Publications

October 2009 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Zappos.com 2009: Clothing, Customer Service, and Company Culture

By: Frances X. Frei, Robin J. Ely and Laura Winig

On July 17, 2009, Zappos.com, a privately held online retailer of shoes, clothing, and other soft line retail categories, learned that Amazon.com, a $19 billion multinational online retailer, had won its board of directors' approval to offer to merge the two companies.... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decision Choices and Conditions; Governing and Advisory Boards; Service Delivery; Organizational Culture; Internet and the Web; Valuation; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry

01 Apr 1974
Conference Presentation

Urban Communes and Family History

By: R. M. Kanter

Keywords: Family and Family Relationships; Civil Society or Community; Urban Scope

October 2000 (Revised January 2001)
Case

Polycom, Inc.: Visualizing Culture

By: Clayton M. Christensen

Polycom is a rapidly growing maker of video conferencing and teleconferencing equipment. Management is attempting to use "natural work groups" as an organizing mechanism, and to build into the culture implicit rules that will cause desired behaviors to be... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Growth Management; Organizational Design; Groups and Teams; Organizational Culture; Manufacturing Industry; Telecommunications Industry

Fast Answer

Business culture

Where can I find out about cultural differences relating to international business? CultureGrams World Edition: Contains primary-source reports on 209 countries and territories—including every United... View Details

Web

Community Values

Community Values Statement The mission of HBS is to educate leaders who make a difference in the world. Achieving this requires an environment of trust and mutual respect, free expression View Details

Article

Men as Cultural Ideals: Cultural Values Moderate Gender Stereotype Content.

By: Amy Cuddy, Elizabeth Baily Wolf, Peter Glick, Susan Crotty, Jihye Chong and Michael I. Norton

Four studies tested whether cultural values moderate the content of gender stereotypes, such that male stereotypes more closely align with core cultural values (specifically, individualism vs. collectivism) than do female stereotypes. In Studies 1 and 2, using... View Details

Keywords: Gender Stereotypes; Stereotype Content; Individualism; Collectivism; Prejudice and Bias; Values and Beliefs; Culture; Gender

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June 1999 (Revised May 2017)
Teaching Note

Guidant Corporation: Shaping Culture Through Systems

By: Robert Simons and Antonio Dávila

Teaching Note for (9-198-076). View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Risk And Uncertainty; Service Industry; Financial Services Industry

February 2003 (Revised September 2009)
Background Note

Nonverbal Communication in Negotiation

By: Michael A. Wheeler and Dana Nelson

This case distills the practical implications of current research on nonverbal communication. The first section sketches different kinds of nonverbal behavior: facial expressions, eye movements, physical gestures, paraverbal cues, posture, and "personal space." The... View Details

Keywords: Nonverbal Communication; Negotiation Participants; Situation or Environment; Behavior; Power and Influence

May 1998 (Revised August 2001)
Teaching Note

Timberland and Community Involvement TN

By: James E. Austin

Teaching Note for (9-796-156). View Details

Keywords: Apparel and Accessories Industry

21 Jul 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Why Do User Communities Matter for Strategy?

Keywords: by Sonali K. Shah and Frank Nagle

Building A Culture of Health

This ambitious volume sets out to understand how every company impacts public health and introduces a robust model, rooted in organizational and scientific knowledge, for companies committed to making positive contributions to health and wellness. Focusing on four... View Details

28 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

The Profit Power of Corporate Culture

real wages have not been increasing, although compensation often falls rather low on the list of things that employees seek out of the employment "deal." Q: What is the culture cycle? A: The View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

October 1984
Background Note

Developing and Communicating Strategy Goals

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Richard R. Ellsworth

Article

Values, Purpose, Meaning, and Expectations: Why Culture and Context Matter

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

The "rational person" standard, based on assumptions of economic self-interest, has long prevailed in legal reasoning. But understanding of decision making, behavioral choices, and possibilities for action must be enlarged to include a variety of factors that give... View Details

Keywords: Standards; Interests; Decision Making; Behavior; Value; Groups and Teams; Performance Expectations; Organizational Culture; Leadership; Business Cycles; Forecasting and Prediction; Motivation and Incentives

March 2011
Article

Restaurant Organizational Forms and Community in the U.S. in 2005

By: Glenn R. Carroll and Magnus Thor Torfason

Recent sociological theory and research highlights food, drink, and restaurants as culturally meaningful and related to social identity. An implication of this view holds that the prevalence of corporate chain restaurants affects the sociological character of... View Details

Keywords: Demographics; Age; Supply Chain Management; Culture; Balance and Stability; Income Characteristics; Research; Civil Society or Community; Identity; Theory; Society; Service Industry; United States

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09 Dec 2013
Research & Ideas

Cultural Disharmony Undermines Workplace Creativity

In today's global work environment, it's a given that companies need culturally diverse teams to succeed. Both scientific studies and common sense tell us that having people with different viewpoints onboard... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

January–February 2013
Article

Golfing Alone? Corporations, Elites and Nonprofit Growth in 100 American Communities

By: Christopher Marquis, Gerald F. Davis and Mary Ann Glynn

We examine the link between corporations and community by showing how corporate density interacts with the local social and cultural infrastructure to affect the growth and decline of the number of local nonprofits between 1987 and 2002. We focus on two sub-populations... View Details

Keywords: Business and Community Relations; Civil Society or Community; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Business Growth and Maturation; Profit; Local Range; Welfare or Wellbeing; Business Processes; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Trends; Management Practices and Processes; United States

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2021
Working Paper

Expanding the Entrepreneurial Cultural Toolkit: The Temporal Interplay of the Substantive and the Symbolic

By: Rebecca Karp and Siobhan O'Mahony

Much research shows how entrepreneurs leverage symbolic toolkits via storytelling and narratives to convince resource providers of their venture’s legitimacy. Although investors’ legitimacy concerns may be initially met with symbolic actions, it is unclear whether... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Sales; Entrepreneurship And Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Customers; Acquisition