Creative Work - Publications - Faculty & Research

18 Sep 2012
News

The Architecture of Innovation: The Economics of Creative Organizations

February 2004 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Pratt & Whitney: Engineering Standard Work

By: H. Kent Bowen and Courtney Purrington

As the engineering of state-of-the-art jet engines becomes more and more complex, Pratt & Whitney leaders face major competitive problems. Product development projects are not meeting the cost, quality, and lead-time targets. The leadership develops a design,... View Details

Keywords: Design; Engineering; Cost; Knowledge Management; Time Management; Product Launch; Standards; Product Development; Problems and Challenges; Quality; Creativity; Competitive Strategy; Manufacturing Industry

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18 Mar 2020
Blog Post

Make Work from Home Work For You (And Your Team)

Work from home is not a new concept, but it is one you are hearing more about this month due to COVID-19 and precautions companies are taking to prevent the spread of illness. While remote work is the norm... View Details

26 Mar 2020
Blog Post

Make Work from Home Work For You (And Your Team)

Work from home is not a new concept, but it is one you are hearing more about this month due to COVID-19 and precautions companies are taking to prevent the spread of illness. While remote work is the norm... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

How Leaders Kill Meaning at Work

In this article, authors Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer seek to help C-suite managers understand the traps that can impair the productivity of their workforce. By identifying the issues that regularly challenge the efficiency and creativity of employees, the... View Details

Article

When the Thought Doesn’t Count: The Dynamics of Unhelpful Help in Creative Organizations

By: Colin Fisher, Julianna Pillemer and Teresa Amabile

We’ve all been there. You ask a colleague for help with something, maybe a tricky research design or a difficult student. They agree to help, but their assistance misses its mark. You wonder what happened and, if you turn to existing research and theory, you don’t find... View Details

Keywords: Helping; Organizational Culture

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25 May 2021
Blog Post

The Surprising Power of Nostalgia at Work

creative and inspired. I’ve been conducting research on the psychology of nostalgia for almost 20 years. Based on what I’ve learned, I believe managers can use the power of nostalgia to help their organizations thrive. Nostalgia Is a... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

2012
Book

The Architecture of Innovation: The Economics of Creative Organizations

By: Josh Lerner

Innovation is a much-used buzzword these days, but when it comes to creating and implementing a new idea, many companies miss the mark—plans backfire, consumer preferences shift, or tried-and-true practices fail to work in a new context. So is innovation just a... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Organizational Structure; Microeconomics

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Web

Morse and Polaroid’s Creative Ethos | Baker Library

Morse and Polaroid’s Creative Ethos Photo: Meroe Morse, test photograph by Laurie Seamans, Type 42, ca. 1950s. Polaroid Corporation Records, Photographs of Polaroid Consultant Photographers, b. XI.9, f. 1. In 1968, Smith College presented... View Details

08 Jul 2015
What Do You Think?

Do Americans Work Too Much and Think About Work Too Little?

activities on the job that are not perceived as work while "working" in ways that are non-productive. In short, we're not thinking creatively enough about work. Those are themes that recur in the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Financial Services

02 Apr 2024
Research & Ideas

Employees Out Sick? Inside One Company's Creative Approach to Staying Productive

struggling with widespread absenteeism. The researchers advised the factory’s CEO that senior managers should do whatever they could to build relationships between managers working not only right next to each other, but also elsewhere on... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Fashion

04 Feb 2014
Working Paper Summaries

From Crowds to Collaborators: Initiating Effort and Catalyzing Interactions Among Online Creative Workers

Keywords: by Kevin J. Boudreau, Patrick Gaule, Karim R. Lakhani, Christoph Riedl & Anita Williams Woolley

01 Mar 2025
News

Work of Art

Jason Price (MBA 2003) in the main gallery space at NXTHVN, the art community he cofounded in New Haven’s Dixwell neighborhood Trying to capture the scope of what’s going on at NXTHVN, the nonprofit arts and community organization Jason Price (MBA 2003) cofounded with... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; photos by Chris Sorensen; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment

01 Apr 1999
News

Spirit at Work

it a fad that amounts to little more than sensitivity training in New Age clothing, or does it reflect something more profound about the way we are beginning to conceive of and relate to work? In the following pages six HBS alumni who are exploring the intersection of... View Details

Keywords: Marguerite Rigoglioso

September 2008
Supplement

Adobe Systems: Working Towards a "Suite" Release (B)

By: David A. Thomas and Lauren Barley

The case examines the tools a manager can use to keep her project on track and manage conflict and tension as Adobe prepares to launch Creative Suite 3, the biggest software release in the company's 25-year history. The protagonist, Yvonne Murray, is a group program... View Details

Keywords: Change; Interpersonal Communication; Crisis Management; Product Launch; Projects; Conflict of Interests; Integration; Software

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10 Dec 2015
Blog Post

Working with Professors at HBS

Prior to joining the HBS Class of 2014, I worked in strategy and planning at HBO and spent a summer at Univision in the office of the CEO. Media has been my industry of choice ever since I was exposed to it in high school through the... View Details

01 Feb 2023
What Do You Think?

Will Hybrid Work Strategies Pull Down Long-Term Performance?

layoff.) He has commented elsewhere that one reason may be the organization’s failure to select, orient, organize, and measure new remote employees in ways that enable them to work as productively and View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

01 Mar 2007
News

The Joy of Work

services, or business initiatives in the chemicals, technology, and consumer products industries. Amabile is working on a book based on the data from the ten-year study, which includes questionnaires, interviews, independent View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management

January 2012
Article

How Leaders Kill Meaning at Work

By: Teresa Amabile and Steven J. Kramer

Senior executives routinely undermine creativity, productivity, and commitment by damaging the inner work lives of their employees in four avoidable ways. This article is based on analysis of hundreds of work diaries from professionals describing everyday events that... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Creativity; Performance Productivity; Motivation and Incentives; Innovation Strategy; Performance; Strategic Planning; Leading Change; Balanced Scorecard; Mission and Purpose

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September 2008
Case

Adobe Systems: Working Towards a "Suite" Release (A)

By: David A. Thomas and Lauren Barley

The case examines the tools a manager can use to keep her project on track and manage conflict and tension as Adobe prepares to launch Creative Suite 3, the biggest software release in the company's 25-year history. The protagonist, Yvonne Murray, is a group program... View Details

Keywords: Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Product Launch; Projects; Groups and Teams; Conflict Management; Power and Influence

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