Publications

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May 2011 (Revised March 2013)
Supplement

Marshall & Gordon: Designing an Effective Compensation System (B)

By: Heidi K. Gardner and Kerry Herman

CEO Kelly Browne wrestles with the design and roll-out of a new compensation system to promote the collaboration necessary for supporting her firm's new strategy. Marshall Gordon International, a global public relations (PR) firm, has recently expanded its service... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Executive Compensation; Management; Organizational Culture; Performance; Groups and Teams; Behavior; Corporate Strategy; System

21 Aug 2017
Lessons from the Classroom

Companies Love Big Data But Lack the Strategy To Use It Effectively

brands goes to digital media. What happens when products with sensors generate such volumes of customer experience data that advertising may be a less significant factor?” Jeff Polzer, of the Organizational Behavior faculty, introduced... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

17 Jul 2016
Working Paper Summaries

More Effective Sports Sponsorship—Combining and Integrating Key Resources and Capabilities of International Sports Events and Their Major Sponsors

Keywords: by Ragnar Lund and Stephen A. Greyser; Sports

02 Apr 2009
Working Paper Summaries

The Flattening Firm and Product Market Competition: The Effect of Trade Liberalization

Keywords: by Maria Guadalupe & Julie M. Wulf

1992
Chapter

The Effects of Changes in Corporate Control on Firm Performance

By: Paul M. Healy

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Performance; Organizational Change and Adaptation

March 2007
Article

Gender Effects and Stock Market Reactions to the Announcement of Top Executive Appointments

This study uses Kanter's token status theory to link announcements of top executives to shareholder reactions, highlighting possible gender effects. Using a sample of top executive announcements from 1990 to 2000, our results show that investor reactions to the... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Management Succession; Gender; Management Teams

September 2016 (Revised May 2018)
Case

Zurich Insurance: Fostering People Management Practices

By: Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly

Zurich Insurance was undergoing organizational change after implementing five new people practices focused on manager development, diversity and inclusion, job model and data analytics, recruitment, and talent pipeline. The case provides background for the company, as... View Details

Keywords: Managing Change; Organizational Behavior; Diversity Management; Organizational Architecture; Recruiting; Succession Planning; Management; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Human Capital; Human Resources; Insurance; Leadership; Diversity; Organizational Structure; Recruitment; Management Succession; Insurance Industry

September 2016
Case

Hewlett Packard Enterprise: The Dandelion Program

By: Gary P. Pisano and Robert D. Austin

This case describes Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s “Dandelion Program," which has developed a new service offering for the company’s clients by drawing on the special talents of people with autism. The company has deployed “pods” organized around 8 or 9 employees with... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Information Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Talent and Talent Management; Service Operations; Training; Diversity; Innovation and Invention; Technology Industry

05 Mar 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Will I Stay or Will I Go? Cooperative and Competitive Effects of Workgroup Sex and Race Composition on Turnover

Keywords: by Kathleen L. McGinn & Katherine L. Milkman

23 Mar 2020
Working Paper Summaries

The Effects of Hierarchy on Learning and Performance in Business Experimentation

Keywords: by Sourobh Ghosh, Stefan H. Thomke, and Hazjier Pourkhalkhali

28 Oct 2010
Working Paper Summaries

The Distinct Effects of Information Technology and Communication Technology on Firm Organization

Keywords: by Nicholas Bloom, Luis Garicano, Raffaella Sadun & John Van Reenen; Technology

June 2018
Teaching Note

Zurich Insurance

By: Boris Groysberg, David Lane and Joni Coughlin

This teaching note addresses six cases in the Zurich Insurance series, the overview case (HBS No. 417-035) and five cases focused on particular change efforts (HBS Nos. 417-036 through 417-040).
Zurich Insurance was undergoing organizational change after... View Details

Research Summary

Bringing Individuals Back In: The Effects of Career Experience on New Firm Founding (forthcoming Industrial and Corporate Change, 2003)

By: Rakesh Khurana

In this paper (with Scott Shane) the link between the career experiences of potential entrepreneurs and the decision to found a new firm is explored. Because of methodological and theoretical obstacles, sociological research on organizational foundings has largely... View Details

July 2022
Article

A Strategic View of Team Learning in Organizations

By: Jean-François Harvey, Henrik Bresman, Amy C. Edmondson and Gary P. Pisano

Research in strategic management and organizational behavior has increasingly focused on understanding how organizations achieve and sustain performance in fast-changing environments. Strategy research suggests that senior managers, through their decisions, influence... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Management; Organization Behavior; Teams; Organizational Capabilities; Groups and Teams; Learning; Management; Decision Making; Performance; Organizational Design

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November 2011
Case

Celeritas, Inc.: Leadership Challenges in a Fast-Growth Industry

By: Michael Beer and Ingrid Vargas

In 2011, Celeritas is a leading data communications company in the crowded, highly competitive, and ever-evolving enterprise-network optimization market. Having experienced rapid growth since its founding in 2003, Celeritas has recently seen sales decline and has begun... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Morale; Conflict; Organizational Change; Team Building; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Information Technology; Leadership; Communication; Groups and Teams; Attitudes; Conflict and Resolution; Information Technology Industry; Communications Industry

September 2022
Article

Experimentation and Start-up Performance: Evidence from A/B Testing

By: Rembrand Koning, Sharique Hasan and Aaron Chatterji

Recent scholarship has argued that experimentation should be the organizing principle for entrepreneurial strategy. Experimentation leads to organizational learning, which drives improvements in firm performance. We investigate this proposition by exploiting the... View Details

Keywords: Experimentation; A/B Testing; Data-driven Decision-making; Organizational Learning; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Business Startups; Learning; Performance; Decision Making

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2024
Working Paper

Determinants of Top-Down Sabotage

By: Hashim Zaman and Karim R. Lakhani

We investigate the conditions that motivate managers to impede the growth of talented subordinates due to fears of future competition for their own positions. Our research expands on existing tournament and contest theory literature that considers peer-to-peer sabotage... View Details

Keywords: Succession Planning; Organizational Hierarchy; Compensation; Promotions; Tournaments; Talent and Talent Management; Organizational Structure; Employee Relationship Management; Performance Evaluation; Organizational Culture; Management Skills

SSRN

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March 2018
Case

GiveDirectly

By: John Beshears, Joshua Schwartzstein, Tiffany Y. Chang and Brian J. Hall

How should nonprofits design compensation systems to attract and retain talent? GiveDirectly is a respected charitable organization with an unconventional approach. Instead of spending on traditional aid programs in areas such as health care and food access in... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofits; Charity; Effective Altruism; International Aid; Compensation; Goals; Bonuses; Incentives; GiveDirectly; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Goals and Objectives; Recruitment; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving