Publications

13 May 2022
Research & Ideas

Company Reviews on Glassdoor: Petty Complaints or Signs of Potential Misconduct?

corporate misconduct, pointing to cultural factors that might eventually result in scandal earlier than they would otherwise attract attention. In a business environment where ethics are paramount, the findings may offer managers and... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology

03 Dec 2014
What Do You Think?

Can the Brilliant Jerk Be Managed Effectively?

Maxweles, who asked, "Was Steve Jobs possibly a 'brilliant jerk'? Could innovation be stifled by simply eliminating the uncomfortable individuals?" Lawrence Nwaru added, "We are all brilliant jerks in one form or the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

18 Mar 2019
Research & Ideas

Stuck in Commuter Hell? You Can Still Be Productive

Workers commute an average 38 minutes each way between home and work—a trip that can feel like a dreadful chore before the workday even begins. In fact, long commutes lower job satisfaction and increase employee turnover. Now, recent... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

11 Mar 2014
Interview

The Looming Challenges of US Competitiveness: Implications for Philadelphia

By: Michael E. Porter

The third installment of the Fox School's Innovation Leadership Speaker Series featured Professor Michael E. Porter, William Lawrence University Professor, Harvard Business School. Dr. Porter addressed the factors driving innovation and competitiveness in a given... View Details

Keywords: Competitiveness; Economic Analysis; Economics; Philadelphia

Read Now

November 2005 (Revised November 2007)
Case

Tad O'Malley: December 2004

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner, Ann Leamon and Sean Klimczak

Tad O'Malley, a second-year student at Harvard Business School, must choose among three offers from private equity firms. Each firm presents a unique combination of history, culture, and compensation. Traces Tad's strategy in obtaining these offers and lets students... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Compensation and Benefits; Job Offer; Negotiation Tactics; Organizational Culture; Personal Development and Career

October 2016
Case

Triangulate: Stay, Pivot or Exit?

By: Thomas Eisenmann, Shikhar Ghosh and Christopher Payton

Sunil Nagaraj, Triangulate's founder had spent a few years trying to launch a dating application that matched users based on their behavior on social media. Based on input from advisors, the company changed its focus from a B2B site to a B2C dating site with a unique... View Details

Keywords: Early Stage; Pivot; Two Sided Markets; Business Model; Business Exit or Shutdown; Product Launch; Venture Capital; Failure; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Information Technology; Social and Collaborative Networks; United States; North America

Article

When Feeling Skillful Impairs Coordination in a Lottery Selection Task

By: Anna Dorfman, Yoella Bereby-Meyer and Simone Moran

Choosing a major field of study to secure a good job after graduation is a tacit coordination problem that requires considering others' choices. We examine how feeling skillful, either induced (Experiment 1) or measured (Experiment 2), affects coordination in this type... View Details

Read Now

12 Sep 2012
Research & Ideas

The Unexpected Link Between Cadavers and Careers

process." That said, the study's implications extend beyond cadaver donations. To Anteby, who teaches the MBA elective Managing Human Capital, the findings offer proof that our career choices directly affect other major life... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Education; Health

October 2016
Case

Addicaid: Scaling a Digital Platform for Addiction Wellness and Recovery

By: Robert S. Huckman and Sarah Mehta

In 2013, Sam Frons founded Addicaid—a mobile application (app) that allowed people in addiction recovery to track their progress, check in with counselors, and connect with others in recovery programs. The app was grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy and used the... View Details

Keywords: Digital Health Interventions; Substance Use Disorder; Addiction Treatment; Addiction Recovery; Scale; Innovation; Health; Health Disorders; Health Industry; New York (city, NY)

July 2021
Case

Amazon HQ2

By: James K. Sebenius and Ben Cook

Amazon’s failed bid for a second headquarters location (“HQ2”) in Long Island City, New York offers many lessons for negotiators looking to avoid similar high-profile defeats in strategically important deals. The company’s project – which promised to bring billions of... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Negotiation; Public Opinion; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Problems and Challenges

November 1997 (Revised January 2003)
Case

Martin Smith: January 2002

By: Josh Lerner

An MBA student must choose between offers from three private equity organizations. Each organization has distinct strengths and weaknesses, and different implications for the student's career development. The case presents compensation and employment data about the... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Compensation and Benefits; Analytics and Data Science; Job Offer; Personal Development and Career

05 Nov 2021
Op-Ed

How to Tap the Talent Automated HR Platforms Miss

As the global staffing shortage grinds on, corporate recruiters everywhere are relying on their online hiring platforms and automated systems to deliver the candidates they need. Too often, these tools will fail them, sidelining many qualified workers in the process.... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph B. Fuller

23 May 2012
Research & Ideas

Five Ways to Make Your Company More Innovative

jobs around innovation. Make it a job prerequisite. Consider 3M's move to become one of the first companies to tell professionals that they could spend 15 percent of their time on projects of their own... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons, Julia Hanna & Roger Thompson

09 Aug 2006
Research & Ideas

Career Advancement Without Experience

contract workers are willing to accept, if it means gaining the experience and exposure that will lead to a new position. One technical writer put it this way: "I turned down solid offers from three companies, all paying over $100K a... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Motion Pictures & Video; Technology

March 2021 (Revised August 2021)
Case

Nayana Mawilmada: Transforming Urban Development in Sri Lanka

By: Joshua D. Margolis and Mahima Rao-Kachroo

In February 2018, Nayana Mawilmada (Nayana), investment head for the Sri Lankan government’s ambitious $40 billion Megapolis project, must weigh an attractive job offer to move from the public sector to the private sector. A massive government project aimed at... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Decision Making; Public Sector; Experience and Expertise; Strategic Planning; Work-Life Balance; Transportation; Risk and Uncertainty; Power and Influence; Personal Development and Career; Real Estate Industry; Rail Industry; Transportation Industry; South Asia; Sri Lanka; Boston; Virginia; United States

May 2003 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Carol Fishman Cohen: Professional Career Reentry (A)

By: Myra M. Hart, Robin J. Ely and Susan Wojewoda

Explores the career challenges facing highly successful women who leave the full-time workforce for several years to manage family commitments. Carol Cohen is a 1985 Harvard MBA who has professional line experience in a manufacturing environment, followed by a... View Details

Keywords: Work-Life Balance; Family and Family Relationships

22 Aug 2005
Research & Ideas

The Hard Work of Failure Analysis

personal responsibility. Evidence of this problem is provided by a study of a large European telecoms company, which revealed that very little learning occurred from a set of large and small failures over a period of twenty years. Instead of realistic and thorough... View Details

Keywords: by Amy Edmondson & Mark D. Cannon

September–October 2022
Article

Case Study: What's the Right Career Move After a Public Failure?

By: Jon M. Jachimowicz and Francesca Gino

“Reunions are for happy people,” Mariani Kallis said to her friend Whitney on the phone. “I’m not going.” “Come on, it won’t be the same without you,” Whitney pleaded. “Besides, no one is happy right now. Everyone’s life is a mess.” “I’m pretty sure none of our... View Details

Keywords: Career Decisions; Personal Development and Career