Publications

02 Apr 2019
Research Event

Women Pay a Higher Career Price in Today's Always-On Work Culture

Even so, the executives brought the issue to Harvard Business School Professor Robin J. Ely. Eighteen months and more than 100 employee interviews later, Ely’s research team reached a conclusion that challenged steadfast beliefs about the... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Consulting; Service

April 1964 (Revised September 1982)
Case

Empire Glass Co. (B)

Details the behavior of line managers, management staff, and workers in response to long-established control system developed by corporation headquarters. View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Management Systems; Employees; Manufacturing Industry

29 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Work 3.0: Redefining Jobs and Companies in the Uber Age

protect against a company’s having extensive control over its workforce without paying for employee benefits and social security taxes. Until recently, Work 2.0 worked. Now the Work 3.0 era has dawned,... View Details

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu; Transportation; Web Services

02 Jun 2008
Research & Ideas

Spending on Happiness

One of the most puzzling paradoxes in social science is that though people spend so much of their time trying to make more money, having more money doesn't seem to make them that much happier. My colleagues Liz Dunn and Lara Aknin—both at... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

23 Jan 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, January 23, 2018

Psychology The Downside of Downtime: The Prevalence and Work Pacing Consequences of Idle Time at Work By: Brodsky, Andrew, and Teresa M. Amabile Abstract—Although both media commentary and academic research have focused much attention on the dilemma of View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

26 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

Manager or Mentor? Why You Must Be Both

feedback to the employee may be adequate but of limited value toward the employee's development Most people manage for performance's sake rather than for development, he added. Managers who manage for performance are more likely to be... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

30 Jun 2020
Book

Capitalism Is More at Risk Than Ever

The book Capitalism at Risk first appeared in 2011. The problems it identified with social inequality, global trade strife, and environmental degradation have only accelerated by 2020. The new edition of Capitalism at Risk, subtitled How Business Can Lead, is expanded... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

22 Jan 2018
Sharpening Your Skills

Why You Are Unhappy at Work

feeling. What can be done to improve the office environment? Research by Harvard Business School professors suggests these problems are not only common—but solvable. Here are some of our most insightful stories about unmotivated employees... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

24 May 2004
Research & Ideas

The Watsons: IBM’s Troubled Legacy

using the fair to tell the world that he and IBM—the two were inseparable in his mind—mattered. On May 2, IBM held a huge meeting at the fair, with 2,200 employees in attendance. Watson told the listening throng that he wanted to keep the... View Details

Keywords: by Richard S. Tedlow

2022
Working Paper

Politics at Work

By: Emanuele Colonnelli, Valdemar Pinho Neto and Edoardo Teso

We study how individual political views shape firm behavior and labor market outcomes. Using new micro-data on the political affiliation of business owners and private-sector workers in Brazil over the 2002–2019 period, we first document the presence of political... View Details

Keywords: Private Sector; Employees; Prejudice and Bias; Brazil

Read Now

13 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

Small Businesses Are Worse Off Than We Thought

firms are temporarily closed and 40 percent of the workforce, on average, has been laid off or furloughed since late January. Retail, entertainment, food services, hospitality, and personal services industries have been hit hardest as View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Financial Services

March 1987 (Revised October 1993)
Case

Au Bon Pain: The French Bakery Cafe, The Partner/Manager Program

By: W. Earl Sasser

In recent years, Au Bon Pain (ABP), a chain of upscale French bakeries/sandwich cafes based in Boston, confronted a set of human resource problems endemic to the fast food industry (i.e., a labor shortage which made it difficult to attract and maintain quality crew... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Managerial Roles; Retention; Employees; Performance Improvement; Recruitment; Problems and Challenges; Compensation and Benefits; Food and Beverage Industry; Service Industry; Boston

October 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Teaching Note

Electric Maze Exercise, The (TN)

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar

Teaching Note for (9-604-046). View Details

Keywords: Learning; Problems and Challenges; Social Psychology; Employees

May 2024
Teaching Note

Making Progress at Progress Software (A) and (B)

By: Katherine Baldiga Coffman, Hannah Riley Bowles, Emma Ronzetti and Alexis Lefort

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 924-010 and 924-011. View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; Organizational Culture; Performance Evaluation; Prejudice and Bias; Employee Relationship Management; Personal Development and Career; Technology Industry

27 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 27

enculturating new employees such that they develop pride in their new organization and internalize its values. Drawing on authenticity research, we propose that socialization leads to more effective... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

23 Mar 2021
Book

Succeeding in the New Work-from-Anywhere World

When the pandemic forced employees to flee offices and work from home in droves last year, many business leaders worried that productivity might take a dive. Would remote workers be too tempted by the lures of Netflix or too distracted by... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

November 1988 (Revised July 1997)
Case

Technology Transfer at a Defense Contractor

By: Linda A. Hill

At a time of great changes in the corporate environment, Larry Yoshino, a design lab manager at Parsons Controls Corp., faces a delay in a costly defense project due to the inability of one of his subordinates to gain the cooperation of engineers at Parsons'... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Conflict Management; Managerial Roles; Management Teams; Employees; Competitive Strategy; Projects