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New research from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including the effect of competition on workplace creativity, collaboration and creativity, and managing creative people.
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The Delicious History of Hershey Chocolate

Re: Nancy F. Koehn

Milton Hershey, the candy king, pioneered chocolate treats for the masses. But he also built a controversial company town and what today is one of the richest schools in America. Nancy Koehn discusses Hershey's innovative life and vision. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Say Again? Uncommon Advice for Common Business Problems

by Sean Silverthorne

Sometimes the right answer is far from obvious. Learn why an introvert may be the best choice to lead your team, taking a pay cut might make you a better manager, and why you should not trust your gut when the pressure is on. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

How to Be a Rebel Leader

by Carmen Nobel

In the book Rebel Talent, Francesca Gino argues companies should encourage rebellion in their workplaces. Quiz: Discover what type of rebel you really are. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Does Time Pressure Help or Hinder Creativity at Work?

Re: Teresa M. Amabile

Professor Teresa Amabile discusses how managers can create the ideal conditions for employee creativity and success based on her research in three industries, seven companies, and 26 creative project teams. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

What Happens When Ordinary People Get Creative?

by Carmen Nobel

Move over, creative geniuses. Teresa Amabile says the world needs to pay more attention to the creative processes of everyday people, especially in an age when big ideas often come from the crowdsourced masses. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

In Pursuit of Everyday Creativity

by Teresa M. Amabile

This paper describes the most compelling research trends around creativity and innovation. It suggests that 1) creative behavior of ordinary individuals is likely to become more important to the development of products and services, and 2) future studies should focus on such creative behavior—and related psychological states and environmental contexts—as it happens.

Conversational Peers and Idea Generation: Evidence from a Field Experiment

by Sharique Hasan and Rembrand Koning

To develop a theory of innovator capability, this study extends existing research linking personality and creativity to take into account the social nature of idea generation. Using data from an experiment embedded in a bootcamp for aspiring entrepreneurs, results show that better ideas are generated by “open” innovators exposed to extroverted peers. Extroverts provide more raw information that innovators high in openness are best able to recombine into novel ideas.

When Your Classmate is an NBA Superstar (or Fashion Model, or Movie Actress)

by Dina Gerdeman

Industry superstars bring unique perspectives to the Business of Media, Entertainment, and Sports Executive Education program taught by Anita Elberse. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Does Competition Make Us More Creative?

by Michael Blanding

Competition can bring out the best in many people in many jobs, but can it make employees more creative? The answer lies in the Goldilocks Zone. Research by Daniel P. Gross. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

A Dedication to Creation: India's Ad Man Ranjan Kapur

by Sean Silverthorne

How do you build a brand amid the uncertainties and opportunities of a developing market? Harvard Business School Professor Sunil Gupta shares lessons learned from Ranjan Kapur, an iconic figure in the Indian advertising industry. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Corporate Field Researchers Share Tricks of the Trade

by Carmen Nobel

In a panel discussion, several professors shared practical findings and tricks-of-the-trade from recent field research. Among the discoveries: how to prompt employees to get a flu shot. Closed for comment; 1 Comment(s) posted.

Digital Initiative Summit: Who Has the Power in the Music Industry?

by Christian Camerota

With inexpensive recording technology and distribution, today's musicians can push their work in front of many new audiences. But to make money, they must learn the instruments of business. Open for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Innovation Is Magic. Really

by Dina Gerdeman

When Stefan Thomke teaches students how to manage innovation and creativity, he turns to an unexpected source: Magician Jason Randal. Open for comment; 12 Comment(s) posted.

Leading Innovation is the Art of Creating ‘Collective Genius’

by Kim Girard

As Linda Hill sees it, innovation requires its own brand of leadership. The coauthor of the new book Collective Genius discusses what's been learned from 16 of the best business innovators. Open for comment; 4 Comment(s) posted.

Book Excerpt: ‘Collective Genius’

by Linda Hill

Leaders of innovation teams are successful when they collaborate, engage in discovery-driven learning, and make integrative decisions. Read an excerpt from the book Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation, by Linda Hill and coauthors. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Sharpening Your Skills: Managing Innovation

Re: Multiple Faculty

Sharpening Your Skills curates a wide range of Harvard Business School's research and ideas around vital topics in business management. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

From Crowds to Collaborators: Initiating Effort and Catalyzing Interactions Among Online Creative Workers

by Kevin J. Boudreau, Patrick Gaule, Karim R. Lakhani, Christoph Riedl & Anita Williams Woolley

Online "organizations" are becoming a major engine for knowledge development in a variety of domains such as Wikipedia and open source software development. Many online platforms involve collaboration and coordination among members to reach common goals. In this sense, they are collaborative communities. This paper asks: What factors most inspire online teams to begin to collaborate and to do so creatively and effectively? The authors analyze a data set of 260 individuals randomly assigned to 52 teams tasked with developing working solutions to a complex innovation problem over 10 days, with varying cash incentives. Findings showed that although cash incentives stimulated a significant boost of effort per se, cash incentives did not transform the nature of the work process or affect the level of collaboration. In addition, at a basic yet striking level, the likelihood that an individual chooses to participate depended on whether teammates were themselves active. Moreover, communications among teammates led to more communications, and communications among teammates also stimulated greater continuous levels of effort. Overall, the study sheds light on how perspectives on incentives, predominant in economics, and perspectives on social processes and interactions, predominant in research on organizational behavior and teams, can be better understood. Key concepts include: An individual's likelihood of being active in online collaboration increases by about 41 percent with each additional active teammate. Management could provide communications channels to make the efforts of other members more visible. This is important in the design of systems for online work as it helps members to confirm that others are actively contributing. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

D’O: Making a Michelin-Starred Restaurant Affordable

by Carmen Nobel & Joanie Tobin

Under the leadership of Chef Davide Oldani, the Italian restaurant D'O balances Michelin-star-level quality with affordable prices. In the following story and video, Professor Gary Pisano explains how Oldani does it. Open for comment; 10 Comment(s) posted.

Cultural Disharmony Undermines Workplace Creativity

by Michael Blanding

Managing cultural friction not only creates a more harmonious workplace, says professor Roy Y.J. Chua, but ensures that you reap the creative benefits of multiculturalism at its best. Closed for comment; 13 Comment(s) posted.

Hiding From Managers Can Increase Your Productivity

by Carmen Nobel

Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Ethan S. Bernstein explains why decreasing workplace transparency can increase productivity. Open for comment; 26 Comment(s) posted.