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- 15 May 2015
- Research & Ideas
Kids Benefit From Having a Working Mom
Women whose moms worked outside the home are more likely to have jobs themselves, are more likely to hold supervisory responsibility at those jobs, and earn higher wages than women whose mothers stayed home full time, according to research by Kathleen McGinn and colleagues. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 17 Feb 2015
- HBS Case
HBS Cases: The Battle for San Francisco
In San Francisco, tech companies are hoping to make the world a better place—but the fabric of the city is changing in the process. A new case by Clayton Rose explores this clash of cultures, and the role of business in promoting the right balance. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 10 Sep 2014
- Research & Ideas
Become a Value Creator
Managers who adopt a mindset to create value hold the key to becoming truly successful leaders, says Brian Hall. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 16 Dec 2013
- HBS Case
D’O: Making a Michelin-Starred Restaurant Affordable
Under the leadership of Chef Davide Oldani, the Italian restaurant D'O balances Michelin-star-level quality with affordable prices. In the following story and video, Professor Gary Pisano explains how Oldani does it. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 09 Dec 2013
- Research & Ideas
Cultural Disharmony Undermines Workplace Creativity
Managing cultural friction not only creates a more harmonious workplace, says professor Roy Y.J. Chua, but ensures that you reap the creative benefits of multiculturalism at its best. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 02 Jan 2013
- What Do You Think?
Should We Rethink the Promise of Teams?
Summing Up: Teams that are properly structured and managed can support innovative thinking that depends on contributions from both extroverts and introverts, according to Professor Jim Heskett's readers. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 17 Dec 2012
- Research & Ideas
Teaming in the Twenty-First Century
Today's teams are not well designed for getting work done in the twenty-first century, argues Professor Amy C. Edmondson. One starting point: learn the skill of "teaming." 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.
- 02 Jul 2012
- Research & Ideas
Why Good Deeds Invite Bad Publicity
Many executives assume that investments in corporate social responsibility create public goodwill. But do they? Felix Oberholzer-Gee and colleagues find surprising results when it comes to oil spills. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 25 Jun 2012
- Research & Ideas
Collaborating Across Cultures
Learning to collaborate creatively with people from other cultures is a vital skill in today's business environment, says professor Roy Y.J. Chua, whose research focuses on a key measure psychologists have dubbed "cultural metacognition." Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 18 Jun 2012
- Research & Ideas
Better by the Bunch: Evaluating Job Candidates in Groups
The key to avoiding gender stereotyping in the hiring process lies in evaluating job candidates as a group, rather than one at a time. So says new research by Iris Bohnet, Alexandra van Geen, and Max H. Bazerman. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 25 Apr 2012
- Research & Ideas
The Importance of Teaming
Managers need to stop thinking of teams as static groups of individuals who have ample time to practice interacting successfully and efficiently, says Amy Edmondson in her new book, Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate, and Compete in the Knowledge Economy. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 16 Apr 2012
- Research & Ideas
The Inner Workings of Corporate Headquarters
Analyzing the e-mails of some 30,000 workers, Professor Toby E. Stuart and colleague Adam M. Kleinbaum dissected the communication networks of HQ staffers at a large, multidivisional company to get a better understanding of what a corporate headquarters does, and why it does it. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 11 Apr 2012
- Research & Ideas
The High Risks of Short-Term Management
A new study looks at the risks for companies and investors who are attracted to short-term results. Research by Harvard Business School's Francois Brochet, Maria Loumioti, and George Serafeim. 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.
- 06 Dec 2010
- Sharpening Your Skills
Sharpening Your Skills: Doing Business in Emerging Markets
Going global is one thing, targeting emerging economies quite another. In this collection from our archives, HBS faculty discuss strategy development, government relations, exploiting local opportunities, and risk management when dealing in emerging economies. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 01 Nov 2010
- Research & Ideas
How IT Shapes Top-Down and Bottom-Up Decision Making
What determines whether decisions happen on the bottom, middle, or top rung of the corporate ladder? New research from professor Raffaella Sadun finds that the answer often lies in the technology that a company deploys. Key concepts include: Enterprise Resource Planning software is a decentralizing technology: It provides information that enables lower-level managers to make more decisions without consulting their superiors. By the same token, Computer-Assisted Design and Computer-Assisted Manufacturing software creates a situation in which the plant worker needs less access to superiors in order to make a decision. The better the data network, the easier it is for workers to lean on superiors and rely on them to make decisions. It's also easier for executives to micromanage and keep all the decisions in the corporate office. Trust is also a key factor in determining whether decisions are centralized at headquarters or decentralized at the local level. Research finds that the average level of trust of a multinational's home country tends to influence the level of decentralization in that company. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 18 Oct 2010
- Lessons from the Classroom
Venture Capital’s Disconnect with Clean Tech
Clean-tech start-ups depend on patience and public policy to thrive—the Internet models for VC funding don't apply. That's why Harvard Business School professor Joseph Lassiter is making an unusual recommendation to his entrepreneurship students: Spend a few years serving time in a government job. Key concepts include: MBA students and young venture capitalists often assume that all promising start-ups can grow and exit as fast as Internet start-ups, but they're mistaken. Clean-tech start-ups are often stymied by a "valley of death"—that precarious stage between researching and developing a product and going to market. The success of clean-tech companies often is dependent on public policy, so it behooves budding VCs and entrepreneurs to spend a few years learning the ropes in a government or corporate job. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 04 Oct 2010
- Research & Ideas
Introverts: The Best Leaders for Proactive Employees
Think effective leadership requires gregariousness and charisma? Think again. Introverts can actually be better leaders than extraverts, especially when their employees are naturally proactive, according to Francesca Gino. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
Materiality in Corporate Governance: The Statement of Significant Audiences and Materiality
Contrary to common belief, a board’s duty is to the interests of the corporation itself rather than the particular audience of shareholders. While the board can choose to deem shareholders as the only significant audience, it does not have to do so. The board must decide which audiences are most significant for the ability of the corporation to create value over the short, medium, and long term. Then it can lay the foundation for improved corporate reporting.