labor - Publications - Faculty & Research

2011
Book

The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Steve J. Kramer

The most effective managers have the ability to build a cadre of employees who have great inner work lives-consistently positive emotions; strong motivation; and favorable perceptions of the organization, their work, and their colleagues. The worst managers undermine... View Details

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01 Jun 2023
News

3-Minute Briefing: Jeremy Grantham (MBA 1966)

Edited by Julia Hanna; photo by Webb Chappell When I was 16, I took my savings to the bank and bought some shares of a neighbor’s scaffolding company. Before coming to HBS, I sold them to my mother, who had also acquired some, and we felt pleased about saving the... View Details

Keywords: climate change; finance; sustainability; prediction; Finance

19 Dec 2023
Research & Ideas

15 Podcast Episodes That Grabbed Listeners in 2023

ethics, and workforce implications. How LinkedIn Parses Talent, Skills, and Diversity Professional work has hit multiple inflection points—from generative AI to remote work and shifting skills requirements. There are few better vantage points for observing the View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

11 Sep 2012
First Look

First Look: September 11

slavery. Rather, innovation was, in a sense, a byproduct of bondage. The immense control of planters over their slaves enabled the development of management "controls." Slaves became the subjects of management experiments, their View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

21 May 2024
Research & Ideas

What the Rise of Far-Right Politics Says About the Economy in an Election Year

in 2018. While in these cases globalization led to the rise of the far right, there are examples of globalization leading to the rise of left-wing parties as well. This was the case with the rise of the Labor Party in the UK, when trade... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

28 Sep 2023
News

What Ray Dalio Can Teach Us About Global Venture and Startups

Ray Dalio (photo via Bridgewater Associates) and Alex Lazarow (photo by Lindsay Upson) In a recent conversation with Bridgewater Associates Founder Ray Dalio (MBA 1973), Alex Lazarow (MBA 2010) gleaned three insights (and one bonus) from the global hedge fund leader on... View Details

Web

The General Shoe Company, 1921 | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

the division of research, and a professor of investment banking at HBS. The case presents a labor problem in a hypothetical shoe manufacturing plant of the same name: workers were routinely leaving the plant 45 minutes early, adversely... View Details

2014
Working Paper

Management Practices, Relational Contracts and the Decline of General Motors

By: Susan Helper and Rebecca Henderson

General Motors was once regarded as one of the best managed and most successful firms in the world, but between 1980 and 2009 its share of the US market fell from 62.6 to 19.8 percent, and in 2009 the firm went bankrupt. In this paper we argue that the conventional... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Structure; Decision Making; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry

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10 Feb 2016
HBS Seminar

Chris Blattman, Associate Professor, Columbia SIPA

August 2015 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Amazon.com, 2021

By: John R. Wells, Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth and Galen Danskin

In February 2021, Amazon announced 2020 operating profits of $22,899 million, up from $2,233 million in 2015, on sales of $386 billion, up from $107 billion five years earlier (see Exhibit 1). The shareholders expressed their satisfaction (see Exhibit 2), but not all... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Internet; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Digital Platforms; Competition; Internet and the Web; Corporate Strategy; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Price; Applications and Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle

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Human Behavior & Decision-Making - Faculty & Research

willingness to apply responds to (potential) discrimination and rejection using a simulated labor market. Past work has shown that “blinding” job applications reduces discrimination and increases the rate at which women are hired. Our... View Details

22 Nov 2016
First Look

November 22, 2016

Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=50794 September 2016 Administrative Science Quarterly Whitened Résumés: Race and Self-Presentation in the Labor Market By: Kang, Sonia K., K.A. DeCelles, András Tilcsik, and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

16 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Restaurant Revolution: How the Industry Is Fighting to Stay Alive

advice to restaurant owners, staff, investors, and patrons that we offer below. How did it deteriorate so quickly? Restaurants are universally labor intensive—by any productivity metric they rank among the least productive industries.... View Details

Keywords: by Michael S. Kaufman, Lena G. Goldberg, and Jill Avery; Food & Beverage

February 2009 (Revised August 2021)
Supplement

Jieliang Phone Home! (B)

By: Willy Shih, Ethan Bernstein and Nina Bilimoria

At Precision Electro-Tek's mobile phone manufacturing facility in southern China, thousands of operators—bright and capable young men and (mostly) women like Jieliang Hao—are motivated to improve line productivity through small innovations for faster assembly and have... View Details

Keywords: Managing People; Motivation and Incentives; Behavior; Production; Innovation and Invention; Performance Productivity; Groups and Teams; Management Practices and Processes; Compensation and Benefits; Labor; Surveys; Decisions; Manufacturing Industry; China

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20 Dec 2022
Op-Ed

Employee Feedback: The Key to Retention During the Great Resignation

Can there be corporate democracy if employees can’t vote on the actions its companies take? Yes, and it’s needed now more than ever. The pandemic has brought much employee discontent and activism. Last January, for example, with one-third of the staff at a Starbucks in... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Beer

February 2009 (Revised July 2012)
Supplement

Jieliang Phone Home! (C)

By: Willy Shih, Ethan Bernstein and Nina Bilimoria

At Precision Electro-Tek's mobile phone manufacturing facility in southern China, thousands of operators - bright and capable young men and (mostly) women like Jieliang Hao are motivated to improve line productivity through small innovations for faster assembly and... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Compensation and Benefits; Surveys; Innovation and Invention; Management Practices and Processes; Production; Performance Productivity; Groups and Teams; Labor and Management Relations; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Manufacturing Industry; Telecommunications Industry; China

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08 Feb 2013
Working Paper Summaries

The Dynamic Advertising Effect of Collegiate Athletics

Keywords: by Doug J. Chung; Sports

2021
Chapter

The Economic and Political Effects of Immigration: Evidence from the Age of Mass Migration

By: Marco Tabellini

Between 1850 and 1920, during the Age of Mass Migration, more than 30 million Europeans moved to the United States. European immigrants provided ample supply of cheap labor as well as specific skills and know-how, contributing to American economic growth. These... View Details

Keywords: Age Of Mass Migration; Political Ideology; Political Economy; Assimilation; Immigration; Economics; History; United States

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