Publications

30 Jul 2014
News

Teaching The Deal

17 Oct 2012
News

Executives Lack Confidence in U.S. Competitiveness

May 2012
Case

Columbia's Final Mission (Abridged) (A)

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Kerry Herman

This case documents decision-making processes, organizational culture, and other contributors to NASA's failed Columbia mission in 2003. Addresses the question of how organizations should deal with "ambiguous threats" - weak signals of potential crisis - and explores... View Details

Keywords: Cognitive Biases; Teams; Organizational Learning; Ambiguous Threat; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Decision Making; Failure; Crisis Management; Aerospace Industry

Educators

06 Feb 2014
HBS Seminar

Anna Lamin, Northeastern University

08 Dec 2010
News

Being the Boss: 3 Imperatives to Great Leadership

Research Summary

Workforce Training and Development in Indian Companies

This study with Vivek Wadhwa and Gary Gereffi of Duke University sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation examines how 24 leading Indian companies have innovated in workforce training and development in the face of educational weaknesses and high-skilled... View Details

2010
Article

Hiring for Strength, Hiring for Weakness: Evidence of Internal Strategic Fit from the NFL

By: Andrew Hill

Firms may hire senior managers to shore up a weakness or to build on a strength. Using evidence on the hiring of NFL head coaches, this paper finds that teams that hire for strength outperform teams that hire for weakness. View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Selection and Staffing; Performance; Sports; Sports Industry

March 2002 (Revised December 2002)
Background Note

A Note on Corporate Venturing and New Business Creation

By: David A. Garvin

Presents an introduction and overview of corporate venturing. Describes the need for companies to create new businesses, the stages in the process, predictable problems and challenges, the strengths and weaknesses of alternative approaches such as internal venture... View Details

Keywords: Business Plan; Business Startups; Forecasting and Prediction; Venture Capital; Problems and Challenges

Educators

June 2010
Article

The Pathologies of Online Display Advertising Marketplaces

By: Benjamin Edelman

Display advertising marketplaces place "banner" ads on all manner of popular sites. While these services are widely used, they suffer significant challenges, including weak user response and low accountability for both advertisers and web site publishers. I survey a... View Details

Keywords: Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Online Advertising; Cost; Corporate Accountability; Information Publishing; Consumer Behavior; Relationships; Web Sites

Read Now

16 Dec 2002
Lessons from the Classroom

Marrying Distance and Classroom Education

adult learning workshop was looking at the strengths and weaknesses of face-to-face education versus online distance learning. But in fact, these two types of education can be quite complementary. Should executives interested in corporate... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

19 Sep 2011
News

Bill Clinton and How to Use Convening Power

December 1985 (Revised January 1989)
Case

Cummins Engine Co.: Black Friday

A new regional manager for Cummins Venezuela faces Black Friday, Venezuela's massive currency devaluation and a weak distribution system. The manager must find a way to collect $1.4 million in receivables due from distributors and reestablish a viable distribution... View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Multinational Firms and Management; Crisis Management; Venezuela

01 Aug 2012
News

Why Is Great Service So Rare?

19 Oct 2020
News

Today’s Leaders Need Vulnerability, Not Bravado

July 2014
Article

Making Boston Stronger

By: Dutch Leonard, Arnold M. Howitt, Christine M. Cole and Philip B. Heymann

In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, a team from Harvard University carried out extensive interviews with participants to identify strengths and weaknesses in the incident response to the terror attack. This abridged version of their final report focuses... View Details

Keywords: Boston Marathon Bombing; Disaster Response; Emergency Preparedness; Crisis Management; Cooperation; Boston

Read Now

23 May 2011
News

Nearly Half of Americans Are 'Financially Fragile'

February 2014
Article

Governance and CEO Turnover: Do Something or Do the Right Thing?

By: Ray Fisman, Rakesh Khurana, Matthew Rhodes-Kropf and Soojin Yim

We study how corporate governance affects firm value through the decision of whether to fire or retain the CEO. We present a model in which weak governance—which prevents shareholders from controlling the board—protects inferior CEOs from dismissal, while at the same... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Value; Retention; Resignation and Termination; Corporate Governance; Management Teams; Business and Shareholder Relations

Read Now

December 1989
Background Note

Note on How Organizations Can be Structured

By: D. Q. Mills

Describes four basic organizational forms--hierarchy, division, matrix, and cluster. Diagrams of each are included. Their strengths and weaknesses under different business environment conditions are detailed. There is a table comparing the forms on several key... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure

Educators