by Robert Simons - Publications - Faculty & Research

04 Sep 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Level II Negotiations: Helping the Other Side Meet Its ‘Behind the Table’ Challenges

10 Sep 2007
Research & Ideas

High Note: Managing the Medici String Quartet

Why would a business school professor want to write a case study about a string quartet? The answer was easy for Robert Austin, a scholar with research expertise in the management of innovation. While attending an academic workshop near... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Music

06 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

How Younger Immigrants Gain an Edge in American Business

between Vietnamese women and US servicemen, writing that they were largely “jobless, homeless, uneducated, unwanted, barely able to speak English” when they arrived to America. Spurred in part by outrage sparked View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

28 Feb 2023
Cold Call Podcast

Muhammad Ali: A Case Study in Purpose-Driven Decision Making

Keywords: Re: Robert Simons; Sports

27 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

How the FBI Reinvented Itself After 9/11

It is hard to imagine a more difficult and tragic trial by fire for a new leader. On September 4, 2001, Robert Mueller started his new job as the sixth director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A mere... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

27 Jun 2007
Lessons from the Classroom

Learning to Make the Move to CEO

You're a successful senior executive with 20, 25 years of experience under your belt. You've made your mark and stand just 1 or 2 rungs from the position of CEO. Now what? As faculty chair of Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program (AMP), Professor View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Education

20 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Creating a Positive Professional Image

As HBS professor Laura Morgan Roberts sees it, if you aren't managing your own professional image, others are. "People are constantly observing your behavior and forming theories about your competence, character, and commitment,... View Details

Keywords: by Mallory Stark

02 Jan 2024
What Do You Think?

Do Boomerang CEOs Get a Bad Rap?

(AdobeStock/Vincent) The return of Robert Iger as CEO of Walt Disney followed by a poorer-than-expected company performance has rekindled the debate about whether the decision to bring back formerly... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

13 Mar 2023
Research & Ideas

The Power of Personal Connections: How Shared Experiences Boost Performance

could have positive long-term implications to any organization’s success. “We were surprised by the magnitude of the effects,” Pany says, noting that future studies could examine just how such relationships form and evolve. “There’s just... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Health

16 Feb 2023
HBS Case

ESG Activists Met the Moment at ExxonMobil, But Did They Succeed?

The impact-investment hedge fund Engine No. 1 made a big splash in May 2021 when it managed to get three nominees elected to the ExxonMobil board of directors. It was an open effort to prod the oil giant toward renewable energy and test whether activist investing could... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Financial Services

05 Dec 2022
What Do You Think?

How Would Jack Welch’s Leadership Style Fare in Today’s World?

doubt about what they think of Welch as a leader, although Cohan's is a more careful, balanced appraisal. For the Gen Zers and Millennials among us who don’t even recognize the name, this is a guy who, when he retired, was called “the CEO of the 20th century” View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Industrial Products; Media & Broadcasting; Medical Devices & Supplies; Manufacturing

16 May 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Marketplace or Reseller?

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu & Julian Wright; Retail

15 Jun 2009
Research & Ideas

GM: What Went Wrong and What’s Next

auto market in the 1950s. The industry leader, unbothered by competition and looming threats, began to coast on its former glory, however, and bypass such areas as consumer preferences and industry innovation. View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Auto

27 Jun 2011
Research & Ideas

Recovering from the Need to Achieve

across socioeconomic groups. Instead of experiencing happiness or well-being, HNAPs seek "relief in the accomplishment of tasks." Moving immediately to the next task on the list, they never savor accomplishments for long, he says. This creates a vicious cycle... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard

19 Apr 2010
Research & Ideas

The History of Beauty

you have a major industry that still has lots to reveal. We asked Jones to discuss his research and his new book. Sean Silverthorne: What inspired your interest in the beauty business and its history? Geoffrey Jones: My initial interest in the beauty industry was... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Beauty & Cosmetics

06 Jan 2021
Research & Ideas

Unexpected Exercise Advice for the Super Busy: Ditch the Rigid Routine

thought. However, that wasn’t that case, according to the study, Creating Exercise Habits Using Incentives: The Trade-off Between Flexibility and Routinization, published by the journal Management Science in October. Rigid exercise... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

14 Dec 2015
Research & Ideas

Deflategate and the Sustained Success of the New England Patriots

championship win over the Indianapolis Colts by tampering with the footballs. Accusers, which included the National Football League’s head office, said someone with the team underinflated the balls to make them easier for quarterback Tom... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Sports

03 Jan 2011
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Articles of 2010

Judging by the most-read articles and faculty working papers over the last year, our readers continue to be fascinated by the emergence of social networks and their potential impacts on business and... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

31 Aug 2021
Book

Feeling Powerless at Work? Time to Agitate, Innovate, and Orchestrate

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

06 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Are You a Level-Six Leader?

several options)? “Opportunists are the people who always ask, 'What's in it for me?'” Asking the question whom do you serve? is a powerful vector on which to build a useful typology of leadership. Based on this idea, I have constructed a six-level Purpose-Driven Model... View Details

Keywords: by Mitch Maidique

Publications