Alec R. Levenson (CEO) and Tracy Faber (Pepsi/Co) share that in 2005 Frito-Lay’s senior executive team faced a challenge with their Route Sales Representatives (RSRs). The company was achieving sales and profitability targets. But high turnover and low productivity among the RSRs had made the task of meeting those targets progressively harder over time.
Research and Insights Archive
Research and Insights from the Center for Effective Organizations
Available Content
Human Capital Management: What are Boards Doing?
Edward E. Lawler III (CEO) states that one of, if not the most important asset of today’s corporations is their human capital. CEO’s and board chairs recognize this and frequently make statements that say people are our companies’ most important asset.
Management Consultants as Professionals, or are They?
Larry Greiner (USC) and Ilse Ennsfellner (Ennsfellner Consulting) share their concern and critical conclusion about the questionable knowledge and skills of today’s consultants.
Extra-Role Behaviors Among Temporary Workers: How Firms Create Relational Wealth
Elizabeth George (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology), Alec R. Levenson (CEO), David Finegold (Rutgers University), and Prithviraj Chattopadhyay (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) examine temporary workers’ differential extra-role behaviors (ERBs) towards their client and employer.
Talent: Making People Your Competitive Advantage
Organizations can gain a powerful competitive advantage by tapping into their talent and learning how to effectively organize and lead it. But, according to Professor Edward Lawler in Talent: Making People Your Competitive Advantage, although many organizations acknowledge the importance of people, most do little or nothing to make them a source of competitive advantage.
Creating American Businesses that Can Compete Globally
James O’Toole (CEO) and Edward E. Lawler III (CEO) argue that American companies increasingly outsource and offshore jobs, cut employee benefits, substitute contingent or contract workers for regular or permanent employees, eliminate traditional career paths, and reduce expenditures on training.
Built for Talent
Edward E. Lawler III (CEO) shares that survey after survey has found that executives believe finding and developing the right talent should be one of their top priorities and that their company’s human resources are one of their most important assets.
Beyond HR: The New Science of Human Capital
Beyond HR (John W. Boudreau and Peter M. Ramstad (Harvard Business School Press, 2007)) shows how organizations can uncover distinctive talent contributions, strategically differentiate their HR practices and metrics, and more optimally allocate talent to create value.
What if – Organizations Were Built for Talent?
Edward E. Lawler III (CEO) explains that for at least the last decade, it’s been hard to pick up a business book, article, or corporate annual report without seeing statements that stress the importance of human capital— people.
Measuring and Maximizing the Business Impact of Executive Coaching
This article by Alec R. Levenson (CEO) addresses the conceptual and methodological issues involved in measuring the business impact of executive coaching.
Crafting a Path Toward Mastery: Turning a Personal Leadership Development Plan into Something
Morgan W. McCall, Jr. (USC) attempts to describe an alternative approach to creating a personal plan for developing leadership ability.
Developing the Expert Leader
In this article, Morgan W. McCall, Jr. (USC) and George P. Hollenbeck (Hollenbeck and Associates) look at leadership through the lens of expertise and relate the findings of a wide range of research on experts, expertise, and expert performance to how we think about leaders and leadership development.
