agree. Former company executives note that he also carries out many of the day-to-day duties View Details

Keywords: financial management; auto manufacturing; supply chairn management; leadership; Tesla; Transportation Equipment Manufacturing; Manufacturing

08 Jul 2024

Applying to HBS: Who Are We Looking For?

This virtual event provides prospective applicants with insights into the qualities and characteristics Harvard Business School values in its candidates. A member of the Admissions Board will discuss HBS' evaluation criteria, provide tips... View Details

01 Dec 2005
News

A Matter of Opinion

Victor Navasky of The Nation magazine has spent his life taking on the Establishment. So what did he hope to accomplish at Harvard Business School? Call it what you will — the conventional wisdom, the status quo, the official line — and chances are you’ll find Victor... View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

May 1990 (Revised April 1991)
Background Note

Dirty Hands

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr.

A one-paragraph excerpt from a play by Jean-Paul Sartre. Describes in the words of one character, the ethical problem of "dirty hands": the problem that doing the morally superior thing in some circumstances inevitably involves doing some things that are morally wrong.... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Management; Problems and Challenges; Personal Characteristics; Value

Article

Humblebragging: A Distinct—and Ineffective—Self-Presentation Strategy

By: Ovul Sezer, Francesca Gino and Michael I. Norton

Self-presentation is a fundamental aspect of social life, with myriad critical outcomes dependent on others’ impressions. We identify and offer the first empirical investigation of a prevalent, yet understudied, self-presentation strategy: humblebragging. Across nine... View Details

Keywords: Humblebragging; Impression Management; Self-presentation; Interpersonal Perception; Competence; Liking; Sincerity; Behavior; Perception; Interpersonal Communication; Personal Characteristics

01 Mar 2004
News

The New Global Business Manager

There is no such thing as a universal global manager, concluded HBS professor Christopher A. Bartlett in a 1992 article for Harvard Business Review. Rather, multinational corporations require three kinds of specialists: country managers, business managers, and... View Details

Keywords: Management

06 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

The Power of Leadership Groups for Staying on Track

Author's Note: Why Leaders Lose Their Way, my article in the June 6, 2011, edition of Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, generated a large number of very thoughtful and profound comments. The following article proposes an antidote to these problems: True North... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

Article

How to Avoid Executive Stress

By: Thomas J. DeLong

When teaching various groups of executives, the author relates the story of a man addicted to prescription drugs and his brother who is addicted to achievement. Each group relates to these two professionally successful men and sees that they live largely on the edge of... View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Personal Development and Career; Personal Characteristics; Emotions

15 Jan 2009
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Career & Life Balance

Sharpening Your Skills dives into the HBS Working Knowledge archives to bring together articles on ways to improve your business skills. Questions To Be Answered How do I get past a feeling of being stuck in life or work? Can I resist the temptations of success? Am I... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty

February 2019
Article

Pettiness in Social Exchange

By: Tami Kim, Ting Zhang and Michael I. Norton

We identify and document a novel construct—pettiness, or intentional attentiveness to trivial details—and examine its (negative) implications in interpersonal relationships and social exchange. Seven studies show that pettiness manifests across different types of... View Details

Keywords: Relationships; Personal Characteristics; Perception; Societal Protocols

10 Sep 2014
Research & Ideas

Become a Value Creator

As a young teacher at Harvard Business School, Brian J. Hall called on longtime professor James Cash for a favor: Hall wanted to study the inner workings of General Electric, and he needed Cash's help to get in touch with top-level executives who could provide insights... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

July 24, 2024
Article

Research: How Passion Can Backfire at Work

By: Erica R. Bailey, Kai Krautter, Wen Wu, Adam D. Galinsky and Jon M. Jachimowicz

Passion has long been championed as a key to workplace success. However, scientific studies have found mixed results: On the one hand, some studies find evidence that passionate employees tend to perform better, while other research has documented null or even negative... View Details

Keywords: Performance Effectiveness; Personal Characteristics; Behavior; Outcome or Result

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Article

Risk Attitudes and Personality Traits of Entrepreneurs and Venture Team Members

By: Sari Pekkala Kerr, William R. Kerr and Margaret Dalton

Personality distinctions between entrepreneurs, nonfounder CEOs/leaders, and inventor employees have received limited attention, especially in innovative settings where they are working together. We surveyed these groups, along with other employees of innovative firms,... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurs; Inventors; Innovation; Risk; Personal Characteristics; Innovation and Invention; Risk and Uncertainty; Attitudes

Article

Are You Suited for a Start-up?

By: Jeffrey Bussgang

Relative to established organizations, start-ups can be hard to figure out. What are the jobs to be done? The best entry points? How can you tell whether a company has potential for success and is the right fit for you? The author advises that you first assess... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Personal Characteristics; Job Search

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2010
Book

Denial: Why Business Leaders Fail to Look Facts in the Face--and What to Do About It

By: Richard S. Tedlow

This book deals with two of the biggest problems in business: Why do sane, smart leaders often refuse to accept the facts that threaten their companies? And how do they find the courage to resist denial when facing new trends, changing markets, and tough new... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Leadership; Problems and Challenges; Personal Characteristics; Competition

April 2001 (Revised July 2002)
Case

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (A)

By: Susan M. Fournier, Kerry Herman, Laura Winig and Andrea Carol Wojnicki

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSLO), a branded and integrated content and media company dedicated to "elevating the role of the homemaker," went public on October 19, 1999, creating a company with a market value of $1.73 billion, and a stake for Stewart worth $1.2... View Details

Keywords: Management; Media; Identity; Personal Characteristics; Brands and Branding; Media and Broadcasting Industry