Motivated Reasoning - Publications - Faculty & Research

Profile

Joy Chen

impact within a startup, Udemy. For her, the motivation for an MBA was neither to pivot her career nor expand her skills per se, but to find inspiration. “I wanted to build new friendships with those who could inspire each other... View Details

05 Mar 2009
What Do You Think?

How Frank or Deceptive Should Leaders Be?

of mediocre performance. On the other hand, there may be reasons why good leaders have to have an optimistic bias. As one CEO put it in a meeting last week, "I can't lead from a position of pessimism." Even though CEOs may... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

23 Jan 2023
Research & Ideas

After High-Profile Failures, Can Investors Still Trust Credit Ratings?

ratings have been shown not to be correct?’” The results suggest that the answer is yes, especially given improvements since the financial crisis, Sikochi says. The motivation to avoid high-profile failures has given way to signs that... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

27 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Asian and American Leadership Styles: How Are They Unique?

leadership. Below is the transcript of his talk, "Leadership Styles in the United States: How Different are They from Asia?" The rapid economic development of Asia in recent decades is one of the most important events in history. This development continues... View Details

Keywords: by D. Quinn Mills

04 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

Shackleton: An Entrepreneur of Survival

also find important insights into how to motivate people, allocate resources, and act with great integrity in moments of crisis. I firmly believe that the template for business education can be very broad. As soon as that ship was frozen,... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

20 Jan 2010
First Look

First Look: Jan. 20

strategy, creating high levels of customer satisfaction, or motivating people to navigate complex matrix organizations. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-051.pdf Substitution Patterns of the Random Coefficients Logit... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

10 Dec 2021
Research & Ideas

Truth Be Told: Unpacking the Risks of Whistleblowing

complaint, but the class discussion turned to the motivations of the man who revealed the wrongdoing. Have you ever thought about blowing the whistle? Dey asked her students. Their response: We’ve thought about it, but it is so costly. At... View Details

Keywords: by April White

Web

Human Behavior & Decision-Making - Faculty & Research

The seeming randomness by which spontaneous thoughts arise might give people good reason to dismiss them as meaningless. We suggest that it is precisely the lack of control over and access to the processes by which they arise that leads... View Details

27 Jul 2020
Book

Reflection: The Pause That Brings Peace and Productivity

confidence, and motivation to continue. One manager, noting the need to escape what he called the “psychic prison of continuous improvement,” regularly set aside time to celebrate workplace achievements with his staff. “Reflection is... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

02 Jun 2022
Research & Ideas

Blissful Thinking: When It Comes to Finding Happiness, 'Your Dreams Are Liars'

and a former professional French-horn player, Brooks came to the subject of happiness by way of art. His early research focused on why people produce and consume art and beauty as well as the motives behind human generosity. He discovered... View Details

Keywords: by Dan Morrell

04 Mar 2024
Research & Ideas

Want to Make Diversity Stick? Break the Cycle of Sameness

that diversity is good overall.” What’s driving these decisions? Chang speculates that a behavioral phenomenon known as “loss aversion,” in which people focus on avoiding losses rather than reaping potential gains, might be influencing board recommendations. In other... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

01 Nov 1999
Research & Ideas

John H. Patterson and the Sales Strategy of the National Cash Register Company, 1884 to 1922

create a method of sales management that encompassed all aspects of selling, from the calculation of quotas and commission rates to the motivation of discouraged salesmen. This excerpt looks at one aspect of the Patterson method: the... View Details

Keywords: by Walter A. Friedman

05 Jun 2012
First Look

First Look: June 5

present day. It covers early entrepreneurial attempts to develop solar energy, the use of passive solar in architecture before World War II, and the subsequent growth of the modern photovoltaic industry. It explores the role of entrepreneurial actors, sometimes View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 Feb 2014
First Look

First Look: February 4

with the responsibility to enforce rules may penalize transgressors more harshly when they are faced with a conflicting motivation to be lenient. Specifically, we test how transgressors are punished when it is their birthday: a day when... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthlorne

05 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

Six Ways to Build Trust in Negotiations

of the division that had lost the account, to ask if she could try to win it back. After all, RLX had nothing to lose by letting her try, she argued, and she had her own reasons for taking on this formidable task—as part of her work... View Details

Keywords: by Deepak Malhotra

01 Mar 2024
News

Game On

It’s raining in Sarasota. And not a light sprinkle but a proper, Florida drenching, so the outdoor courts at the Pickleball Club’s Lakewood Ranch location are deserted. Inside is a different story. Most of the 12 courts are in play. With four people to a court, all... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; photographed by Edward Linsmier; Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries; Arts, Entertainment

26 Feb 2013
First Look

First Look: Feb. 26

Abstract Many scholars and practitioners have recently argued that corporate awards are a "free" way to motivate employees. We use field data from an attendance award program implemented at one of five industrial laundry plants... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 Apr 2023
What Do You Think?

How Does Remote Work Affect Innovation?

here”? Would the result have been the same? We can at least hypothesize several notions based on early research regarding remote work. Many talented people love it. Some of the reasons they love it, such as the ability to gain more... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

29 Jan 2018
Book

How 'Teaming' Saved 33 Lives in the Chilean Mining Disaster

feat. "At that point, no expert considered rescue of the 33 men a reasonable possibility" In Chile, early estimates of the possibility of nding anyone alive—put at 10%—diminished sharply two days later when rescue workers narrowly escaped... View Details

Keywords: by Amy C. Edmondson; Mining

Web

Curriculum - Business & Environment

that modern society was having on the environment, Ashley Telkes had always tried to be cognizant of her own impact on the environment and to take reasonable steps to mitigate her own effects. Having already implemented a number of... View Details

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