Publications

March 2025
Article

Global Talent and Economic Success

By: William R. Kerr

Access to top performers sets an upper bound on a country’s aspirations. View Details

Keywords: Immigration; Talent and Talent Management

22 Aug 2012
Working Paper Summaries

A Randomized Field Study of a Leadership WalkRounds™-Based Intervention

Background: Leadership WalkRounds have been widely adopted as a technique for improving patient safety and safety climate. WalkRounds involve senior managers directly observing frontline work and soliciting employees' ideas about... View Details

Keywords: by Anita L. Tucker & Sara J. Singer; Health

Forthcoming
Article

Subordinating Humanism: How Colliding Beliefs About a Living Wage Shape Personal Fulfillment and 'Professional-Class' Identities in Working-Class Jobs

By: Lumumba Babushe Seegars, S. Lee, Erin Reid and Lakshmi Ramarajan

In a society dominated by market-based ideology and management practices that prioritize financial considerations, some organizations are shifting toward humanistic ideology and practices that emphasize human welfare. To examine this transformation in pay-setting, we... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Moral Sensibility; Wages; Welfare; Performance Expectations; Identity; Employee Relationship Management; Management Practices and Processes

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20 Apr 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Why Every Company Needs a CSR Strategy and How to Build It

Keywords: by Kash Rangan, Lisa A. Chase & Sohel Karim

13 Feb 2018
Working Paper Summaries

In Search of Organizational Alignment Using a 360° Assessment System: Evidence from a Retail Chain

Keywords: by Carolyn Deller, Susanna Gallani, and Tatiana Sandino; Retail

March 2010 (Revised February 2011)
Case

Cognizant 2.0: Embedding Community and Knowledge Into Work Processes

By: Robert G. Eccles and Thomas H. Davenport

Knowledge management has been a high priority for Cognizant Technology Solutions since its inception since its global delivery model requires the global sharing of knowledge. Its first major tool was called the Knowledge Management Appliance but as Web 2.0 tools came... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Management; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Product Development; Service Delivery; Business Processes; Organizational Structure; Cooperation; Information Technology Industry

December 1992 (Revised March 1997)
Case

Peoria Engine Plant (A)

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Amy P. Hutton

Describes the cost control system used at an automobile engine plant for labor and overhead costs. The finance staff prepares daily, weekly, and monthly variance reports against budgets. Department supervisors, finance staff, and the plant manager discuss the use and... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Cost Accounting; Budgets and Budgeting; Earnings Management; Reports; Financial Reporting; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Performance Improvement; Performance Productivity; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Auto Industry

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11 Oct 2016
First Look

October 11, 2016

case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/717001-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 117-104 Management Control Systems Module 4: Organizing for Performance This module explores the implications of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2014
Working Paper

The Unfairness Trap: A Key Missing Factor in the Economic Theory of Discrimination

By: Jordan I. Siegel, Naomi Kodama and Hanna Halaburda

Prior evidence linking increased female representation in management to corporate performance has been surprisingly mixed, due in part to data limitations and methodological difficulties, and possibly to omission of a fairness factor in the economic theory of... View Details

Keywords: Managerial Roles; Fairness; Performance Productivity; Gender; Japan

SSRN

April 1997
Case

Peoria Engine Plant (A): (Abridged)

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Amy P. Hutton

Describes the cost control system used at an automobile engine plant for labor and overhead costs. The finance staff prepares daily, weekly, and monthly variance reports against budgets. Department supervisors, finance staff, and the plant manager discuss the use and... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Cost Management; Financial Reporting; Performance Improvement; Budgets and Budgeting; Auto Industry

2019
Chapter

Teams and Team Effectiveness in Health Services Organizations

By: Bruce J. Fried and Amy C. Edmondson

Book Abstract: Completely updated to address the challenges faced by modern health care organizations, this edition of Shortell and Kaluzny's Health Care Management: Organization Design and Behavior offers a more global perspective on how the United States and... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Performance Effectiveness; Health; Health Industry

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19 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

Birth of the American Salesman

Walter A. Friedman's new book Birth of a Salesman chronicles the rise and development of modern sales management from the 18th century to the present day. Its fascinating cast of dynamic business figures and academic leaders includes John... View Details

Keywords: by Laura Linard

July 2018
Article

Personality Traits of Entrepreneurs: A Review of Recent Literature

By: Sari Pekkala Kerr, William R. Kerr and Tina Xu

We review the extensive literature since 2000 on the personality traits of entrepreneurs. We first consider baseline personality traits like the Big-5 model, self-efficacy and innovativeness, locus of control, and the need for achievement. We then consider risk... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurs; Venturing; Personality Traits; Characteristics; Big-5; Risk Attitudes; Goals; Skills; Entrepreneurship; Personal Characteristics; Goals and Objectives; Competency and Skills; Success; Demographics; Research

October 2004 (Revised October 2005)
Case

ORIX KK: Incentives in Japan

In the context of Japan's struggling economy of the 1990s, ORIX, a leading Japanese financial services company, implemented a new performance evaluation and compensation system. At the time, many higher-paying western firms were entering the Japanese market and... View Details

Keywords: Performance Evaluation; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Compensation and Benefits; Financial Services Industry; Japan

2011
Working Paper

Collaborating across Cultures: Cultural Metacognition & Affect-Based Trust in Creative Collaboration

By: Roy Y.J. Chua, Michael W. Morris and Shira Mor

We propose that managers' awareness of their own and others' cultural assumptions (cultural metacognition) enables them to develop affect-based trust with associates from different cultures, promoting creative collaboration. Study 1, a multi-rater assessment of... View Details

Keywords: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Knowledge Sharing; Managerial Roles; Creativity; Prejudice and Bias; Social and Collaborative Networks; Trust; Cooperation

June 1994 (Revised December 1997)
Case

Safeway, Inc.'s Leveraged Buyout (A)

After years of deteriorating financial performance and eroding market position, Safeway, Inc., the largest public grocery store chain in the United States, found itself the target of a hostile takeover offer. Management decided to take the company private in a $4.3... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; Retail Industry; United States

June 2013
Case

Olympic Rent-A-Car U.S.: Customer Loyalty Battles

By: John Deighton and James T. Kindley

The marketing and operations managers for Olympic Rent-A-Car meet to decide how to respond to changes in the loyalty rewards program at the market-leading competitor. The competitor's program gives awards based on dollars spent instead of days rented and eliminates... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Competitive Strategy; Marketing; Operations; Auto Industry; Service Industry

November 2016 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Darby's Investment in Sirma: Professionalizing an Entrepreneurial Firm

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Eren Kuzucu

In March 2010, Burak Dalgın (HBS MBA 2004) led private equity firm Darby's investment in Sırma, a local Turkish water and beverage company. Sırma was owned and managed by members of two Turkish business families. The existing management, while being highly... View Details

Keywords: Control Systems; Variance Analysis; Emerging Markets; Debt; Family Ownership; Turkey; Valuation; Business or Company Management; Private Equity; Financial Reporting; Investment; Budgets and Budgeting; Food and Beverage Industry; Turkey