Publications

25 Nov 2013
Research & Ideas

Hiding From Managers Can Increase Your Productivity

together to facilitate visibility. The idea was that watching the workers would help managers improve operations and replicate innovations on one line across others, thus increasing productivity and driving down production costs. A... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Manufacturing

February 2009
Article

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

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Performance Improvement; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives

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19 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

Do I Dare Say Something?

(Abstract) Sarah Jane Gilbert: Can you explain the meanings of latent voice episodes and upward voice? Amy Edmondson and James Detert: Latent voice episodes describe those moments at work when someone considers speaking up about an issue, problem, or even an View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

October 2002 (Revised June 2006)
Case

KnowledgeNet (A)

By: William A. Sahlman and Elizabeth Kind

Describes the internal reporting package for a rapidly growing company in the e-learning industry. Management must analyze the data in the package and decide what actions to take. They must also decide what to communicate to the board of directors. Contains a... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Growth Management; Governing and Advisory Boards; Performance Improvement; Performance Evaluation; Education Industry

19 Dec 2005
Research & Ideas

Public Education Goes to School

people based on performance is even more daunting. In order to address these challenges, all of our districts have projects underway to improve their data collection and analysis function (which until the... View Details

Keywords: by Mallory Stark; Education

18 Jun 2012
Research & Ideas

Better by the Bunch: Evaluating Job Candidates in Groups

people are evaluated jointly rather than separately regarding their future performance. These findings are presented in the working paper When Performance Trumps Gender Bias: Joint versus Separate Evaluation, coauthored by HKS Professor... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish

February 2020
Case

Highfields Capital and McDonald's

By: Mark Egan and Robin Greenwood

McDonald’s reported its fifth consecutive quarter of declining same-store sales growth in early 2015. Despite McDonald’s recent poor performance, Jonathon S. Jacobson, the founder and Chief Investment Officer of Boston-based Highfields Capital Management, had initiated... View Details

Keywords: McDonald's; Stocks; Performance Improvement; Operations; Finance; Restructuring; Value Creation; Financial Services Industry

September 2011
Teaching Note

The Allstate Corporation (TN)

By: John R. Wells

Teaching Note for 708485. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Profit; Insurance; Performance Improvement; Adaptation; Problems and Challenges; Insurance Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

2009
Book

Leading for Equity: The Pursuit of Excellence in the Montgomery County Public Schools

By: Stacey M. Childress, Dennis Doyle and David A. Thomas

Leading for Equity tells the compelling story of the Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools and its transformation—in less than a decade—into a system committed to breaking the links between race and class and academic achievement. In chapters organized around six... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Education; Leadership; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Improvement; Social Issues

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15 Aug 2005
HBS Case

Classic Cases Live On at HBS

Aoki took command of a key variable in restaurant management: table turnover, or "turns." "Rocky made the restaurant a theater, with the chef as the star of the show," Klug says. "When the meal was over, the chef bowed, the View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons

November 2006
Background Note

Technical Game Theory Note #1: Solving Bi-matrix Games

By: Dennis A. Yao

Explains how to solve bi-matrix games and introduces the Nash Equilibrium concept. View Details

Keywords: Game Theory; Mathematical Methods; Learning; Balance and Stability; Planning; Strategic Planning; Performance Improvement; Strategy; Games, Gaming, and Gambling

October 2009 (Revised January 2014)
Teaching Note

Sustainability at Millipore (TN)

By: Michael W. Toffel

Teaching Note for [610012]. View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Organizational Structure; Investment; Projects; Performance Improvement; Framework; Measurement and Metrics; Corporate Disclosure; Biotechnology Industry

2017
Working Paper

Discretionary Task Ordering: Queue Management in Radiological Services

By: Maria Ibanez, Jonathan R. Clark, Robert S. Huckman and Bradley R. Staats

Work scheduling research typically prescribes task sequences implemented by managers. Yet employees often have discretion to deviate from their prescribed sequence. Using data from 2.4 million radiological diagnoses, we find that doctors prioritize similar tasks... View Details

SSRN

19 Jan 2010
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Managing the Economic Crisis

improving boards' performance is not government action but action on the part of each board. To improve board effectiveness, each board should achieve clarity about its role in... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

April 2010
Teaching Note

New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. (TN)

By: Robert S. Huckman

Teaching Note for [606094]. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Production; Strategy; Performance Improvement; Brands and Branding; Networks; Management; Consolidation; Competition; Opportunities; Apparel and Accessories Industry

22 Jan 2018
Sharpening Your Skills

Why You Are Unhappy at Work

Entry—How Relational Affirmation Improves Team Performance What do you think? What have you learned about being happy and productive at work? Add your insights to this story below. View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

23 Jul 2008
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Balanced Scorecard in Action

Sharpening Your Skills dives into the HBS Working Knowledge archives to bring together articles on ways to improve your business skills. Questions To Be Answered How does the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) improve... View Details

October 2013
Case

Decision Making at the Top: The All-Star Sports eBusiness Division

By: David A. Garvin and Michael A. Roberto

Describes a senior management team's strategic decision-making process. The division president faces three options for redesigning the process to address several key concerns. The president has extensive quantitative and qualitative data about the process to guide him... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Management Teams; Performance Improvement; Planning; Mathematical Methods; Strategy