Publications

March 2006
Module Note

Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World

By: Alan D. MacCormack

Describes the second module of the 30-session Harvard Business School elective course Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World. The course helps students understand the challenges that uncertainty implies for innovation and how to overcome these challenges. The course... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Problems and Challenges; Business Processes; Perspective; Opportunities; Risk and Uncertainty; Managerial Roles; Product Design; Business Startups; Organizational Design

December 2004 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Managing Diversity at Spencer Owens & Co.

By: Robin J. Ely and Ingrid Vargas

Spencer Owens & Co, a disguised consulting firm, focuses on domestic and international economic development. As an extension of the firm's commitment to social justice, 20 years ago, Spencer Owens management introduced an affirmative action hiring and promotion... View Details

Keywords: Working Conditions; Selection and Staffing; Development Economics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Employees; Diversity; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Consulting Industry

February 1996
Case

TRW's Information Services Division: Strategic Human Resource Management

By: Michael Beer and Gregory C. Rogers

Looks at a change effort initiated by a human resources manager within a division of TRW. The effort utilizes a change process to try to deal with some of the division's issues around organizational effectiveness, especially that of a long-term strategy. In so doing,... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Managerial Roles; Strategy; Problems and Challenges

February 2015
Case

BlackRock: Diversity as a Driver for Success

By: Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly

In July 2014, the Global Executive Committee (GEC) for BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, held a two-day offsite to discuss the state of talent within the firm. A year prior, in 2013, Chairman and CEO Laurence (Larry) Fink had asked Global Head of HR Jeff... View Details

Keywords: Women And Leadership; Diversity; General Management; Leadership; Change Management; Human Capital; Leading Change; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Financial Services Industry; United States

2018
Book

Varieties of Green Business: Industries, Nations and Time

By: Geoffrey Jones

Published at a time of ever-increasing warnings that the pace of climate change and other environmental changes risk making the Earth unsustainable within our own lifetimes, this book looks at the past of green business to identify lessons for the future. It provides... View Details

Find at Harvard

Research Summary

Managing the Advantages and Tradeoffs of Collaborative Structures

By: Ethan S. Bernstein

To solve complex problems, organizations must both collect facts and use them to solve problems. In one study, my coauthors and I show that increased connectivity—measured as network... View Details

Keywords: Networks; Human Behavior; Performance; Virtual Work; Hybrid Work; Office Space; Workplace Design; Communication; Social and Collaborative Networks; Behavior; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Leadership; Management

November 1994 (Revised June 1996)
Case

Dennis Hightower: Walt Disney's Transnational Manager

By: Ashish Nanda

Describes the actions taken by Dennis Hightower as president of Disney Consumer Products in Europe and the Middle East from 1988 to 1994. Focuses on how he has established a regional office and knit local operations closer together, the benefits that the process has... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Change Management; Corporate Strategy; Personal Development and Career; Consumer Products Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Europe

29 Aug 2018
What Do You Think?

What Should Harley-Davidson’s Management Do?

CasPhotography What Can the Harley-Davidson Case Teach Us About Managing in a Politicized Environment? The advice to Harley-Davidson’s management from respondents of this... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Auto

17 Apr 2019
Research & Ideas

How Managers Stifle Creativity

breakthroughs in an Academy of Management Discoveries article, Creativity, Artificial Intelligence, and a World of Surprises. "Your immediate manager plays View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

05 Mar 2008
What Do You Think?

Where Will Management Innovation Take Us?

Summing Up Will management innovation be "pushed" or "pulled"? Competitive organizations in the future will be managed differently. This will require new... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

February 2015 (Revised June 2017)
Case

Intrapreneurship at DaVita HealthCare Partners

By: Joseph B. Fuller, David J. Collis and Matthew G. Preble

Josh Golomb, president and general manager of DaVita Rx (Rx), was about to meet with Kent Thiry, CEO of Rx's corporate parent, DaVita Healthcare Partners Inc. (DaVita), in August 2013. The two would discuss whether Golomb should lead a new DaVita venture, Paladina... View Details

Keywords: Intrapreneurship; Entrepreneurial Organizations; Startup Management; Startup; Strategic Positioning; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Strategy; Business Startups; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Health Industry; United States

2014
Working Paper

The Effect of Management Control Elements on Coordination

By: Sara Bormann, Jan Bouwens and Christian Hofmann

This study examines how control elements of a firm affect coordination among profit centers. The firm operates a network of 59 profit centers. It uses a transfer-pricing system designed to account for interdependencies between profit centers and to induce coordination.... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Organizational Structure; Performance

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March 2011
Case

Calveta Dining Services, Inc.: A Recipe for Growth?

By: James L. Heskett and Patricia Girardi

Calveta Dining Services contracts with senior living facilities (SLFs) for the management of food service to residents. Created by Antonio Calveta and built on his passion for food and traditional family values, the firm had enjoyed three decades of strong growth when... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Vision; Employee Empowerment; Service Management; Family Businesses; Growth Strategy; Family Business; Expansion; Communication; Employee Relationship Management; Service Operations; Organizational Structure; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

07 Jan 2013
Lessons from the Classroom

Culture Changers: Managing High-Impact Entrepreneurs

creative talent." For example, most CEOs have little difficulty with a top-down management style and expecting their directives to be executed. But that model wouldn't fly at Chanel (or for that matter,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Beauty & Cosmetics; Food & Beverage; Entertainment & Recreation; Information; Publishing

January 2017
Supplement

Intrapreneurship at DaVita HealthCare Partners: Cash Flow Tool

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Christopher Payton

DaVita Healthcare Partners Inc. (DaVita) is one of the U.S.'s leading dialysis providers, a process whereby persons with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are connected to a machine that performs the functions of a healthy kidney. Kent Thiry, DaVita's CEO, has expanded... View Details

Keywords: Intrapreneurship; Entrepreneurial Organizations; Startup Management; Startup; Strategic Positioning; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Strategy; Business Startups; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Health Industry; United States

27 Jun 2016
Research & Ideas

These Management Practices, Like Certain Technologies, Boost Company Performance

performance Several factors corresponded with higher management scores. Those with the best scores faced a high degree of competition within their industries—possibly due to... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

13 Oct 2003
Research & Ideas

How to Pick Managers for Disruptive Growth

thought of as a school, and the problems that managers have confronted within it constitute the "curriculum" that was offered in that school. The skills that View Details

Keywords: by Michael Raynor

March 2018
Case

Sandra Brown Goes Digital (A): The Promise and Perils of Social Movements in a Healthcare Company

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen

As a middle manager at a biotechnology company, Sandra Brown harnessed digital tools and social media to engage others and build campaigns for change in the company. This case follows her career at the company and describes the challenges she faced as a change agent,... View Details

Keywords: Digital; Engagement; Stakeholder Engagement; Grassroots Movement; Organization Change And Adaptation; Quality; Health Care; Health Care Industry; Career Path; Leading Change; Management; Innovation and Management; Personal Development and Career; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Biotechnology Industry; Health Industry