Publications

September 2020 (Revised July 2022)
Exercise

Artea (C): Potential Discrimination through Algorithmic Targeting

This collection of exercises aims to teach students about 1)Targeting Policies; and 2)Algorithmic bias in marketing—implications, causes, and possible solutions. Part (A) focuses on A/B testing analysis and targeting. Parts (B),(C),(D) Introduce algorithmic bias. The... View Details

Keywords: Targeting; Algorithmic Bias; Race; Gender; Marketing; Diversity; Customer Relationship Management; Prejudice and Bias; Retail Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Technology Industry; United States

July 2013
Supplement

Interview with Bill Allen and Maria Pejter: A.P. Møller - Maersk Group

By: Boris Groysberg

In 2012, Bill Allen and Maria Pejter, of Maersk Group's Human Resources Department, sat down to consider some key aspects of Maersk's talent management strategy. In this video, Allen and Pejter discuss in some greater detail some of the challenges they faced as... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Development; Human Resource Management; Talent Management; Organizational Change And Transformation; Corporate Culture; Hiring; Employee Training; Strategy; Selection and Staffing; Talent and Talent Management; Training; Retention; Diversity; Denmark

24 Oct 2024
Research & Ideas

With Millions of Workers Juggling Caregiving, Employers Need to Rethink Support

Millions of Americans, from hourly retail staffers to corporate vice presidents, wrestle with the demands of work while parenting young children, caring for a sick spouse or aging parent—or both. That juggling act is made even tougher by rigid practices and rules set... View Details

Keywords: by Christine Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette

October 2000 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Individual and the Corporation, The: Kathy Levinson and E*TRADE (A)

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Susan Harmeling

Kathy Levinson, the president and COO of ETRADE and a lesbian mother of two children, must decide whether and how to participate in the "No on Knight" campaign. The campaign opposes California ballot proposition 22, which requires California to recognize only marriages... View Details

Keywords: Conflict of Interests; Leadership; Managerial Roles; Values and Beliefs; Decision Choices and Conditions; Gender; Diversity; Financial Services Industry

Educators

September 2022
Article

Regulatory Spillover and Workplace Racial Inequality

By: Letian Zhang

This paper suggests that affirmative action bans in the U.S. public sector may influence racial inequality in the private sector. Since the 1990s, nine states have banned affirmative action practice in public universities and state governments. Though these bans have... View Details

Keywords: Inequality; Regulation; Law; Organizational Norm; CEO; Affirmative Action; Organizations; Private Sector; Equality and Inequality; Diversity; Race; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

Find at Harvard

Read Now

September 2020 (Revised July 2022)
Supplement

Spreadsheet Supplement to Artea (B) and (C)

Spreadsheet Supplement to "Artea (B): Including Customer-level Demographic Data" and "Artea (C): Potential Discrimination through Algorithmic Targeting" View Details

Keywords: Gender; Race; Diversity; Marketing; Customer Relationship Management; Demographics; Prejudice and Bias; Retail Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Technology Industry; United States

03 Jan 2019
Research & Ideas

Everyone Knows Innovation is Essential to Business Success—Except Board Directors

also have to ask whether the board was asking the right questions or looking at the right factors to be innovative.” He blames a lack of diversity on corporate boards for sometimes impeding their ability to be innovative. “Their... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

05 Feb 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Stereotypes and Belief Updating

Keywords: by Katherine B. Coffman, Manuela Collis, and Leena Kulkarni

September 2019 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Bill Connors and The Farm, a Comcast NBCUniversal Innovation Hub (Powered by Boomtown)

By: Linda A. Hill and Eric Mankin

In 2017, Bill Connors, the President of Comcast’s Central Division, launched a startup accelerator in Comcast’s new Atlanta Regional headquarters. Comcast was America's largest cable and internet service provider, having built a profitable business bundling television... View Details

Educators

16 Feb 2004
Research & Ideas

European Private Equity—Still a Teenager?

side—while the early stage side is not quite as pretty a picture." The Future Of Europe Asked how the market is likely to evolve in a climate that contains enormous diversity in geography, business practices, and culture, as well as... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

September 2020 (Revised June 2023)
Supplement

Spreadsheet Supplement to Artea Teaching Note

Spreadsheet Supplement to Artea Teaching Note 521-041. This collection of exercises aims to teach students about 1)Targeting Policies; and 2)Algorithmic bias in marketing—implications, causes, and possible solutions. Part (A) focuses on A/B testing analysis and... View Details

Keywords: Targeted Advertising; Algorithmic Data; Bias; Advertising; Race; Gender; Diversity; Marketing; Customer Relationship Management; Prejudice and Bias; Analytics and Data Science; Retail Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Technology Industry; United States

September 2020 (Revised July 2022)
Exercise

Artea (D): Discrimination through Algorithmic Bias in Targeting

This collection of exercises aims to teach students about 1)Targeting Policies; and 2)Algorithmic bias in marketing—implications, causes, and possible solutions. Part (A) focuses on A/B testing analysis and targeting. Parts (B),(C),(D) Introduce algorithmic bias. The... View Details

Keywords: Targeted Advertising; Discrimination; Algorithmic Data; Bias; Advertising; Race; Gender; Marketing; Diversity; Customer Relationship Management; Prejudice and Bias; Analytics and Data Science; Retail Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Technology Industry; United States

10 Mar 2015
First Look

First Look: March 10

Business School Case 415-047 BlackRock: Diversity as a Driver for Success In July 2014, the Global Executive Committee (GEC) for BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, held a two-day offsite to discuss the state of talent within... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

11 Oct 2010
Research & Ideas

It Pays to Hire Women in Countries That Won’t

Call it corporate alchemy. New research finds that multinational companies can spin gender bias into gold by recruiting and hiring well-educated female managers in countries that traditionally discriminate against women. Employing women who are excluded by their own... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

1999
Book

Breaking Through: The Making of Minority Executives in Corporate America

By: D. A. Thomas and John J. Gabarro

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Management Practices and Processes; Diversity; United States

Find at Harvard

2010
Working Paper

Reversing the Queue: Performance, Legitimacy, and Minority Hiring

By: Andrew Hill and David A. Thomas

Studies of minority hiring have found that poor-performing firms or firms in highly competitive contexts are more likely to hire minority candidates. However, most work has examined hiring for entry and mid-level positions, not senior management. Management positions... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Selection and Staffing; Leadership; Managerial Roles; Performance Effectiveness; Sports Industry; United States

Read Now

1 Sep 1984
Conference Presentation

Ensuring Minority Achievement in Corporations: The Importance of Structural Theory and Structural Change

By: R. M. Kanter

Keywords: Diversity; Success; Organizational Structure; Organizational Change and Adaptation

26 Jun 2000
Research & Ideas

A New Ecosystem for Business and Society

lives in diverse and frequently unexpected ways. Describing, for example, the dramatic evolution that took place in colleges and universities a century ago with the advent of research libraries and scientific laboratories, Rudenstine... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

March 2009 (Revised August 2010)
Case

The Posse Foundation: Implementing a Growth Strategy

The Posse Foundation selected high-potential, non-traditional students to attend selective colleges as part of a group of 10 from the same city. The organization had developed an ambitious growth plan, but because it focused on the most selective colleges, the pool of... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Higher Education; Social Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Personal Development and Career; Partners and Partnerships; Nonprofit Organizations; Education Industry