Research News
Human Resources
Financial Incentives Can Create Bad Employee Behavior
Financial incentives, including commissions, should be used only to recognize good employee performance. They can backfire if used to try to influence behavior, says Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer.
New Take on Affirmative Action
Individuals who oppose affirmative action may do so because they’re more worried about disadvantaging their group than about benefiting a minority group, says researcher Brian Lowery who is developing a new take on affirmative action. (January 2008)
Mimicking Produces Better Negotiated Outcomes
Subtly imitating mannerisms, gestures, etc. of the other partner during a negotiation can lead to greater success for both parties in a negotiation according to recent research co-authored by Elizabeth Mullen.
Is Chest Beating as Good for People as It Is for Primates?
Social hierarchies and dominance displays have a valuable place in negotiating cooperation, status, and paths to power, according to Lara Tiedens, associate professor of organizational behavior. One bit of advice: Look big and stare the other guy right in the eye. (March 2007)
Founders' Values Help Shape Gender Mix in High-Tech
Women often have been underrepresented in the young, fast-growing firms that dot Silicon Valley. A study of high-tech startups identifies factors that can predict how hospitable firms are to women and challenges the common assumption that access for women is uniformly low across technology firms.
The Key to a Successful Merger of Cultures? Look at Employee Demographics
Although it may not get a lot of lip service, the reason most mergers succeed is
that employees of the new firm coalesce into a united whole. It sounds harsh,
but Professor Glenn Carroll and his co-author say the best thing for employees
who won't or can't fit the new mold may be to encourage them to leave. (October
2006) [Details]
Diverse Backgrounds and Personalities Can Strengthen Groups
Groups with diverse functional expertise, education, or personality can
increase performance by enhancing creativity or group problem-solving. In
contrast, more visible diversity, such as race, gender, or age, can have
negative effects unless it's managed properly, says Margaret Neale. (August
2006) [Details]
Let Them Eat Cake: How Thoughts of Death Affect Consumer Behavior
How do people behave when faced with a threat to their mortality?
According to research by Associate Professor Baba Shiv, there are dramatic
changes ranging from increased church attendance to serious overeating. The
reaction depends heavily on our self-image. (September 2005) [Details]
Untested Assumptions May Have a Big Effect
Many managers assume certain things in the business world. Working to uncover
exactly what leaders' assumptions are and then testing them to be sure they're
true may be the most important step in human resource management, says Professor
Jeffrey Pfeffer. (June 2005) [Details]
Racial
Stereotypes Can Be Unconscious but Reversible
Racial stereotypes can creep into the subconscious without warning, coloring
decisions even by people who disavow any type of prejudice. (August 2004) [Details]
When First Impressions Flop: The Power of Getting a Second
Chance
Many people can overcome a bad first impression if they're given a
second chance. But, says professor Jerker Denrell, human nature and
many corporate environments make it very hard to get that second
chance. (June 2004) [Details]
When the CEO Leaves, Do Others Follow?
The departure of the CEO doesn't necessarily mean the entire top
management is in jeopardy, says Prof. Paul Oyer. What really matters
when top corporate leadership changes is how much the CEO and the
top-level executive have invested in their relationship. (February
2004) [Details]
MBA Graduates Want to Work for Caring and Ethical Employers
A survey of more than 800 MBAs from 11 leading North American and European
schools found a substantial number were willing to forgo some financial
benefits to work for an organization with a better reputation for
corporate social responsibility and ethics. (January 2004) [Details]
Newcomers Improve Group Performance
When newcomers join a group, their presence can cause stress and even
present problems for older group members who ally with them, but Professor
Margaret Neale says the pain is worth the gain. (October 2003) [Details]
Workers
Fear Cooperating in Virtual Teams May Make Them Obsolete
Virtual teams, fostered by today's information technology, may extract
an unexpected price: People who add their hard-won knowledge to a common
pool may become alienated from the organization and even fear that they
are sowing the seeds for their own replacement. (October 2003) [Details]
Too Much Management Can Block Innovation
Commonly used management processes can stifle creativity, writes Professor
Jeffrey Pfeffer. Practices as widely accepted as annual performance
reviews and goal setting can actually work against innovation and change.
(September 2003) [Details]
Good Outcomes for Negotiating About Problems
Too often the study of negotiations has focused on splitting up the goods and
ignored trying to deal with the bads. Professor Margaret Neale argues that
finding win-win ways to deal with problems can be extremely rewarding. (2003) [Details]
Negotiation Strategy: Six Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Whether it's selling a house or agreeing on a contract with a supplier,
negotiators can fall into traps that keep them from making the best deal
possible or walk away and leave resources on the table. Professor Margaret Neale
outlines some of the common shortcomings negotiators need to be aware of. (2001) [Details]
Success of Women Employees Depends Largely on Decisions by Founder
A six-year study of high-tech startups in Silicon Valley identifies factors that
can predict how hospitable firms are to women and challenges the common
assumption that access for women is uniformly low across technology firms.
(May 2001) [Details]
How Do White Males Fare in the Heterogeneous Workplace?
As greater numbers of women, ethnic minorities, and other
"nontraditional" employees join the workforce, the increasing
heterogeneity of employee groups has had a greater negative effect on
white males than on nonwhites or women, researchers say.
(2001) [Details]
The Knowing-Doing Gap
Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton, Harvard
Business School Press, January, 2000
"Did you ever wonder why so much education and training, management
consultation, organizational research and so many books and articles produce
so few changes in actual management practice?" ask Stanford Business
School Professors Pfeffer and Sutton. "We wondered, too, and so we
embarked on a quest to explore one of the great mysteries in organizational
management: why knowledge of what needs to be done frequently fails to
result in action or behavior consistent with that knowledge." The
authors describe the most common obstacles to action—such as fear and
inertia—and profile successful companies that overcome them. (November
1999) [Details]
Diversity and Work Group Performance
A little employee conflict can be a good thing. Having employees from
diverse organizational backgrounds or those with informational diversity
can stir constructive conflict around the task at hand. Professor Margaret
Neale says this is the type of conflict absolutely should be engendered in
organizations. (November 1999) [Details]
Education is the Key to Closing the Income Gap
Economist Paul Romer argues that education-with a focus on supplying
better-educated labor—is the key to undoing income inequality between the
wealthy and the poor.
(March 1999) [Details]
Why Managers Won't Let Go
Giving people more responsibility for making decisions in their jobs can
boost morale and have good economic effects for a firm. Yet many American
managers refuse to delegate responsibility. (September 1997) [Details]