Organizations →
- 24 Jan 2013
- Working Paper Summaries
Punctuated Generosity: How Mega-events and Natural Disasters Affect Corporate Philanthropy in US Communities
Even in a global age, local communities offer a critical context for organizational behavior. This paper asks: Since corporate giving is often locally focused, what happens to local firms' philanthropy when a major event disrupts the life of the community? Mega-events might be actively solicited (such as the Olympics, the Super Bowl, political conventions), or natural (floods and hurricanes). In particular, the authors studied how major events within communities affected the philanthropic contributions of locally headquartered corporations in the US between 1980 and 2006. There are three main findings: 1) Actively solicited mega-events had a positive effect in the event year, but also displayed more complex time-dependent dynamics. In some cases, the effects on corporate philanthropy were visible two years before the event and lasted up to six years, before eventually tapering off. 2) The impact of destructive, unexpected events depended on their magnitude. While major natural disasters depressed philanthropic spending by local corporations, smaller-scale disasters stimulated it. 3) Organizational and community factors moderated some of the effects of events. Overall, findings demonstrate the theoretical importance of looking at geography and events in tandem. Mega-events shape institutional processes in significant ways. This paper is forthcoming in Administrative Science Quarterly. Key concepts include: This paper develops an institutional perspective to unpack how and why major events within communities affect or disrupt organizations in the context of corporate philanthropy. It is necessary to look at geography and events together in order to understand the full scope of organizational dynamics. Mega-events and disasters can potentially draw increased attention to local needs and identity and give rise to new expectations in a community, leading to an increase in corporate donations. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 21 Jan 2013
- Research & Ideas
Altruistic Capital: Harnessing Your Employees’ Intrinsic Goodwill
Everyone comes to the table with some amount of "altruistic capital," a stock of intrinsic desire to serve, says professor Nava Ashraf. Her research includes a study of what best motivates hairdressers in Zambia to provide HIV/AIDS education in their salons. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 06 Nov 2012
- Op-Ed
Stop Talking About the Weather and Do Something: Three Ways to Finance Sustainable Cities
How do we ensure that our cities are resilient in the face of inevitable future weather events like Hurricane Sandy? John Macomber offers three ways that the private sector can take action. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 25 Oct 2012
- Research & Ideas
Developing the Global Leader
The shift from a country-centric company to one more global in its outlook will have a radical impact on leadership development, says Professor of Management Practice William George. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 15 Oct 2012
- Research & Ideas
Why Business IT Innovation is so Difficult
If done right, IT has the potential to completely transform business by flattening hierarchies, shrinking supply chains, and speeding communications, says professor Kristina Steffenson McElheran. Why, then, do so many companies get it wrong? Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 12 Sep 2012
- Research & Ideas
The Unexpected Link Between Cadavers and Careers
Illustrating the strange socializing power of our occupational pursuits, a new study by professor Michel Anteby and colleagues finds a strong association between jobs and corpse donations. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 11 Sep 2012
- Working Paper Summaries
Spatial Organization of Firms: Internal and External Agglomeration Economies and Location Choices Through the Value Chain
How do firms decide location strategy for distinct activities in the value chain, such as manufacturing, research and development, or sales? Does strategy depend on geographically bounded spillovers between firms, or within firms? This paper uses data for organic expansions in the US by firms in pharmaceuticals in 1993-2005 to consider two types of expansions. The first is internal: an increase in employment in existing establishments. The second is external: opening new establishments. Alcacer (HBS) and Delgado (Fox School of Business) argue that decisions about geographical location are a tradeoff between external drivers pulling firms to geographically disperse activities and internal drivers pushing within-firm collocation, either across activities (such as manufacturing and R&D) or within activities (such as multiple R&D labs). Key concepts include: In biopharmaceutical activity, both internal and external agglomeration economies have separate, positive impacts on location, with relevant differences by activity. Internal economies of agglomeration arise within an activity (such as among plants) and across activities (such as between manufacturing and sales). The effects of across-activity and within-activity internal economies vary by activity and type of organic expansion. Across-activity internal economies are asymmetric: For example, organic expansions of bio-sales activity seem to collocate with existing manufacturing establishments, but organic manufacturing expansions do not collocate with sales. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 27 Aug 2012
- Research & Ideas
Employee-Suggestion Programs That Work
The key to operating a successful employee-suggestion program is to stop spending so much time on big-bang projects and focus on solving "low-hanging-fruit" problems. Research by Anita L. Tucker and Sara J. Singer. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 22 Aug 2012
- Working Paper Summaries
Key Drivers of Successful Implementation of an Employee Suggestion-Driven Improvement Program
Service organizations frequently implement improvement programs to increase quality. These programs often rely on employees' suggestions about improvement opportunities. Yet organizations face a trade-off with suggestion-driven improvement programs. Should managers use an "analysis-oriented" approach to surface a large number of problems, prioritize these, and select a small set of high priority ones for solution efforts? Or is it better to take an "action-oriented" approach, addressing problems raised by frontline staff regardless of priority ranking? In this paper the authors weigh the tradeoff between these two different approaches. Using data from 58 work groups in 20 hospitals that implemented an 18-month-long employee suggestion-driven improvement program, the authors find that an action-oriented approach was associated with higher perceived improvement in performance, while an analysis-oriented approach was not. The study suggests that the analysis-oriented approach negatively impacted employees' perceptions of improvement because it solicited, but not act on, employees' ideas. Key concepts include: There is a tradeoff because organizations must make allocation decisions between resolving a smaller number of higher priority problems and resolving a larger number of lower priority problems. In this study, an action-oriented approach was manifested by a higher percentage of solved problems that were considered "easy" to solve, which enabled more problems to be addressed with the same set of human and organizational resources. In contrast, the analysis-oriented approach, as characterized by identifying and solving higher priority problems, was not associated with higher perceived improvement in performance. Organizations should focus on increasing their capacity to act on improvement suggestions rather than generating suggestions and prioritizing them. Improvement programs are more likely to change employees' perceptions when they result in action being taken to resolve problems rather than when they are a symbolic show of manager interest. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 22 Aug 2012
- Working Paper Summaries
A Randomized Field Study of a Leadership WalkRounds™-Based Intervention
Hospitals face an imperative to improve quality, increase efficiency, and improve customer experience. Many hospitals utilize process improvement techniques to achieve these goals. One technique to involve senior managers, known in hospitals most commonly as Leadership WalkRounds , is a program of visiting the organization's frontlines to observe and talk with employees while they do their work. The intention is that managers and frontline staff will work together to identify and resolve obstacles to efficiency, quality, or safety. (For brevity, the authors refer to it in this paper as WalkRounds .) Rigorous testing of the effectiveness of process improvement interventions generally, and WalkRounds particularly, however, has been rare. This paper presents results from a field study that tested the effectiveness of a safety improvement program inspired by WalkRounds . The authors compare pre-program and post-program measures of perceived improvement in performance (PIP) from work areas in hospitals that were randomly selected to implement the program, with pre- and post- measures from the same types of work areas in control hospitals. Findings show that, contrary to expectations, the WalkRounds -based program was associated with decreased PIP. This study calls into question the general effectiveness of WalkRounds on employees' perceptions, which had been assumed in prior literature. Key concepts include: This study shows that participating in this particular program actually decreased perceived improvement in performance (PIP), on average. Compared to control work areas, the WalkRounds -based program was associated with a statistically significant decrease in PIP. This is an important result because, despite the limited evidence base, many hospitals throughout the U.S. and U.K. have implemented similar programs under the assumption that WalkRounds will improve organizational climate. The study provides a cautionary tale that visits by senior managers to the frontlines of the organization will not necessarily increase staff perceptions of performance improvement. Failure to meet expectations, once raised, can negatively impact organizational climate. Unless such programs are implemented with authentic motivation to identify and resolve issues, they may yield a negative return on the money invested. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 17 Aug 2012
- Working Paper Summaries
Dividends as Reference Points: A Behavioral Signaling Approach
While managers appear to view dividends as a signal to investors, managers also argue that standard dividend signaling models are not focused on the correct mechanisms. These standard models posit that executives use dividends to destroy some firm value and thereby signal that plenty remains: The "money burning" typically takes the form of tax-inefficient distributions, foregone profitable investment, or costly external finance. Executives who actually set dividend policy overwhelmingly reject these ideas yet, at the same time, are equally adamant that dividends are a signal to shareholders and that cutting them has negative consequences. In this paper, the authors develop what they believe to be a more realistic signaling approach. Using core features of prospect theory as conceptualized by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky (the fathers of behavioral economics), they create a model in which past dividends are reference points against which future dividends are judged. The theory is consistent with several important aspects of the data. Baker and Wurgler also find support for its broader intuition that dividends are paid in ways that make them memorable and thus serve as stronger reference points and signals. Key concepts include: The essence of Baker and Wurgler's stylized model is that investors evaluate current dividends against a psychological reference point established by past dividends. This model is consistent with several facts about dividend policy that cannot be handled in static models. This paper focuses on two central features of the prospect theory value function: that utility depends on changes in states relative to a reference point, and that losses bring more pain than symmetric gains bring pleasure. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 06 Aug 2012
- Research & Ideas
Strategic Intelligence: Adapt or Die
In his new book, Strategic IQ, Professor of Management Practice John R. Wells explains why adapting to changing circumstances isn't only smart, it's also a matter of survival. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 01 Aug 2012
- What Do You Think?
Should CEOs Worry About ‘Too Big to Succeed?’
Summing Up Is there a right size for a company? Jim Heskett's readers ponder his question: Can companies become too big to succeed? Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 23 Jul 2012
- Research & Ideas
Book Excerpt: ‘Talk, Inc.’
In their book Talk, Inc. Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind show how several global companies are adapting the principles of face-to-face conversation to improve companywide corporate communication. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 23 Jul 2012
- Research & Ideas
The Power of Conversational Leadership
Communication is always a challenge, especially in multinational corporations. Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind discuss why it makes sense to adopt the principles of face-to-face conversation in organizational communication. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 16 Jul 2012
- Research & Ideas
Book Excerpt: ‘The Strategist’
It's time for CEOs to start reclaiming strategy as a key executive responsibility, argues Cynthia A. Montgomery in her new book, The Strategist. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 11 Jul 2012
- Research & Ideas
Book Excerpt: ’The Future of Boards’
In an excerpt from The Future of Boards, Professor Jay Lorsch discusses why directors are newly questioning their roles. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 11 Jul 2012
- Research & Ideas
The Future of Boards
In The Future of Boards: Meeting the Governance Challenges of the Twenty-First Century, Professor Jay Lorsch brings together experts to examine the state of boards today, what lies ahead, and what needs to change. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 02 Jul 2012
- Research & Ideas
Why Good Deeds Invite Bad Publicity
Many executives assume that investments in corporate social responsibility create public goodwill. But do they? Felix Oberholzer-Gee and colleagues find surprising results when it comes to oil spills. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
Fostering Organizational Learning: The Impact of Work Design on Workarounds, Errors, and Speaking Up About Internal Supply Chain Problems
In competitive environments, it is essential that organizations develop techniques that increase the willingness of employees to improve organizational performance. This is especially true in complex service organizations, such as hospitals, where employees have a wide range of discretionary activities that they can perform and lower levels of supervision. For this paper, the author conducted a series of laboratory experiments to test the possibility that managers can manipulate specific work circumstances to increase employees' willingness to speak up about problems, regardless of the employees' individual characteristics. Findings show that participants were more likely to contribute improvement suggestions when employees' role orientation was primed to include process improvement as part of daily work activities and when deliberate blockages made it difficult to work around problems in a way that conformed with policy. The study supports the notion that employee positive behavior can stem from deliberate work design, which falls under managers' jurisdiction, rather than solely from self-motivated employees. Overall, the research advances understanding of the influence of work design on two important employee behaviors-improvement-oriented action and risky workarounds that may harm customers. Key concepts include: Small changes in job design can reduce employee silence about organizational problems. Providing employees with time to reflect on opportunities for improvement may be a more productive vehicle for improvement-oriented voice than expecting employees to speak up about problems while they are completing routine work. In addition to having a flexible role definition that includes improvement as part of one's routine work, employees should also be trained to work collaboratively to eliminate internal supply chain problems that their department causes for downstream internal customers. Workers engage in risky workarounds because they feel forced to, due to their desire to complete assigned tasks. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.