Publications

26 Apr 2023
In Practice

Is AI Coming for Your Job?

percent believe the technology will affect them personally. Harvard Business School faculty members share their thoughts below about how AI will reshape the workforce and the skills necessary to succeed in the years ahead. Joseph Fuller:... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Technology

February 2008 (Revised May 2009)
Case

The Center for Creative Leadership

By: Srikant M. Datar, David A. Garvin and Carin-Isabel Knoop

The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) was founded in 1970 on the notion that leadership was not innate but could be learned. CCL evolved into one of the world's top leadership development organizations, involved in both research and program design and delivery. This... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Learning; Training; Leadership Development; Personal Characteristics

September 2021 (Revised June 2023)
Supplement

Serving Bud Moore (B)

By: David G. Fubini and Patrick Sanguineti

In only his third year at a Leading Strategy Consulting firm (LSC), Gregory Davis has been assigned to a select group tasked with advising General Motors (GM), one of the largest companies in the world by revenue, on how to reorganize their entire North American... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Relationships; Outcome or Result; Groups and Teams; Management Skills; Restructuring

July 11, 2024
Article

Research: New Hires’ Psychological Safety Erodes Quickly

By: Derrick P. Bransby, Michael J. Kerrissey and Amy C. Edmondson

Across industries, from manufacturing to health care, the luxury of waiting years to benefit from new talent is long gone. Thriving in today’s dynamic economy means bringing new hires up the learning curve faster than ever. Yet, the authors’ latest research suggests... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Learning; Interpersonal Communication; Employees

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May 2022
Case

Executive Decision-Making at Zola

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Michael Roberto

In April 2020, Rachel Jarrett, President and COO of wedding technology company Zola, called a meeting with the organization’s key decision-makers. The company had previously launched three business expansions: a vendor marketplace, a wedding apparel division, and a... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Voting; Decision Choices and Conditions; Management Skills; Management; Management Style; Organizations; Organizational Culture; Technology Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

2000
Book

Merchants to Multinationals

By: Geoffrey Jones

This book examines the evolution of multinational trading companies from the eighteenth century to the present day. During the Industrial Revolution, British merchants established overseas branches which became major trade intermediaries, and later engaged in foreign... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Trade; Foreign Direct Investment; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Governance; Growth and Development; Human Resources; Information Management; Relationships; Corporate Strategy; Africa; Asia; Latin America

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29 Jan 2007
Research & Ideas

The Business Press Is a Watchdog that Bites

what it does. When I presented early versions of this paper, people just couldn't believe the press could actually uncover accounting malfeasance. Of all the papers I've written, this was the one where I had to do the most to convince... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Journalism & News; Publishing

July 2010 (Revised September 2011)
Background Note

Hiring Professionals in China: A Practitioner's Guide

By: Heidi K. Gardner

This note outlines how leading professional service firms operating in China revise their standard hiring practices to fit local challenges and customs. Based on interviews with professionals in a number of established accounting, strategy consulting, and executive... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Globalized Firms and Management; Employees; Selection and Staffing; Service Industry; China

2009
Working Paper

Virtual Team Learning: Reflecting and Acting, Alone or With Others

By: Deborah L. Soule and Lynda M. Applegate

This paper examines virtual team learning in new product development situations. New product development activities manifest novelty, uncertainty and complexity, presenting an extreme need for learning in the course of the work. We present data from an exploratory... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Learning; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Product Development; Groups and Teams; Behavior

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29 Apr 2008
First Look

First Look: April 29, 2008

Business School Case 508-028 Lincoln Financial Group (LFG) reorganizes its business in order to improve customer intimacy. However, to implement the strategy, they need to effect significant changes in the skills of their salespeople.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

21 Nov 2006
First Look

First Look: November 21, 2006

patterns. We present a model where beliefs determine the types of contracts that firms offer and whether workers exert effort. Some workers become criminals, depending on their luck in the labor market, the expected punishment, and an... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

12 Sep 2023
Book

Successful, But Still Feel Empty? A Happiness Scholar and Oprah Have Advice for You

career” allows you to change paths every now and then while applying the skills you have to a next step. Big idea 2: Beware work addiction Many successful people lean in to extra time at the office to mask emotional pain, the authors... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

23 Nov 2009
Research & Ideas

Management’s Role in Reforming Health Care

apply their skills and knowledge to improve health-care systems. (A book excerpt from Designing Care follows.) Martha Lagace: How does health-care delivery fit into the greater context of health-care reform? Dr. Richard Bohmer: Broadly... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Health

August 2007
Article

Remedying Education: Evidence from Two Randomized Experiments in India

By: A. Banerjee, Shawn A. Cole, E. Duflo and L. Linden

This paper presents the results of two randomized experiments conducted in schools in urban India. A remedial education program hired young women to teach students lagging behind in basic literacy and numeracy skills. It increased average test scores of all children in... View Details

Keywords: Literacy; Teaching; Performance Improvement; Competency and Skills; India

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25 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

The Importance of Teaming

of why teaming and the behaviors it requires are so crucial for organizational success in today's environment. To help illuminate the teaming process and its benefits, the chapter defines teaming, places it within a historical context, and View Details

Keywords: Re: Amy C. Edmondson

Teaching Interest

Design of Field Research Methods (DFRM)

Field research involves collecting original data (qualitative and/or quantitative) in field sites. This course combines informal lecture and discussion with practical exercises to build specific skills for conducting field research in organizations. Readings include... View Details

27 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

Creating Leaders for Science-Based Businesses

It's been said that in this century, carbohydrates will replace hydrocarbons, and biology will supplant physics as the innovation-producing science. As science fiction becomes science fact, and with science-based firms presenting unique... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons; Biotechnology; Health

2012
Chapter

Structuring Consulting Firms

By: Tim Morris, Heidi K. Gardner and N. Anand

This chapter presents a model of the way in which consulting and other professional-service firms organize themselves and grow. We will argue that the fundamental structural-design challenge for consulting firms, like other professional firms, is to adapt appropriately... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Management Practices and Processes; Demand and Consumers; Service Operations; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Projects; Groups and Teams; Consulting Industry; Service Industry

May 13, 2024
Article

What Companies Get Wrong About Skills-Based Hiring

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Matthew Sigelman

In recent years companies have removed college-degree requirements from many of their job postings. They’ve done this for good reason: Talent is scarce, and requiring degrees eliminates almost two-thirds of workers from consideration, a disproportionate number of them... View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Recruitment; Talent and Talent Management