Knowledge Workers - Publications - Faculty & Research

30 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

The Future of IT Consulting

say, a product firm. Consequently, a product firm may not be attractive to various knowledge workers who prefer to work in the consulting environment. A fourth driver is the demand for process and behavior... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Johnston; Consulting

01 Jun 2023
HBS Case

A Nike Executive Hid His Criminal Past to Turn His Life Around. What If He Didn't Have To?

call for greater equity by revamping their hiring practices, research shows that a blemished past continues to impede many workers as they attempt to launch and advance their careers. A record of incarceration can be an especially huge... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Apparel & Accessories

16 Oct 2023
HBS Case

Advancing Black Talent: From the Flight Ramp to 'Family-Sustaining' Careers at Delta

workers into management would help everyone in the organization better understand “what it’s like to work on a ramp, in the cold, with a frustrated customer on a flight,” says Hill. “The frontline perspective can give management important... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Air Transportation

29 Jul 2002
Research & Ideas

Time Pressure and Creativity: Why Time is Not on Your Side

empirical research on time pressure and creativity in organizations, and the results were somewhat contradictory. Over the past few years, there's been more and more talk about time pressure in organizations, and what a prominent feature of the work environment it's... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Education; Fine Arts

06 Sep 2022
Research & Ideas

Does Hybrid Work Actually Work? Insights from 30,000 Emails

reading from the Working Knowledge Archives Marissa Mayer Should Bridge Distance Gap with Remote Workers Feedback or ideas to share? Email the Working Knowledge team at... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

21 Oct 2022
Research & Ideas

People Trust Business, But Expect CEOs to Drive Social Change

Public trust in business remains relatively unshaken amid economic turbulence and a lingering pandemic, even as faith in the media and government falters, but leaders could do more to address social issues, a new global opinion survey shows. However, not everyone... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis

28 Feb 2022
Research & Ideas

How Racial Bias Taints Customer Service: Evidence from 6,000 Hotels

matter. Preliminary results from a series of studies of hotel concierge interactions show that front-line service workers often treat customers inequitably, providing better assistance to white customers than Black and Asian customers.... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

03 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 3

PublicationsThe Power of Small Wins Authors:Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer Publication:Harvard Business Review 89, no. 5 (May 2011) Abstract What is the best way to motivate employees to do creative work? Help them take a step forward every day. In an... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 Jan 2014
Research & Ideas

Language Wars Divide Global Companies

Rod, this prior work is advanced to examine how language differences in subgroups can create an "us versus them" dynamic among workers, and how those schisms are linked to who holds power in firms. The study follows 96 workers... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard

15 Nov 2022
Book

Stop Ignoring Bad Behavior: 6 Tips for Better Ethics at Work

in unethical acts and policies if we use a few strategies: Reduce the risk of speaking up. Workers and managers who want to speak out should develop a game plan just in case speaking out results in being fired. View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

08 Sep 2022
Book

Gen Xers and Millennials, It’s Time To Lead. Are You Ready?

putting frontline workers on top and all the managers in supporting roles. George says younger leaders are now increasingly turning to what he calls “the I-we journey,” by which they learn how to cultivate a sense of collaboration at all... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

10 Nov 2022
Research & Ideas

Too Nice to Lead? Unpacking the Gender Stereotype That Holds Women Back

women would be more likely to agree with the statements. Then, the researchers asked participants to make decisions as employers. Matched with a pair of workers—a high performer and a low performer—“employers” had to choose between paying the View Details

Keywords: by Shalene Gupta

03 Mar 2023
Research & Ideas

When Showing Know-How Backfires for Women Managers

these stores had women store managers. Grocery stores offer fertile ground for research overall: The US grocery industry employed more than 4 million workers in 2019, and the retail trades employed more than 15 percent of the country’s... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin; Retail; Consumer Products

14 Jan 2020
Research & Ideas

The Business Case for Becoming a Jack-of-All-Trades

A few hundred years ago, it was considered a virtue to know a little bit about everything. They even had a word for it: “Renaissance man.” Now, with vast amounts of knowledge literally at our fingertips, generalists tend to be tarred with... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

10 Sep 2013
First Look

First Look: September 10

Approaches and Evidence By: Kerr, William R. Abstract—High-skilled immigrants are a very important component of U.S. innovation and entrepreneurship. Immigrants account for roughly a quarter of U.S. workers in these fields, and they have... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

09 Jan 2012
Research & Ideas

Location, Location, Location: The Strategy of Place

as nearby supporting industries; the company's ability to seek and retrieve knowledge in this setting; and its capability to do something better than competitors. An example of a firm playing tactical checkers instead of strategic chess... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

21 Mar 2018
Research & Ideas

Why Artificial Intelligence Isn't a Sure Thing to Increase Productivity

bang for the buck from their new AI. Choudhury has spent his career researching human capital, looking inside companies such as Microsoft, Infosys, and McKinsey to analyze what makes knowledge workers most... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology; Information

21 Sep 2022
Research & Ideas

You Don’t Have to Quit Your Job to Find More Meaning in Life

many workers fleeing positions in hopes of finding something better. De Freitas partnered with Michael Prinzing, a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University, and Barbara Fredrickson, a professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel... View Details