A. Mohrman, Jr. and S. Mohrman discuss how the systems and practices that organizations use to manage performance are integrally related to the capacity of the organization to accomplish its business objectives and of its employees to accomplish their purposes.
Working Papers
Research and Insights from the Center for Effective Organizations
Available Content
Human Resources Management: New Consulting Opportunities
E. Lawler and S. Mohrman explain that the future of HR consulting is inseparable from the future of the HR function in organizations. There is little doubt in our minds that the ways in which the HR function is managed, positioned and operates in corporations today will change dramatically over the next decade and that these changes will affect HR consulting.
HR As a Strategic Partner: What Does it Take to Make it Happen?
E. Lawler and S. Mohrman share that a number of articles, books and studies have argued that HR needs to become a strategic partner. But is HR becoming a strategic partner?
Performance Management: What Works?
E. Lawler and M. McDermott argue that establishing an effective performance management system is a major challenge for most organizations. It has been a key topic in the human resources management literature for decades
Virtual Teams that Work: A Framework for Virtual Team Effectiveness
Susan G. Cohen and Cristina B. Gibson share how virtual teams can be either dramatic successes or dismal failures (or anywhere in between). Virtual teams amplify both the benefits and the costs of teamwork.
Best Practices for Virtual Team Effectiveness
Cristina B. Gibson and Susan G. Cohen discuss best practices for virtual-team leaders, members, and facilitators.
Organizing to Deliver Solutions
Jay R. Galbraith discusses how many companies today are adopting strategies to package products and services into solutions. However, several well-managed companies are experiencing difficulty in transitioning from stand-alone product offerings to solutions.
Minding Your Metaphors: Applying the Concept of Teamwork Metaphors to the Management of Teams in Multicultural Contexts
Cristina B. Gibson and Mary E. Zellmer-Bruhn state that managers who struggle with implementing teams across cultures can use metaphor as a tool to unlock teaming expectations and guide teaming practice.
Work/Life Balance: Wisdom or Whining
Edy Greenblatt shares how President George W. Bush, a home-based pharmaceutical sales representative, and a Club Med flying trapeze instructor have at least one thing in common. For each, the ability to manage the work/life balance demands on themselves and their key employees’ is a strategic imperative.
Designing the Knowledge Enterprise: Beyond Programs and Tools
S. Mohrman, D. Finegold, and J. Klein find that how effectively firms generate, leverage, and apply knowledge is a function of four work behaviors: focusing on system performance rather than on narrow technical outcomes; following systematic processes; sharing knowledge, and trying new approaches.
Complex Collaborations in the New Global Economy
Susan G. Cohen and Don Mankin state that traditional forms of collaboration — between individuals and within teams — are not sufficient for competing effectively in the new, demanding global business environment.
Leveraging Adversity for Strategic Advantage
A. Levenson shares how in 2000-01 companies were hit hard by a number of economic shocks, including industry-specific cycles, the stock market collapse, and national recession.