Publications

2009
Working Paper

Female Empowerment: Impact of a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines

By: Nava Ashraf, Dean Karlan and Wesley Yin

Female "empowerment" has increasingly become a policy goal, both as an end to itself and as a means to achieving other development goals. Microfinance in particular has often been argued, but not without controversy, to be a tool for empowering women. Here, using a... View Details

Keywords: Saving; Microfinance; Personal Finance; Decision Making; Microeconomics; Gender; Power and Influence; Philippines

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Article

Creating Value Together

By: Maxim Sytch and Ranjay Gulati

Conventional wisdom suggests that companies should avoid growing dependent on their business partners. If one company, the thinking goes, grows too dependent on a counterpart by getting the entire input for a particular activity from it and is not able to switch... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Performance Improvement; Partners and Partnerships; Power and Influence; Value Creation

17 Nov 2011
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Organizational Design

Questions To Be Answered: What are the best techniques for fostering innovation in multicultural teams? I want my functional experts to influence high-level strategy. How can managers get the best thinking out of support staff? What role... View Details

Keywords: Re: Ranjay Gulati & Raffaella Sadun

Profile

Tafadzwa Samushonga

mother demonstrated how to use that support responsibly,” Tafadzwa explains. “Remaining anchored in our community, she taught me to boldly pursue independence, so that I, too, would become better positioned to help others.” While Tafadzwa’s upbringing View Details

Keywords: Consulting

July – August 2010
Column

Powerlessness Corrupts

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

Powerlessness damages organizations--especially in the middle ranks, says HBR columnist Rosabeth Moss Kanter. Hemmed in by rules and treated as unimportant, people get even with management by overcontrolling their own turf. Kanter urges leaders to give employees... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Opportunities; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Power and Influence

06 May 2013
Research & Ideas

How Local Events Shake Up Corporate Philanthropy

Toronto. "But more recent research shows how culture endures in spite of globalization. Networks and local regulations also significantly influence how companies react to their local environments." “For philanthropic leaders,... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

May 2018
Teaching Note

Maggie Wilderotter: Evolution of an Executive

By: Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

Teaching Note for HBS No. 417-091. View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Personal Characteristics; Leadership Style; Networks; Gender; Power and Influence; Telecommunications Industry; United States

01 Oct 1998
News

New Releases

for opportunities to explore as well as reacting to problems to be solved. Says Raiffa, "Smart Choices is based on the premise that quality decision-making is a fundamental and valuable life skill that can shape and influence in a... View Details

March 2010
Article

Interpersonal Authority in a Theory of the Firm

By: Eric J. Van den Steen

This paper develops a theory of the firm in which a firm's centralized asset ownership and low-powered incentives give the manager, as an equilibrium outcome, interpersonal authority over employees (in a world with open disagreement). The paper thus provides... View Details

Keywords: Theory; Assets; Ownership; Motivation and Incentives; Governance Controls; Power and Influence; Projects; Perspective; Employees

February 2003 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Flextronics: Deciding on a Shop Floor System for Producing the Microsoft Xbox

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

Jim McCusker must guide a group decision-making process aimed at getting input and buy-in from key people in California, Mexico, and Austria to choose a shop floor IT system for Flextronics. McCusker is Flextronics' account manager for the Microsoft Xbox project.... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Decision Making; Power and Influence; Geographic Location; Problems and Challenges; Leadership; California; Mexico; Austria

Educators

21 Mar 2016
HBS Case

Can Customer Reviews Be 'Managed?'

reviews, online reviews, TripAdvisor being the biggest. The second one is location of the hotel and the third is price. So companies control price. They don’t control location. They control where they set up but once they set up they can’t change that anymore. So now... View Details

Keywords: by Brian Kenny; Advertising; Travel

Web

Eligibility | New Venture Competition

Eligibility Social Enterprise Track Course Listing Business at the Base of the Pyramid (HBS) Data for Impact (HBS) Education Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship in Comparative Perspective (HGSE)... View Details

January 2009
Case

Creating The Partnership Solutions Group at Lehman Brothers

By: David A. Thomas and Stephanie Creary

Explores how two senior Wall St. executives created a successful commercial opportunity for Lehman Brothers that focused on building relationships with minority- and women-owned financial services firms. Illustrates how Patricia Miller Zollar and Nadja Fidelia aligned... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Gender; Partners and Partnerships; Power and Influence; Value Creation; Financial Services Industry

06 Jun 2016
Blog Post

Meet the HBS Africa Business Club

that they are part of a family. We hope that ABC gives its members a sense of fellowship and community on campus. The club does an excellent job of bringing people together with a shared interest in Africa. However, we also hope to View Details

January – February 2012
Article

How Managers Use Multiple Media: Discrepant Events, Power, and Timing in Redundant Communication

By: Paul Leonardi, Tsedal Neeley and Elizabeth M. Gerber

Several recent studies have found that managers engage in redundant communication; that is, they send the same message to the same recipient through two or more unique media sequentially. Given how busy most managers are, and how much information their subordinates... View Details

Keywords: Communication; Media; Information; Groups and Teams; Projects; Management Style; Power and Influence; Motivation and Incentives; Technology

Register to Read

01 Mar 2003
News

All in a Day's Work

people are so fun and engaging.” Oakes, who studied architecture as an undergraduate at Rice University, says she’s always been interested in the link between a project’s design and its social impact. Her decision to attend HBS resulted... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Boston Community Capital; Samsung; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management; Real Estate

March 2010
Article

Female Empowerment: Further Evidence From a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines

By: Nava Ashraf, Dean Karlan and Wesley Yin

Female "empowerment" has increasingly become a policy goal, both as an end to itself and as a means to achieving other development goals. Microfinance in particular has often been argued, but not without controversy, to be a tool for empowering women. Here, using a... View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Product; Microfinance; Decision Making; Policy; Welfare or Wellbeing; Gender; Power and Influence; Philippines

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2024
Article

Crucibles, Multiple Sensitive Periods, and Career Progression

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Sunasir Dutta, Hise O. Gibson and Eric Lin

We study the effects of crucible experiences along multiple sensitive periods on career progression. While prior literature has hinted that individuals can be imprinted during multiple sensitive periods, not just during the early career, there has been scant attention... View Details

Keywords: Military Service; Personal Development and Career; Transformation; Power and Influence; Learning; Human Capital