Publications

January 2004 (Revised February 2005)
Case

Timberland and Community Involvement (Abridged Version)

By: James E. Austin and James Quinn

When Jeffrey Swartz became the third generation in his family to lead the Timberland Co., he made community involvement an integral part of the company's strategy. Under Swartz's leadership, Timberland formed a close partnership with City Year, the national corps of... View Details

Keywords: Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business and Community Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Strategy; Manufacturing Industry

August 1994 (Revised May 1995)
Case

Engineering Inspection & Insurance Company

By: Robert H. Hayes

Engineering Inspection & Insurance Co. (EIIC) is a small but highly successful company that offers machinery and boiler inspection and insurance services. After years of above-average growth and profits, both are retreating toward the industry average, policy delivery... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Business Strategy; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Insurance; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Insurance Industry; United States

July–August 2019
Article

The Soul of a Startup

By: Ranjay Gulati

There’s an essential, intangible something in start-ups—an energy, a soul. It inspires enthusiasm and fosters a sense of deep connection and mutual purpose. While this spirit persists, engagement is high and businesses keep their edge.
But all too often,... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Mission and Purpose; Customer Focus and Relationships; Employees; Creativity; Business Growth and Maturation

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November 2016 (Revised December 2016)
Module Note

Strategy Execution Module 13: Identifying Strategic Risk

By: Robert Simons

This module reading begins by describing the three sources of strategic risk—operations risk, asset impairment risk, and competitive risk—and demonstrates how these risks can undermine an entire business. To assist in the identification of these risks, the risk... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Execution; Risk Assessment; Operational Control; Asset Impairment; Franchise Risk; Fraud; Strategy; Information Management

05 Oct 2016
Research & Ideas

Why Don't More People Get Flu Shots at Work?

the start of the influenza season in the United States. “It’s quite strong evidence that just the natural course of your day bringing you by the flu shot clinic increases your likelihood of getting a flu shot” Getting employees to go to... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Health

17 Feb 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Breaking Them In or Revealing Their Best? Reframing Socialization around Newcomer Self-Expression

Keywords: by Dan Cable, Francesca Gino & Brad Staats

11 Sep 2012
First Look

First Look: September 11

film thereby prohibiting us from drawing conclusions about any long-term effects. Conclusions. Engaging in unconscious thought after a stressful film can reduce intrusion frequency. This has potential implications for clinical... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Casino Payoff: Hands-Off Management Works Best

customers if they think it will result in more business down the line. You can see this in lots of different settings." Though Campbell, Martinez-Jerez, and Epstein found that tightly monitoring employees significantly reduces the amount... View Details

Keywords: by Dennis Fisher; Entertainment & Recreation

June 2014
Case

Making Progress at IDEO

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Katrina Flanagan

This case focuses on different types of client relationships at IDEO, the value of these relationships for IDEO and clients, and the implications for IDEO designers' everyday experience of work. As new types of client work have shifted away from the more classic design... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Motivation and Incentives; Employees; Customer Focus and Relationships; Service Industry

December 2022
Article

Scarlet Letters: Rehabilitation Through Transgression Transparency and Personal Narrative Control

By: Erin L. Frey, Ethan Bernstein and Nick Rekenthaler

When employees commit transgressions, organizations often use tools of organizational control to prevent them from transgressing again. We investigate whether organizations can use transgression transparency to rehabilitate transgressors. Although making transgressions... View Details

Keywords: Transparency; Workplace; Transgressions; Qualitative Research; Management Practices and Processes; Organizations; Employees; Reputation; Communication

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18 Jun 2014
Research & Ideas

Book Excerpt: ‘Collective Genius’

source of much stress because they almost always have implications that ripple throughout the film and force multiple changes, as we just saw. In that postmortem, one employee recalled that John Lasseter, director of the film and a... View Details

Keywords: by Linda Hill; Entertainment & Recreation

03 Jul 2018
What Do You Think?

Should CEO Satya Nadella Cancel Microsoft’s Contract with ICE?

Madrolly When Should a Board Encourage a Triple Bottom Line Philosophy? Respondents to this month’s column provided a resounding “no” to the question of whether CEO Satya Nadella should accede to the wishes of a vocal minority of View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Computer; Technology

18 May 2015
Research & Ideas

Advertisers Get Serious About Playing With Their Brands

talk or Kardashian talk and sometimes they go a little bit too far” Play involves both intentional interaction and turn-taking—and social media engagement between marketer and consumer certainly qualifies—making play an appropriate word... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Advertising

18 Oct 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Racial Diversity Initiatives in Professional Service Firms: What Factors Differentiate Successful from Unsuccessful Initiatives?

Keywords: by Modupe Akinola & David A. Thomas; Service

14 May 2012
Research & Ideas

Breaking the Smartphone Addiction

employees to take better control of both their workdays and their lives. Excerpt From sleeping With Your Smartphone It all began with an experiment that my research associate and collaborator, Jessica Porter, and I initiated in order to... View Details

Keywords: by Leslie A. Perlow

2015
Working Paper

Toxic Workers

By: Michael Housman and Dylan Minor

While there has been a strong focus in past research on discovering and developing top performers in the workplace, less attention has been paid to the question of how to manage those workers on the opposite side of the spectrum: those who are harmful to organizational... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Human Resource Management; Misconduct; Worker Productivity; Superstar; Ethics; Performance Productivity; Personal Characteristics; Employees