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In the face of global economic downturns, an increasing number of women are rising to top management positions. What happened in China seems to resonate with the trend in the West. In China, only one in four have made it to the top management level, with a majority taking the position of chief operating officer, chief financial officer, and human resources director. In China, 53% of women are caught in sticky-floor situations and never advance beyond lower-level positions in the workplace. What holds women back from climbing up the corporate ladder? This research explores the stories of women executives in China's corporate world based on an exploratory study. We investigated the following questions: What are these women's beliefs about and responses to the glass ceiling? What personal, social, and organizational constraints undermine their capacity to play a part in a traditionally male-dominant world? How did these women make their way to the top? And, what factors are unique to Chinese women managers' career advancement?

Teams are pervasive in today's world of work. Unfortunately, in many cases teams do not live up to their promise and, instead, lead to disappointing results. In this installation of Human Performance, we discuss how to design and implement performance management systems that include a good combination of both ''me'' and ''we'' considerations. We offer the following research-based recommendations: (1) use measures of individual and team performance, (2) use measures of processes and outcomes, (3) develop performance measures using input from inside and outside the team, (4) gather performance information using sources from inside and outside the team, (5) foster team learning and development, and (6) reward both individual and team performance. We discuss implementation guidelines for each of these recommendations that will help maximize individual and team performance as well as alignment among individual, team, and organizational goals. Implementing performance management systems following our recommendations will help organizations turn teams into an inimitable and sustainable source of competitive human capital advantage.

Over the next 10 years, the intelligent use of data will become one of the greatest competitive advantages a company can possess. At the same time, the loss or mishandling of data/information is one of the bigger risks facing modern businesses. As consumers become increasingly aware of security issues, and of the value of their data, data/information policy is moving away from the 'gather-with-consent' approach toward a model that holds the business accountable at each stage of the process. This fundamental shift in practice will need to be reflected in the data/ information management policy of the business. Yet, many companies lack up-to-date data/information policies and few recognize the growing influence of the European Union on the manner of data/information handling. This installment of Business Law & Ethics Corner seeks to assist in the development of new policy by explaining key legislative and policy initiatives in both the United States and the European Union, and by making data management policy recommendations.

More and more tech-oriented start-ups are using "negative working capital"--cash received from customers in advance--to finance their businesses, freeing founders to focus on strategy instead of hustling for early investors. Five customer-funded business models that can work for any business in any industry.

Pretending not to notice race for fear of appearing prejudiced actually has the opposite effect--others will perceive you as more biased. Research documenting this effect suggests that smart companies will deal with the subject of race head-on and will recognize that "embracing diversity" means recognizing all races, including the majority one.

Companies have developed "mass customization" tools that allow customers to design their own products; and social media lets people get input from friends before finalizing their choices. Research demonstrates that feedback dampens creativity, reduces originality, and diminishes customer satisfaction. Markets should use caution when incorporating sharing features into mass customization products and should be on the lookout for negative effects.

Everyone gets better with a little coaching. But new research from a professor at Kansas State shows that silent coaches get significantly greater improvements than coaches who spout constant encouragement.

The global ambassador for Opportunity International--and a former CEO of Hewlett-Packard--writes that even among the most developed economies, national GDP could be increased by as much as 16% by closing the gender gap in economic participation.

The CEO of Kaiser Permanente writes that instilling a foundational culture of continuous improvement is the only way to unify an organization as large and diverse as his. People must understand how small improvements add up to big differences; they must love improving; and they must have confidence in their colleagues.

"Showrooming"--a phenomenon whereby shoppers visit stores to examine merchandise in person before buying the items online--is viewed as a huge threat to brick-and-mortar retailing. But instead of feeling threatened by showrooming, retailers should study their customers' paths to purchase and use the insights gained to hone their online marketing efforts. This Vision Statement illustrates the typical paths by which Pinterest users use the web to make purchases.

Gelfond knew little about the movie business when he and a partner acquired IMAX, back in 1994. At the time, most IMAX movies were nature documentaries, shown in the theaters of science museums, but he recognized that the entertainment experience the company provided had great potential. Figuring out how to move into mainstream markets turned out to be far more challenging than Gelfond had anticipated, however. The technology constraints of the pre-digital era and the cultural constraints of the Hollywood movie industry combined to slow IMAX's progress toward the successful business model it relies on today. At one point in 2001, the stock was trading at 55 cents a share, and some bondholders tried to force IMAX into bankruptcy. In 2006 Gelfond and his team actively tried to sell it. But doubts about its survival faded in 2009--particularly after the IMAX version of Avatar became a global phenomenon, bringing $250 million in revenue to the company.

By 2050 the number of people living in cities will have nearly doubled, to 6 billion, and the problems created by this rampant urbanization are among the most important challenges of our time. Of all resource-management issues, the author argues, water, electricity, and transit deserve the greatest focus. Every other service a competitive city provides--functional housing, schools, hospitals, stores, police and fire departments, heating, cooling, waste management--depends on a reliable infrastructure for those three resources. Many corporations and investors assume that fixing cities is the purview of government. But governments around the world are stuck--financially, politically, or both. Implementing solutions to the problems of urbanization requires large amounts of capital, exceptional managerial skill, and significant alignments of interests. All these abound in the private sector. Thus major opportunities exist for businesses that can create and claim value by improving resource efficiency. The products and services that new (or legacy) cities will require, and that provide the return investors and entrepreneurs need, optimize both technological sophistication and financial sophistication--approaches designed to attract capital by offering different levels of risk and return, different cash-flow priorities, and options for both short-term and long-term investment. The author cites a number of companies that have moved toward or into what he calls "the efficiency frontier." These include Sarvajal, in India, which saves money and eliminates waste by selling direct to customers through its "water ATMs"; the Boston-based EnerNOC, which manages electricity production and consumption to reduce spikes in demand; and EMBARQ, based in Washington, DC, which coordinates the interests of business and government to organize city transit services.

In puzzling over whether it's better to be feared or loved as a leader, Machiavelli famously said that, because it's nigh impossible to do both, leaders should opt for fear. Research from Harvard Business School's Amy Cuddy and consultants Matthew Kohut and John Neffinger refutes that theory, arguing that leaders would do much better to begin with "love"--that is, to establish trust through warmth and understanding. Most leaders today approach their jobs by emphasizing competence, strength, and credentials. But without first building a foundation of trust, they run the risk of eliciting fear, resentment, or envy. Beginning with warmth allows trust to develop, facilitating both the exchange and the acceptance of ideas--people really hear your message and become open to it. Cultivating warmth and trust also boosts the quantity and quality of novel ideas that are produced. The best way to gain influence is to combine warmth and strength--as difficult as Machiavelli says that may be to do. In this article, the authors look at research from behavioral economics, social psychology, and other disciplines and offer practical tactics for leaders hoping to project a healthy amount of both qualities.

Change is hard, especially in a large organization. Yet some leaders succeed--often spectacularly--at transforming their workplaces. What makes them able to exert this sort of influence when the vast majority can't? The authors tracked 68 change initiatives in the UK's National Health Service, an organization whose size, complexity, and tradition can make reform difficult. They discovered several predictors of change agents' success--all of which emphasize the importance of networks of personal relationships: Change agents who were central in the organization's informal network had a clear advantage, regardless of their position in the formal hierarchy. People who bridged disconnected groups or individuals were more effective at implementing dramatic reforms. The resisters in their networks did not necessarily know one another and so were unlikely to form a coalition. Change agents with cohesive networks, in which all individuals were connected, were better at instituting minor changes. Their contacts rallied around the initiative and helped convince others of its importance. Being close to people who were ambivalent about a change was always beneficial. In the end, fence-sitters were reluctant to disappoint a friend. But close relationships with resisters were a double-edged sword: Such ties helped push through minor initiatives but were a hindrance when attempting major change.

In theory, the risk management groups of two British banks--Saxon and Anglo--had the same influence in their organizations. But in practice, they did not: Saxon's was engaged in critical work throughout the bank, while Anglo's had little visibility outside its areas of expertise. In their study of these two financial institutions, the authors identified four competencies--trailblazing, toolmaking, teamwork, and translation--that help functional leaders or groups compete for top management's limited attention and increase their impact. Anglo's risk managers were strong in only some of the competencies, but Saxon's were strong in all four. They consistently scanned the internal and external environment for important issues to which they could apply a risk management perspective (trailblazing) and then developed tools--such as quarterly risk reports--that spread their expertise (toolmaking). While controlling the tools' design and implementation, the risk managers incorporated business managers' insights (teamwork) and made sure everyone could understand the findings (translation). Ultimately, experts' roles must fit the organization's strategy and structural needs. In some situations, functional experts can raise their profile by cultivating just two of the competencies. But those who are strong in all four are likely to be the most influential.

The ability to persuade others to contribute to your efforts is a key skill for managers, for team members--for anyone who wants to elevate the probability of success. Research by leading social scientist Robert Cialdini has found that persuasion works by appealing to certain deeply rooted human responses: liking, reciprocity, social proof, commitment and consistency, authority, and scarcity. In this edited interview with HBR's executive editor, Cialdini expands on the six principles of persuasion and how leaders can make effective, authentic use of them in everyday business situations. He also previews findings from new research on the ethics of influence and how dishonesty affects individuals and the organization.

The conventional wisdom about how best to pursue growth--launch a slew of initiatives in high-potential areas; appoint some promising young managers to lead them; locate them safely away from the established businesses--is a recipe for failure, according to the authors. Meanwhile, CEOs spend too much time on managing today's earnings and too little time on building the kind of learning organization and culture that growth requires. This article explores six common mistakes that executives make in this arena: (1) Failing to provide the right kind of oversight. The CEO should spend meaningful time with the team and with potential customers. (2) Not putting the best, most experienced talent in charge. Seasoned executives in the core businesses, rather than ambitious young MBAs, should be assigned to growth initiatives. (3) Assembling the wrong team and staffing up prematurely. CEOs should focus on capabilities, not who's available, and staff up only when the strategy, business model, and value proposition are clear. (4) Taking the wrong approach to performance assessment. Milestones relevant to each stage of an initiative's development should be established, and key assumptions in the business plan should be linked to the financial forecast. (5) Not knowing how to fund and govern a start-up. The funding of early-stage ventures should be separated from the corporation's annual budget cycle. (6) Failing to leverage the organization's core capabilities. CEOs must play a central role in helping growth initiatives tap the resources of the core businesses.

The story of the PC industry has been etched in the minds of strategists as a template for how industries evolve in the knowledge economy. In the natural order of things, so the story goes, industries disaggregate as interfaces between various stages of the value chain become open and standardized, allowing value to migrate up or down the value chain. But value migration away from established players doesn't have to be inevitable, argue authors Michael Jacobides and John Paul MacDuffie. Auto manufacturers, for example, have kept a fairly constant share of their industry's total market capitalization despite much recourse to outsourcing and intense competition in the sector. Carmakers and other industry leaders like Apple and Google gain and hold on to strategic control and value in their industries in four key ways: (1) Controlling the assets least likely to be commoditized (and blocking others' efforts to do the same); (2) Serving as "guarantor of quality" to the end customer (including assuming responsibility for the entire product, even components made by suppliers); (3) Staying in close touch with changing customer needs (changes in the end consumer are often accompanied by shifts in who captures the most value in an industry); (4) Balancing the imperatives of growth and strategic control of the value chain. Through the lens of the auto industry, the authors look at how established players can defend value in their industries and how emerging players can change the competitive landscape to drive value their way.

Recently, technological advances have led neuroscientists to develop a new and more sophisticated framework. It shifts the focus of study from the activity of specific brain regions to how networks of brain regions activate in concurrent patterns. In this article, two experts in brain science explain important discoveries that have been made about four key networks: the default network, which is engaged in introspection and in imagining a different time, place, or reality; the reward network, which activates in response to pleasure; the affect network, which plays a central role in emotions; and the control network, which is involved in understanding consequences, impulse control, and selective attention. These discoveries hold major implications for managers. In particular, they shed light on: (1) the best way to generate "Eureka!" thinking; (2) what motivates employees; (3) whether you should trust your gut and listen to your emotions in decision making; and (4) the opportunities and pitfalls of multitasking. These insights are just the beginning, say the authors, who believe that a hugely productive dialogue between neuroscience and business will develop as more findings emerge.

Three years ago, when a cave-in at the San Jose mine in Chile trapped 33 men under 700,000 metric tons of rock, experts estimated the probability of getting them out alive at less than 1%. Yet, after spending a record 69 days underground, all 33 were hoisted up to safety. The inspiring story of their rescue is a case study in how to lead in situations where the stakes, risk, and uncertainty are incredibly high and time pressure is intense. Today executives often find themselves in similar straits. When they do, many feel torn. Should they be directive, taking charge and commanding action? Or should they be empowering, enabling innovation and experimentation? As the successful example of Andre Sougarret, the chief of the mine rescue operation, shows, the answer is yes--to both. The choice is a false dichotomy. Implementing this dual approach involves three key tasks. Each has directive and enabling components. The first task is envisioning, which requires instilling both realism and hope. The second task is enrolling, which means setting clear boundaries for who is on and off the team, but inviting in helpful collaborators. The third task is engaging--leading disciplined execution while encouraging innovation and experimentation. The authors of this article describe how Sougarret ably juggled all of these tasks, orchestrating the efforts of hundreds of people from different organizations, areas of expertise, and countries in an extraordinary mission that overcame impossible odds.