Publications

September–October 2022
Article

The Essential Link Between ESG Targets and Financial Performance

By: Mark R. Kramer and Marc W. Pfitzer

Despite heightened attention to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, surprisingly few companies are making meaningful progress in delivering on their commitments. Most firms are not integrating ESG factors into internal strategy and operational decisions... View Details

Keywords: ESG; Environmental Sustainability; Social Issues; Governance; Financial Strategy; Decision Making; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Organizational Structure

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September 2022
Case

Blake Sports: Evolution of the CEO and the Executive Team

By: Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly Baden

Cameron (Cam) Barker, CEO and Founder of Blake Sports Apparel, sat in his office at his company’s headquarters in Birmingham, England, feeling stunned and disappointed. Only a few minutes prior, he had wrapped up a meeting with CFO James Ryan, a highly-respected star... View Details

Keywords: Leadership And Managing People; Leadership Skills; Team Dynamics; Team Effectiveness; Team Leadership; Team Management; Leadership Style; Leadership; Management; Management Skills; Management Style; Talent and Talent Management; Groups and Teams; United Kingdom

Teaming

New breakthrough thinking in organizational learning, leadership, and change

Continuous improvement, understanding complex systems, and promoting innovation are all part of the landscape of learning challenges... View Details

29 May 2007
First Look

First Look: May 29, 2007

Working PapersLeading and Creating Collaboration in Decentralized Organizations Authors:Heather M. Caruso, Todd Rogers, and Max Bazerman Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/07-090.pdf Extremeness Seeking: When and Why... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

July 2004
Tool

Developmental Network Questionnaire (CW)

By: Monica C. Higgins, John Galvin and Denis Saulnier

Solicits information about the network of people who provided career developmental assistance for respondents and presents information about the structure and diversity of the developmental network. View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Social and Collaborative Networks

2025
Working Paper

The Cybernetic Teammate: A Field Experiment on Generative AI Reshaping Teamwork and Expertise

By: Fabrizio Dell'Acqua, Charles Ayoubi, Hila Lifshitz, Raffaella Sadun, Ethan Mollick, Lilach Mollick, Yi Han, Jeff Goldman, Hari Nair, Stew Taub and Karim R. Lakhani

We examine how artificial intelligence transforms the core pillars of collaboration— performance, expertise sharing, and social engagement—through a pre-registered field experiment with 776 professionals at Procter & Gamble, a global consumer packaged goods company.... View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Teamwork; Human-machine Interaction; Productivity; Skills; Innovation; Field Experiment; AI and Machine Learning; Groups and Teams; Competency and Skills; Performance Productivity; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Product Development

SSRN

02 Jan 2013
What Do You Think?

Should We Rethink the Promise of Teams?

Summing Up Under what conditions do teams, introverts, and innovation go together? Properly structured and led, teams can support innovative thinking that depends on contributions from both extroverts and introverts. That's the consensus... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

March 2008
Article

Linguistic Network Configurations: Management of Innovation in Design-intensive Firms

By: Claudio Dell'Era, Alessio Marchesi and Roberto Verganti

In today's business and academic arenas, design is more and more viewed as an important strategic resource. In fact, over the last couple of years, we have seen a real explosion in business and research literature that see scholars and companies alike trying to... View Details

Keywords: Networks; Design; Innovation and Management; Product Development

November 2007 (Revised September 2010)
Background Note

The Rong Family: A Chinese Business History

By: Elisabeth Koll

Provides the complex historical background to understanding the development of family businesses in China from the late 19th century to the present. Using the example of the Rong family, China's most prominent industrialist family in pre-1949 China, analyzes the... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Business History; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Alliances; Business and Government Relations; Social and Collaborative Networks; China

Article

Extending the Role of Headquarters Beyond the Firm Boundary: Entrepreneurial Alliance Innovation

By: Jaeho Kim and Andy Wu

Prior research on corporate headquarters (CHQ) characteristics identifies the impact of CHQ location and composition on the innovation outcomes of internal subsidiaries. However, given that external strategic alliances with high-tech entrepreneurial firms represent a... View Details

Keywords: Alliance; Innovation; Corporate Headquarters; Geographic Proximity; Entrepreneurship; Corporate Strategy; Alliances; Joint Ventures; Innovation and Invention; Business Headquarters; Geographic Location

October 2010 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Global Expansion at Sanford C. Bernstein (A) (Abridged)

By: Linda A. Hill and Dana Teppert

Sanford C. Bernstein, a premier sell-side research firm, is expanding globally, and has recently opened an office in Hong Kong. Global Director of Research Robert van Brugge must consider how best to organize the firm's research department to enhance cross-sector and... View Details

Keywords: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Globalized Firms and Management; Organizational Structure; Expansion; Financial Services Industry; Hong Kong

Program

Program for Leadership Development

faculty to learn from their latest research, gain actionable takeaways, and facilitate your growth. In addition, virtual discussion groups will connect you to a global group of peers and build your network. Learning and Living at HBS PLD is a highly View Details

2024
Working Paper

Do Information Frictions and Corruption Perceptions Kill Competition? A Field Experiment on Public Procurement in Uganda

By: Emanuele Colonnelli, Francesco Loiacono, Edwin Muhumuza and Edoardo Teso

We study whether information frictions and corruption perceptions deter firms from doing business with the government. We conduct two nationwide randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in collaboration with the national public procurement supervisory and anti-corruption... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Use and Leverage; Government and Politics; Crime and Corruption; Trust; Perception; Business and Government Relations

31 Oct 2006
HBS Case

Governing Sumida Corporation

examines how CEO Shigeyuki ("Shiggi") Yawata moves Sumida toward a U.S.-inspired "committee system" for its board of directors, the first Japanese company to do so. The case was a collaborative project undertaken by... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Electronics

Article

Designing Social Networks: Joint Tasks and the Formation and Endurance of Network Ties

By: Sharique Hasan and Rembrand Koning

Can managers influence the formation of organizational networks? In this article, we evaluate the effect of joint tasks on the creation of network ties with data from a novel field experiment with 112 aspiring entrepreneurs. During the study, we randomized individuals... View Details

Keywords: Accelerators; Entrepreneur; Social Networks; Field Experiment; Entrepreneurship; Organizational Design; Networks; Social and Collaborative Networks; Social Media; Information Technology Industry; India

2016
Article

The Mirroring Hypothesis: Theory, Evidence, and Exceptions

By: Lyra J. Colfer and Carliss Y. Baldwin

The mirroring hypothesis predicts that organizational ties within a project, firm, or group of firms (e.g., communication, collocation, employment) will correspond to the technical dependencies in the work being performed. This article presents a unified picture of... View Details

Keywords: Modularity; Mirroring Hypothesis; Organization Design; Conway's Law; Knowledge Boundaries; Relational Contracts; Open Source Software; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Boundaries; Knowledge Management; Applications and Software

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