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Sharpening Your Skills: New Insights into Career Development

Re: Multiple Faculty

When is a job promotion a bad thing? Does networking leave an oily substance on your clothing? From our archives we look at career change in the twenty-first century, where researchers are offering fresh insights into our dynamic workplaces.

Taking the Fear out of Diversity Policies

by Carmen Nobel

Workplace policies regarding race, gender, and sexual orientation often are borne of studies that focus on the problem of discrimination—rather than on the benefits of a diverse workforce. HBS professors Lakshmi Ramarajan and David Thomas argue that focusing on the benefits of a diverse organization will lead to workplace policies that embrace diversity, instead of grudgingly accepting it or dancing around it. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Reversing the Queue: Performance, Legitimacy, and Minority Hiring

by Andrew Hill & David Thomas

While there has been a steady rise in the number of black executives in corporate America, the fact remains that white males have a persistent advantage in terms of access to managerial positions. This paper sets out to find out how a company's performance influences the hiring of minorities into management positions, and whether the presence of minorities in senior management positions affects the racial composition of the subordinate management team. Research, which focused on the corporate structure of the National Football League, was conducted by Harvard Business School doctoral candidate Andrew Hill and professor David Thomas. Key concepts include: The higher a team's winning percentage prior to the hire, the more likely the team is to hire an African-American head coach. The lower a team's winning percentage in the prior season, the more African-American subordinate coaches are likely to be hired. A team with a black head coach hires about twenty-five percent more black subordinates than a team with a white head coach. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

A Positive Approach to Studying Diversity in Organizations

by Lakshmi Ramarajan & David Thomas

Considering that the topic of workplace diversity often garners unhappy discussions of prejudice, isolation, and conflict, it's not surprising that many researchers avoid the topic altogether. Only 5 percent of articles published in management journals from 2000-2008 included race or gender in their keywords. In this paper, Harvard Business School professors Lakshmi Ramarajan and David Thomas propose a positive approach to studying diversity, with hopes that this will lead managers to feel more positive about adopting diversity policies in the workplace. Key concepts include: Most workplace policies governing issues of race, gender, and sexual orientation come out of traditional studies that focus on discrimination. Because these policies are borne of these traditional studies, they often yield negative consequences--such as a manager refraining from honest discourse for fear of a discrimination lawsuit. A positive approach to diversity research could lead to policies that feel more organically productive and less threatening to managers. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Business Summit: Managing Human Capital—Global Trends and Challenges

Re: David A. Thomas

Human capital needed for globalization is lacking. Progress is required in important areas such as elevating more women to leadership positions, according to panelists at the HBS Business Summit. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Racial Diversity Initiatives in Professional Service Firms: What Factors Differentiate Successful from Unsuccessful Initiatives?

by Modupe Akinola & David A. Thomas

What organizational factors are needed for racial diversity initiatives to succeed? While diversity continues to grow in importance in organizations, very little research has focused on the processes that underlie diversity management. Modupe Akinola and David A. Thomas propose a study intended to explore management initiatives that focus on racial diversity in professional service firms. Given that such firms rely on the high level of skills, expertise, and diverse perspectives offered by their professional staff, these firms may be ideal laboratories for examining diversity initiatives. Key concepts include: The success of diversity initiatives in professional service firms is driven by five criteria: a well articulated and widely bought-into diversity strategy, leadership support, an engaged employee base, innovative approaches to recruiting and retaining minorities, and management practices that are integrated and aligned with the initiative. Firms that achieve sustained success in their diversity initiatives should show evidence of more of these success criteria relative to their peers in the same industries. Organizations with a strong understanding of the factors that influence the success of diversity initiatives may begin to better recruit and retain minorities. Such insights may even extend to organizational practices unrelated to diversity. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Unfinished Business: The Impact of Race on Understanding Mentoring Relationships

by Stacy Blake-Beard, Audrey Murrell & David Thomas

Race is a critical component of relationships in organizations, particularly in the United States and, due to shifting demographics, particularly for the future. As a socially embedded phenomenon, race also provides a lens for research on mentoring. This paper discusses why race and mentoring are important, how race has been studied or omitted in research to date, and what is known about the intersection of mentoring and race in organizations. The authors then discuss their own model, which aims to guide future research. Key concepts include: There is an opportunity in the twenty-first century to show how mentoring helps to create access and inclusion that goes beyond the color line. The strength of individuals' racial group identity, work group composition, and organizational culture all matter to the specific nature of mentoring or developmental relationships. Important dimensions of these relationships include the strength of social ties, formality, content, complexity, and trust. The study of race and mentoring remains unfinished business for organizational scholars, managers, and practitioners. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Writing the Case for Public School Reform

by Julia Hanna

Professor David Thomas discusses his case studies on how the School District of Philadelphia is recruiting and retaining teachers and improving its human resources department. From HBS Alumni Bulletin. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

IBM Finds Profit in Diversity

by David A. Thomas

Former CEO Lou Gerstner established a diversity initiative that embraced differences instead of ignoring them. In this Harvard Business Review excerpt, professor David A. Thomas describes why IBM made diversity a cornerstone strategy. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Racial Diversity Pays Off

by Martha Lagace

Diversity has been a buzzword in organizations for at least fifteen years. How much is really known about its effects on performance? HBS professors Robin Ely and David Thomas investigate. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Tales of the Newly-minted MBA

by Julia Hanna

One moved back home. Another said his career subscribed to "chaos theory." The career paths of new Harvard Business School MBAs have wandered, some very far, from where the young executives had anticipated. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Manager or Mentor? Why You Must Be Both

by Martha Lagace

In a frank discussion on diversity with a large group of Harvard University managers, HBS professor David A. Thomas explains why managers need to do more than just mentor. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Race Does Matter in Mentoring

by David A. Thomas

In studying the different career paths of whites and minorities, HBS Professor David Thomas finds one characteristic of people of color who advance the furthest: a strong network of mentors and corporate sponsors. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

What Makes a Good Leader?

by Deborah Blagg & Susan Young

Leadership comes in many shapes and sizes, and often from entirely unexpected quarters. In this excerpt from the HBS Bulletin, five HBS professors weigh in with their views on leadership in action. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

What It Takes: Minorities in the Executive Suite

by Judith A. Ross

For diversity to take hold in America's corporate boardrooms, companies need to find new ways to develop more conducive environments for minority advancement and opportunity. But minority executives who want to move up can't simple wait for their work environment to be perfect. HBS Professors David Thomas and John Gabarro are studying what it takes — on both sides — to make corporate diversity a reality. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.