532 Posts found for Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge

A CEO… should be tracking and managing by the numbers—the nonfinancial numbers. By the time financial results turn downward, it is far too late to act. Financial numbers measure the past and lead to “rearview mirror management.”

The numbers that predict the future are the Four Rs-employee retention and referrals, returns to labor (productivity), and relationships with customers (exhibited by loyalty and ownership behaviors such as … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: James L. Heskett | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Measurement

Do women shy away from competition and thus hurt their careers? New research by Harvard’s Kathleen L. McGinn, Iris Bohnet, and Pinar Fletcher suggests the answer is not black and white, and that employers need to understand the “genderness” of their work.

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

Business schools are teaching ethics and corporate social responsibility, but they do not teach these subjects in the context of building a higher-ambition or a high commitment, high performance firm. Students learn about finance and organizational behavior, for example, without ever learning how to integrate these and many other disciplines (marketing, operations, etc.) into a coherent, internally consistent set of practices that collectively reinforce a … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Michael Beer | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Integrity, MBA Related

In their new book, The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work, authors Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer discuss how even seemingly small steps forward on a project can make huge differences in employees’ emotional and intellectual well-being. Amabile talks about the main findings of the book. Plus: book excerpt.

Content: Article | Authors: Carmen Nobel, Teresa M. Amabile | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Organizational Behavior

As global competition intensifies, it’s more important than ever that companies figure out how to innovate if they are going to maintain their edge, or maintain their existence at all. Six Harvard Business School faculty share insights on the best ways to develop creative workers.

Content: Article | Author: Michael Blanding | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Innovation

In their new book, The Innovator’s DNA, authors Jeff Dyer, Hal Gergersen, and Clayton M. Christensen build on the idea of disruptive innovation to explain how and why the Steve Jobses and Jeff Bezoses of the world are so successful. This excerpt from Chapter One summarizes the five discovery skills that distinguish innovative entrepreneurs and executives from run-of-the-mill managers.

Content: Article | Author: Clayton M. Christensen | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Innovation

“Show me a company or nonprofit or government in trouble, and I will almost invariably show you a set of leaders who are asking absolutely the wrong questions,” says professor Robert Steven Kaplan. He discusses his new book, What to Ask the Person in the Mirror. Plus: book excerpt.

Content: Article | Authors: Carmen Nobel, Robert Steven Kaplan | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Leadership

Asking the question, whom do you serve? is a powerful vector on which to build a useful typology of leadership. Modesto Maidique offers a six-level Purpose-Driven Model of Leadership ranging from Sociopath to Transcendent.

Content: Article | Author: Modesto Maidique | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Leadership

In his new book, Flying without a Net: Turn Fear of Change into Fuel for Success, HBS professor Thomas J. DeLong explores the world of “high-need-for-achievement professionals” or HNAPs—those for whom the constant, insatiable need to achieve can lead to anxiety and dysfunction. Plus: book excerpt.

Content: Article | Authors: Kim Girard, Thomas J. DeLong | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Career, Organizational Behavior, Personal Development

While corporate board members take their jobs more seriously than ever, they are not necessarily as helpful or effective as they could be, says HBS senior lecturer Stephen Kaufman. He recently sat down with HBS Working Knowledge to discuss what he considers to be the biggest practical issues facing boards today.

Content: Article | Authors: Carmen Nobel, Stephen Kaufman | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Corporate Governance

A CEO’s schedule is especially important to a firm’s financial success, which raises a few questions: What do they do all day? Can they be more efficient time managers? HBS professor Raffaella Sadun and colleagues set out to find some answers.

Content: Article | Authors: Michael Blanding, Raffaella Sadun | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Corporate Governance

In the course of making a decision, managers often err in one of two directions—either overanalyzing a situation or forgoing all the relevant information and simply going with their gut. HBS marketing professor Michael I. Norton discusses the potential pitfalls of thinking too much or thinking too little.

Content: Article | Authors: Carmen Nobel, Michael I. Norton | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Personal Development

In a new study, HBS professors Francesca Gino and Joshua D. Margolis look at two ways that companies can encourage ethical behavior: the promotion of good deeds or the prevention of bad deeds. It turns out that employees tend to act more ethically when focused on what not to do. That can be problematic in firms where success is commonly framed in terms of advancement … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Carmen Nobel, Francesca Gino, Joshua D. Margolis | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Ethics

About 95 percent of new products fail. The problem often is that their creators are using an ineffective market segmentation mechanism, according to HBS professor Clayton Christensen. It’s time for companies to look at products the way customers do: as a way to get a job done.

Content: Article | Authors: Carmen Nobel, Clayton M. Christensen | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Marketing / Sales

Striking the right balance between good management and good leadership is a daunting but necessary challenge for anyone endeavoring to be a good boss. In Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader, Harvard Business School professor Linda A. Hill and former executive Kent Lineback discuss the steps to take and the roadblocks to avoid in order to meet that challenge. Q&A … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Kent L. Lineback, Linda A. Hill | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Career, Management

Employees not connected directly to profit and loss can suffer from a collective “I-am-not-strategic” identity crisis. Professor Ranjay Gulati suggests that business managers allow so-called support function employees to become catalysts for change.

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

Business leaders can’t develop and execute effective strategy without first gathering the right information, says Harvard Business School professor Robert Simons. In his new book, Seven Strategy Questions: A Simple Approach for Better Execution, Simons explains how managers can identify holes in their planning processes and make smart choices. Here’s an excerpt outlining the seven questions every manager should ask.

Content: Article | Author: Robert Simons | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Management, Strategy

In some respects, developing strategy is the easy part. Executing that strategy in alignment with strategic priorities is where real mastery of management takes place. Harvard Business School senior lecturer Frank V. Cespedes shows how it is done.

Content: Article | Authors: Frank V. Cespedes, Sean Silverthorne | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: Management, Strategy

A pioneer in the field of market design, Harvard Business School professor Alvin E. Roth has helped to repair flawed market systems in fields ranging from kidney donation to high-school student placement. Key concepts include:
* Successful marketplaces must be “thick, uncongested, and safe.”
* Sufficient “thickness” means there are enough participants in the market to make it thrive.
* “Congestion” is what can happen … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Alvin E. Roth, Carmen Nobel | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subject: Economics

What determines whether decisions happen on the bottom, middle, or top rung of the corporate ladder? New research finds that the answer often lies in the technology that a company deploys.

Content: Article | Authors: Carmen Nobel, Raffaella Sadun | Source: Harvard Business School (HBS) Working Knowledge | Subjects: IT / Technology / E-Business, Organizational Behavior