Cognition and Thinking
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- 27 Dec 2018
- Working Paper Summaries
Team Learning Capabilities: A Meso Model of Sustained Innovation and Superior Firm Performance
In strategic management research, the dynamic capabilities framework enables a “helicopter view” of how firms achieve sustainable competitive advantage. This paper focuses on the critical role of work teams, arguing that managers must leverage the knowledge generated by teams to support innovation and strategic change. It matches types of team learning to innovation activities.
- 05 Dec 2018
- Working Paper Summaries
The Salary Taboo: Privacy Norms and the Diffusion of Information
Barriers to the diffusion of salary information have implications for a wide range of labor market phenomena. This study of employees of a real organization shows that individuals significantly misinterpret their peers’ salaries, partly due to pervasive preferences for concealing own salary, and a potentially strategic decision of high earners to withhold their personal information.
- 11 Jul 2018
- Working Paper Summaries
Channeled Attention and Stable Errors
As humans we are surprisingly good at neglecting unexpected information that conflicts with what we “know” to be true. This paper develops a framework for predicting when we are more likely to “get a clue” despite this cognitive barrier to discovering our own mistakes.
- 14 Mar 2018
- Research & Ideas
Feeling Stressed? Try Sniffing Your Romantic Partner's Shirt
Attention business travelers: Reducing on-the-road stress might be as simple as tucking a loved one’s t-shirt into your suitcase, according to new research by Marlise Hofer, Hanne K. Collins, Ashley V. Whillans, and Frances S. Chen. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 15 May 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Flexing the Frame: TMT Framing and the Adoption of Non-Incremental Innovations in Incumbent Firms
Organizations continuously face decisions about whether or not to adopt innovations. Often, however, senior teams do not adopt an innovation even when the organization has the resources to do so. Using real examples, this paper theorizes how the processes of cognitive and emotional framing inform managerial choices about whether or not to adopt innovations.
- 16 Mar 2015
- Research & Ideas
Advice on Advice
To be effective leaders, we all need good advice, and we need to give good advice to others. Problem is, advice sharing is not as easy as it sounds, explain Joshua Margolis and the late David Garvin. Open for comment; 14 Comment(s) posted.
- 01 Oct 2014
- What Do You Think?
Is Too Much Focus a Problem?
Summing Up—In a lively debate, Jim Heskett's readers see a downside to the too-focused manager. What do YOU think? Closed for comment; 26 Comment(s) posted.
- 11 Apr 2014
- Working Paper Summaries
Learning By Thinking: How Reflection Improves Performance
Knowledge plays an important role in the productivity and prosperity of economies, organizations, and individuals. Even so, research on learning has primarily focused on the role of doing (experience) in fostering progress over time. To compare the effectiveness of different sources of learning, the authors take a micro approach and study learning at the individual level. They argue that learning from direct experience can be more effective if coupled with reflection—that is, the intentional attempt to synthesize, abstract, and articulate the key lessons taught by experience. Using a mixed-method approach that combines laboratory experiments and a field study in a large business process outsourcing company in India, they find support for this prediction. Further, they find that the effect of reflection on learning is mediated by greater perceived ability to achieve a goal (i.e., self-efficacy). Together, these results reveal reflection to be a powerful mechanism behind learning, confirming the words of American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer John Dewey: "We do not learn from experience ... we learn from reflecting on experience." Key concepts include: Learning from direct experience can be more effective if coupled with reflection-that is, the intentional attempt to synthesize, abstract, and articulate the key lessons taught by experience. Reflecting on what has been learned makes experience more productive. Reflection builds one's confidence in the ability to achieve a goal (i.e., self-efficacy), which in turn translates into higher rates of learning. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.
- 07 Aug 2013
- What Do You Think?
Is There Still a Role for Judgment in Decision-Making?
Summing Up: Human judgment should be a part of all decisions, but play a dominant role in significantly fewer of them, according to many of Jim Heskett's readers. Is good old-fashioned intuition out of date? What do YOU think? Closed for comment; 47 Comment(s) posted.
- 25 Jul 2013
- Research & Ideas
Why Unqualified Candidates Get Hired Anyway
Why do businesses evaluate candidates solely on past job performance, failing to consider the job's difficulty? Why do university admissions officers focus on high GPAs, discounting influence of easy grading standards? Francesca Gino and colleagues investigate the phenomenon of the "fundamental attribution error." Closed for comment; 24 Comment(s) posted.
- 17 Sep 2012
- Research & Ideas
Blue Skies, Distractions Arise: How Weather Affects Productivity
New studies show that workers are more productive on rainy days than on sunny ones. Does your office take advantage? Research by Francesca Gino and colleagues. Closed for comment; 15 Comment(s) posted.
- 29 Mar 2010
- Research & Ideas
Ruthlessly Realistic: How CEOs Must Overcome Denial
Even the best leaders can be in denial—about trouble inside the organization, about onrushing competitors, about changing consumer behavior. Harvard Business School professor Richard S. Tedlow looks at history and discusses how executives can acknowledge and deal with reality. Plus: Book excerpt. Key concepts include: Denial is the unwillingness to acknowledge and deal with reality. What is different today is that the cost of denial has become so high. Being ruthlessly realistic with oneself is one of the greatest challenges for any CEO. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.
- 25 Nov 2009
- Working Paper Summaries
The Devil Wears Prada? Effects of Exposure to Luxury Goods on Cognition and Decision Making
Gandhi once wrote that "a certain degree of physical harmony and comfort is necessary, but above a certain level it becomes a hindrance instead of a help." This observation raises interesting questions for psychologists regarding the effects of luxury. What psychological consequences do luxury goods have on people? In this paper, the authors argue that luxury goods can activate the concept of self-interest and affect subsequent cognition. The argument involves two key premises: Luxury is intrinsically linked to self-interest, and exposure to luxury can activate related mental representations affecting cognition and decision-making. Two experiments showed that exposure to luxury led people to think more about themselves than others. Key concepts include: Luxury does not necessarily induce people to be "nasty" toward others but rather causes them to be less concerned about or considerate toward others. Experiment 1 showed that when primed with luxury, people are more likely to endorse self-interested business decisions (profit maximization), even at the expense of others. Experiment 2 further demonstrated that exposure to luxury is likely to activate self-interest but not the tendency to harm others. Exposure to luxury goods may activate a social norm that it is appropriate to pursue interests beyond a basic comfort level, even at the expense of others. It may be this activated social norm that affects people's judgment and decision-making. Alternatively, exposure to luxury may directly increase people's personal desire, causing them to focus on their own benefits such as prioritizing profits over social responsibilities. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.
- 06 Jul 2009
- What Do You Think?
Are You Ready to Manage in an Irrational World?
It is becoming clear that human behavior is much less rational than we assumed, says HBS professor Jim Heskett. Judging from replies to this month's question, there are many nuances to managing in an irrational world. (Online forum now closed. Next forum begins August 7.) Closed for comment; 97 Comment(s) posted.
- 06 Jun 2008
- What Do You Think?
Why Don’t Managers Think Deeply?
Online forum closed. Summing Up. According to Gerald and Lindsay Zaltman, nearly all research techniques commonly used today probe humans only at their conscious level, though it is the subconscious level that really determines behavior. Closed for comment; 136 Comment(s) posted.
- 05 May 2008
- Research & Ideas
Connecting with Consumers Using Deep Metaphors
Consumer needs and desires are not entirely mysterious. In fact, marketers of successful brands regularly draw on a rich assortment of insights excavated from research into basic frames or orientations we have toward the world around us, according to HBS professor emeritus Gerald Zaltman and Lindsay Zaltman, authors of Marketing Metaphoria. Here's a Q&A and book excerpt. Key concepts include: Deep metaphors are powerful predictors of what customers think and how they react to new or existing goods and services. The seven deep metaphors discussed in Marketing Metaphoria appear across a variety of products. Recent advances in various disciplines are providing concepts and techniques enabling marketers to dig into what consumers don't know they know. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.
- 03 Jan 2008
- What Do You Think?
Does Judgment Trump Experience?
It's a question as relevant for business as for the U.S. presidential campaign, says HBS professor Jim Heskett. If "judgment capability" is a function of experience, what kind of experience is important? Does plenty of experience really improve judgment? Online forum now CLOSED. Closed for comment; 111 Comment(s) posted.
- 15 May 2007
- Working Paper Summaries
I’ll Have the Ice Cream Soon and the Vegetables Later: Decreasing Impatience over Time in Online Grocery Orders
How do people’s preferences differ when they make choices for the near term versus the more distant future? Providing evidence from a field study of an online grocer, this research shows that people act as if they will be increasingly virtuous the further into the future they project. Researchers examined how the length of delay between when an online grocery order is completed and when it is delivered affects what consumers order. They find that consumers purchase more "should" (healthy) groceries such as vegetables and less "want" (unhealthy) groceries such as ice cream the greater the delay between order completion and order delivery. The results have implications for public policy, supply chain managers, and models of time discounting. Key concepts include: Consumers spend less and order a higher percentage of "should" items and a lower percentage of "want" items the further in advance of delivery they place a grocery order. Encouraging people to order their groceries up to 5 days in advance of consumption could influence the healthfulness of the foods that people consume. Similarly, asking students in schools to select their lunches up to a week in advance could considerably increase the healthfulness of the foods they elect to eat. Online and catalog retailers that offer a range of goods as well as different delivery options might be able to improve their demand forecasting by understanding these findings. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.
- 04 May 2007
- What Do You Think?
How Do Managers Think?
"Uncertainty sometimes is essential for success" asserts a new book, How Doctors Think. The work of doctors raises intriguing questions about managing, says Jim Heskett, since diagnostics are an important part of managerial decision-making, too. Jim sums up nearly 60 responses from readers around the world, including practicing physicians. Closed for comment; 59 Comment(s) posted.
The Revision Bias
Companies often release revised editions of books, director’s cuts of movies, and technological updates, on the assumption that revising products and services leads to better outcomes. Nine studies, however, document the revision bias: the tendency to prefer things that were revised, regardless of whether the revised versions are objectively better than their predecessors.