Page 9 - Harvard Business Review (November-December, 2017)

IDEA WATCH MAPPING EMPLOYEE INTERACTIONS
YAMKOVENKO_MAPPIN-
GONE
YAMKOVENKO_MAPPIN-
DIVERSITY
YAMKOVENKO_MAPPIN- GONE Hed: insert hyphen: "Deci-
GONE sion-Making Ties"
Hed: insert hyphen: "Deci- MAPPING EMPLOYEE INTERACTIONS
YAMKOVENKO_THREE-
sion-Making Ties"
Hed: insert hyphen: "Deci- WAYS
sion-Making Ties" YAMKOVENKO_THREE- Assessing how inclusive an organization’s culture is which relationships were reciprocal. Men outnumber
involves more than counting the number of employees
women at the firm by a ratio of 5:1, but the mapping
YAMKOVENKO_THREE- WAYS Dek: change "In all," to shows that women are even less likely to be involved in
from underrepresented groups. It requires measuring
how often workers from different groups actually interact.
WAYS "Overall," (?) [sounds decision making and innovation than that ratio suggests.
Researchers worked with a large professional services firm
Dek: change "In all," to better to my ear] “A healthier network would show women having a similar
to create a network analysis depicting who each employee
number of connections as men, and show fewer women
"Overall," (?) [sounds turned to for help with decisions or other advice—and isolated on the periphery,” the researchers write. ■
Dek: change "In all," to
"Overall," (?) [sounds better to my ear] THREE EMPLOYEE NETWORKS AT A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FIRM
better to my ear] MEN INTERACTED MAINLY WITH OTHER MEN, WHILE WOMEN INTERACTED WITH WOMEN.
MEN WOMEN SIZE OF CIRCLES INDICATES NUMBER OF CONNECTIONS

DECISION-MAKING NETWORK EMOTIONAL SUPPORT NETWORK IDEA-SHARING NETWORK
SOURCE HEIDRICK & STRUGGLES
© HBR.ORG
ENTREPRENEURSHIP SOURCE HEIDRICK & STRUGGLES
WRITING A PLAN DOES INCREASE THE ODDS OF SUCCESS © HBR.ORG
SOURCE HEIDRICK & STRUGGLES
The stock of companies
Entrepreneurship experts are divided: Some believe that a written business plan is © HBR.ORG
SOURCE HEIDRICK & STRUGGLES crucial to creating a viable start-up—one that achieves profitability—while others
think it’s better to skip that step and immediately begin testing ideas with consumers whose top executives
(as Steve Blank argues in “When Founders Go Too Far,” on page 94). In recent years visited the White
the latter approach, popularized by the Lean Startup movement, has held sway. But
a new study suggests that written plans have more value than we think. Researchers House from 2009 to
examined 1,088 nascent U.S. entrepreneurs over a six-year period. They separated
founders who had written plans from those who hadn’t and paired members from 2015 showed positive
each group according to attributes such as education and experience, allowing them
to isolate the effects of having a plan. “It pays to plan,” the researchers conclude. cumulative abnormal
“Entrepreneurs who write formal plans are 16% more likely to achieve viability than
the otherwise identical nonplanning entrepreneurs.” The research suggests that returns of 0.9% from
a written plan focuses a founder on goal attainment and supports better decision 10 days before to 40
making about allocating and coordinating resources. ■
days after the visit.
ABOUT THE RESEARCH “Are Formal Planners More Likely to Achieve New Venture Viability?
A Counterfactual Model and Analysis,” by Francis J. Greene and Christian Hopp (Strategic “ALL THE PRESIDENT’S FRIENDS: POLITICAL ACCESS AND FIRM
Entrepreneurship Journal, 2017) VALUE,” BY JEFFREY R. BROWN AND JIEKUN HUANG

26 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2017