Publications

January 2015 (Revised April 2025)
Technical Note

FIELD Global Capstone: Orchestrating a Compelling Presentation

By: Jill Avery

This note was written to help you organize and orchestrate your FIELD Global Immersion final project presentation to your global partner. It is designed to illustrate ways to make your final presentation persuasive, inspiring, and powerful—a presentation with presence.... View Details

Keywords: Presentation Skills; Communication; Communication Intention and Meaning; Communication Strategy; Interpersonal Communication; Management Skills

March 2016 (Revised January 2023)
Teaching Note

Carla Ann Harris at Morgan Stanley

By: Lakshmi Ramarajan

This case follows Carla Ann Harris, an African-American executive on Wall Street, from her childhood to the eve of her 20th year at Morgan Stanley. In addition to her professional identity as an investment banker, Harris is also an accomplished gospel singer, an... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Identity; Personal Development and Career; Success; Values and Beliefs; Social Entrepreneurship; Financial Services Industry

Article

Why Do Firms Have 'Purpose'? The Firm's Role as a Carrier of Identity and Reputation

By: Rebecca Henderson and Eric Van den Steen

Why do so many firms publicly espouse a "purpose" beyond simple profit maximization? And why do so many managers and employees appear to care deeply about this purpose and to believe that it is critically important? In this paper we argue that the conventional answers... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Identity; Reputation

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2011
Working Paper

The Three Foundations of a Great Life, Great Leadership, and a Great Organization

By: Michael C. Jensen

I argue here that the three factors my co-authors and I identify as constituting the foundation for being a leader and the effective exercise of leadership can also be seen as the foundations not only for great leadership, but also for a high quality personal life and... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Organizations; Performance Effectiveness; Work-Life Balance; Strategy; Value

SSRN

October 2023
Article

Speedy Activists: Firm Response Time to Sociopolitical Events Influences Consumer Behavior

By: Jimin Nam, Maya Balakrishnan, Julian De Freitas and Alison Wood Brooks

Organizations face growing pressure from their consumers and stakeholders to take public stances on sociopolitical issues. However, many are hesitant to do so lest they make missteps, promises they cannot keep, appear inauthentic, or alienate consumers, employees, or... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Public Opinion; Social Media; Social Issues

Research Summary

Relational Motivation & Need Expectations

My current research in this area explores the ways in which the nature of relational interactions at work facilitate, or supress, important individual and organizational outcomes such as motivation, engagement and personal well-being. Much of my work in this... View Details

Keywords: Motivation; Relationships; Engagement; Manufacturing Industry

August 2022
Teaching Note

BTS & ARMY

By: Doug J. Chung and Kay R. Koo

Industry leaders must define a particular outcome of interest (i.e., an objective) to establish an organization’s strategy. BTS’s initial objective was to increase brand recognition and to acquire a solid fanbase. The proliferation of social network platforms... View Details

Keywords: Cultural Diversity; Brand Equity; Go-to-market Strategy; Social Network; Entertainment Industry; Brands and Branding; Customer Relationship Management; Consumer Behavior; Social and Collaborative Networks; Social Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Digital Marketing; Music Industry

2010
Working Paper

A 'Value-Free' Approach to Values (PDF File of PowerPoint Slides)

By: Michael C. Jensen and Werner Erhard

We argue here that the three factors we identify as constituting the foundation for being a leader and the effective exercise of leadership can also be seen as "A 'Value-Free' Approach to Values" that proves to be very effective in allowing students to acquire the... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Development; Attitudes; Values and Beliefs

SSRN

2020
Book

Teaching by Heart: One Professor's Journey to Inspire

By: Thomas J. DeLong

The best teachers are leaders, and the best leaders are teachers. Teaching by Heart summarizes the author's key insights gained from more than 40 years of teaching and managing. It illustrates how teachers can both lift people up and let them down. It proposes... View Details

Keywords: Teaching; Leadership; Attitudes; Management; Business Education

2022
Chapter

A Compass for Decision Making

By: Lynn S. Paine

Book Abstract: The second edition of Responsible Leadership offers orienting knowledge on how to lead in a world of contested values—a world where leadership work extends beyond leaders and direct reports to a whole range of stakeholders inside and outside an... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Decision Making

December 2023
Article

Recover, Explore, Practice: The Transformative Potential of Sabbaticals

By: Kira Schabram, Matt Bloom and DJ DiDonna

Sabbaticals have seen an exponential growth in adoption over the last two decades and are ascribed extensive benefits by employers and employees alike. Little is known, however, about how individuals spend their time or how their experiences impact them after they... View Details

Keywords: Sabbatical; Personal Development and Career; Employees

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April 2019
Article

Mitigating Malicious Envy: Why Successful Individuals Should Reveal Their Failures

By: Alison Wood Brooks, Karen Huang, Nicole Abi-Esber, Ryan W. Buell, Laura Huang and Brian Hall

People often feel malicious envy, a destructive interpersonal emotion, when they compare themselves to successful peers. Across three online experiments and a field experiment of entrepreneurs, we identify an interpersonal strategy that can mitigate feelings of... View Details

Keywords: Emotions; Perception; Interpersonal Communication; Communication Strategy

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March 2023
Case

Between Two Minds: The Staglin Family

By: Lauren Cohen, Ronnie Stangler and Grace Headinger

Garen Staglin, Founder and Chairman of One Mind, reflected on his life’s work in brain health. As he contemplated stepping down in the next few years, he weighed how to pass along this legacy to his son, Brandon Staglin, the impetus behind and next generation of the... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Well-being; Management Succession; Family Ownership; Mission and Purpose; Health Industry

March 2020
Teaching Note

onefinestay: Building a Luxury Experience in the Sharing Economy

By: Jill Avery and Anat Keinan

onefinestay was a two-sided marketplace that offered high-end home rentals to travelers who sought a more authentic and local experience than a typical upscale hotel might provide. After five years of rapid growth, it was time to do a comprehensive analysis of the... View Details

2025
Working Paper

Why Most Resist AI Companions

By: Julian De Freitas, Zeliha Oğuz-Uğuralp, Ahmet Kaan Uğuralp and Stefano Puntoni

AI companion applications—designed to serve as synthetic interaction partners—have recently become capable enough to reduce loneliness, a growing public health concern. However, behavioral research has yet to fully explain the barriers to adoption of such AI and... View Details

Keywords: Generative Ai; Chatbots; Artificial Intelligence; Algorithmic Aversion; Lonelines; Technology Adoption; AI and Machine Learning; Well-being; Emotions

SSRN

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14 Jun 2023
Research & Ideas

Four Steps to Building the Psychological Safety That High-Performing Teams Need

what the research finds is that psychological safety is one good predictor of more positive work experiences,” she says. The researchers found that psychological safety is greater when people feel authentically seen. As a result,... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

January 2015 (Revised October 2016)
Case

onefinestay: Building a Luxury Experience in the Sharing Economy

By: Jill Avery, Anat Keinan and Liz Kind

onefinestay was a two-sided marketplace that offered high-end home rentals to travelers who sought a more authentic and local experience than a typical upscale hotel might provide. After five years of rapid growth, it was time to do a comprehensive analysis of the... View Details