Publications
Publications
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(686)
- Faculty Publications (125)
Harm
→
- 2009
- Working Paper
Goals Gone Wild: The Systematic Side Effects of Over-Prescribing Goal Setting
By: Lisa D. Ordonez, Maurice E. Schweitzer, Adam D. Galinsky and Max H. Bazerman
Goal setting is one of the most replicated and influential paradigms in the management literature. Hundreds of studies conducted in numerous countries and contexts have consistently demonstrated that setting specific, challenging goals can powerfully drive behavior and... View Details
- October 2008
- Article
Navigating the Bind of Necessary Evils: Psychological Engagement and the Production of Interpersonally Sensitive Behavior
By: Joshua D. Margolis and Andrew Molinsky
We develop grounded theory about how individuals respond to the subjective experience of performing "necessary evils" and how that influences the way they treat targets of their actions. Despite the importance and difficulty of delivering just, compassionate treatment... View Details
- 2008
- Working Paper
Dirty Work, Clean Hands: The Moral Psychology of Indirect Agency
By: Neeru Paharia, Karim S. Kassam, Joshua D. Greene and Max H. Bazerman
When powerful people cause harm, they often do so indirectly through other people. Are harmful actions carried out through others evaluated less negatively than harmful actions carried out directly? Four experiments examine the moral psychology of indirect agency.... View Details
- 2008
- Working Paper
Nameless + Harmless = Blameless: When Seemingly Irrelevant Factors Influence Judgment of (Un)ethical Behavior
By: Francesca Gino, Lisa L. Shu and Max H. Bazerman
People often make judgments about the ethicality of others' behaviors and then decide how harshly to punish such behaviors. When they make these judgments and decisions, sometimes the victims of the unethical behavior are identifiable, and sometimes they are not. In... View Details
- June 2008 (Revised January 2012)
- Background Note
Solving a Problem or Sounding the Alarm? Guidelines on Blowing the Whistle
By: Lynn S. Paine and Lara Adamsons
Many of us will at some point in our professional lives encounter situations involving what we believe to be wrongful or injurious activities that may cause harm to innocent parties, our company, or the public. It may be necessary to bring the matter to the attention... View Details
- May 2008
- Article
When Winning Is Everything
By: Deepak Malhotra, Gillian Ku and J. Keith Murnighan
In the heat of competition, executives can easily become obsessed with beating their rivals. This adrenaline-fueled emotional state, which the authors call competitive arousal, often leads to bad decisions. Managers can minimize the potential for competitive arousal... View Details
- 2008
- Working Paper
See No Evil: When We Overlook Other People's Unethical Behavior
By: Francesca Gino, Don A. Moore and Max H. Bazerman
It is common for people to be more critical of others' ethical choices than of their own. This chapter explores those remarkable circumstances in which people see no evil in others' unethical behavior. Specifically, we explore 1) the motivated tendency to overlook the... View Details
- December 2007
- Case
Ruling the Modern Corporation: The Debate over Limited Liability in Massachusetts
By: David A. Moss and Eugene Kintgen
In 1830, Governor Levi Lincoln, Jr. urged the Massachusetts state legislature to introduce a limited liability regime for manufacturing corporations similar to that adopted in neighboring states. At least since 1809, shareholders in the state's manufacturing... View Details
- December 2007
- Article
The Malleability of Environmentalism
By: Kimberly A. Wade-Benzoni, Min Li, Leigh L. Thompson and Max Bazerman
In this paper, we predict and find that self-perceptions of environmentalism are changed by subtle manipulations of context and, in turn, affect environmental behavior. In Study 1, we found that people exhibit greater positive assessments of their environmental... View Details
- June 2007
- Article
What Is the Impact of Software Patent Shifts? Evidence from Lotus v. Borland
By: Josh Lerner and Feng Zhu
Economists have debated the extent to which strengthening patent protection spurs or detracts from technological innovation. This paper examines the reduction of software copyright protection in the Lotus v. Borland decision. If patent and copyright protections are... View Details
- February 2007 (Revised March 2007)
- Module Note
Truman and the Bomb Summary: Balancing Benefits and Harms
By: Sandra J. Sucher
A summary of the major themes discussed in the eleventh class of The Moral Leader (EC curriculum). View Details
- December 2005 (Revised February 2006)
- Case
Migros
By: Forest L. Reinhardt, Vincent Marie Dessain and Anders Sjoman
In October 2005, Urs Riedener, head of marketing at Swiss retailer Migros, is contemplating the company's competitive position. Primarily a retailer for foods and near-foods products, the cooperative Migros, with close to 600 retail outlets in Switzerland (but only... View Details
Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Corporate Governance; Corporate Strategy; Cooperative Ownership; Supply Chain Management; Product Marketing; Environmental Sustainability; Social Enterprise; Business or Company Management; Marketing Strategy; Retail Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Switzerland
- September 2005 (Revised October 2005)
- Case
Agora SA
By: Tarun Khanna, Krishna G. Palepu, Vincent Dessain and Monika Stachowiak
Tells the story of Agora, the largest media company in Poland, describing its corporate strategy of diversification since its founding in 1989 by entrepreneurial journalists closely linked to the anti-communist movement Solidarity. Describes in detail Gazeta Wyborcza,... View Details
- June 2005 (Revised January 2007)
- Case
Equator Principles, The: An Industry Approach to Managing Environmental and Social Risks
By: Benjamin C. Esty, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Aldo Sesia
In June 2003, 10 leading international banks adopted new voluntary guidelines, called the Equator Principles, to promote sustainable development in project finance. In recent years, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) had raised issues about the lenders'... View Details
- April 2004 (Revised May 2005)
- Case
Confronting a Necessary Evil: The Firing of Alex Robins (A)
A manager recounts his experience firing the person he was asked to replace and reflects on the challenges of the experience. Teaching Purpose: To role-play and reflect on tasks that entail harming other people to fulfill one's responsibility. View Details
- February 2004 (Revised May 2005)
- Supplement
Confronting a Necessary Evil: The Firing of Alex Robins (B)
A manager recounts his experience firing the person he was asked to replace and reflects on the challenges of the experience. Teaching Purpose: To role-play and reflect on tasks that entail harming other people to fulfill one's responsibility. View Details
Keywords: Resignation and Termination
- February 2004 (Revised April 2005)
- Exercise
Necessary Evils: A Diagnostic Exercise
By: Joshua D. Margolis and Andrew Molinsky
Central to the work of leaders and professionals are tasks that entail harming one party to deliver benefits or advance valued and worthy goals. Sometimes a person must, as part of his or her job, perform an act that causes emotional, material, or physical harm to... View Details
- January 2002 (Revised August 2004)
- Case
Massachusetts Financial Services
By: Brian J. Hall and Jonathan Lim
This case describes the compensation and performance evaluations at an investment management company. The senior management team of Massachusetts Financial Services (MFS) Investment Management was contemplating an introduction of hedge funds at the firm, but many... View Details
- 2001
- Working Paper
The Malleability of Environmentalism
By: Kimberly A. Wade-Benzoni, Min Li, Leigh L. Thompson and M. Bazerman
In this paper, we predict and find that self-perceptions of environmentalism are changed by subtle manipulations of context and, in turn, affect environmental behavior. In Study 1, we found that people exhibit greater positive assessments of their environmental... View Details
- November 1993
- Case
FCB and Publicis (C): The German-Led Network
By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Pamela A. Yatsko
After U.S.-based Foote, Cone & Belding (FCB) and Publicis of France established an international advertising alliance in May 1988, alliance leaders set out to merge offices in Europe. They were confronted with a particularly tricky situation in Germany, which, if... View Details