Publications

In cities and metros across the United States, leadership from government, business, labor, education, and the nonprofit sector have started to work together across sectors to bolster communal resources. These cross-sector collaborations are diverse in nature, and... View Details

2020
Working Paper

Draw Near to Go Far: The Role of Convergence in Capitalizing on Exploration

By: Carolyn Fu

Organizations are often advised to engage heavily in exploration in order to succeed – to cast a wide net for diverse solutions that are superior to what they currently exploit. However, what is the organization to do when the fruits of its exploration are inconsistent... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Learning; Knowledge Acquisition; Decision Choices and Conditions

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Article

Lone Inventors as Sources of Technological Breakthroughs: Myth or Reality?

Are lone inventors more or less likely to invent breakthroughs? Recent research has attempted to resolve this question by considering the variance of creative outcome distributions. It has implicitly assumed a symmetric thickening or thinning of both tails, i.e., that... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Independent Innovation and Invention; Patents; Groups and Teams; Creativity

February 2020
Technical Note

Talent Management and the Future of Work

By: William R. Kerr and Gorick Ng

The nature of work is changing—and it is changing rapidly. Few days go by without industry giants such as Amazon and AT&T announcing plans to invest billions of dollars towards retraining nearly half of their respective workforces for jobs of the future. What changes... View Details

Keywords: Human Resource Management; Human Capital Development; Human Resource Practices; Talent; Talent Acquisition; Talent Development; Talent Development And Retention; Talent Management; Talent Retention; Labor Flows; Labor Management; Labor Market; Strategy Development; Strategy Management; Strategy Execution; Strategy And Execution; Strategic Change; Transformations; Organization; Organization Alignment; Organization Design; Organizational Adaptation; Organizational Effectiveness; Management Challenges; Management Of Business And Political Risk; Change Leadership; Future Of Work; Future; Skills Gap; Skills Development; Skills; Offshoring And Outsourcing; Investment; Capital Allocation; Work; Work Culture; Work Force Management; Work/life Balance; Work/family Balance; Work-family Boundary Management; Workers; Worker Productivity; Worker Performance; Work Engagement; Work Environment; Work Environments; Productivity; Organization Culture; Soft Skills; Technology Management; Technological Change; Technological Change: Choices And Consequences; Technology Diffusion; Disruptive Technology; Global Business; Global; Workplace; Workplace Context; Workplace Culture; Workplace Wellness; Collaboration; Competencies; Productivity Gains; Digital; Digital Transition; Competitive Dynamics; Competitiveness; Competitive Strategy; Data Analytics; Data; Data Management; Data Strategy; Data Protection; Aging Society; Diversity; Diversity Management; Millennials; Communication Complexity; Communication Technologies; International Business; Work Sharing; Global Competitiveness; Global Corporate Cultures; Intellectual Property; Intellectual Property Management; Intellectual Property Protection; Intellectual Capital And Property Issues; Globalization Of Supply Chain; Inequality; Recruiting; Hiring; Hiring Of Employees; Training; Job Cuts And Outsourcing; Job Performance; Job Search; Job Design; Job Satisfaction; Jobs; Employee Engagement; Employee Attitude; Employee Benefits; Employee Compensation; Employee Fairness; Employee Relationship Management; Employee Retention; Employee Selection; Employee Motivation; Employee Feedback; Employee Coordination; Employee Performance Management; Employee Socialization; Process Improvement; Application Performance Management; Stigma; Institutional Change; Candidates; Digital Enterprise; Cultural Adaptation; Cultural Change; Cultural Diversity; Cultural Context; Cultural Strategies; Cultural Psychology; Cultural Reform; Performance; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Management; Performance Evaluation; Performance Appraisal; Performance Feedback; Performance Measurement; Performance Metrics; Performance Measures; Performance Efficiency; Efficiency; Performance Analysis; Performance Appraisals; Performance Improvement; Automation; Artificial Intelligence; Technology Companies; Managerial Processes; Skilled Migration; Assessment; Human Resources; Management; Human Capital; Talent and Talent Management; Retention; Demographics; Labor; Strategy; Change; Change Management; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Working Conditions; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Disruption; Economy; Competition; Globalization; AI and Machine Learning; Digital Transformation

Educators

January 2006 (Revised September 2007)
Case

Bentington Industries

By: David Ager and John A. Davis

Describes the situation facing Paul Bentington, the president, CEO, and member of the owning family of BIND, PLC, a large and successful family-owned engineering consulting firm in London. Bentington's sister and brother, both of whom are owners of the firm, confront... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Leadership; Family Business; Management Succession; Conflict and Resolution; Diversity; London

Educators

Research Summary

Marketing and Privacy Concerns

When finer consumer information becomes available, competing firms sometimes target consumers too finely, disrupting scale economies prematurely. This leads to excessive product variety or to the wasteful exclusion of certain consumer types. This paper suggests that... View Details

2022
Chapter

Measuring Compliance Risk and the Emergence of Analytics

By: Eugene F. Soltes

Corporate compliance manages a diverse set of regulatory and reputational concerns ranging from fraud to privacy to discrimination. However, effectively managing such risks has often been hampered by a lack of adequate information about when, where, and why misconduct... View Details

Keywords: Compliance; Risk; Analytics; Governance Compliance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Risk Management; Analytics and Data Science

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20 Mar 2024
Video

The Value of an MBA in Professional Services: Consulting, Financial Services, and Private Equity

The Messy but Essential Pursuit of Purpose

Most forward-thinking executives have embraced the notion that purpose-driven companies can solve social and environmental problems while also generating wealth, creating win-win outcomes that benefit everyone. But ideal solutions are rare. Many... View Details

September 2016 (Revised May 2018)
Case

Zurich Insurance: Global Job Structure and Data Analysis

By: Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly

Zurich Insurance was undergoing organizational change after implementing five new people practices focused on manager development, diversity and inclusion, job model and data analytics, recruitment, and talent pipeline. The case “Zurich Insurance: Fostering Key People... View Details

Keywords: Managing Change; Organizational Behavior; Organizational Architecture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Human Capital; Change Management; Organizational Structure; Insurance; Organizational Culture; Globalization; Human Resources; Insurance Industry

Educators

2005
Book

Multinationals and Global Capitalism: From the Nineteenth to the Twenty-First Century

By: Geoffrey Jones

This book provides an essential framework for understanding global business. It shows how entrepreneurs built a global economy in the nineteenth century by creating firms that pursued resources and markets across borders. It demonstrates how firms shifted strategies as... View Details

Keywords: Capitalism; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalization; History; Economy; Trade; Strategy

17 Jun 2008
News

Harvard Business School Celebrates 25 Years of Summer Venture in Management Program for Undergraduates

04 Mar 2020
News

Warren Buffett has the right answer to crony capitalism: women

26 Feb 2019
HBS Seminar

Christopher Hsee, University of Chicago Booth School of Business

14 Feb 2021
Blog Post

Celebrating Love @ HBS in 2021

Love at HBS is an annual celebration of the diverse expressions of love that exist on our campus and in the world around us. Even with the unique challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, love has endured, and our students have... View Details

Article

Managing a Polarized Workforce: How to Foster Debate and Promote Trust

By: Julia A. Minson and Francesca Gino

One of the toughest challenges leaders face is managing diverse perspectives—and given heightened tensions over politics and movements such as #MeToo and Black Lives Matter, that’s more difficult today than ever before. At the same time, productive disagreement and... View Details

Keywords: Polarization; Employees; Perspective; Interpersonal Communication; Organizational Culture; Trust

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2023
Working Paper

No Revenge for Nerds? Evaluating the Careers of Ivy League Athletes

By: Natee Amornsiripanitch, Paul A. Gompers, George Hu, Will Levinson and Vladimir Mukharlyamov

This paper compares the careers of Ivy League athletes to those of their non-athlete classmates. Combining team-level information on all Ivy League athletes from 1970 to 2021 with resume data for all Ivy League graduates, we examine both post-graduate education and... View Details

Keywords: Outcome or Result; Higher Education; Personal Development and Career; Human Capital