3590 Posts Found

People businesses are the fastest growing sector in developed economies. This report focuses on four areas of people businesses that are markedly different from traditional businesses: performance measures, operations, compensation, and strategies. A managers’ ability to measure the productivity of employees, as well as to enhance it operationally, reward it appropriately, and transform it strategically is central to building sustained competitive advantage. It can’t be … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Felix Barber, Phil Catchings, Yves Morieux | Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

Never give people unsolicited advice. If they want your opinion, they’ll ask for it. And only those who ask for it and pay for it will value it.

Content: Quotation | Source: bly.com | Subject: Communication

It seems that if the task is tough, Americans take charge. If the talk is tough, we take cover.

Content: Quotation | Source: Across the Board (ATB) | Subjects: International, Organizational Behavior

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Creativity involves evolving something new from the present ideas and perspectives. It requires seeing and conceptualizing things from newer, unexplored perspectives. Fostering an atmosphere of creativity at the workplace requires implementation of unconventional rules and practices. Creativity is ubiquitous but hidden. In such a scenario, application of uncommon practices helps uncover cutting edge ideas and perspectives. The paper examines these issues and discusses the management … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Robert I. Sutton | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Innovation, Organizational Behavior

In many instances, a company’s efforts to find its identity and articulate it are based on a belief in a single monolithic corporate identity. Our research leads to a different view-namely that organizations have multiple identities. In fact we have delineated five kinds of identity, which can be examined in a framework termed the AC2ID TestTM (ACCID), namely the actual, communicated, conceived, ideal, and desired … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: John M T Balmer, Stephen A. Greyser | Source: Bradford School of Management | Subject: Organizational Behavior

Tthe barriers [to the adoption of a radical new technology within an organization] are both cognitive — ‘We know this won’t work, and we doubt that it will ever make money even if it does’ — and incentive related: ‘You won’t pay me for trying to learn.’ Because cognitive frames and incentives are tightly intertwined in an organization, any attempt to change one must be … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Change Management, Organizational Behavior

AI identifies an organization’s successful qualities, and then connects visions, plans, and structures to this positive foundation to heighten energy and inspire action for change. Appreciative Inquiry Handbook explains in-depth what AI is and how it works, and includes stories of AI interventions and classic articles, sample project plans, interview guidelines, participant worksheets, a list of resources, a glossary of terms, and more.

Content: Book | Authors: David L. Cooperrider, Diana Whitney, Jacqueline M. Stavros | Subjects: Change Management, Organizational Behavior

Our experience has shown that the integration agenda with respect to people and culture requires two distinct areas of focus to address the “invisible” drivers of behavior.
– The first involves managing the initial emotional response, the state of mind, of the acquired personnel by making them feel welcome, valued and certain about their future. How they feel then determines their level of engagement with, and … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: Strategy& | Subject: Organizational Behavior

The clash between principles and pragmatism is one of the hardest tests of a leader’s character. Of course we want our leaders to be both principled and pragmatic. Principles alone qualify men and women to be preachers or saints. Pure pragmatists can open their tool kits and get down to work, but their amorality makes them dangerous. As many leaders know, sometimes the worst conflict … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Ethics, Values

People tend to overvalue advice when the problem they’re addressing is hard and to undervalue it when the problem is easy.

Another advice-related bias I’ve found compels people to overvalue advice that they pay for.

Content: Quotation | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Decision Making, Thought

A key challenge for today’s companies – and for the individuals within them – is to build a culture of action, says Jeffrey Pfeffer. He describes some of the common obstacles that can get in the way of knowing what needs to be done, and actually doing it.

Editor’s Note: this is one article of the entire Fall 2003 issue in this .pdf file – find … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Jeffrey Pfeffer | Source: Rotman Magazine | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

A fundamental question examined in the management arena is not only the factors that may lead people to make clearly illegal decisions, but more so the dilemma faced by individuals when confronted with legal but irresponsible or illegal but responsible behaviors. Under those conditions, what should one do? What will influence what behavior the manager chooses?

Content: Quotation | Source: Graziadio Business Report | Subjects: Ethics, Legal

Based on a ten-year examination of control systems in over 50 U.S. businesses, this book broadens the definition of control and establishes a critical bridge between the disciplines of strategy and accounting and control. In addition to the more traditional diagnostic control systems, Simons identifies three new control systems that allow strategic change: belief systems that communicate core values and provide inspiration and direction, boundary … [ Read more ]

Content: Book | Author: Robert Simons | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

The modern organization is a destabilizer. It must be organized for innovation and innovation, as the great Austro-American economist Joseph Schumpeter said, is “creative destruction.” And it must be organized for the systematic abandonment of whatever is established, customary, familiar, and comfortable, whether that is a product, service, or process; a set of skills; human and social relationships; or the organization itself. In short, it … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Business Rules, Organizational Behavior

For knowledge workers, How do I perform? may be an even more important question than What are my strengths?

Like one’s strengths, how one performs is unique. It is a matter of personality. Whether personality be a matter of nature or nurture, it surely is formed long before a person goes to work. And how a person performs is a given, just as what a person … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

In understanding the distinction between socially intelligent and politically intelligent leaders, it’s important to realize that they share certain skills. Both types of leaders are adept at sizing up other people. Both possess keen, discriminating eyes–but they notice different things. For instance, socially intelligent leaders assess people’s strengths and figure out how to leverage them, while politically intelligent leaders focus on people’s weaknesses and insecurities.

Not … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Leadership, Organizational Behavior

Confronting doubt involves coming to terms with differences in values. How does one choose between two valued objectives: safety versus liberty, scientific discovery versus the sanctity of human life, individuals versus groups? Sometimes we overcome doubt with faith, sometimes we privilege one set of values over another. And sometimes we just live with the burden of making choices when there are no easy answers.

Content: Quotation | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Decision Making, Values

In a new book, Stanford professors Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton assail popular yet shaky-maybe even harmful-management practices. Our excerpt starts with a hot trend: benchmarking.

Content: Article | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

According to analysis conducted by a Harvard University-led research team, it is entirely possible that you are biased-and that you don’t even know it.

Such hidden biases can be disastrous for the employees who suffer as a result of them; they also can damage businesses by leading managers and employees to make flawed business decisions in a number of areas, including hiring, promotion, training opportunities and … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Pamela Babcock | Source: HR Magazine | Subjects: Human Resources, Organizational Behavior