Leslie A. Perlow
Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership
Leslie Perlow is the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership in the Organizational Behavior area at the Harvard Business School. She currently teaches Authentic Leadership Development in the MBA program and runs a doctoral seminar on the craft of qualitative inductive research. She recently published a new book, Sleeping with your Smartphone: How to Break the 24-7 Habit and Change the Way you Work.
Professor Perlow’s research focuses on the micro-dynamics of work. She seeks to understand what really happens at work – i.e., what do people do all day, how do they spend their time, with whom do they interact – and with what consequences for organizations and individuals. She documents individuals’ work practices and explores the implications of these practices for organization productivity, individuals’ careers and family life. Through her work, she identifies ways organizations can change their practices to the benefit of both the organization’s productivity and the individuals’ personal lives. She also engages with organizations trying to make these changes and studies the change process itself.
Professor Perlow is trained as an ethnographer, which means she spends long periods of time observing people as they go about their daily work, trying to better understand their world, from their perspectives. Her field studies range from software engineers in high tech companies to entrepreneurial ventures to management consulting teams to project teams in a pharmaceutical company.
Before joining the Harvard faculty, Professor Perlow was on the faculty of the University of Michigan Business School. She received her B.A. in Economics from Princeton University and her Ph.D. in Organization Studies from MIT. Prior to her academic career, she worked as a management consultant.
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Book
| 2012
Sleeping with Your Smartphone: How to Break the 24-7 Habit and Change the Way you Work
Leslie A. Perlow
Does it have to be this way? Can't resist checking your smartphone or mobile device? Sure, all this connectivity keeps you in touch with your team and the office—but at what cost? In "Sleeping with Your Smartphone," Leslie Perlow reveals how you can disconnect and become more productive in the process. In fact, she shows that you can devote more time to your personal life and accomplish more at work. The good news is that this doesn't require a grand organizational makeover or buy-in from the CEO. All it takes is collaboration between you and your team—working together and making small, doable changes. What started as an experiment with a six-person team at The Boston Consulting Group—one of the world's elite management consulting firms—triggered a global initiative that eventually spanned more than 900 BCG teams in 30 countries across five continents. These teams confronted their nonstop workweeks and changed the way they worked, becoming more efficient and effective. The result? Employees were more satisfied with their work-life balance and with their work in general. And the firm was better able to recruit and retain employees. Clients also benefited—often in unexpected ways. In this engaging book, Perlow takes you inside BCG to witness the challenges and benefits of disconnecting. She provides a step-by-step guide to introducing change on your team—by establishing a collective goal, encouraging open dialogue, ensuring leadership support—and then spreading change to the rest of your firm. If you and your colleagues are grappling with the "always on" problem, it's time to disconnect—and start reading.
Keywords: Time Management;
Online Technology;
Groups and Teams;
Performance Productivity;
Globalized Firms and Management;
Service Industry;
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Book
| 2003
When You Say Yes But Mean No: How Silencing Conflict Wrecks Relationships and Companies
Leslie Perlow
Keywords: Conflict and Resolution;
Relationships;
Business Ventures;
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Book
| 1997
Finding Time: How Corporations, Individuals and Families Can Benefit from New Work Practices
Leslie Perlow
Keywords: Time Management;
Working Conditions;
Work-Life Balance;
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Article
| Harvard Business Review
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Making Time Off Predictable—and Required
Leslie Perlow and Jessica L. Porter
People in professional services believe a 24/7 work ethic is essential for getting ahead—and so they work 60-plus hours a week and stay tethered to their BlackBerrys. This perpetuates a vicious cycle: Responsiveness breeds the need for more responsiveness. When people are always "on," responsiveness becomes ingrained in the way they work, expected by clients and partners, and even institutionalized in performance metrics. There is no impetus to question whether the work actually requires 24/7 responsiveness; on the contrary, people work harder and longer, without stopping to explore how they could work better. But four years of research conducted by the authors in several North American offices of the Boston Consulting Group suggests that consultants and other professionals can provide the highest standards of service and still have planned, uninterrupted time off. They can do this even in times of recession. In this article, Perlow and Porter outline the lessons from BCG's implementation of predictable time off—namely, impose a strict mechanism for taking days and nights off, encourage lots of talk about what's working and what isn't, promote experimentation with different ways of working, and insist on top-level support.
Keywords: Management Practices and Processes;
Performance Expectations;
Performance Productivity;
Work-Life Balance;
Service Industry;
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Journal Article
| Research in Organizational Behavior
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The Dynamics of Silencing Conflict
Leslie Perlow and Nelson Repenning
In many organizations, when people perceive a difference with another they often do not fully express themselves. Despite creating innumerable problems, silencing conflict is a persistent phenomenon. While the antecedents of acts of silence are well documented, little is known about why norms of silencing conflict evolve. To explore this evolution, we draw on an ethnographic study that spanned the entire life of a dot.com, starting with its founding and ending with its sale to a larger company. Distilling our data using causal loop diagrams, we document the processes through which acts of silence became self-reinforcing. The dynamic model of silencing conflict induced from our data has implications not only for norm development, but also for a variety of other domains including network analysis, autonomous actor models, diversity and demography, and change management.
Keywords: Interpersonal Communication;
Management Style;
Conflict Management;
Societal Protocols;
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Article
| Organization Science
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Contextualizing Patterns of Work Group Interaction: Toward a Nested Theory of Structuration.
Leslie Perlow, Jody Hoffer Gittell and Nancy R. Katz
Keywords: Groups and Teams;
Relationships;
Theory;
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Article
| Harvard Business Review
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Is Silence Killing Your Company?
Leslie Perlow and Stephanie Williams
Keywords: Business Ventures;
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Article
| Academy of Management Journal
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The Speed Trap: Exploring the Relationship between Decision Making and the Temporal Context
Leslie Perlow, Gerardo Okhuyson and Nelson Repenning
Keywords: Decision Making;
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Article
| Journal of Organizational Behavior
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Who's Helping Whom: A Comparison of Helping Behavior among American and Indian Software Engineers
Leslie Perlow and John Weeks
Keywords: Software;
Engineering;
Behavior;
United States;
India;
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Article
| Organization Science
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Time to Change: Temporal Shifts As Enablers of Organizational Change
Nancy Staudenmayer, Marcie Tyre and Leslie Perlow
Keywords: Change;
Organizations;
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Article
| Work and Occupations
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Time to Coordinate: Toward an Understanding of Work-Time Standards and Norms in a Multi-Country Study of Software Engineers
Leslie Perlow
Keywords: Software;
Engineering;
Citation: Perlow, Leslie. "Time to Coordinate: Toward an Understanding of Work-Time Standards and Norms in a Multi-Country Study of Software Engineers." Work and Occupations 28, no. 1 (February 2001).
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Article
| Academy of Management Review
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Time-out: Taking Time to Integrate Temporal Research
Deborah Ancona, Gerardo Okhuyson and Leslie Perlow
Keywords: Research;
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Article
| Administrative Science Quarterly
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The Time Famine: Towards a Sociology of Work Time
Leslie Perlow
Keywords: Time Management;
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Article
| Administrative Science Quarterly
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Boundary Control: The Social Ordering of Work and Family Time in a High-Tech Corporation
Leslie Perlow
Keywords: Family and Family Relationships;
Technology;
Business Ventures;
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Article
| Group & Organization Management
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Putting the Work Back into Work/Family
Leslie Perlow
Keywords: Work-Life Balance;
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Chapter
| Research Alive: Exploring Generative Moments in Doing Qualitative Research
| 2011
Collaborative Implementation: 'What If,' Asked George?
Leslie Perlow
Keywords: Social and Collaborative Networks;
Cooperation;
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Chapter
| Qualitative Organizational Research: Best Papers from the Davis Conference on Qualitative Research
| 2005
Learning from Women Who Make It Work: A Call for Dynamic Flexibility
Spela Trefalt and Leslie Perlow
Keywords: Gender Characteristics;
Citation: Trefalt, Spela, and Leslie Perlow. "Learning from Women Who Make It Work: A Call for Dynamic Flexibility." In Qualitative Organizational Research: Best Papers from the Davis Conference on Qualitative Research, edited by K. Elsbach, 227–251. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing (IAP), 2005.
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Chapter
| Gaining Access: A Practical Guide for Field Researchers
| 2003
Studying Work Groups in India, China, and Hungary
Leslie Perlow
Keywords: Groups and Teams;
Working Conditions;
Citation: Perlow, Leslie. "Studying Work Groups in India, China, and Hungary." In Gaining Access: A Practical Guide for Field Researchers, edited by Martha S. Feldman, Jeannine Bell, and Michele Tracy Berger. Altamira Press, 2003.
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Chapter
| Between Technology and Society: Technical Workers in Modern Workplaces
| 1997
The Senseless Submergence of Difference: Engineers, Their Work and Their Careers
Leslie Perlow and L. Bailyn
Keywords: Personal Development and Career;
Working Conditions;
Engineering;
Citation: Perlow, Leslie, and L. Bailyn. "The Senseless Submergence of Difference: Engineers, Their Work and Their Careers." In Between Technology and Society: Technical Workers in Modern Workplaces, edited by B. Barley, and J. Orr. Ithaca, NY: IRL Press, 1997.
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Supplement
| HBS Case Collection
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2010
(Revised from original 2010 version)
George Martin at The Boston Consulting Group (C)
Leslie A. Perlow and Kerry Herman
George Martin, managing partner at The Boston Consulting Group, is worried as some of his best performers have recently pulled him aside to discuss the challenges they face managing the demands of their work lives with their desire for more predictable time with their families. BCG had instituted multiple initiatives to help its consulting staff better achieve work-life balance, yet some of Martin's top consultants still struggled. The case considers the challenges professional service firm employees face in terms of work-life issues.
Keywords: Work-Life Balance;
Problems and Challenges;
Employees;
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Case
| HBS Case Collection
|
2010
George Martin at The Boston Consulting Group (A)
Leslie A. Perlow and Kerry Herman
George Martin, managing partner at The Boston Consulting Group, is worried as some of his best performers have recently pulled him aside to discuss the challenges they face managing the demands of their work lives with their desire for more predictable time with their families. BCG had instituted multiple initiatives to help its consulting staff better achieve work-life balance, yet some of Martin's top consultants still struggled. The case considers the challenges professional service firm employees face in terms of work-life issues.
Keywords: Problems and Challenges;
Work-Life Balance;
Management Teams;
Interpersonal Communication;
Jobs and Positions;
Employees;
Consulting Industry;
Boston;
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Supplement
| HBS Case Collection
|
2010
George Martin at The Boston Consulting Group (B)
Leslie A. Perlow and Kerry Herman
George Martin, managing partner at The Boston Consulting Group, is worried as some of his best performers have recently pulled him aside to discuss the challenges they face managing the demands of their work lives with their desire for more predictable time with their families. BCG had instituted multiple initiatives to help its consulting staff better achieve work-life balance, yet some of Martin's top consultants still struggled. The case considers the challenges professional service firm employees face in terms of work-life issues.
Keywords: Employees;
Work-Life Balance;
Problems and Challenges;
Consulting Industry;
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Case
| HBS Case Collection
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2005
(Revised from original 2005 version)
Coach K: A Matter of the Heart
Scott A. Snook, Leslie A. Perlow and Brian DeLacey
Successful college basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski faces the decision whether to accept a lucrative offer to coach a professional basketball team or continue to coach at Duke University. Provides a context for discussing various styles of power, influence, and persuasion in the context of his coaching career.
Keywords: Power and Influence;
Strategic Planning;
Decisions;
Personal Development and Career;
Interpersonal Communication;
Management Teams;
Goals and Objectives;
Decision Choices and Conditions;
Sports Industry;
North Carolina;
Citation: Snook, Scott A., Leslie A. Perlow, and Brian DeLacey. " Coach K: A Matter of the Heart." Harvard Business School Case 406-044, December 2005. (Revised from original August 2005 version.)
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Case
| HBS Case Collection
|
2005
(Revised from original 2005 version)
Coach Knight: The Will to Win
Scott A. Snook, Leslie A. Perlow and Brian DeLacey
Successful college basketball coach Bob Knight was fired from his long-time role as basketball coach at Indiana University and hired in the same role at Texas Tech. Considers these events in the context of his long career and provides a context for discussing various styles of power, influence, and persuasion in his leadership role as coach and educator.
Keywords: Resignation and Termination;
Selection and Staffing;
Leadership Style;
Situation or Environment;
Power and Influence;
Sports;
Indiana;
Texas;
Citation: Snook, Scott A., Leslie A. Perlow, and Brian DeLacey. " Coach Knight: The Will to Win." Harvard Business School Case 406-043, December 2005. (Revised from original August 2005 version.)
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Case
| HBS Case Collection
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2004
(Revised from original 2004 version)
Pat Anderson
Leslie A. Perlow and Daisy Wademan
Patten Bank's pending sale jeopardizes Pat Anderson's prospect of receiving an expected year-end bonus. What to do now? This problem follows several earlier conflicts that Anderson has confronted during the past four-and-one-half years spent working as an analyst and later as an associate for the bank. Teaching Purpose: To look at power in confronting conflict.
Keywords: Change Management;
Organizational Culture;
Organizational Change and Adaptation;
Conflict Management;
Power and Influence;
Executive Compensation;
Banking Industry;
Financial Services Industry;
United States;
Citation: Perlow, Leslie A., and Daisy Wademan. " Pat Anderson." Harvard Business School Case 405-033, October 2004. (Revised from original September 2004 version.)
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Case
| HBS Case Collection
|
2004
(Revised from original 2003 version)
Cat is out of the Bag, The: KANA and the Layoff Gone Awry (A)
Leslie A. Perlow and David Ager
Vicki Amon-Higa, vice president of KANA, a publicly traded, midsize development company, was working with Bryan Kettle, KANA's CFO, to plan a layoff in which KANA would reduce the size of its workforce by nearly 40%. Despite the best of intentions, news of the layoff leaked before the planned announcement. The situation quickly deteriorated as a series of irate managers called Amon-Higa, demanding to know why they weren't aware of the layoff and asking her how to handle the situation. She must quickly assess the situation, figure out what went wrong, and decide how to manage each of the company's stakeholders, including Chuck Bay, KANA's CEO.
Keywords: Crisis Management;
Employees;
Job Cuts and Outsourcing;
Problems and Challenges;
Business and Stakeholder Relations;
Conflict Management;
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Compilation
|
2004
(Revised from original 2003 version)
Time Distribution and Interaction Patterns for PEARL Project Team: Work Patterns at Ditto (D)
Leslie A. Perlow
Provides data to enable students to analyze how software engineers spend their time. A rewritten version of an earlier case.
Keywords: Product Development;
Time Management;
Work-Life Balance;
Information Technology Industry;
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Compilation
|
2004
(Revised from original 2003 version)
PEARL Project, The: Work Patterns at Ditto (A)
Leslie A. Perlow
Describes life on a product development team, the behaviors that are rewarded, and the difficult tradeoffs members often have to make as a result. This is a rewritten version of an earlier case.
Keywords: Product Development;
Time Management;
Groups and Teams;
Work-Life Balance;
Motivation and Incentives;
Information Technology Industry;
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Compilation
|
2004
(Revised from original 2003 version)
Laura Barr: Work Patterns at Ditto (B)
Leslie A. Perlow
According to her managers, Laura is an "ideal female employee." Depicts her life and provides a log of how she spends her time. This is a rewritten version of an earlier case.
Keywords: Time Management;
Work-Life Balance;
Gender Characteristics;
Information Technology Industry;
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Compilation
|
2004
(Revised from original 2003 version)
Max Green: Work Patterns at Ditto (C)
Leslie A. Perlow
According to his managers, Max, a software engineer on a product development team, is an organizational superstar. Describes his life and provides a log of how Max spends his time. A rewritten version of an earlier case.
Keywords: Product Development;
Time Management;
Groups and Teams;
Work-Life Balance;
Information Technology Industry;
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Case
| HBS Case Collection
|
2004
New HP, The: The Clean Room and Beyond
Leslie A. Perlow and Elizabeth Kind
When the $19 billion merger of Silicon Valley legend Hewlett-Packard and Houston-based PC giant Compaq Computer Corp. legally closed on May 3, 2002, both companies had already devoted an immense amount of time preparing for the challenges that lay ahead. Chief among these challenges was avoiding the culture clashes that often accompany large mergers. This issue was particularly relevant given the very different cultures of HP and Compaq. This case provides an inside view of the integration planning process undertaken to create "The New HP," highlighting the work of the integration office, known as "the cleanroom," and the human resources team of HP vicepresident Jackie Kane. Also describes the dilemma facing one division manager, Rich Marcello, who struggled with the implications of a clean room decision.
Keywords: Horizontal Integration;
Management Teams;
Management Style;
Problems and Challenges;
Employees;
Organizational Culture;
Computer Industry;
San Francisco;
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Teaching Note
| HBS Case Collection
|
2003
(Revised from original 2003 version)
Work Patterns at Ditto (TN) (A), (B), (C), and (D)
Leslie A. Perlow
Teaching Note to (9-404-055), (9-404-056), (9-404-057), and (9-404-058).
Keywords: Product Development;
Behavior;
Decision Choices and Conditions;
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Teaching Note
| HBS Case Collection
|
2003
(Revised from original 2003 version)
Versity.com (TN)
Leslie A. Perlow
Teaching Note to (9-403-132), (9-403-133), and (9-403-134).
Citation: Perlow, Leslie A. " Versity.com (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 404-061, October 2003. (Revised from original September 2003 version.)
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Supplement
| HBS Case Collection
|
2003
(Revised from original 2002 version)
Anne F. Baird
Leslie A. Perlow and Thomas J. DeLong
Presents profiles written by six members of the HBS Class of 1976 from the 10th and 20th reunions. The six alumni represent a cross section of the class of 1976 and provide a snapshot of life at the time of the reunions.
Keywords: Personal Development and Career;
Citation: Perlow, Leslie A., and Thomas J. DeLong. " Anne F. Baird." Harvard Business School Supplement 403-086, October 2003. (Revised from original November 2002 version.)
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Case
| HBS Case Collection
|
2003
(Revised from original 2003 version)
Versity.com
Leslie A. Perlow
Versity.com has grown from four college students working out of a dorm to a $125 million venture capital-backed company. The young founders and new professional managers struggle to create a company vision and grapple with the question of whether to acquire another company. Provides an overview of the company's evolution, followed by a behind-the-scenes look at what the young founder, Howie Cohen, and also the new professional CEO, Peter Jacobs, are thinking about the company's direction and each other.
Keywords: Business Startups;
Growth and Development;
Organizational Design;
Mission and Purpose;
Strategic Planning;
Conflict and Resolution;
Mergers and Acquisitions;
Management Teams;
Core Relationships;
Citation: Perlow, Leslie A. " Versity.com." Harvard Business School Case 403-132, October 2003. (Revised from original February 2003 version.)
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Case
| HBS Case Collection
|
2003
(Revised from original 2003 version)
Peter Jacobs at Versity.com
Leslie A. Perlow
Peter Jacobs is Versity.com's new professional CEO. This case provides a behind-the-scenes look at his thoughts and feelings about the company's evolution as he takes charge and tries to establish a new direction for the company.
Keywords: Perspective;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Planning;
Leadership;
Management Teams;
Citation: Perlow, Leslie A. " Peter Jacobs at Versity.com." Harvard Business School Case 403-133, October 2003. (Revised from original February 2003 version.)
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Teaching Note
| HBS Case Collection
|
2003
(Revised from original 2003 version)
Cat is out of the Bag, The: Kana and the Layoff Gone Awry (TN) (A), (B), and (C)
Leslie A. Perlow and David Ager
Teaching Note for (9-403-117), (9-403-118), and (9-403-119).
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Case
| HBS Case Collection
|
2003
(Revised from original 2003 version)
Cat is out of the Bag, The: KANA and the Layoff Gone Awry (B)
Leslie A. Perlow and David Ager
Supplements the (A) case.
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Case
| HBS Case Collection
|
2003
(Revised from original 2003 version)
Cat is out of the Bag, The: KANA and the Layoff Gone Awry (C)
Leslie A. Perlow and David Ager
Supplements the (A) case.
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Module Note
|
2003
Managing the Competing Goals of Work and Life
Leslie A. Perlow
Outlines how instructors can facilitate discussion within the Managing the Competing Goals of Work and Life module to encourage students to begin a process of self-assessment that focuses on personal values, career development needs, and workplace culture.
Keywords: Working Conditions;
Goals and Objectives;
Organizational Culture;
Work-Life Balance;
Value;
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Case
| HBS Case Collection
|
2003
(Revised from original 2003 version)
Howie Cohen at Versity.com
Leslie A. Perlow
Howie Cohen is Versity.com's founder. This case provides a behind-the-scenes look at his thoughts and feelings about his company's evolution as they expand across the country and bring in a professional management team.
Keywords: Leadership;
Citation: Perlow, Leslie A. " Howie Cohen at Versity.com." Harvard Business School Case 403-134, September 2003. (Revised from original February 2003 version.)
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Teaching Note
| HBS Case Collection
|
2003
Profiles of the Class of 1976 (TN)
Leslie A. Perlow
Teaching Note for (9-403-087), (2-403-081), (2-403-086), (2-403-084), (2-403-085), (2-403-082), and (2-403-083).
Keywords: Organizations;
Behavior;
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Class Lecture
| 2003
The Danger of Silencing Conflict at Work
Leslie Perlow
Keywords: Conflict Management;
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Supplement
| HBS Case Collection
|
2002
Linda Fay Harris
Leslie A. Perlow and Thomas J. DeLong
Presents profiles written by six members of the HBS Class of 1976 from the 10th and 20th reunions. The six alumni represent a cross section of the class of 1976 and provide a snapshot of life at the time of the reunions.
Keywords: Personal Development and Career;
Citation: Perlow, Leslie A., and Thomas J. DeLong. " Linda Fay Harris." Harvard Business School Supplement 403-081, November 2002.
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Supplement
| HBS Case Collection
|
2002
Samuel Allston
Leslie A. Perlow and Thomas J. DeLong
Presents profiles written by six members of the HBS Class of 1976 from the 10th and 20th reunions. The six alumni represent a cross section of the class of 1976 and provide a snapshot of life at the time of the reunions.
Keywords: Personal Development and Career;
Citation: Perlow, Leslie A., and Thomas J. DeLong. " Samuel Allston." Harvard Business School Supplement 403-082, November 2002.
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Supplement
| HBS Case Collection
|
2002
Patricia Hughes Mason
Leslie A. Perlow and Thomas J. DeLong
Presents profiles written by six members of the HBS Class of 1976 from the 10th and 20th reunions. The six alumni represent a cross section of the class of 1976 and provide a snapshot of life at the time of the reunions.
Keywords: Personal Development and Career;
Citation: Perlow, Leslie A., and Thomas J. DeLong. " Patricia Hughes Mason." Harvard Business School Supplement 403-083, November 2002.
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Supplement
| HBS Case Collection
|
2002
Matthew J. Martin
Leslie A. Perlow and Thomas J. DeLong
Presents profiles written by six members of the HBS Class of 1976 from the 10th and 20th reunions. The six alumni represent a cross section of the class of 1976 and provide a snapshot of life at the time of the reunions.
Keywords: Personal Development and Career;
Citation: Perlow, Leslie A., and Thomas J. DeLong. " Matthew J. Martin." Harvard Business School Supplement 403-084, November 2002.
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Supplement
| HBS Case Collection
|
2002
Richard Oliva
Leslie A. Perlow and Thomas J. DeLong
Presents profiles written by six members of the HBS Class of 1976 from the 10th and 20th reunions. The six alumni represent a cross section of the class of 1976 and provide a snapshot of life at the time of the reunions.
Keywords: Personal Development and Career;
Citation: Perlow, Leslie A., and Thomas J. DeLong. " Richard Oliva." Harvard Business School Supplement 403-085, November 2002.
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Case
| HBS Case Collection
|
2002
Profiles of the Class of 1976
Leslie A. Perlow and Thomas J. DeLong
Presents profiles written by six members of the HBS Class of 1976 from the 10th and 20th reunions. The six alumni represent a cross section of the class of 1976 and provide a snapshot of life at the time of the reunions.
Keywords: Personal Development and Career;
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