Chasing Stars

Acknowledgments ix Introduction 3 Part One: Talent and Portability Chapter 1: Moving On 15 Chapter 2: Analysts' Labor Market 35 Chapter 3: The Limits of Portability 51 Chapter 4: Do Firms Benefit from Hiring Stars? 77 Part Two: Facets of Portability Chapter 5: Stars and Their Galaxies: Firms of Origin and Portability 93 Chapter 6: Integrating Stars: The Hiring Firm and Portability of Performance 125 Chapter 7: Liftouts (Taking Some of It with You): Moving in Teams 141 Chapter 8: Women and Portability: Why Is Women's Performance More Portable than Men's? 163 Part Three: Implications for Talent Management: Developing, Retaining, and Rewarding Stars Chapter 9: Star Formation: Developmental Cultures at Work 197 Chapter 10: Turnover: Who Leaves and Why 239 Chapter 11: A Special Case of Turnover: Stars as Entrepreneurs 253 Chapter 12: Measuring and Rewarding Stars' Performance 273 Chapter 13: Lessons from Wall Street and Elsewhere 321 Appendix 343 Notes 353 Index 437

Boris Groysberg is associate professor in the organizational behavior unit at Harvard Business School.

[Boris Groysberg's] new book, a meticulous study of the performance of Wall Street analysts, asks the key question: is the success of individual 'star' employees transferable to other businesses? In other words, is it the team/institution that is key to the high performance or is it mainly down to the individual concerned? -- Stefan Stern Financial Times [B]rilliant... [T]he best business book of the year on human capital... [Groysberg's] findings, and the force and richness of both his data and his presentation, should have an indelible effect on how we understand exceptional performance. -- Sally Helgesen Strategy + Business What if talent is more like an orchid, thriving in certain environments and dying in others? It's an interesting question, full of nature-versus-nurture overtones; we could debate it endlessly. But Boris Groysberg, a professor at Harvard Business School, has spoiled the debate with an unsporting move. He's gathered some data. And what he discovered forces us to rethink the argument. Fast Company The book is fascinating reading, as Prof. Groysberg digs deeper into the implications for knowledge workers and portability of jobs... [T]here are lessons in here for executives and knowledge workers in general and, more particularly, human resources officials concerned about the talent war for knowledge workers. -- Harvey Schachter Globe & Mail Chasing Stars is an important work challenging the myth that talented workers can succeed anywhere. It proves that the best employer-employee relationships are mutually beneficial and that both can gain much from each other if they try. ForeWord Early in the summer, Paul DePodesta read a book that intrigued him. Its title was Chasing Stars. Its author was Boris Groysberg, an associate professor at Harvard Business School. Its thesis had a practical application that had yet to reveal itself to Mr. DePodesta. It did in November, when the Mets hired Mr. DePodesta to be their vice president of player