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• Working Paper | 2020

  Workplace Knowledge Flows

  Christopher Stanton, Jason Sandvik, Richard Saouma and Nathan Seegert

  What prevents the spread of information among coworkers, and which management practices facilitate workplace knowledge flows? We conducted a field experiment in a sales company, addressing these questions with three active treatments. (1) Encouraging workers to talk about their sales techniques with a randomly chosen partner during short meetings substantially lifted average sales revenue during and after the experiment. The largest gains occurred for those matched with high-performing coworkers. (2) Worker-pairs given incentives to increase joint output increased sales during the experiment but not afterward. (3) Worker-pairs given both treatments had little improvement above the meetings treatment alone. Managerial interventions providing structured opportunities for workers to initiate conversations with peers resulted in knowledge exchange; incentives based on joint output gains were neither necessary nor sufficient for knowledge transmission.

  Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Knowledge Sharing; Employees; Performance Productivity; Sales; Motivation and Incentives;

  Citation:

  Stanton, Christopher, Jason Sandvik, Richard Saouma, and Nathan Seegert. "Workplace Knowledge Flows." Working Paper, January 2020.  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | April 2019 (Revised December 2019)

  Clear Link Technologies, LLC: Driving Sales with Peer Learning (A)

  Christopher Stanton, Richard Saouma and Olivia Hull

  Facing threats to its growth, digital marketing and sales company Clear Link Technologies, LLC (Clearlink) decides to run a field experiment to test strategies for improving sales productivity. Designed in collaboration with a team of academic researchers, the study compares the efficacy of two interventions: incentives and management-directed peer learning. In addition to providing an introduction to the call center industry and an overview of some of the cultural factors that make experimentation challenging in a business organization, the case also provides basic information about experimental design. Instructors may use the case to introduce students to fundamental concepts such as control, randomization, statistical power, and minimum detectable effect size. Students will consider best practices for experimental design, build skills for analyzing experimental findings, and explore strategies for implementation.

  Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Interactive Communication; Experience and Expertise; Decision Making; Training; Design; Compensation and Benefits; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Sharing; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Measurement and Metrics; Outcome or Result; Performance; Performance Improvement; Research; Sales; Salesforce Management; Motivation and Incentives; Telecommunications Industry; Utah; United States;

  Citation:

  Stanton, Christopher, Richard Saouma, and Olivia Hull. "Clear Link Technologies, LLC: Driving Sales with Peer Learning (A)." Harvard Business School Case 819-072, April 2019. (Revised December 2019.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | December 2019

  Forecasting ClimaCell

  Joshua Lev Krieger, Christopher Stanton and James Barnett

  A weather technology startup, ClimaCell considers the R＆D trade-offs and financing implications of pursuing a proposed contract with a major automobile maker, rather than continuing its focus on building a scalable, all-purpose weather prediction engine.

  Keywords: Weather and Climate Change; Forecasting and Prediction; Technological Innovation; Research and Development; Finance; Cost vs Benefits; Decision Making;

  Citation:

  Krieger, Joshua Lev, Christopher Stanton, and James Barnett. "Forecasting ClimaCell." Harvard Business School Case 820-044, December 2019.  View Details

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