Human Resources →
- 02 Feb 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Commuting with a Plan: How Goal-Directed Prospection Can Offset the Strain of Commuting
Employees often say commuting is the least desirable time period of the day. Those who use the time to think about the future in terms of goals to pursue can turn the daily hassle of commuting into something useful and meaningful. While to some extent commuting time may be outside employees’ control, they are nonetheless in charge of their commute.
- 01 Feb 2016
- Research & Ideas
CEOs and Coaches: How Important is Organizational 'Fit?'
How big a factor is matching the right coach with the right team? As the Super Bowl approaches, Boris Groysberg and Abhijit Naik discuss football-related research that also has implications for the world of corporate hiring. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 18 Jan 2016
- Research & Ideas
Hazard Warning: The Unacceptable Cost of Toxic Workers
As much as a firm gains by hiring a superstar, it loses twice that much by hiring a toxic worker. Dylan Minor details the troubles brought by creepy co-workers. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 06 Jan 2016
- What Do You Think?
Why Do Leaders Get Their Timing Wrong?
SUMMING UP: Is good management timing primarily a function of strategy or culture? James Heskett's readers add their opinions. What do YOU think? Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 30 Nov 2015
- Research & Ideas
Donors Are Turned Off by Overhead Costs. Here’s What Charities Can Do
Elizabeth A. Keenan and colleagues find that charitable donors are willing to stomach the idea of overhead costs—as long as they know someone else’s donation is covering them. A field study helped one organization nearly triple its solicited donations. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 18 Nov 2015
- Research & Ideas
Who Really Determines CEO Salary Packages?
Every CEO is different, as is every company. So why does one executive compensation package tend to look just like another? The answer lies in the prevalence of interlocking directorates and the use of compensation consultants, according to research by Susanna Gallani. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 09 Nov 2015
- Working Paper Summaries
Toxic Workers
This paper identifies personality and situational factors that lead to a worker engaging in toxic behavior, including sexual harassment, workplace violence, and fraud.
- 04 Nov 2015
- Working Paper Summaries
Do People Who Care About Others Cooperate More? Experimental Evidence from Relative Incentive Pay
This paper explores how the degree to which individuals care about other workers affects their own performance when faced with relative performance pay.
- 09 Sep 2015
- Research & Ideas
Leadership Lessons of the Great Recession: Options for Economic Downturns
In the new case study “Honeywell and the Great Recession,” Sandra Sucher and Susan Winterberg explore employer tradeoffs when a downturn hits: conducting layoffs vs. orchestrating furloughs. Plus: Video interviews with Honeywell CEO Dave Cote. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 08 Sep 2015
- Working Paper Summaries
Through the Grapevine: Network Effects on the Design of Executive Compensation Contracts
Designing the compensation package for a CEO is a complex task with many variables and uncertainties. While in principle the structure of executive compensation should be directed to aligning the goals of the executive with the strategic goals of the firm, the adoption of common models of compensation may tilt the compensation structure away from this alignment. It is thus important to identify the drivers of compensation similarity across firms. In this paper the author identifies such drivers – above and beyond known economic and governance characteristics of the firm – by providing evidence that firms connected through board networks or hiring common compensation consultants exhibit greater similarity in the structure of CEO compensation. At the same time, however, different networks influence different aspects of the compensation design.
- 02 Sep 2015
- What Do You Think?
What's Wrong With Amazon’s Low-Retention HR Strategy?
SUMMING UP Does Amazon's "only the strongest survive" employee-retention policy make for a better company or improved customer relationships? Jim Heskett's readers chime in. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 10 Aug 2015
- Research & Ideas
Why a Federal Rule on CEO Pay Disclosure May Get You In Trouble With Customers
The SEC is expected to adopt a rule requiring every public firm to disclose the ratio of the CEO's salary to the median salary of the firm's employees. And it turns out that customers prefer shopping from retailers with low pay ratios, according to new research by Bhavya Mohan, Michael Norton, and Rohit Deshpandé. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 06 Jul 2015
- Research & Ideas
Money and Quotas Motivate the Sales Force Best
Bonus programs are effective for motivating sales people, but also costly for companies to maintain. Doug Chung and Das Narayandas study several compensation schemes to see which work best. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 16 Jun 2015
- Working Paper Summaries
Paying Up for Fair Pay: Consumers Prefer Firms with Lower CEO-to-Worker Pay Ratios
The pay ratio of CEOs to average workers has long been a question of interest to both employees and investors. It also matters to consumers, as shown by new research conducted by the authors of this paper. A firm with a high (1000 to 1) ratio needs to offer a 50 percent discount in order to garner as favorable consumer impressions as a firm with a low (5 to 1) pay ratio. Even if pay ratio disclosure does not become legally mandated, these results suggest that firms with low pay ratios relative to competitors may wish to begin to disclose this information voluntarily. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 Feb 2015
- Research & Ideas
How New BofA Executives Learn its ’Deep Smarts’
Bank of America's stringent onboarding process for new execs ensures they understand role expectations, quickly develop networks, and learn from other leaders what it takes to succeed. From the new book by Dorothy Leonard and colleagues, Critical Knowledge Transfer. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 26 Jan 2015
- Research & Ideas
National Health Costs Could Decrease if Managers Reduce Work Stress
Joel Goh and colleagues estimate that workplace stress is responsible for up to 8 percent of national spending on health care and contributes to 120,000 deaths a year. Is better management the fix? Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 07 Jan 2015
- Research & Ideas
The Quest for Better Layoffs
Professor Sandra Sucher wants to change the way business thinks about workforce reductions. "We want people to learn about the forces they unleash in the firm when they institute layoffs." Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 07 Jan 2015
- What Do You Think?
SUMMING UP: What Are the Limits On Workplace Transparency?
For Jim Heskett's readers, the issue is not whether to make staff salaries public, but rather how to do it. What do YOU think? Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 Nov 2014
- What Do You Think?
Are We Entering an Era of Neuromanagement?
Will you be taking a brain-scan for your next job interview? Jim Heskett explores the emerging world of neuromanagement and what it means for both organizations and employees. What do YOU think? Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
How Do You Hire an 'Impostor'?
SUMMING UP Do "impostors" make good employees? James Heskett's readers provide different takes on workers who feel they've succeeded by mistake. What do YOU think? Open for comment; 0 Comments.