Publications

Article

GitLab: Work Where You Want, When You Want

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Kevin Crowston, Linus Dahlander, Marco S. Minervini and Sumita Raghuram

GitLab is a software company that works “all remote” at the scale of more than 1,000 employees located in more than 60 countries. GitLab has no physical office and its employees can work from anywhere they choose. Any step of the organizational life of a GitLab... View Details

Keywords: New Forms Of Organizing; Remote Work; All Remote; Virtual Organizations; COVID-19; Organizational Design; Employees; Geographic Location; Health Pandemics

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December 2020 (Revised March 2021)
Case

eXp Realty and the Virbela Platform

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Jan Bena, David Rowat and Emma Salomon

As he considered his plans for the future, Glenn Sanford, CEO of eXp World Holdings, Inc., faced an exciting conundrum. He had built the first all-remote real estate brokerage firm, eXp Realty, which had been growing exponentially and was thriving, even amidst the... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; All Remote; Virtual Platform; Internet and the Web; Strategy; Decision Making; Resource Allocation; Digital Platforms; Real Estate Industry; Technology Industry

March 2022
Case

Unilever: Remote Work in Manufacturing

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury and Susie L. Ma

In December 2021, Unilever—one of the world’s largest producers of consumer goods—was in the midst of a pilot project to digitize its manufacturing facilities and enable remote work for factory employees. This was possible because of an earlier project to retrofit a... View Details

Keywords: Change; Globalization; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Human Resources; Jobs and Positions; Operations; Education; Training; Manufacturing Industry

02 Aug 2021
What Do You Think?

Can Companies with Remote Management Succeed?

(Image credit: iStockphoto/SDI Productions) Despite reams of material written about remote work in recent months, we know very little about the impact of remote management on performance. Perhaps it’s too... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

01 May 2020
What Do You Think?

Does Remote Work Mix with Organizational Culture?

without too much difficulty. It all suggests that responses to the virus may hasten a trend already in process, that of more delivery of work performed remotely. The pros and cons of working remotely have... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

30 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

The New Rules for Remote Work: Pandemic Edition

With more people working remotely right now, many of us have experienced a videoconference interrupted by barking dogs or hungry kids demanding snacks, punctuated, perhaps, by cabinet doors slamming and ice makers grinding in the... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

27 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

How Remote Work Changes What We Think About Onboarding

from virtual onboarding to managing anxiety and stress. Over the next few months, I will try to tackle them one by one in this space. COVID-19 has turned many companies into federations of remote workplaces, but without much guidance on... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg

03 Jun 2022
Research & Ideas

In a Work-from-Anywhere World, How Remote Will Workers Go?

to relocate for at least a year through its Tulsa Remote program, providing incentives such as $10,000 in cash, coworking space, assistance with finding a home, and community-building events. So far, the city has attracted close to 2,000... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

April 2020 (Revised February 2023)
Case

GitLab and the Future of All-Remote Work (A)

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury and Emma Salomon

GitLab is arguably one of the world’s largest “all-remote” companies. Started in 2011 and with more than 1,000 employees at present, it has no physical offices and all employees, including the entire C-Suite, work remotely from all parts of the world. The case... View Details

Keywords: Remote Work; Internet and the Web; Technology Adoption; Value Creation; Business Model; Organizational Structure

28 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

Remote Workers Spend More on Housing. Do They Deserve Higher Pay?

To executives expecting to save on office space when some employees continue working remotely post-pandemic: Not so fast. Makeshift desks and kitchen tables have sufficed for many people working from home to avoid COVID-19. However, permanently remote workers tend to... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

29 Jul 2019
Research & Ideas

How Companies Benefit When Employees Work Remotely

costs, and live closer to family and friends. Isolating the benefits of remote work To study the productivity effects of work-from-anywhere policies, Choudhury looked for a setting that would allow the researchers to isolate productivity... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

13 Aug 2021
Research & Ideas

Managers, Here’s How to Bond with New Hires Remotely

firm, since about 75 percent of the interns typically accept offers to join the company. But the firm’s leadership wondered if remote work would change all of that. Would the interns be able to build ties... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

12 May 2020
Research & Ideas

It’s Time To Relaunch Your Remote Team

offices, kitchen tables, and bedrooms. Parents suddenly needed to juggle homeschooling while learning how to be effective remote workers. Working from home during a global pandemic has introduced new formats, patterns, challenges, and... View Details

Keywords: by Tsedal Neeley

19 Sep 2024
Research & Ideas

Global Talent, Local Obstacles: Why Time Zones Matter in Remote Work

Remote work is giving companies new opportunities to tap additional markets and talent pools. However, a global workforce also brings a challenge: As some employees are getting up in the morning, others are winding down their workday.... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

September 2016 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Collage.com: Scaling a Distributed Organization

By: Christopher Stanton and Shikhar Ghosh

Kevin Borders and Joe Golden, co-founders and co-CEOs of Collage.com, must decide how to grow their custom photo-products startup in the face of fierce competition. From 2011 through 2016, the business evolved from a hobby to a startup with $22 million in revenue and... View Details

Keywords: Remote Work; Internet and the Web; Organizational Structure; Competitive Strategy; Employees; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Service Industry