Knowledge →
- 09 Jul 2009
- Working Paper Summaries
Performance Pressure as a Double-Edged Sword: Enhancing Team Motivation While Undermining the Use of Team Knowledge
Why do teams often fail to use their knowledge resources effectively even after they have correctly identified the experts among them? Project teams are a prominent feature of the knowledge-based economy, and member expertise has long been recognized as an important resource that can greatly affect team performance, but only to the extent that it is accurately recognized and used to accomplish the objective. The step between recognizing others' expertise and then actually applying it to achieve a collective outcome, however, is highly problematic: Even when individuals know who holds relevant task expertise, they are often unwilling or unable to give the experts appropriate influence over the group process and outcomes. HBS professor Heidi K. Gardner takes a multidisciplinary approach to develop theory explaining how interpersonal dynamics in teams affect members' use of each other's distinct knowledge, ultimately leading to differential performance outcomes. Key concepts include: Teams facing significant performance pressures tend to default to high-status members at the expense of using team members with deep knowledge of the client, with detrimental effects on team performance. The more important the project, the less effective the team: Excessive performance pressure results in the team reverting to less effective ways of divvying up influence over its end product, in turn leading to lower performance ratings for the whole team. Team process is important in enabling organizations to harness knowledge resources for the benefit of maintaining strong relations with their clients. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 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; 0 Comments.
- 23 Jul 2007
- Research & Ideas
HBS Cases: How Wikipedia Works (or Doesn’t)
For HBS professor Andrew McAfee, Wikipedia is a surprisingly high-quality product. But when his concept of "Enterprise 2.0" turned up on the online encyclopedia one day—and was recommended for deletion—McAfee and colleague Karim R. Lakhani knew they had the makings of an insightful case study on collaboration and governance in the digital world. Key concepts include: Despite thousands of participants, Wikipedia operates under a very ornate and well-defined structure of participation that enables them to produce a highly regarded online encyclopedia. A group of people in the Wikipedia world characterized as "exclusionists" could dampen user enthusiasm by increasing barriers to acceptance of Wikipedia articles. Knowledge-sharing technologies such as wikis are coming into increasing use in the corporate world, but companies must understand that a top-down approach to administering them will lead to certain extinction. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 15 Jun 2007
- Research & Ideas
Remembering Alfred Chandler
Alfred D. Chandler Jr., who died in May, defined the field of business history and shaped the way we think about the modern corporation. Harvard Business School colleagues share their thoughts on his legacy as well as their personal reminiscences. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 16 May 2005
- Research & Ideas
Confronting the Reality of Web Services
Web services have made huge strides, but two hurdles remain, one technical, the other organizational, says HBS professor Andrew P. McAfee. "It is in fact getting easier to integrate applications, but it's never going to be easy." Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 04 Apr 2005
- What Do You Think?
Can an Organization’s “Deep Smarts” Be Preserved?
When employees leave, they take more than their coat and hat. How can companies better preserve the accumulated knowledge of individuals? Isn’t that what separates average companies from truly great ones? Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 14 Feb 2005
- Research & Ideas
Desktop Search and Revenue Streams
Search is a hot topic in high tech right now, so industry experts at Cyberposium’s "Search Visionary" panel drilled down for the most promising avenues to growth. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 10 Jan 2005
- Research & Ideas
The Knowledge Coach
Make sure the knowledge gained by top employees doesn't leave with their retirement, say Dorothy Leonard and Walter Swap in their new book, Deep Smarts. One solution: Develop a knowledge transfer coach. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 30 Jun 2003
- Research & Ideas
Computer Security is For Managers, Too
Computer security isn’t just an IT headache, say HBS professor Robert D. Austin and co-author Christopher A.R. Darby. Here are eight to-do items for managers to protect their digital assets. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 30 Mar 2003
- Research & Ideas
The Future of IT Consulting
A new Harvard Business School working paper traces the evolution of IT management consulting and trends for the future. Read our e-mail interview with professor Richard Nolan and HBS Interactive Senior Vice President Larry Bennigson. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 16 Dec 2002
- Research & Ideas
Mentoring—Using the Voice of Experience
Companies crave experienced executives—so why don't they do more to make sure that wisdom is captured in the corporate DNA? Harvard Business Professor Dorothy Leonard discusses the differences between mentoring and coaching; why it can be difficult for "masters" to reach "novices" and who should be responsible for managing a corporate mentoring program. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 04 Nov 2002
- What Do You Think?
- 19 Aug 2002
- Research & Ideas
Here Comes Internet2—Time to Shed Dot Vertigo
Managers who believe the Internet is dead and gone do so at their own peril, says HBS professor Richard L. Nolan, who's studied computer use in organizations for many years. Watch out for a new kind of Internet, he says: Internet2. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 19 Nov 2001
- Research & Ideas
Wrapping Your Alliances In a World Wide Web
HBS professor Andrew McAfee researches how the Internet affects manufacturing and productivity and how business can team up to get the most out of technology. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 18 Jun 2001
- Research & Ideas
- 13 Nov 2000
- Research & Ideas
Managing to Learn: How Companies Can Turn Knowledge into Action
New ideas are important, says HBS professor David Garvin, but they're not enough: A true "learning organization" must enable every member of the organization to act in an informed way upon what's been learned before. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 23 Oct 2000
- Research & Ideas
The Strategy-Focused Organization
In the ten years since it was introduced, Robert Kaplan's and David Norton's Balanced Scorecard has become not just a measurement tool but a means of putting strategy at the center of a company's key management processes and systems. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 25 Sep 2000
- Research & Ideas
More Than the Sum of Its Parts: The Impact of Modularity on the Computer Industry
The "power of modularity," write HBS Dean Kim Clark and Professor Carliss Baldwin in their new book, rescued the computer industry from a problem of nightmarish proportions and made possible remarkable levels of innovation and growth in a relatively short period of time. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 Sep 2000
- What Do You Think?
Turning Employees Into Problem Solvers
To improve patient safety, hospitals hope their staff will use error-reporting systems. Question is, how can managers encourage employees to take the next step and ensure their constructive use? New research by Julia Adler-Milstein, Sara J. Singer, and HBS professor Michael W. Toffel. Key concepts include: Patient-safety information campaigns can help hospital staff do more than just report problems when they occur. Thanks to information campaigns, frontline workers increased the rate of suggesting constructive solutions to problems by 74 percent. The frequency increased even more when unit managers joined in problem solving. By serving as role models, managers who actively engage in problem solving can lead their frontline workers to create and share solutions. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.