Publications

04 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

How Female Stars Succeed in New Jobs

readers of HBS Working Knowledge who would be willing to share their experiences around any of the strategies I've just mentioned or on building successful careers in general. Their insights would further... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

January 1998 (Revised September 1998)
Case

Staples (A)

By: Myra M. Hart, Marco Iansiti and Barbara Feinberg

Chronicles development of a new business concept. Starts with Stemberg's search for a new employment opportunity, then provides details of his decision to launch a new venture concept through careful matching of personal capabilities and experience against a variety of... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Personal Development and Career; Entrepreneurship; Management Skills; Retail Industry

April 2024
Case

Cyrus: Turning a Traditional Business Model on Its Head (A)

By: James Heskett

The loss of the lease at their Michelin-starred Cyrus 1.0 in Sonoma County, California gives the partners an opportunity to shut down and rework a “broken” business model, one with labor intensive experiences six or seven nights a week, high burnout, high... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Retention; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leasing; Work-Life Balance; Strategic Planning; Loss; Profit; Working Conditions; California

15 Mar 2024
HBS Case

Let's Talk: Why It's Time to Stop Avoiding Taboo Topics at Work

You feel your career stalling, with no clear path for advancement or a raise. You know the right conversation, artfully navigated, with the right individual at the right time is necessary—but approaching that moment requires ingenuity and... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

Teaching Interest

Overview

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang

Launching Technology Ventures
Launching Technology Ventures (LTV) is designed for students who are actively working on their own startups or who will work at early-stage startups. The course material is, in particular, focused on new businesses in the... View Details

2016
Working Paper

Explaining the Persistence of Gender Inequality: The Work-Family Narrative as a Social Defense Against the 24/7 Work Culture

By: Irene Padavic, Robin J. Ely and Erin M. Reid

It is widely accepted that the conflict women experience between family obligations and professional jobs’ long hours lies at the heart of their stalled advancement. Yet research suggests that this “work-family narrative” is partial at best: men, too, experience... View Details

Keywords: 24/7 Work Culture; Hegemonic Narrative; Social Defense; Work-family Conflict; Systems Psychodynamic Theory; Work-Life Balance; Personal Development and Career; Gender; Equality and Inequality; Organizational Culture

Read Now

April 1993
Background Note

Note on High-Commitment Work Systems

By: David A. Garvin and Norman Klein

Describes the history, theory, and practice of high-commitment work systems. The history reviews classical approaches (i.e. Frederick Taylor), the human relations movement, the human resources approach, quality of work life, and empowerment. The theory examines the... View Details

Keywords: Design; Human Resources; Innovation and Invention; Managerial Roles; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Strategy

11 Jun 2024
In Practice

The Harvard Business School Faculty Summer Reader 2024

As the vacation season looms, Harvard Business School faculty members share recommendations for a little light reading. Spoiler alert: Lessons in Chemistry tops two of their beach-read lists. For those whose brains can’t—or won’t—turn off, HBS faculty also suggest some... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

07 Feb 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

Creating the Founders’ Dilemmas Course

wishes he had taken the entrepreneurial plunge sooner. Students also study the case of major league All-Star pitcher Curt Schilling, who, as his pitching career winds down, decides to switch gears by founding a video-game company called... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Education

July–August 2025
Article

How the Busiest People Find Joy

By: Leslie A. Perlow, Sari Mentser and Salvatore J. Affinito

Joy, along with achievement and meaningfulness, is one of the three keys to a satisfying life. Yet it’s the missing piece for many ambitious individuals, the authors found after examining data on how nearly 2,000 professionals spend their days. Jam-packed schedules are... View Details

Keywords: Well-being; Satisfaction; Work-Life Balance; Happiness

2024
Book

The Treasure You Seek: A Guide to Developing and Leveraging Your Leadership Capital

By: Archie Jones

In The Treasure You Seek, I share my lessons in leadership―focused on the notion of leadership capital and the 5 Cs (capability, culture, communication, connection, and confidence). Each of the 5 Cs is a tool for readers to develop and deploy leadership capital... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career

August 2010 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Avi Kremer

By: Joshua D. Margolis and Mark Wetzel

If you were diagnosed with a terminal illness, how would you respond and what would you do with your remaining time? Avi Kremer contemplates four options for how to devote himself 18 months after being diagnosed with ALS. His experience thus far and the choices he... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Values and Beliefs; Health Disorders; Leadership Development; Personal Development and Career; Social Enterprise; Personal Characteristics

29 Feb 2024
HBS Case

Beyond Goals: David Beckham's Playbook for Mobilizing Star Talent

biggest sports stage to cementing a legacy as a businessman, entrepreneur, and club owner. What’s the best way to build a team around a top performer? How do you value the asset of a star to the broader organization? And, how can an organization make a star’s power... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Sports

06 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

How Younger Immigrants Gain an Edge in American Business

individual anonymized career trajectories, implied by job titles and income, with far more specificity than previously available, Kerr notes. State Department data suggest that from 1989 to 1995, two-thirds of immigrants from Vietnam were... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

30 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

Why Anger Makes a Wrongly Accused Person Look Guilty

whether an accused person has committed the offense, based on the emotions he or she expresses. Such an unfair judgment can have grave consequences, affecting the accused person’s career and even leading to job loss. "People who are... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

August 2020
Case

Sheena Gupta (A)

By: Leslie Perlow and Matthew Preble

Sheena Gupta (A) is a first-person narrative of a Harvard Business School alumna (class of 2008) who has thoughtfully and purposefully crafted the various components of her life in a way that aligns with her personal values and needs. Gupta shares her life story, and... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Values and Beliefs; Work-Life Balance