Publications

Article

Advancing Research on Hybrid Organizing—Insights from the Study of Social Enterprises

By: Julie Battilana and Matthew Lee

Hybrid organizations that combine multiple organizational forms deviate from socially legitimate templates for organizing and thus experience unique organizing challenges. In this paper, we introduce and develop the concept of hybrid organizing, which we define as the... View Details

Keywords: Hybrid Organizations; Social Enterprise; Organizational Structure; Social Entrepreneurship

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January 2002 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Chapter Enrichment Program Teams at the American Red Cross (A)

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer and Anita Williams Woolley

The American Red Cross has a system for structuring, staffing, and leading teams to review its local chapters. Mirroring professional services firms that use teams to serve clients, this system provides detailed guidelines to increase individual team member's... View Details

Keywords: Planning; Groups and Teams; Management Teams; Leadership; Organizational Structure

July 1996
Case

Buck & Pulleyn's Team Management

In 1993, the firm began to move from a traditional hierarchical structure to client-focused teams. The case describes the process and some consequences of this restructuring. Performance seems to be improving, but some employees preferred the structure certainty and... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Change Management; Organizational Structure; Groups and Teams

October 2010 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Bessemer Trust: Guardians of Capital

By: Tom Nicholas and David Chen

Henry Phipps, Jr. made his fortune in the steel industry alongside one of America's most celebrated entrepreneurs—Andrew Carnegie. His wealth was administered in the form of trusts, which he hoped would provide a stream of income for his family and their descendants... View Details

Keywords: Wealth; Asset Management; Family Business; Business History; Income; Entrepreneurship; Capital; United States

Research Summary

Performance Measurement and Accountability in the Social Sector

Professor Ebrahim's research examines the pressures for accountability facing social sector organizations, and their implications for organizational performance. How can nonprofits and social enterprises measure performance in order to achieve better results? This... View Details

04 Jul 2016
Research & Ideas

Is Your Org Chart Stuck in a Rut? Try a Scientific Experiment

If you want to be awed by the pace of technological advancement over the past few decades, compare the capabilities of a bulky PC from 1984 with those of a sleek smartphone in 2016. You’ll find stark differences. But if you want to be underwhelmed, try comparing a... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

March 2013 (Revised October 2013)
Supplement

Jones Lang LaSalle (2012): Integrated Services and the Architecture of Complexity (D)

By: Ranjay Gulati and Luciana Silvestri

This case describes the strategic and organizational challenges that Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) faced between 2008 and 2012. In 2008, in order to strengthen the firm's brokerage team, JLL merged with The Staubach Company, a real estate services provider with a first-rate... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Strategy; Integration; Real Estate Industry; North America; South America; Central America

November 2002 (Revised February 2010)
Case

Intel Corporation: 1968-2003

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, David B. Yoffie and Sasha Mattu

Describes three stages in Intel's history: the initial success and then collapse in DRAMs and EPROMs, its transition to and dominance in microprocessors, and its move to become the main supplier of the building blocks for the Internet economy. Allows a rich discussion... View Details

Keywords: History; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Internet and the Web; Information Technology; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Industry Structures; Information Technology Industry; Technology Industry

July 9, 2013
Article

Why Fights Erupt in Family Businesses

By: Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer

Lack of boundaries and formal structure create potential for nasty (and lasting) disagreements. View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Conflict and Resolution; Organizational Structure

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April 2010
Course Overview Note

Managing Human Capital

By: Boris Groysberg

Managing Human Capital, a second-year elective course at Harvard Business School, seeks to create business leaders who understand human resources practices essential to firm performance and who think strategically about managing their own careers. This Managing Human... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Human Capital; Management; Outcome or Result; Personal Development and Career

November 2008
Article

Chartering New Territory: Diversification, Legitimacy and Practice Area Creation in Professional Service Firms

By: Heidi Gardner, N. Anand and Timothy Morris

Diversification into innovative domains through new practice area creation is a critical imperative for professional services firms. Using theories of organizational territoriality and corporate charters, we conceptualize professional firms as federations of distinct... View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Lawfulness; Code Law; Management Practices and Processes; Service Operations; Innovation and Invention; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques

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March 2009 (Revised July 2014)
Case

PNC Financial: Grow Up Great (A)

By: Christopher Marquis, V. Kasturi Rangan and Alison Comings

In 2003, PNC Financial focused its corporate citizenship and philanthropic resources on a ten-year, $100 million investment in early childhood education called PNC Grow Up Great. The case tracks the origination of Grow Up Great, how it was developed and implemented... View Details

Keywords: Early Childhood Education; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Leadership; Brands and Branding; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Structure; Business and Community Relations

August 2008 (Revised June 2013)
Background Note

Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework

By: Allen S. Grossman and Stacey Childress

This note presents the Nonprofit Coherence Framework. It helps nonprofit leaders identify the key elements that support an organizational strategy focused on attaining high performance, bring those elements into a coherent relationship with the strategy and each other,... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Performance Improvement; Nonprofit Organizations; Corporate Strategy

August 2014 (Revised May 2015)
Case

Teaming at Disney Animation

By: Amy C. Edmondson, David L. Ager, Emily Harburg and Natalie Bartlett

Jonathan Geibel, Director of Systems at Walt Disney Animation Studios (hereafter referred to as Disney Animation), walked through the workspace occupied by the group he had been tasked to lead. Geibel knew he was part of a creative and magical environment. The Disney... View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; Creativity; Organizational Structure; Animation Entertainment; Organizational Culture; Groups and Teams; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

1998
Case

Nucor Corporation (A)

By: Vijay Govindarajan

Under the leadership of CEO Ken Iverson, Nucor thrived. Nucor's structure was decentralized, with only four management layers. Only 22 employees worked at the corporate headquarters; plants were located in rural areas across the U.S. and the general manager of each... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Business Strategy

November 2006
Article

The Flattening Firm: Evidence from Panel Data on the Changing Nature of Corporate Hierarchies

By: Raghuram G. Rajan and Julie Wulf

Using a detailed database of managerial job descriptions, reporting relationships, and compensation structures in over 300 large U.S. firms, we find that firm hierarchies are becoming flatter. The number of positions reporting directly to the CEO has gone up... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Change; Business Ventures; Compensation and Benefits; Rank and Position; Wages; Motivation and Incentives; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Jobs and Positions; United States