Organizational Behavior
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- Harvard Business Review
Culture is not the culprit
When Organizations Are in Crisis, It's Usually Because the Business is Broken.
By: Jay Lorsch and Emily McTague- Harvard Business Review
Culture is not the culprit
When Organizations Are in Crisis, It's Usually Because the Business is Broken.
By: Jay Lorsch and Emily McTague -
We blame women for not taking the lead in the workplace. Here's why that's wrong.
By: Robin ElyWomen and men alike make a lot of assumptions about women. Yet when it comes to women and work, some of the most ubiquitous beliefs are the most mistaken.
We blame women for not taking the lead in the workplace. Here's why that's wrong.
By: Robin ElyWomen and men alike make a lot of assumptions about women. Yet when it comes to women and work, some of the most ubiquitous beliefs are the most mistaken.
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2015 Thinkers50 Innovation Award
By: Linda A. HillProfessor Linda Hill won the 2015 Thinkers50 Distinguished Achievement Award for Innovation. She was also ranked #6 overall on the Thinkers50 ranking.
2015 Thinkers50 Innovation Award
By: Linda A. HillProfessor Linda Hill won the 2015 Thinkers50 Distinguished Achievement Award for Innovation. She was also ranked #6 overall on the Thinkers50 ranking.
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- HBS Working Knowledge
CEOs and Coaches
How Important is Organizational 'Fit'?
By: Boris Groysberg & Abhijit NaikHow big a factor is matching the right coach with the right team?
- HBS Working Knowledge
CEOs and Coaches
How Important is Organizational 'Fit'?
By: Boris Groysberg & Abhijit NaikHow big a factor is matching the right coach with the right team?
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- HBS Working Knowledge
Is it Worth a Pay Cut to Work for a Great Manager (Like Bill Belichick)?
By: Boris Groysberg & Abhijit Naik- HBS Working Knowledge
Is it Worth a Pay Cut to Work for a Great Manager (Like Bill Belichick)?
By: Boris Groysberg & Abhijit Naik -
- HBS Working Paper Series
Does 'What We Do' Make Us 'Who We Are'?
Organizational Design and Identity Change at the Federal Bureau of Investigation
By: Ranjay Gulati, Ryan Raffaelli, and Jan Rivkin- HBS Working Paper Series
Does 'What We Do' Make Us 'Who We Are'?
Organizational Design and Identity Change at the Federal Bureau of Investigation
By: Ranjay Gulati, Ryan Raffaelli, and Jan Rivkin
About the Unit
Through its research, teaching, and course development, the Organizational Behavior Unit creates and disseminates knowledge that advances the understanding of how to lead and manage with the aim of increasing personal and organizational effectiveness. Although specific research interests span a wide range of subjects, the faculty share a problem driven, interdisciplinary, multi method approach that has led to significant impact on theory and practice.
Our current intellectual agenda builds on the rich history of OB at HBS and focuses squarely on the organizational changes and challenges arising from today's increasingly global and more competitive economy. In the last decade, the faculty have been recognized for their work on leadership in an increasingly diverse and dynamic environment, the evolution of managerial careers in our society, managing diversity, and organizational design and change to meet evolving needs and expectations in a changing world.
Recent Publications
How to Keep Your Team's Spirits Up in Anxious Times
By: Ranjay Gulati
- September 8, 2025 |
- Article |
- Harvard Business Review (website)
During periods of turbulence and turmoil, leaders must be not just muscular strategists but also caring empaths, attuned to the emotional barometers of their teams and able to move the mood of the organization in a most positive direction. This requires communicating a clear purpose, embodying and modeling organizational values, and always projecting focused calm. When you adopt all three strategies, you move everyone toward a more courageous collective mindset that will help propel you through uncertainty toward a more successful future.
Cristina Ventura at White Star Capital
By: Linda A. Hill, Allison J. Wigen, Dave Habeeb and Ruth Page
- September 2025 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
[pre-abstract] This multimedia case should be assigned to students in advance of class. [abstract] This multimedia case study focuses on General Partner and Chief Catalyst Officer Cristina Ventura at White Star Capital, as she builds an ecosystem for investors and startups in Southeast Asia. The case follows how Ventura worked to break down geographic siloes and build connections in the region, while setting up White Star Capital's office in Singapore, building a team both local and global. The case also charts Ventura's path as a leader, with particular focus on her ecosystem building, personal investment philosophy, and purpose-driven leadership. The case ends with White Star Capital looking to expand the firm's strength in Southeast Asia, while turning to new areas of growth and opportunity. Ventura is left wondering how she can apply the catalyst leadership lessons she has learned in the MENA region.
Are You a Good Boss—or a Great One?
By: Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback
- 2025 |
- Chapter |
- Faculty Research
Private moments of doubt and fear come even to managers who have spent years on the job. Any number of events can trigger them: an initiative is going poorly; you get a lukewarm performance review; your new assignment is daunting. HBS professor Linda Hill and executive Kent Lineback have long studied the question of how managers grow and advance. Their experience brings them to a simple but troubling observation: Most bosses reach a certain level of proficiency and stay there-short of what they could and should be. Why? Because they stop working on themselves. The authors offer what they call the three imperatives for every manager who seeks to avoid this stagnation: Manage yourself. Who you are as a person, the beliefs and values that drive your actions, and especially how you connect with others all matter to the people you must influence. Manage your network. Effective managers know they cannot avoid conflict and competition among organizational groups; they build and nurture ongoing relationships. Manage your team. Team members need to know what's required of them collectively and individually and what the team's values, norms, and standards are. The authors include a useful assessment tool to help readers get started.
Now Is the Time for Courage: Five Strategies to Drive Bold Action amid Uncertainty.
By: Ranjay Gulati
- September–October 2025 |
- Article |
- Harvard Business Review
Research has shown that fortune favors the bold, not the cautious. But in volatile and uncertain times, many leaders hesitate to act, and others simply freeze up. The question is, Can bravery be acquired? In this article an HBS professor who has done extensive research on the subject argues that everyone can—and should—learn to be courageous. Risk management helps tamp down fear, of course, but it isn’t enough. By studying daring CEOs like BlackRock’s Larry Fink and PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi, gutsy whistleblowers like Frances Haugen of Facebook, and everyday heroes like the Taj hotel employees who helped guests survive a 2008 terrorist attack, the author uncovered five specific strategies used by people who demonstrate bravery: (1) They create positive narratives that guide them through chaos, often recasting their work as a moral quest. (2) They build their confidence through training and preparation, by expanding their arsenal of mental tools, and by focusing on what they can control. (3) They size up complex and ambiguous situations step-by-step, adjusting course as their understanding grows. (4) They enlist the help of allies, mentors, and critics. And finally, (5) they help themselves stay calm by practicing self-care, embracing rituals, and reframing situations more positively.
Organizational Emplacement as a Response to Digital Threat: The Novel Resurgence of Independent Bookstores
By: Ryan Raffaelli and Ryann Noe
- September 2025 |
- Article |
- Administrative Science Quarterly
This study reveals how incumbent actors leverage physical place as source of differentiation in response to the threat of digital commoditization. Through a longitudinal, qualitative analysis of the U.S. independent bookselling industry from 1995 to 2019, we outline how dispersed organizational actors responded to the rise of Amazon.com, an online retailer that threatened to displace brick-and-mortar retail. While many analysts predicted that Amazon’s emergence would incite a “retail apocalypse,” independent bookstores proved to be far more resilient than expected. We introduce organizational emplacement – a process by which actors infuse meaning into physical “spaces,” thereby transforming them into valuable “places” – as a novel mechanism of value creation. Several practices are associated with this mechanism, including architecting the physical environment, anchoring to the local community, and sanctifying the meaning of place. Together, this study offers a counterbalance to narratives of digital displacement and shows how physical place can be converted from a liability into an asset in the digital era.
Social Foiling: A Norms-based Dynamic for Constructing Social Order in Cultural Markets
By: James Riley
- 2025 |
- Working Paper |
- Faculty Research
Existing theories of normative contestation often predict that recurring conflict leads to systemic disruption or the displacement of incumbents’ norms by those of challengers. However, my ethnographic investigation of the Western contemporary art market – focusing on gallerists, auctioneers, and collectors – reveals that the mutual opposition between contested and competing sets of norms can, under certain conditions, sustain a durable social order, contributing to the overall stability of a market. I inductively develop a theoretical construct of social foiling: the strategic enactment of mutually oppositional norms by rival market players that ultimately enables market coordination and control. This norm-based dynamic sheds light on how individuals can productively manage tensions in contested environments, how these tensions can shape their market experiences, and how oppositional processes behind normative contestation can order and stabilize competitive dynamics in ever evolving and highly-uncertain (e)valuation and exchange settings, such as cultural markets. Full paper is available upon request of the author.
Meta and the Superintelligence Talent Race
By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott
- August 2025 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
In June 2025, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg upped the ante in the ongoing AI talent wars. Some analysts praised Zuckerberg’s aggressive approach to building Meta's AI capabilities, while others pointed to the high costs this strategy entailed and questioned how effectively this new team would function. Was Zuckerberg’s approach likely to be successful? What were the risks?
Keywords: AI; Artificial Intelligence; Machine Learning; Talent Acquisition; Hiring; Technology; Metaverse; Competition; Compensation; Innovation; Talent Development; Competing To Win; Competitive Dynamics; AI and Machine Learning; Talent and Talent Management; Recruitment; Compensation and Benefits; Competency and Skills; Competitive Strategy; Technological Innovation; Technology Industry
Socio-Spatial Semiotics: How Cultural Marketplaces Reproduce Status by Design
By: James Riley and Giacomo Negro
- 2025 |
- Working Paper |
- Faculty Research
This paper explores the representation of status hierarchy within cultural marketplaces – here, international art fair (IAFs) – as captured in the maps of floor plans produced by IAFs. These maps graphically depict the physical placement of galleries’ exhibition and sales booths. These maps are made public and distributed to IAF gallery participants and expert art audiences (e.g., critics, curators, and collectors). Using empirical data derived from over 80 maps of 10 distinct IAFs spanning five decades we examine a firm’s status through semiotic analysis of these cartographic records. We propose that IAF organizers can encode maps with status markers, and that such depictions can express an additional dimension of social utility beyond a physical wayfinding function but can also be understood as a type of socially-validated aid to navigating the art market’s status hierarchy. This additional dimension helps to explain a social, strategic logic for such “curatorial” marketplaces. Furthermore, we argue that even apparently benign mediums such as maps can serve to exhibit and reinforce hierarchy, by developing a semiotic understanding of the constitutive role social placement – both physically and via graphical depictions – plays in a market’s status dynamics.
Harvard Business Publishing
Seminars & Conferences
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