Ting Zhang is an Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Organizational Behavior Unit at Harvard Business School. Her research centers on topics related to developing people.
Her research addresses a fundamental question in organizations: How can managers become more effective at developing people? Managers play a pivotal role in the development of their employees but often fall short in realizing the potential impact they could have on their employees’ learning and growth. The proliferation of practitioner-oriented frameworks and tools—including new approaches to annual performance reviews, varieties of 360-feedback surveys, informal mentoring conversations, and many others—testifies to the efforts organizations make to bridge the gap between the need for and supply of effective talent development.
To understand the role of managers in developing people, she aims to build a framework for developmental ecosystems, defined as the interconnected components that foster people’s learning and growth. While developmental ecosystems comprise many actors including recipients and their managers, her research focus on how managers navigate three components of the ecosystem: 1) at the personal level, how managers’ beliefs and mindsets shape their developmental practices; 2) at the interpersonal level, how managers foster developmental relationships; and 3) at the organizational level, how managers navigate organizational talent management processes and roles. By identifying challenges within each component that reduce the yield on managers’ developmental efforts, and by unearthing misalignments across the three components, her research provides insights that enable managers to cultivate talent more effectively, advancing both employee growth and organizational goals.
Her research addresses a fundamental question in organizations: How can managers become more effective at developing people? Managers play a pivotal role in the development of their employees but often fall short in realizing the potential impact they could have on their employees’ learning and growth. The proliferation of practitioner-oriented frameworks and tools—including new approaches to annual performance reviews, varieties of 360-feedback surveys, informal mentoring conversations, and many others—testifies to the efforts organizations make to bridge the gap between the need for and supply of effective talent development.
To understand the role of managers in developing people, she aims to build a framework for developmental ecosystems, defined as the interconnected components that foster people’s learning and growth. While developmental ecosystems comprise many actors including recipients and their managers, her research focus on how managers navigate three components of the ecosystem: 1) at the personal level, how managers’ beliefs and mindsets shape their developmental practices; 2) at the interpersonal level, how managers foster developmental relationships; and 3) at the organizational level, how managers navigate organizational talent management processes and roles. By identifying challenges within each component that reduce the yield on managers’ developmental efforts, and by unearthing misalignments across the three components, her research provides insights that enable managers to cultivate talent more effectively, advancing both employee growth and organizational goals.
Research Articles
Zhang, T. (in press). Back to the beginning: How rediscovering a beginner's mind helps experts advise novices. Academy of Management Journal.
Data and materials
Data and materials
Guenoun, B., Blunden, H., Zhang, T. (in press). The curious counselor: Social curiosity increases advice quality. Journal of Applied Psychology
Data and materials
Data and materials
Ruttan, R., Zhang, T., Barsade, S., & Decelles, K. (2024). Relational attributions for one’s own resilience predict compassion for others. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 126(5), 818–840.
Data and materials
Data and materials
Fincher, K., Zhang, T., Percaya, A., Galinsky, A. D., & Morris, M. (2024). The effect of configural processing on mentalization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 126(5), 758–778.
Data and materials
Data and materials
Zhang, T., Wang, D., & Galinsky, A.D. (2023). Learning down to train up: Mentors are more effective when they value insights from below. Academy of Management Journal.
Data and materials
Data and materials
Zhang, T., Harrington, K., Sherf, E. N. (2022). The errors of experts: When expertise hinders effective provision and seeking of advice and feedback. Current Opinion in Psychology.
Zhang, T., & North, M. S. (2020). What goes down when advice goes up: Younger advisers underestimate their impact. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 46(10): 1444–1460.
Data and materials
Data and materials
Kim, T., Zhang, T., & Norton, M. I. (2019). Pettiness in social exchange. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 148(2): 361-373.
Data and materials
Data and materials
Zhang, T., Gino, F., & Margolis, J. D. (2018) Does “could” lead to good? On the road to moral insight. Academy of Management Journal, 61(3): 857-895.
Zhang, T., Gino, F., & Norton, M. I. (2017). The surprising effectiveness of hostile mediators. Management Science, 63(6): 1972-1992.
Data and materials
Data and materials
Sezer, O., Zhang, T., Gino, F., & Bazerman, M. H. (2016). Overcoming the outcome bias: Making intentions matter. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 137(6), 13-26.
Zhang, T., Fletcher, P. O., Gino, F., Bazerman, M. H. (2015). Reducing bounded ethicality: How to help individuals notice and avoid unethical behavior. Organizational Dynamics, 44(4), 310-317.
Data and materials
Data and materials
Zhang, T., Kim, T., Brooks, A. W., Gino, F., & Norton, M. I. (2014). A “present” for the future: The unexpected value of rediscovery. Psychological Science, 25(10), 1851-1860.
Data and materials
Data and materials
Zhang, T., Gino, F., & Bazerman, M. H. (2014). Morality rebooted: Exploring simple fixes to our moral bugs. Research in Organizational Behavior, 34(0), 63-79.
Invited Articles and Chapters
Lu, J., Zhang, T., Galinsky, A. D, & Rucker, D. D. (2018). On the distinction between selfish and unethical behavior. Atlas of Moral Psychology. In Gray, K. J., & Graham, J. (Eds.), Atlas of Moral Psychology (pp. 465-474). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Zhang, T. & Bazerman, M. H. (2013). Managerial decision biases. In Kessler, E. H., (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Management Theory (pp. 470-474). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Zhang, T. & Bazerman, M. H. (2013). Managerial decision biases. In Kessler, E. H., (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Management Theory (pp. 470-474). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Working Papers
Zhang, T., White, M., Hayirli, T., Akinola, M. Mixed messages: People of color receive more conflicting aggregated feedback.
Zhang, T., White, M., Hayirli, T., Akinola, M. Interpreter of maladies: How feedback aggregators interpret conflicting feedback.
Cormier, G., Shah, S., Zhang, T., & O’Brien, E. The direct experience premium.
Zhang, T., White, M., Hayirli, T., Akinola, M. Interpreter of maladies: How feedback aggregators interpret conflicting feedback.
Cormier, G., Shah, S., Zhang, T., & O’Brien, E. The direct experience premium.