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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(2,388)
- People (4)
- News (285)
- Research (1,834)
- Events (12)
- Multimedia (4)
- Faculty Publications (929)
- December 2022
- Article
Social Skills Improve Business Performance: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial with Entrepreneurs in Togo
By: Stefan Dimitriadis and Rembrand Koning
Recent field experiments demonstrate that advice, mentorship, and feedback from randomly assigned peers improve entrepreneurial performance. These results raise a natural question: what is preventing entrepreneurs and managers from forming these peer connections... View Details
Keywords: Social Skills; Business Performance; Entrepreneurs; Peer Relationships; Field Experiment; Entrepreneurship; Performance; Relationships; Interpersonal Communication; Togo
Dimitriadis, Stefan, and Rembrand Koning. "Social Skills Improve Business Performance: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial with Entrepreneurs in Togo." Management Science 68, no. 12 (December 2022): 8635–8657.
- 10 Aug 2009
- Research & Ideas
High Commitment, High Performance Management
With many companies battered by the economy, commitment from leaders and employees might seem like increasingly precious resources. Yet commitment and performance are essential elements of any successful... View Details
Keywords: by Martha Lagace
- 2018
- Article
Prior Ties and the Limits of Peer Effects on Startup Team Performance
By: Sharique Hasan and Rembrand Koning
We conduct a field experiment at an entrepreneurship bootcamp to investigate whether interaction with proximate peers shapes a nascent startup team's performance. We find that teams whose members lack prior ties to others at the bootcamp experience peer effects that... View Details
Keywords: Field Experiment; Peer Effects; Office Space; Knowledge Spillovers; Accelerators; Entrepreneurship; Knowledge Sharing; Performance; Technology Industry; India
Hasan, Sharique, and Rembrand Koning. "Prior Ties and the Limits of Peer Effects on Startup Team Performance." Strategic Management Journal 40, no. 9 (September 2019): 1394–1416.
- March 2002
- Background Note
On Dealing with Unsatisfactory Performance
Examines the possible reasons for unsatisfactory performance and proposes ways of dealing with it. View Details
Keywords: Performance Improvement
Tagiuri, Renato. "On Dealing with Unsatisfactory Performance." Harvard Business School Background Note 902-428, March 2002.
- 2017
- Working Paper
Seeking to Belong: How the Words of Internal and External Beneficiaries Influence Performance
By: Paul Green, Francesca Gino and Bradley R. Staats
In this paper, we examine how connecting to beneficiaries of one’s work increases performance and argue that beneficiaries internal to an organization (i.e., one’s own colleagues) can serve as an important source of motivation, even in jobs that—on the surface—may seem... View Details
Keywords: Prosocial Motivation; Belongingness; Motivation; Job Design; Field Experiment; Motivation and Incentives; Strategy; Job Design and Levels
Green, Paul, Francesca Gino, and Bradley R. Staats. "Seeking to Belong: How the Words of Internal and External Beneficiaries Influence Performance." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 17-073, February 2017.
- February 2023
- Supplement
Performance Management at Afreximbank (B)
By: Robert S. Kaplan, Siko Sikochi, Anna Ngarachu and Namrata Arora
Supplements the (A) case. Founded in October 1993, the Cairo-based African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) was a specialized continental financial institution designed to address the low level of intra-African trade, the decline in financial flows to Africa, the... View Details
Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Performance Evaluation; Organizational Culture; Crisis Management; Banking Industry; Africa
Kaplan, Robert S., Siko Sikochi, Anna Ngarachu, and Namrata Arora. "Performance Management at Afreximbank (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 123-043, February 2023.
- 28 Sep 2009
- Research & Ideas
Improving Accountability at the World Bank
public participation, supported by improved staff incentives and performance appraisals. Systematically incorporate public participation in decision-making at each stage of its... View Details
Keywords: by Alnoor Ebrahim
- Summer 2017
- Article
Performance Feedback in Competitive Product Development
By: Daniel P. Gross
Performance feedback is ubiquitous in competitive settings where new products are developed. This article introduces a fundamental tension between incentives and improvement in the provision of feedback. Using a sample of 4,294 commercial logo design tournaments, I... View Details
Keywords: Feedback; Evaluation; Tournaments; Innovation; Performance Evaluation; Motivation and Incentives; Rank and Position; Product Development; Learning
Gross, Daniel P. "Performance Feedback in Competitive Product Development." RAND Journal of Economics 48, no. 2 (Summer 2017): 438–466.
- 08 Jul 2022
- News
How to Conduct a Great Performance Review.
- December 2005 (Revised October 2006)
- Case
Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS (A)
CVS's retail pharmacy operations are functioning poorly and dissatisfying customers. Many customers are defecting as a result. A pharmacy service improvement team has documented the current prescription fulfillment process, its exception rates, and the problems... View Details
Keywords: Information Technology; Performance Improvement; Business Processes; Retail Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States
McAfee, Andrew P. "Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS (A)." Harvard Business School Case 606-015, December 2005. (Revised October 2006.)
- 2021
- Working Paper
CEO Activism, Consumer Polarization, and Firm Performance
By: Young Hou and Christopher W. Poliquin
CEOs are increasingly engaging in activism on controversial social and political issues that do not directly affect their businesses. Simultaneously, the general public is increasingly polarized. We examine how CEO support for gun control after two mass shootings... View Details
Keywords: CEO Activism; Guns; Polarization; Non-market Strategy; Social Issues; Leadership; Consumer Behavior; Performance
Hou, Young, and Christopher W. Poliquin. "CEO Activism, Consumer Polarization, and Firm Performance." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-106, February 2021.
Managing School Districts for High Performance

- 16 May 2014
- Blog Post
Leveraging Big Data to Improve Recruiting
Organizations everywhere are turning to Big Data to make smarter decisions. But how can you leverage it to improve the recruiting process? As the Assistant Director of Market Intelligence within the Career... View Details
- May 2003
- Module Note
Product Development Process Design and Improvement
By: Stefan H. Thomke
Describes the conceptual foundations and pedagogy for a module on the design and improvement of processes for the development of products and services. Can also be used as part of a more general course on Managing Technology and Innovation. Central to Managing Product... View Details
- Research Summary
Governance, Accountability, and Performance for Social Enterprise
By: Dutch Leonard
This project examines the relationship between governance structures, accountability relationships, and performance outcomes for social enterprises. Most previous work in this area has examined these topics separately, or in pairs; the purpose of this project is to... View Details
- 2007
- Chapter
Assessing and Improving the Safety of Internet Search Engines
By: Benjamin Edelman
Keywords: Internet and the Web; Search Technology; Performance Evaluation; Performance Improvement; Safety; Information Technology Industry
Edelman, Benjamin. "Assessing and Improving the Safety of Internet Search Engines." In The Power of Search Engines [Die Macht der Suchmaschinen], edited by Marcel Machill and Markus Beiler, 259–277. Köln, Germany: Herbert von Halem Verlag, 2007.
- May 2013
- Article
The Performance Frontier: Innovating for a Sustainable Strategy
By: Robert G. Eccles and George Serafeim
By now most companies have sustainability programs. They're cutting carbon emissions, reducing waste, and otherwise enhancing operational efficiency. But a mishmash of sustainability tactics does not add up to a sustainable strategy. To endure, a strategy must address... View Details
Keywords: Sustainability; Innovation; Environment; Corporate Reporting; Corporate Social Responsibility; Governance; Strategy; Value; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance; Environmental Sustainability; Innovation and Invention
Eccles, Robert G., and George Serafeim. "The Performance Frontier: Innovating for a Sustainable Strategy." Harvard Business Review 91, no. 5 (May 2013): 50–60.
- March 2020
- Article
Explaining the Persistence of Gender Inequality: The Work-family Narrative as a Social Defense Against 24/7 Work Culture
By: Irene Padavic, Robin J. Ely and Erin M. Reid
It is widely accepted that the conflict between women’s family obligations and professional jobs’ long hours lies at the heart of their stalled advancement. Yet research suggests that this “work-family narrative” is incomplete: men also experience it and nevertheless... View Details
Keywords: 24/7 Work Culture; Hegemonic Narrative; Social Defense; Work-family Conflict; Systems-psychodynamic Theory; Work-Life Balance; Personal Development and Career; Gender; Equality and Inequality; Organizational Culture
Padavic, Irene, Robin J. Ely, and Erin M. Reid. "Explaining the Persistence of Gender Inequality: The Work-family Narrative as a Social Defense Against 24/7 Work Culture." Administrative Science Quarterly 65, no. 1 (March 2020): 61–111. (Winner, Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research, 2021. Runner-up, Financial Times Responsible Business Education Award, Academic Research with Impact, 2021.)
- 2023
- Working Paper
When Does Gamified Training Improve Performance? The Roles of Office and Leader Engagement
By: Ryan W. Buell, Wei Cai and Tatiana Sandino
Gamified training is a novel management control system in which companies use gamification
techniques to engage and motivate employees to learn. This study empirically examines the
performance consequences of gamified training using data from a natural field... View Details
Keywords: Gamified Training; Management Control Systems; Employee Engagement; Employees; Learning; Training; Motivation and Incentives; Performance
Buell, Ryan W., Wei Cai, and Tatiana Sandino. "When Does Gamified Training Improve Performance? The Roles of Office and Leader Engagement." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-101, March 2019. (Revised October 2023.)