Publications

10 Dec 2018
HBS Seminar

Julianna Pillemer, Wharton, University of Pennsylvania

October 2022
Article

When Listening Is Spoken

By: Hanne Collins

Feeling heard is critical to human flourishing—across domains, relationships are strengthened and individual well-being is enhanced when people feel listened to. High-quality conversational listening not only requires the cognitive processes of attention and... View Details

Keywords: Listening; Interpersonal Communication; Perception; Behavior

03 Oct 2017
First Look

First Look at Research and Ideas, October 3, 2017

manipulation that involves misclassifying a patient into a diagnosis-related group that yields higher reimbursement. As overbilling allows hospitals to increase revenues without altering operations, affecting costs, or having to reverse such View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

May 2007
Article

Inner Work Life: Understanding the Subtext of Business Performance

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer

Anyone in management knows that employees have their good days and their bad days and that, for the most part, the reasons for their ups and downs are unknown. Most managers simply shrug their shoulders at this fact of work life. But does it matter, in terms of... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Performance; Motivation and Incentives; Perception; Practice

Purchase

2021
Working Paper

Information Avoidance and Image Concerns

By: Christine L. Exley and Judd B. Kessler

A rich literature finds that individuals avoid information, even information that is instrumental to their choices. A common hypothesis posits that individuals strategically avoid information to hold particular beliefs or to take certain actions--such as behaving... View Details

Keywords: Image Motivation; Self-image; Information; Behavior; Identity; Personal Characteristics

March 2017
Article

Risky Business: When Humor Increases and Decreases Status

By: T. B. Bitterly, A.W. Brooks and M. E. Schweitzer

Across eight experiments, we demonstrate that humor can influence status, but attempting to use humor is risky. The successful use of humor can increase status in both new and existing relationships, but unsuccessful humor attempts (e.g., inappropriate jokes) can harm... View Details

Keywords: Status and Position; Behavior; Groups and Teams; Perception

2009
Working Paper

Walking Through Jelly: Language Proficiency, Emotions, and Disrupted Collaboration in Global Work

By: Tsedal Beyene, Pamela J. Hinds and Catherine Durnell Cramton

In an ethnographic study comprised of interviews and concurrent observations of 145 globally distributed members of nine project teams of an organization, we found that uneven proficiency in English, the lingua franca, disrupted collaboration for both native and... View Details

Keywords: Spoken Communication; Interpersonal Communication; Globalized Firms and Management; Groups and Teams; Behavior; Emotions; Social and Collaborative Networks

24 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 24, 2009

cautious adoption of some of these recent conceptual developments offers fertile opportunities for further research in international business history. Navigating the Bind of Necessary Evils: Psychological Engagement and the Production of View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

03 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 3, 2009

studies conducted in numerous countries and contexts have consistently demonstrated that setting specific, challenging goals can powerfully drive behavior and boost performance. Advocates of goal setting have had a substantial impact on... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Web

PhD Programs - Doctoral

healthcare industry, while others arrive at the program with a background in disciplinary research The PhD program in Organizational Behavior offers two tracks: either a micro or macro approach. In the micro track, students focus on the... View Details

Web

Publications - Faculty & Research

Build a Life: You Can Do Leisure Better, Seriously." The Atlantic (March 27, 2025). April 2025 Article Serving with a Smile on Airbnb: Analyzing the Economic Returns and Behavioral Underpinnings of the Host’s Smile By: Shunyuan Zhang ,... View Details

October 1975 (Revised June 1983)
Background Note

Understanding Communications in One-To-One Relationships

By: John J. Gabarro

Introduces the concepts of assumptions, perceptions and feelings, and applies these concepts to the problem of understanding the behavior that takes place between people in relationships. The note discusses a particular interaction that takes place between two men in a... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Emotions; Behavior; Attitudes; Perspective; Relationships

Educators

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Research Summary

Current Research

By: Leslie K. John

Professor John is a behavioral scientist who uses both laboratory and field experiments to investigate questions that are at the intersection of marketing, organizational behavior, and public policy.

Professor John’s work has been published in leading... View Details

November 2007
Supplement

Differences at Work: Emily (C)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Rachel Gordon

In Differences at Work: Emily (C) HBS Case No. 9-408-047 describes how the original email author apologizes to her acknowledging that his behavior was extremely inappropriate. While Emily accepts the apology, she still forwards the email on to her boss with a note... View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Working Conditions; Employees; Interpersonal Communication; Resignation and Termination

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06 Nov 2023
Research & Ideas

Did You Hear What I Said? How to Listen Better

going on here,” says Brooks. When your mind wanders, does the speaker know? The researchers considered two possibilities: Either listeners are bad at conveying signs that they are listening, or speakers are bad at interpreting them. To examine these View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

16 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

Is Your Workplace Biased Against Introverts?

conducted five studies to explore differences in how extroverts and introverts express, perceive, and experience passion on the job. To extract data from subjective expressions of passion, the team created a novel “passion experiences and View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

2011
Working Paper

Risky Trust: How Multi-entity Teams Develop Trust in a High Risk Endeavor

By: Faaiza Rashid and Amy C. Edmondson

This paper explicates the challenge of risky trust, which we define as trust that exists between parties vulnerable to high economic, legal, or reputational risks at individual or organizational levels. Drawing from analyses of data collected in a grounded case study... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Leadership; Business Processes; Groups and Teams; Risk and Uncertainty; Trust; Construction Industry; United States