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    PerformanceRemove Performance →

    New research on individual and organizational performance from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including career advancement, assessment, and improving job effectiveness.
    Page 1 of 186 Results →
    • 27 Feb 2023
    • Research & Ideas

    How One Late Employee Can Hurt Your Business: Data from 25 Million Timecards

    by Ben Rand

    Employees who clock in a few minutes late—or not at all—often dampen sales and productivity, says a study of 100,000 workers by Ananth Raman and Caleb Kwon. What can managers do to address chronic tardiness and absenteeism?

    • 01 Feb 2023
    • What Do You Think?

    Will Hybrid Work Strategies Pull Down Long-Term Performance?

    by James Heskett

    Many academics consider remote and hybrid work the future, but some business leaders are pushing back. Can colleagues working from anywhere still create the special glue that bonds teams together? asks James Heskett. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 23 Aug 2022
    • Cold Call Podcast

    Management Lessons from the Sinking of the SS El Faro

    Re: Joseph B. Fuller

    Captain Michael Davidson of the container ship SS El Faro was determined to make his planned shipping trip on time—but a hurricane was approaching his intended path. To succeed, Davidson and his fellow officers had to plot a course to avoid the storm in the face of conflicting weather reports from multiple sources and differing opinions among the officers about what to do. Over the 36-hour voyage, tensions rose as the ship got closer and closer to the storm. And there were other factors compounding the challenge. The El Faro was an old ship, about to be scrapped. Its owner, TOTE Maritime, was in the process of selecting officers to crew its new ships. Davidson and some of his officers knew the company measured a ship’s on-time arrival and factored that into performance reviews and hiring decisions. When the ship ultimately sunk on October 1, 2015, it was the deadliest American shipping disaster in decades. But who was to blame for the tragedy and what can we learn from it? Professor Joe Fuller discusses the culpability of the captain, as well as his subordinates, and what it reveals about how leaders and their teams communicate under pressure in his case, "Into the Raging Sea: Final Voyage of the SS El Faro."

    • 01 Aug 2022
    • What Do You Think?

    Does Religious Belief Affect Organizational Performance?

    Re: James L. Heskett

    Chinese firms exposed to Confucianism outperformed peers and contributed more to their communities, says a recent study. James Heskett considers whether the role of religion in management merits further research. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 22 Mar 2022
    • Cold Call Podcast

    How Etsy Found Its Purpose and Crafted a Turnaround

    Re: Ranjay Gulati

    Etsy, the online seller of handmade goods, was founded in 2005 as an alternative to companies that sold mass-manufactured products. The company grew substantially, but remained unprofitable under the leadership of two early CEOs. Ten years later, Etsy went public and was forced into a new arena, where it was beholden to stakeholders who demanded financial success and accountability. Unable to contain costs, the company was almost bought out by private equity firms in 2017—until CEO Josh Silverman arrived with a mission to save the company financially and, in the process, save its soul. Harvard Business School professor Ranjay Gulati discusses the purpose-driven turnaround Silverman and his team led at Etsy—to make the company profitable and improve its social and environmental impact—in the case, “Etsy: Crafting a Turnaround to Save the Business and Its Soul.” Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 09 Nov 2021
    • Research & Ideas

    The Simple Secret of Effective Mentoring Programs

    by Jay Fitzgerald

    The employees who need guidance most rarely seek it out. New research by Christopher Stanton sheds light on what companies stand to gain from mentorship programs that include everyone. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 22 Oct 2021
    • Research & Ideas

    Want Hybrid Work to Succeed? Trust, Don’t Track, Employees

    by Michael Blanding

    Many companies want employees back at desks, but workers want more flexibility than ever. Tsedal Neeley offers three rules for senior managers trying to forge a new hybrid path. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 13 Jul 2021
    • Cold Call Podcast

    Strategies for Underdogs: How Alibaba’s Taobao Beat eBay in China

    Re: Felix Oberholzer-Gee

    In 2007, Alibaba’s Taobao became China’s leading consumer e-commerce marketplace, displacing the once dominant eBay. How did underdog Taobao do it? And will it be able to find a way to monetize its marketplace and ensure future success? Professor Felix Oberholzer-Gee discusses his case, “Alibaba’s Taobao,” and related strategy lessons from his new book, Better, Simpler Strategy: A Value-Based Guide to Exceptional Performance. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 20 Oct 2020
    • Sharpening Your Skills

    Steps to Help You Get Out of Your Own Way

    by Sean Silverthorne

    These research-based tips will help you slow down, fight the fog, and improve both your home life and work life. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 08 Oct 2020
    • Research & Ideas

    Keep Your Weary Workers Engaged and Motivated

    by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

    Humans are motivated by four drives: acquire, bond, comprehend, and defend. Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams discuss how managers can use all four to keep employees engaged. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 29 Sep 2020
    • Cold Call Podcast

    Employee Performance vs. Company Values: A Manager’s Dilemma

    Re: Nitin Nohria

    The Cold Call podcast celebrate its five-year anniversary with a classic case study. Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria discusses the dilemma of how to treat a brilliant individual performer who can't work with colleagues. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 07 Sep 2020
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Entrepreneurs (Co-) Working in Close Proximity: Impacts on Technology Adoption and Startup Performance Outcomes

    by Maria P. Roche, Alexander Oettl, and Christian Catalini

    In one of the largest entrepreneurial co-working spaces in the United States, startups are influenced by peer startups within a distance of 20 meters. The associated advantages for learning and innovation could be lost using at-a-distance work arrangements.

    • 24 Aug 2020
    • Research & Ideas

    How Much Will Remote Work Continue After the Pandemic?

    by Kristen Senz

    A new survey suggests that at least 16 percent of employees will remain at-home workers long after COVID-19 recedes, report researchers Christopher Stanton, Zoe Cullen, and Michael Luca. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 01 Jul 2020
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Scaling Up Behavioral Science Interventions in Online Education

    by Rene F. Kizilcec, Justin Reich, Michael Yeomans, Christoph Dann, Emma Brunskill, Glenn Lopez, Selen Turkay, Joseph J. Williams, and Dustin Tingley

    Online courses can lack support structures that are often bundled with traditional higher education. Short pre-course interventions can have short-term benefits, but more innovation throughout the course is needed to have sustained impact on student success.

    • 18 May 2020
    • Working Paper Summaries

    No Line Left Behind: Assortative Matching Inside the Firm

    by Achyuta Adhvaryu, Vittorio Bassi, Anant Nyshadham, and Jorge Tamayo

    This paper studies how buyer relationships influence suppliers' internal organization of labor. The results emphasize that suppliers to the global market, when they are beholden to a small set of powerful buyers, may be driven to allocate managerial skill to service these relationships, even at the expense of productivity.

    • 03 Mar 2020
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Nominal and Opportunity Effects of Managerial Discretion

    by Wei Cai, Susanna Gallani, and Jee Eun Shin

    This study of field data from a Chinese manufacturing company explores the consequences of subjective performance evaluations leading to bonuses and penalties. Results may help practitioners improve the effectiveness of incentive systems.

    • 25 Feb 2020
    • Research & Ideas

    For Migrant Workers, Homesickness Can Reduce Productivity

    by Kristen Senz

    Workers in the global economy increasingly perform their jobs far away from home. It turns out, says Prithwiraj Choudhury, that homesickness is a significant barrier to their productivity. Here's what employers can do. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 08 Jan 2020
    • Research & Ideas

    NFL Head Coaches Are Getting Younger. What Can Organizations Learn?

    by Boris Groysberg, Evan M.S. Hecht, and Abhijit Naik

    Football team owners are hiring younger head coaches, hoping to unleash innovation and fresh thinking. How's that working out? Research by Boris Groysberg and colleagues. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 11 Dec 2019
    • Working Paper Summaries

    When to Apply?

    by Katherine Coffman, Manuela Collis, and Leena Kulkarni

    Using a series of experiments, the authors studied gender differences in how job-seekers perceive their own qualifications for different opportunities and how this affects their decision to apply. Results suggest that soft touch employer interventions can improve the diversity of applicant pools even if candidate beliefs about their own ability are unchanged.

    • 25 Nov 2019
    • Research & Ideas

    When Your Passion Works Against You

    by Dina Gerdeman

    Passion is supposed to be the secret sauce that transforms average managers into dynamic leaders. The reality is more complicated, says Jon M. Jachimowicz. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

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