Performance →
- 24 Aug 2020
- Research & Ideas
How Much Will Remote Work Continue After the Pandemic?
A new survey suggests that at least 16 percent of employees will remain at-home workers long after COVID-19 recedes, report researchers Christopher Stanton, Zoe Cullen, and Michael Luca. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 01 Jul 2020
- Working Paper Summaries
Scaling Up Behavioral Science Interventions in Online Education
Online courses can lack support structures that are often bundled with traditional higher education. Short pre-course interventions can have short-term benefits, but more innovation throughout the course is needed to have sustained impact on student success.
- 18 May 2020
- Working Paper Summaries
No Line Left Behind: Assortative Matching Inside the Firm
This paper studies how buyer relationships influence suppliers' internal organization of labor. The results emphasize that suppliers to the global market, when they are beholden to a small set of powerful buyers, may be driven to allocate managerial skill to service these relationships, even at the expense of productivity.
- 03 Mar 2020
- Working Paper Summaries
Nominal and Opportunity Effects of Managerial Discretion
This study of field data from a Chinese manufacturing company explores the consequences of subjective performance evaluations leading to bonuses and penalties. Results may help practitioners improve the effectiveness of incentive systems.
- 25 Feb 2020
- Research & Ideas
For Migrant Workers, Homesickness Can Reduce Productivity
Workers in the global economy increasingly perform their jobs far away from home. It turns out, says Prithwiraj Choudhury, that homesickness is a significant barrier to their productivity. Here's what employers can do. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 08 Jan 2020
- Research & Ideas
NFL Head Coaches Are Getting Younger. What Can Organizations Learn?
Football team owners are hiring younger head coaches, hoping to unleash innovation and fresh thinking. How's that working out? Research by Boris Groysberg and colleagues. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 11 Dec 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
When to Apply?
Using a series of experiments, the authors studied gender differences in how job-seekers perceive their own qualifications for different opportunities and how this affects their decision to apply. Results suggest that soft touch employer interventions can improve the diversity of applicant pools even if candidate beliefs about their own ability are unchanged.
- 25 Nov 2019
- Research & Ideas
When Your Passion Works Against You
Passion is supposed to be the secret sauce that transforms average managers into dynamic leaders. The reality is more complicated, says Jon M. Jachimowicz. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 25 Sep 2019
- Research & Ideas
The Economic Cost of Physician Burnout
Doctor burnout takes a toll on physicians and patient care, but there is another cost to be accounted for, says Joel Goh. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 17 Sep 2019
- Cold Call Podcast
How a New Leader Broke Through a Culture of Accuse, Blame, and Criticize
Children’s Hospital & Clinics COO Julie Morath sets out to change the culture by instituting a policy of blameless reporting, which encourages employees to report anything that goes wrong or seems substandard, without fear of reprisal. Professor Amy Edmondson discusses getting an organization into the “High Performance Zone.” Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 21 Aug 2019
- Research & Ideas
What Machine Learning Teaches Us about CEO Leadership Style
Tarun Khanna and Prithwiraj Choudhury use machine-learning technology to look for links between a CEO's communications style and company performance. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 31 Jul 2019
- Research & Ideas
Distressed Employees? Try Resilience Training
Depressed employees are up to five times more likely to experience work-related problems than employees with chronic physical illnesses. So why aren't employers helping them? asks Ashley Whillans. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 07 Jul 2019
- HBS Case
Walmart's Workforce of the Future
A case study by William Kerr explores Walmart's plans for future workforce makeup and training, and its search for opportunities from digital infrastructure and automation. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 01 Jul 2019
- What Do You Think?
Are Super Stretch Goals Only for the Very Young?
SUMMING UP: Super stretch goals can produce audacious results, but they are best left to companies agile enough to execute then, readers say. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 21 May 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
rTSR: When Do Relative Performance Metrics Capture Relative Performance?
Managers are increasingly evaluated based on relative performance metrics, particularly relative total shareholder returns (rTSR). This paper finds that the majority of firms that tie CEO performance-based contracts to rTSR do a remarkable job of filtering out the systematic risk in TSR. However, a significant portion of firms make relatively poor choices in the design and selection of rTSR, a result of weak governance and an overreliance on compensation consultants.
- 03 Apr 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Learning or Playing? The Effect of Gamified Training on Performance
Games-based training is widely used to engage and motivate employees to learn, but research about its effectiveness has been scant. This study at a large professional services firm adopting a gamified training platform showed the training helps performance when employees are already highly engaged, and harms performance when they’re not.
- 02 Apr 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Managerial Quality and Productivity Dynamics
Which managerial skills, traits, and practices matter most for productivity? This study of a large garment firm in India analyzes the integration of features of managerial quality into a production process characterized by learning by doing.
- 11 Feb 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Gender Stereotypes in Deliberation and Team Decisions
Professional success requires the ability to contribute ideas, and receive credit for them. This paper explores gender differences in how men and women communicate and reward each other in team decision-making problems. We find that women are recognized less often for their contributions in male-typed domains.
- 22 Jan 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Corporate Sustainability: A Strategy?
Between 2012 and 2017, companies within most industries adopted an increasingly similar set of sustainability practices. This study examines the interplay between common and strategic practices. This dynamic distinction helps for understanding whether and how sustainability practices can help companies establish a competitive advantage over time.
Entrepreneurs (Co-) Working in Close Proximity: Impacts on Technology Adoption and Startup Performance Outcomes
In one of the largest entrepreneurial co-working spaces in the United States, startups are influenced by peer startups within a distance of 20 meters. The associated advantages for learning and innovation could be lost using at-a-distance work arrangements.