Fostering Performance - Publications - Faculty & Research

05 Jul 2022
What Do You Think?

Have We Seen the Peak of Just-in-Time Inventory Management?

distribution channel on overall inventory levels and costs. One thing that may have helped generate the HBS offer was an experiment I performed using my own crude version of what would become known as the “beer game.” In my approach, my... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Manufacturing; Shipping; Transportation

05 Jul 2012
What Do You Think?

Why Is Trust So Hard to Achieve in Management?

office, management is trusted," in the organizations I studied. That strikes me as a pretty wide and low range of levels of agreement. The numbers coincided with the financial performance of each organization, by the way. But my data... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

19 Jun 2007
First Look

First Look: June 19, 2007

Egyptian Retailers Harvard Business School Case 106-065 CEMEX has pursued an aggressive decommoditization strategy focused on its relationship with small Egyptian retailers. In particular, the strategic role and effectiveness of the Rewards Program, a tournament that... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

18 Aug 2022
Op-Ed

Your Best Employees Are Burning Out: A Framework for Retaining Talent

While gains were focused at the executive and investor levels, these cuts fostered a transactional relationship between businesses and their workers. So, it should be a shock to no one that in recent years, the power dynamic has switched... View Details

Keywords: by Hise Gibson and MaShon Wilson

07 Nov 2012
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Sir Alex Ferguson--Managing Manchester United

Anita Elberse, a Professor of Business Administration in the Marketing unit at Harvard Business School, studies high performers in creative industries—from basketball superstar LeBron James to pop diva Lady Gaga, from actor Tom Cruise to... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Sports; Entertainment & Recreation

21 Aug 2000
Research & Ideas

Inside the OR: Disrupted Routines and New Technologies

What Is Mics? Minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS) is performed by accessing the heart through incisions made between the ribs and employing a balloon device that is threaded into the heart through a vein to serve as an internal... View Details

Keywords: by Hilah Geer

30 Nov 2007
What Do You Think?

What Is Management’s Role in Innovation?

little to contribute to processes of creation and innovation. While asking "What isn't management's role in innovation?," Michelle Malay Carter states the case this way: "Nearly all current performance management models are... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

26 Apr 2022
Book

What Does Your Business Stand For? Why Building Trust Starts with Purpose

companies in part by prompting employees to trust the company more. Some theorize that purpose fosters trust inside companies because it clarifies the company’s decision-making and enhances its credibility. Such trust in turn comes to... View Details

Keywords: by Ranjay Gulati

05 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

Six Ways to Build Trust in Negotiations

mean missing out on significant opportunities. For this reason, fostering trust on the fly is a critical skill for managers. As Kristen knew, the first step to inspiring trust is to demonstrate trustworthiness. All negotiators can apply... View Details

Keywords: by Deepak Malhotra

11 Mar 2014
First Look

First Look: March 11

particularly strongly and to construct risk indicators to predict taxpayers' responses. We show results from an application in Chile and describe lessons learned during the implementation. August 2013 JAMA Surgery Informal Peer Interaction and Practice Type as... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Mar 2023
What Do You Think?

How Much Does 'Deep Purpose' Matter to the Bottom Line?

suggests that we both “resurrect a fabled past” (nostalgia) and “break with an inglorious one” in envisioning the future (postalgia). This requires fostering a critical dialogue about the past. What accounts for why we’re here today? What... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

06 May 2021
HBS Case

How Four Women Made Miami More Equitable for Startups

1990s to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem that could harness its business-minded immigrant population. Strategic investment had given rise to creative events and spaces, like the international Art Basel fair in Miami, new performing... View Details

Keywords: by Carolyn DiPaolo

11 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

Why Budgeting Kills Your Company

performance indicators that shifts strategic decision making to customer-facing edges of the organization. Others advocate less sweeping but still significant changes: Housing the budgeting and strategic planning functions in one office,... View Details

Keywords: by Loren Gary

28 Nov 2005
Research & Ideas

Unilever: Transformation and Tradition

people in the higher ranks of Unilever, yet compared to most companies, Unilever was distinguished worldwide by competent and professional management. The challenge was to translate these strengths into a competitive performance that... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Consumer Products

09 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

Driven: How Human Nature Shapes Organizations

in this primary group have interlocking tasks, their bonds of trust will facilitate their joint task performance and they can be officially recognized as a work group or team. The more extended bonding drive of employees will also... View Details

Keywords: by Paul Lawrence & Nitin Nohria

22 Oct 2019
Research & Ideas

Use Artificial Intelligence to Set Sales Targets That Motivate

change,” he says. “Firms typically don’t want to do that because once you change it, it’s very difficult to change it back. Also, experimenting with a select group of employees is deemed as unfair.” Past performance doesn’t guarantee... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

02 Mar 2010
First Look

First Look: March 2

fostered by the established structural context of the firm. We illustrate this model of corporate intervention with a case study in which a high-performing firm seeks to shift its performance trajectory into... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

05 Feb 2018
What Do You Think?

Should Companies Disclose Employee Compensation?

innovation, foster trust, and contribute to an organization’s agility in a fast-moving competitive landscape. It also can build cohesion among employees and provide them a shared sense of mission. Vineet Nayar, former CEO of India-based... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Financial Services

13 Aug 2021
Research & Ideas

Managers, Here’s How to Bond with New Hires Remotely

field experiment at a large North American company, provides plenty of reassurance, showing that regular Zoom chats with managers fosters solid career-building connections for new workers. In fact, informal “virtual watercooler” sessions... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

04 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 4

votes receive relatively little media attention yet may foster investor risk perceptions. This research presents a multifaceted view of activists and their tactics and suggests that this approach in examining activists and their tactics... View Details