3605 Posts Found

This third edition of the classic resource, Productive Workplaces is smart, well-written and well-researched, thoughtful, somewhat provocative, and a one-of-a-kind review of the integration of economics, technology, and people. It covers such topics as: the work on self as integral to organizational change; the revision of Lewinian concepts for a new era; and the history behind “getting everybody improving whole systems” as a response to … [ Read more ]

Content: Book | Author: Marvin R. Weisbord | Subjects: Leadership, Management, Organizational Behavior

They probably don’t know how they’re performing. Feedback and recognition are among the lowest rated workplace elements.

Content: Article | Author: Steve Crabtree | Source: Gallup Management Journal | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

Everyone comes to the table with some amount of “altruistic capital,” a stock of intrinsic desire to serve, says professor Nava Ashraf. Her research includes a study of what best motivates hairdressers in Zambia to provide HIV/AIDS education in their salons.

Content: Article | Author: Carmen Nobel | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Organizational Behavior

The most dangerous thing is not having the wrong answer, it is asking the wrong question.

Content: Quotation | Author: Peter F. Drucker | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: Decision Making, Trends / Analysis

Losing out on a promotion is tough, and being passed over for a high-level position in favor of another candidate — either external or internal — can be a deal breaker for even the most loyal company soldiers. According to experts at Wharton and elsewhere, keeping employees happy after they fail to get a promotion is an important part of protecting a company’s most important … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: Knowledge@Wharton | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Organizational Behavior

When loyalty conflicts with honesty, when fairness conflicts with pragmatism, or when social responsibility conflicts with obligation to shareholders, people become conflicted. And when their actions are inconsistent with their values, they either experience guilt, anger and embarrassment. People try to minimize such cognitive dissonance by rationalizing or even denying their behavior, discounting the consequences of it or simply blaming others.

Content: Quotation | Authors: Gerard H. Seijts, Jeffrey Gandz, Mary Crossan | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: Organizational Behavior, Personality / Behavior, Values

Micro-innovation is the Holy Grail of modern management. Micro-innovation (incremental improvement) that is driven by employees is the secret to transforming the customer experience, accelerating revenue growth, and reducing costs.

Yet, the level of employee engagement required for micro-innovation remains one of the most elusive outcomes in modern organizational life. Research shows in aggregate that employee engagement continues a 25-year decline.

In our real-time economy, the most … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: John Bernard | Source: ChangeThis | Subjects: Innovation, Management, Organizational Behavior

The vast majority of participants in Hay Group’s recent global Best Companies for Leadership survey indicated that their organizations have become flatter and more matrixed. Individuals may be assigned to work on different project teams and report to multiple managers. The advantages can be huge — new innovations, increased sharing of information and better capacity to solve complex problems. And yet the more … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Rick Lash | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: Innovation, Organizational Behavior

Why has the development of collaborative leadership skills lagged the evolution of organizational structures? Organizations usually get the kind of behaviour they reward, and they have historically rewarded achievement-oriented leaders who drive short-term results. As a result, companies have ended up with leaders who excel at the achievement orientation, teamwork and organizational awareness competencies that are associated with strong functional leadership.

The problem is that … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Rick Lash | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: Leadership, Management, Organizational Behavior

We play host to an imaginary gathering of experts who share their real-life thoughts on how to brainstorm better–or whether to brainstorm at all.

Content: Article | Author: Anya Kamenetz | Source: Fast Company | Subjects: Innovation, Organizational Behavior

Women hold only 14 percent of the board seats at S&P 1500 companies. Why is that, and what—if anything—should business leaders and policymakers do about the gender disparity? Research by Professor Boris Groysberg and colleagues shows that male and female board members have very different takes on the issue.

Content: Article | Author: Carmen Nobel | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Women in Business

Large corporations are outsourcing a wider variety of components and services, relying on smaller supplier firms. Large corporations are also placing greater decision-making responsibility on individual units within the firm, flattening the traditional hierarchical pyramid. The academic literature has begun to address these transformations. In the 21st century, we expect to see an increase in the importance of this subject, with more attention … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: David Conklin, Larry Tapp | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior, Strategy

[Restructuring] allows senior management to cover up ineffective management activities by changing the structure of the company and to then terminate a group of employees without fear of wrongful dismissal lawsuits. This practice allows a company to cover up shortcomings and ultimately, unfairly, to pin the tails on the wrong donkeys.

Content: Quotation | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Reorganization

The nineteenth – and twentieth – century character-building models were limited because they shared one assumption: that Step 1 in the decision-making process – the act of perception – is a relatively simple matter of taking in a scene. The real action involved the calculation about what to do and the willpower necessary to actually do it. […] The first step is actually the most … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: David Brooks | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subject: Decision Making

The influential business author and CEO explains why the practice of enlightened self-governance gives companies an edge.

Content: Thought Leader | Authors: Art Kleiner, Dov Seidman | Source: strategy+business | Subjects: Ethics, Leadership, Management, Organizational Behavior

In Reading the Room, renowned systems psychologist and family therapist David Kantor applies his theory of structural dynamics to help leaders and coaches understand and improve communication within their teams. He helps readers understand how and why they and their teams communicate differently when faced with low-stakes or high-stakes situations, and he provides a framework to help improve leadership behavior in high-stakes situations.

Acknowledging that early … [ Read more ]

Content: Book | Author: David Kantor | Subjects: Leadership, Management, Organizational Behavior

In order to clear a path for greater advancement and parity, we need to address the difficult paradoxes that women leaders continue to face — these are the mixed messages and uncomfortable realities that complicate an arguably positive picture of progress.

Content: Article | Authors: Jill Flynn, Kathryn Heath, Mary Davis Holt | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subject: Women in Business

Whatever civility might be, it has to do with courtesy, politeness and good manners… Courtesy, politeness, manners and civility are all, in essence, forms of awareness. Being civil means being constantly aware of others and weaving restraint, respect and consideration into the very fabric of this awareness… Through civility we develop thoughtfulness, foster effective self-expression and communication, and widen the range of our benign responses. … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: Decision Making, Organizational Behavior, Personal Development

In every organization of any size, work must be segmented and people hired who have specialized knowledge of one part of the organization and its work. As a result, all organizations consist of disparate groups with often-conflicting needs, goals, and priorities. In spite of their differences, however, these groups depend on each other. No group can work in isolation. What makes this combination of differences … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Kent L. Lineback, Linda A. Hill | Source: Ivey Business Journal | Subjects: Leadership, Management, Organizational Behavior

Even the sanest of companies can unintentionally put themselves in a straitjacket that makes it hard for them to create high-potential new growth opportunities. Here’s how leaders unintentionally limit their innovation efforts.

Content: Article | Author: Scott Anthony | Source: Harvard Business Review | Subjects: Innovation, Organizational Behavior