Publications

June 2016
Case

Career at a Crossroad: Akhil and Roopa

By: Noam Wasserman

Akhil Patel is passionate about his business idea: an innovative green technology fuel cell. He wants to dive in and commit to his startup, but Roopa Rao, his fiancee, is much more risk averse, his parents don't approve of the startup, and Akhil has an enticing... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Opportunities; Decision Choices and Conditions; Business Startups; Green Technology Industry

May 2003 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Carol Fishman Cohen: Professional Career Reentry (B)

By: Myra M. Hart, Robin J. Ely and Susan Wojewoda

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Work-Life Balance; Family and Family Relationships

2015
Working Paper

Do-gooders and Go-getters: Career Incentives, Selection, and Performance in Public Service Delivery

By: Nava Ashraf, Oriana Bandiera and Scott S. Lee

We study how career incentives affect who selects into public health jobs and, through selection, their performance while in service. We collaborate with the Government of Zambia to experimentally vary the salience of career incentives in a newly created health worker... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Health Industry; Zambia

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February 2017
Supplement

Traversing a Career Path: Pat Fili-Krushel-Video Supplement

By: Lakshmi Ramarajan and Amy C. Edmondson

1989
Chapter

The Influence of Race on Career Dynamics

By: D. A. Thomas and Clayton P. Alderfer

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Race

May 2023
Teaching Note

OneTen: One Million Careers for Black Talent

By: Boris Groysberg, V. Kasturi Rangan, Annelena Lobb and Kerry Herman

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 422-018. View Details

August 2011
Supplement

Career at a Crossroad: One Year Later

By: Noam Wasserman and Lisa Brem

To be used with case 812-010. View Details

October 2021
Case

Sam Bernards: A Career in Building Businesses

By: Kim B. Clark and Sarah Eyring

15 Feb 2022
Book

When Working Harder Doesn’t Work, Time to Reinvent Your Career

a distance-learning program. But this detour didn’t derail the career of Arthur Brooks, now a Harvard Business School professor. Brooks explores his unlikely shift from budding musician to hard-charging head of a Washington, DC, thinktank... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

February 2003 (Revised February 2009)
Case

Yahoo!: Becoming a Competitor in the Career Listings Space (A)

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Nicole Nasser

In late 2001, Yahoo!'s new executive leadership team faces a decision. With online advertising revenues significantly off, the company has decided to explore new strategic businesses, including online recruiting. The team must decide whether to make a bid for... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decisions; Recruitment; Management Teams; Negotiation Deal; Employment Industry

January 1988 (Revised August 1989)
Case

Gurcharan Das: A Look at a Career Choice

By: Francis Aguilar

Keywords: Personal Development and Career

Find at Harvard

April 2000 (Revised March 2015)
Case

The First Six Months: Launching a PSF Career

By: Ashish Nanda, Thomas J. DeLong and Scot H. Landry

Presents two situations: 1) two graduating MBAs from Harvard Business School compare and contrast their strategies for getting off to a good start in consulting, and 2) a junior consultant has to deal with difficult feedback in his very first performance review. View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Planning; Practice; Strategy; Performance Evaluation; Adaptation; Consulting Industry

July–August 2013
Article

Looking Up and Looking Out: Career Mobility Effects of Demographic Similarity among Professionals

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Katherine L. Milkman

We investigate the role of workgroup sex and race composition on the career mobility of professionals in "up-or-out" organizations. We develop a nuanced perspective on the potential career mobility effects of workgroup demography by integrating the social... View Details

Keywords: Professional Service Firms; Race And Ethnicity; Ethnicity; Race; Personal Development and Career; Gender; Legal Services Industry

Find at Harvard

April 2000 (Revised October 2002)
Background Note

Career Strategies and Tactics in Professional Service Firms

By: Ashish Nanda, Thomas J. DeLong and Scot H. Landry

Presents suggestions for ensuring a good start in a professional services career. View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Performance Expectations; Performance Effectiveness; Customization and Personalization; Practice; Valuation; Performance Evaluation; Business Startups; Competency and Skills; Learning; Talent and Talent Management; Management Skills; Consulting Industry

2013
Case

Career Pathways, Performance Pay, and Peer-review Promotion in Baltimore City Public Schools

By: Susan Moore Johnson, John J-H Kim, Geoff Marietta, S. Elisabeth Faller and James Noonan

In the fall of 2012, Dr. Andres Alonso had much to celebrate about in his five-year tenure as CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools, including the approval and implementation of an innovative teachers' contract with a jointly-governed four-tier career pathway that tied... View Details

Keywords: Labor Management; Public Education; PELP; Union; Compensation; Collaboration; Public Education Leadership Project; Education; Labor; Compensation and Benefits; Education Industry; United States

February 1990
Supplement

James Burke: A Career in American Business, Video

By: Richard S. Tedlow

Keywords: Business Ventures; Personal Development and Career; United States

January 2022 (Revised October 2023)
Case

OneTen: One Million Careers for Black Talent (A)

By: Boris Groysberg, V. Kasturi Rangan, Annelena Lobb and Kerry Herman

The OneTen case study examines the nonprofit organization’s origin story. Its founding team includes a roster of corporate superstars—Ken Chenault (former CEO of American Express), Ken Frazier (former CEO of Merck), Charles Phillips (chair of Infor), Ginni Rometty... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Demographics; Ethics; Organizations; Social Enterprise; Society; Business or Company Management; Nonprofit Organizations

May 2008
Case

Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics and a Career in Crisis

By: W. Earl Sasser Jr. and Heather Beckham

The case describes the dilemma of a marketing manager, Thomas Green, who, after being rapidly promoted, is harshly criticized by his boss, Frank Davis. Green and Davis disagree on work styles and market projections. Green believes the sales goals set by Davis are based... View Details

Keywords: Superior ＆ Subordinate; Performance Management; Personal Strategy ＆ Style; Management Style; Conflict Management; Communication; Rank and Position; Personal Characteristics; Power and Influence