
- 05 Jan 2021
- Cold Call Podcast
Using Behavioral Science to Improve Well-Being for Social Workers
For child and family social workers, coping with the hardships of children and parents is part of the job. But that can cause a lot of stress. Is it possible for financially constrained organizations to improve social workers’ well-being using non-cash rewards, recognition, and other strategies from behavioral science? Assistant Professor Ashley Whillans describes the experience of Chief Executive Michael Sanders’ at the UK’s What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care, as he led a research program aimed at improving the morale of social workers in her case, “The What Works Centre: Using Behavioral Science to Improve Social Worker Well-being.” Open for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.
- 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; 6 Comment(s) posted.
- 08 Dec 2008
- Research & Ideas
Thinking Twice About Supply-Chain Layoffs
Cutting the wrong employees can be counterproductive for retailers, according to research from Zeynep Ton. One suggestion: Pay special attention to staff who handle mundane tasks such as stocking and labeling. Your customers do. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.
- 12 Oct 1999
- Research & Ideas
A Perfect Fit: Aligning Organization & Strategy
Is your company organizationally fit? HBS Professor Michael Beer believes business success is a function of the fit between key organizational variables such as strategy, values, culture, employees, systems, organizational design, and the behavior of the senior management team. Beer and colleague Russell A. Eisenstat have developed a process,termed Organizational Fitness Profiling, by which corporations can cultivate organizational capabilities that enhance their competitiveness. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.
Platform Systems vs. Step Processes—The Value of Options and the Power of Modularity
Technology shapes organizations through incentives and rewards. This paper compares the value structure of platform systems and step processes, finding that step processes reward technical integration, unified governance, risk aversion, and the use of direct authority. Platform systems by contrast reward modularity, distributed governance, risk taking, and autonomous decision-making.