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New research on organizational design from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including resolving workplace issues, HR, and culture.
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How Teams Work: Lessons from the Pandemic

by Kristen Senz

How will COVID-19 change collaboration? Leslie Perlow and Ashley Whillans explore the tactics that helped and hindered newly remote teams in 2020. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Steer Clear of the Blind Spots That Derail Experiments

by Danielle Kost

Companies are testing everything from website features to compensation strategies, but five common mistakes can undermine their efforts, says Michael Luca. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Stock Price Reactions to ESG News: The Role of ESG Ratings and Disagreement

by George Serafeim and Aaron Yoon

Company performance evaluations have included sell-side analyst forecasts, recommendations, and credit ratings, but a newer set has emerged: environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings. This study finds that ESG ratings are useful for predicting future ESG news, but their predictive ability diminishes for firms with large disagreement between raters.

Measuring Employment Impact: Applications and Cases

by Katie Panella and George Serafeim

Employment impact-weighted accounting statements quantify the positive and negative effects of firm practices for employees and the broader labor community. This analysis of companies in different sectors shows how these statements are beneficial both at an aggregate and more specific level.

COVID-19 Shines New Light on Working Conditions in Supply Chains

by Danielle Kost

Michael Toffel discusses how the coronavirus pandemic has renewed concerns about how suppliers treat employees, and how a new online resource can help. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Auditor Independence and Outsourcing: Aligning Incentives to Mitigate Shilling and Shirking

by Ashley Palmarozzo, Jodi L. Short, and Michael W. Toffel

Firms use external auditors to monitor the quality of difficult-to-observe aspects of their business partners’ performance, including the working conditions of their suppliers. Firms can improve monitoring accuracy by having their own employees conduct some audits, and by rotating across third-party auditing firms.

Fostering Authenticity and Employee Engagement at John Deere

As the first Black female factory manager to lead a John Deere plant, Rosalind Fox must figure out how to build relationships with her staff, who are mostly white men. Harvard Business School senior lecturer Tony Mayo discusses the pressure on Fox to assimilate into the dominant culture, her decision to lean into her authentic self, and the deep connection between employee engagement and authenticity in his case, “Rosalind Fox at John Deere.” Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

To Fight Climate Change, Should Green Investors Reconsider Big Oil?

by Kristen Senz

Sustainability funds eschew some of the biggest backers of green technology: oil companies. Research by Lauren Cohen offers reasons to re-evaluate the role of traditional energy companies in addressing climate change. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

How 'Small C' Change Can Beat Large-Scale Rebuilding

by Boris Groysberg, Sascha L. Schmidt, and Sebastian Flegr

Many business leaders are convinced that large-scale change is necessary to bounce back from difficult times. But a professional soccer team's surprise success shows that smaller measures can work better, write Boris Groysberg and colleagues. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Dove: Maintaining a Brand with Purpose

Unilever’s Dove soap became a brand with purpose when it launched the “Campaign for Real Beauty” to combat media-driven stereotypes of female beauty. Can Dove maintain both its market position and social impact in the future? Senior Lecturer, Mark Kramer discusses his case, “Dove and Real Beauty: Building a Brand with Purpose.” Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Cut Payroll Costs with Transparency, Fairness, and Compassion

by Boris Groysberg and Sarah Abbott

As cost-cutting continues across the turbulent economy, companies are challenged to be creative when managing their human capital, say Boris Groysberg and Sarah Abbott. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Accounting for Product Impact in the Consumer Finance Industry

by George Serafeim and Katie Trinh

A framework and method for measuring and monetizing product impact across industries, applying it to two competitors in the consumer finance space.

Long-Run Returns to Impact Investing in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies

by Shawn Cole, Martin Melecky, Florian Mölders, and Tristan Reed

Examination of every equity investment made by the International Finance Corporation, one of the largest and longest-operating impact investors, shows this portfolio has outperformed the S&P 500 by 15 percent.

Growing a Manufacturing Company with a Social Mission

Nehemiah Manufacturing turned a social mission of hiring convicted felons into a competitive advantage. In this podcast, Michael Chu discusses the challenges and opportunities of combining profit with social impact. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Are CEOs the Wrong Leaders for Stakeholder Capitalism?

by James Heskett

SUMMING UP: Who bears responsibility for fostering "stakeholder capitalism" to better serve societal goals? Directors? Shareholders? CEOs? Employees? Readers offer their own views to James Heskett. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Collaborating During Coronavirus: The Impact of COVID-19 on the Nature of Work

by Evan DeFilippis, Stephen Michael Impink, Madison Singell, Jeffrey T. Polzer, and Raffaella Sadun

This study of 16 cities is the first large-scale analysis of how digital communication patterns have changed in the early stages of the pandemic. The overall pattern of more meetings and more emails points to a spillover of virtual communication beyond normal working hours.

What Jobs Are Being Done at Home During the COVID-19 Crisis? Evidence from Firm-Level Surveys

by Alexander Bartik, Zoë Cullen, Edward L. Glaeser, Michael Luca, and Christopher Stanton

At least 16 percent of American workers will switch from office-based settings to working at home at least two days per week after COVID-19 subsides. This has significant implications for companies, employees, and policymakers alike.

Market Investors Pay More for Resilient Companies

by Kristen Senz

During a market collapse, investors will pay up for companies considered resilient in their response, according to George Serafeim. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Capitalism Is More at Risk Than Ever

by Martha Lagace

Almost a decade after writing Capitalism at Risk, Joseph Bower, Herman Leonard, and Lynn Paine argue that not enough companies are stepping up to fix big global problems. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Iterative Coordination and Innovation

by Sourobh Ghosh and Andy Wu

Do Agile methodologies promote innovation? Results of a field experiment with Google show that increasing the frequency and goal orientation of stand-up meetings reinforces integration and value but reduces specialization and novelty in outcomes.