Publications

September 2023
Exercise

Irrationality in Action: Decision-Making Exercise

By: Alison Wood Brooks, Michael I. Norton and Oliver Hauser

This teaching exercise highlights the obstacle of biases in decision-making, allowing students to generate examples of potentially poor decision-making rooted in abundant and unwanted bias. This exercise has two parts: a pre-class, online survey in which students... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Decision Making

November 2009
Article

What Would Peter Say?

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Heeding the wisdom of Peter Drucker might have helped us avoid - and will help us solve - numerous challenges, from restoring trust in business to tackling climate change. He issued early warnings about excessive executive pay, the auto industry's failure to adapt and... View Details

Keywords: Judgments; Employee Relationship Management; Leadership; Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations

October 2017 (Revised October 2022)
Case

JetBlue: Relevant Sustainability Leadership

By: George Serafeim

In 2017, JetBlue, the airline founded on the mission to “bring humanity back to air travel,” was considering becoming one of the first companies to report its sustainability performance according to the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards. SASB... View Details

October 2015
Article

The Relational Nature of Leadership Identity Construction: How and When It Influences Perceived Leadership and Decision-Making

By: Lisa Marchiondo, Christopher G. Myers and Shirli Kopelman

This paper empirically tests leadership identity construction theory (DeRue & Ashford, 2010), conceptually framing claiming and granting leadership as a negotiated process that influences leadership perceptions and decision-making in interdependent contexts. In Study... View Details

Keywords: Identity Construction; Leadership Development; Identity

Article

Excusing Selfishness in Charitable Giving: The Role of Risk

By: Christine L. Exley

Decisions involving charitable giving often occur under the shadow of risk. A common finding is that potential donors give less when there is greater risk that their donation will have less impact. While this behavior could be fully rationalized by standard economic... View Details

Keywords: Charitable Giving; Prosocial Behavior; Altruism; Risk Preferences; Risk and Uncertainty; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Behavior

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October 1998 (Revised November 1998)
Case

Newman's Own, Inc.

By: James E. Austin

Describes the creation and evolution of this food marketing corporation. All its after-tax profits are donated to charity by Paul Newman, the distinguished actor and social entrepreneur. The company has grown into a $100 million enterprise and donated cumulatively $89... View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Food; Organizations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Problems and Challenges; Competitive Advantage; Food and Beverage Industry

February 2025
Article

Deep Responsibility, SDGs, and Asia: A Historical Perspective

By: Geoffrey Jones

Although it was only in 2015 the 17 SDGs were adopted by UN Member States, many of the underlying ideas can be found in the strategies of some businesses going back to the nineteenth century. Asia was the home of many of the most advanced concepts of business... View Details

Keywords: ESG; Multinational Corporation; Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Governance; Leadership; Asia

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January 2019
Article

Wage Elasticities in Working and Volunteering: The Role of Reference Points in a Laboratory Study

By: Christine L. Exley and Stephen J. Terry

We experimentally test how effort responds to wages—randomly assigned to accrue to individuals or to a charity—in the presence of expectations-based reference points or targets. When individuals earn money for themselves, higher wages lead to higher effort with... View Details

Keywords: Reference Points; Wage Elasticities; Labor Supply; Effor; Volunteering; Prosocial Behavior; Wages; Motivation and Incentives; Nonprofit Organizations; Behavior

June 2013
Case

Ron Ventura at Mitchell Memorial Hospital

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Heide Abelli

Mitchell Memorial Hospital is a 750-bed regional academic medical center in Ohio. Andy Prescott, Chief of the Cardiovascular Center, is reviewing the performance evaluations of his star vascular surgeon Ron Ventura. The evaluations, the result of a 360-degree... View Details

Keywords: Performance Expectations; Conflict Management; Behavior; Groups and Teams; Organizational Culture; Resignation and Termination; Health Care and Treatment; Performance Evaluation; Health Industry; Ohio

16 Sep 2014
First Look

First Look: September 16

channel is the most relevant one. Download working paper: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2419522 Competition and Social Identity in the Workplace: Evidence from a Chinese Textile Firm By: Kato, Takao, and Pian Shu Abstract—We study the impact... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2020
Article

The Isolated Choice Effect and Its Implications for Gender Diversity in Organizations

By: Edward H. Chang, Erika L. Kirgios, Aneesh Rai and Katherine L. Milkman

We highlight a feature of personnel selection decisions that can influence the gender diversity of groups and teams. Specifically, we show that people are less likely to choose candidates whose gender would increase group diversity when making personnel selections in... View Details

Keywords: Behavior And Behavioral Decision Making; Organizational Studies; Decision Analysis; Economics; Decision Making; Behavior; Analysis; Organizations; Diversity; Gender

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April 2021 (Revised December 2022)
Case

Capitalism, Slavery, and Reparations

By: Sophus A. Reinert and Cary Williams

The birth of “Modern Economic Growth” constituted a watershed in human history, allowing societies to escape the Malthusian impasse and permanently raise living standards. While the new growth regime had lifted billions of people out of extreme poverty over the last... View Details

Keywords: Reparations; Living Standards; Poverty; Social Issues; Economic Growth; Equality and Inequality; Globalized Economies and Regions; Human Needs

Article

Creating High-Impact Coalitions: CEOs Can Lead the Charge on Society’s Biggest Problems

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Tuna Cem Hayirli

Traditionally, responses to crises and societal problems—the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, racial inequities—are considered the responsibility of the public sector and NGOs. But addressing the world’s most critical problems requires leadership, resources, and... View Details

Keywords: Coalition; Change; Problem Solving; Organization; Boundaries; Evolution; Mission; Moral Leadership; Balance; ＂Solutions Approach; Society; Problems and Challenges; Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Leading Change; Trust

24 Feb 2015
First Look

First Look: February 24

definition of profit by changing accounting rules. On one level, this corporate behavior embodies the capitalist spirit articulated by Milton Friedman: "The social responsibility of business is to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Sep 2013
Research & Ideas

The Curse of Double-Digit Growth

advisor to Liberian president and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a 1971 graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School, wrote the policy memorandum at the request of the Liberian government, which seeks fast growth of its own. To cement political and View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard

08 May 2006
Research & Ideas

The Cost of Cutting in Line

the queue? And how would social norms and a sense of fairness play out along the line? The results were quite surprising. As might be expected, the higher the amount of payment offered, the more likely individuals were to allow a stranger... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

21 Dec 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Wage Elasticities in Working and Volunteering: The Role of Reference Points in a Laboratory Study

Keywords: by Christine Exley & Stephen Terry

September 1997 (Revised May 1998)
Case

Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America: The Quest for a Model Workplace

By: Lynn S. Paine and Dale Coxe

This case details the sexual harassment case brought against Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America by nearly 300 female employees in April 1996. The recommendations developed for the company by former U.S. Labor Secretary Lynn Marten are presented. In response to... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Moral Sensibility; Groups and Teams; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Behavior; Attitudes; Problems and Challenges; Working Conditions; Crime and Corruption; Auto Industry; United States