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 professor of business administration 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