Publications

Read Now

01 Mar 2023
What Do You Think?

How Much Does 'Deep Purpose' Matter to the Bottom Line?

best in our industry.” For years that was the case in too many organizations. Then organizations like Google started adding loftier aspirations such as “organize and make available the world’s information.” More recently, Microsoft CEO... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

07 Feb 2022
Research & Ideas

Digital Transformation: A New Roadmap for Success

of them in the digital era. Without it, employees, especially Millennials and Gen Z talent, don’t find their work as meaningful. They don‘t develop the sense of belonging they need to collaborate and deliver innovative solutions to customers. A shared sense of purpose... View Details

Keywords: by Linda A. Hill, Ann Le Cam, Sunand Menon, and Emily Tedards

9 May 2011 - 11 May 2011
Conference Presentation

How Firms Respond to Mandatory Information Disclosure

By: Anil Doshi, Michael Toffel and Glen W. S. Dowell

When new institutional pressures arise, which organizations are particularly likely to resist or acquiesce? When subjected to new information disclosure mandates, an increasingly popular form of market-based government regulation, which types of organizations are... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Disclosure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Environmental Regulation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Change and Adaptation

Read Now

June 1996 (Revised March 1998)
Case

Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Takia Mahmood

Focuses on the measurement and management of organizational knowledge as a strategic asset, and on the deployment of information technology, organizational structure, and processes in leveraging that asset. View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Knowledge Sharing; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Alliances; Competitive Advantage; Information Technology

Find at Harvard

23 Nov 2009
Research & Ideas

Management’s Role in Reforming Health Care

Aligning the Nature and Management of Health Care (Harvard Business Press, 2009), explains how to create more knowledgeable, flexible, and responsive delivery organizations. “Some of the most important innovations are not technologic—they... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Health

20 Mar 2019
News

Boeing Brings 100 Years Of History To Its Fight To Restore Its Reputation

14 Dec 2011
Research & Ideas

The New Measures for Improving Nonprofit Performance

Q: Can you each describe organizations that are effective in managing to outcomes? What are they doing differently? Ebrahim: I have two examples that are rather different from each other. The Acumen Fund is... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

06 Jan 2016
News

Clear lessons offered in delivery debacle

29 Jul 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Firsthand Experience and the Subsequent Role of Reflected Knowledge in Cultivating Trust in Global Collaboration

Keywords: by Mark Mortensen & Tsedal Neeley

Web

Asia Pacific - Global

Education Alumni Group organized the 2024 HBS Investment Forum, themed "Reflecting on Long Cycles, Adapting to New Changes." The event brought together over 50 HBS alumni to engage in discussions on business dynamics in an ever-evolving... View Details

November 2020 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Integrating Beam Suntory (A)

By: David G. Fubini, Rawi Abdelal and David Lane

The spring 2014 acquisition of U.S. alcoholic spirits maker Beam Inc. by Japan’s Suntory Holdings vaulted Suntory from 15th to third-largest international spirits company in the world. Yet Suntory had borrowed nearly the entire $16 billion purchase price, and relied on... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Communication; Borrowing and Debt; Globalization; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Retention; Leadership; Supply Chain; Organizational Structure; Ownership; Relationships; Conflict and Resolution; Integration; Value Creation; Food and Beverage Industry; Japan; United States; Chicago

Program

Ascending the Peak: Finding the Leader Within—Virtual

Summary Today's organizations need men and women who can lead with courage and conviction through challenging times and toward worthy, positive change. Each session of this live online program will explore the tools, behaviors, insights,... View Details

November 1999 (Revised February 2000)
Case

Woodland Partners: Field of Dreams?

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Ashish Nanda and Theodore D. Seides

Elizabeth Lilly, Richard Rinkett, and Richard Jensen are pondering whether to launch a new investment management firm and, if so, what growth strategy to chart for the potential firm. View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Decision Making; Problems and Challenges; Business Startups; Business Processes; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry

March 2008 (Revised March 2009)
Case

Microsoft's Unlimited Potential (A)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

In April 2007, Bill Gates announced Microsoft Unlimited Potential. Its mission was to enable social and economic opportunity for the next five billion people. To deliver against this mission, Microsoft sought to focus its citizenship efforts and its product development... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Emerging Markets; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Growth and Development Strategy

Find at Harvard

February 2008 (Revised August 2011)
Case

Olympia Machine Company, Inc.

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Benson P. Shapiro

The management team of an industrial equipment supplier is debating the company's method of compensating salespeople. Different executives have offered different alternatives to the current method of straight salary plus expenses. Each option has different implications... View Details

Keywords: Governance Controls; Compensation and Benefits; Mission and Purpose; Salesforce Management; Motivation and Incentives; Business Strategy; Industrial Products Industry

15 May 2014
News

Taking Business Back from Wall Street

June 2020
Supplement

RBC: Transforming Transformation (B)

By: Ethan Bernstein, Francesca Gino and Aldo Sesia

In 2017, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), a Canadian financial icon, mandated a swat team of “enablers of collaboration” (their job description) to support the personal and commercial bank in the enterprise-wide RBC Cultural Transformation initiative. Historically,... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Information Technology; Transformation; Change Management; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Decision Making; Human Resources; Management Systems; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Groups and Teams; Management Teams; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Canada

January 2003 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Guide Dogs for the Blind Association

By: Allen S. Grossman, Jane Wei-Skillern and Kristin Lieb

In 2002, Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, the recognized world leader in the breeding and training of guide dogs, was in the midst of broadening its reach and providing additional mobility services. Chief Executive Geraldine Peacock was concerned that systemic... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Growth and Development Strategy; Resource Allocation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Programs; Networks; Nonprofit Organizations; Competitive Strategy

Article

The Contingent Nature of Public Policy and the Growth of U.S. Commercial Banking

By: Christopher Marquis and Zhi Huang

That public policy affects organizational behaviors is well accepted, but less explored is how these effects may depend on other external environmental factors. We investigate how policy is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition to understand the growth of... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Organizational Culture; Strategy; Commercial Banking; Growth and Development Strategy; United States