Organizational Culture →
- 01 Jun 2016
- What Do You Think?
When Business Performance Falters, is Culture Change the Fix?
SUMMING UP: Culture change is not a cure-all for corporate management problems, but it is an important element to be considered, say James Heskett's readers. What do YOU think? Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 16 Feb 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Diversity and Team Performance in a Kenyan Organization
A key question in organizations is whether there is an optimal balance between diversity and sameness within teams of workers. Findings from a field experiment within a nonprofit research organization based in Kenya suggest much of the tradeoff between diversity and sameness may come from the different effects diversity has along different dimensions of organizational structure. Diversity along the organization’s hierarchy improves both effort and performance.
- 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.
- 11 Jan 2016
- Research & Ideas
Is Group Loyalty a Force for Good or Evil?
Many organizations try to foster employee loyalty, but at a risk. Angus Hildreth, Francesca Gino, and Max Bazerman discover when group loyalty fosters ethical behavior—and when it fosters corruption. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 04 Nov 2015
- What Do You Think?
Why Does Gender Diversity Improve Financial Performance?
SUMMING UP Why does having more women in leadership positions make for more successful companies? James Heskett's readers offer a variety of theories. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 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.
- 22 Mar 2013
- Research & Ideas
Pulling Campbell’s Out of the Soup
Campbell Soup had lost its way when Douglas Conant took charge in 2001. His first task: get out of his quiet zone and apply bold measures. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 25 Oct 2012
- Research & Ideas
Developing the Global Leader
The shift from a country-centric company to one more global in its outlook will have a radical impact on leadership development, says Professor of Management Practice William George. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 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; 0 Comments.
- 14 Nov 2011
- Working Paper Summaries
The Impact of Corporate Sustainability on Organizational Process and Performance
Robert G. Eccles, Ioannis Ioannou, and George Serafeim compared a matched sample of 180 companies, 90 of which they classify as High Sustainability firms and 90 as Low Sustainability firms, in order to examine issues of governance, culture, and performance. Findings for an 18-year period show that High Sustainability firms dramatically outperformed the Low Sustainability ones in terms of both stock market and accounting measures. However, the results suggest that this outperformance occurs only in the long term. Managers and investors who are hoping to gain a competitive advantage in the short term are unlikely to succeed by embedding sustainability in their organization's strategy. Overall, the authors argue that High Sustainability company policies reflect the underlying culture of the organization, where environmental and social performance, in addition to financial performance, are important, but these policies also forge a strong culture by making explicit the values and beliefs that underlie the mission of the organization. Key concepts include: Organizations voluntarily adopting environmental and social policies represent a fundamentally distinct type of modern corporation, characterized by a governance structure that takes into account the environmental and social performance of the company, in addition to financial performance, a long-term approach towards maximizing inter-temporal profits, and an active stakeholder management process. Societal concern about sustainability, at both the level of the firm and society as a whole, has been growing from almost nothing in the early 1990s to rapidly increasing awareness in the early 2000s, to being a dominant theme today. The High Sustainability firms in this study pay attention to their relationships with stakeholders—such as employees, customers, and NGOs representing civil society—through active processes of engagement. The Low Sustainability firms, by contrast, correspond to the traditional model of corporate profit maximization in which social and environmental issues are predominantly regarded as externalities created by firm actions which only need to be addressed if required to do so by law and regulation. The group of firms with a strong sustainability culture is significantly more likely to assign responsibility to its board of directors for sustainability and to form a separate board committee for sustainability. Moreover, High Sustainability companies are more likely to make executive compensation a function of environmental, social, and external perception (e.g., customer satisfaction) metrics. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 14 Nov 2011
- Research & Ideas
Creating a Global Business Code
In the wake of corporate scandals, many companies are looking more closely at how to manage business conduct worldwide. Professors Rohit Deshpandé, Lynn S. Paine, and Joshua D. Margolis evaluate standards of corporate conduct around the world. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 28 Sep 2011
- Research & Ideas
The Profit Power of Corporate Culture
In the new book The Culture Cycle, Professor Emeritus James L. Heskett demonstrates that developing the right corporate culture helps companies be more profitable and provides sustainable competitive advantage. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 24 Jan 2011
- HBS Case
Terror at the Taj
Under terrorist attack, employees of the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower bravely stayed at their posts to help guests. A look at the hotel's customer-centered culture and value system. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 22 Nov 2010
- Research & Ideas
Seven Strategy Questions: A Simple Approach for Better Execution
Successful business strategy lies not in having all the right answers, but rather in asking the right questions, says Harvard Business School professor Robert Simons. In an excerpt from his book Seven Strategy Questions, Simons explains how managers can make smarter choices. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 02 Jun 2010
- What Do You Think?
How Do You Weigh Strategy, Execution, and Culture in an Organization’s Success?
Summing up: Respondents who ventured to place weights on the determinants of success gave the nod to culture by a wide margin, says HBS professor Jim Heskett. (Online forum now closed. Next forum opens July 2.) Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 24 Aug 2009
- Research & Ideas
SuperCorp: Values as Guidance System
In her new book SuperCorp, professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter details how vanguard companies such as IBM, Cemex, and Omron are rewriting the nature of the business enterprise and how firms will gain sustainable prosperity in the 21st century. Read our excerpt. Key concepts include: Grounding strategy in a sense of wider societal purpose provides many significant advantages and only a few potential disadvantages. Vanguard companies gain both a moral compass and an entire guidance system. To be strategic, a principles-based initiative must contribute to the fundamental way the company makes money, with customers and clients in mind. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 10 Aug 2009
- Research & Ideas
High Commitment, High Performance Management
High commitment, high performance organizations such as Southwest Airlines, Johnson & Johnson, McKinsey, and Toyota effectively manage three paradoxical goals, says HBS professor Michael Beer. His new book explains what all companies can learn. Q&A Key concepts include: High commitment, high performance (HCHP) firms carry out performance alignment, psychological alignment, and the capacity for learning and change. HCHP transformations are a unit-by-unit process. HCHP firms allow employees to speak to power in honest, collective, and public conversations. Leaders must make conscious, principled choices. Leaders develop an institution that cares about people while understanding the importance of profits. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 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; 0 Comments.
- 29 Jun 2009
- Sharpening Your Skills
Sharpening Your Skills: Leading Change
Nothing like a global recession to test your change-management skills. We dig deep into the Working Knowledge vault to learn about building a business in a down economy, motivating the troops, and other current topics. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
Motivating Effort in Contributing to Public Goods Inside Organizations: Field Experimental Evidence
Results of this experiment involving 1,200 employees shows that workers have multiple underlying motivations to contribute to organizational betterment, consisting of a combination of monetary and altruistic incentives associated with the organization’s mission.