Publications

28 Nov 2005
Research & Ideas

Unilever: Transformation and Tradition

negotiation of safe paths through the complexities of official regulations and government. The easiest way to understand the Unilever organization, observed an article in the U.S. business magazine Fortune in 1947, was "to think of... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Consumer Products

July 2021
Teaching Note

Digital Transformation 2.0: CEO Elie Girard at Atos

By: Tsedal Neeley

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 421-024. Elie Girard has taken the helm as CEO of multinational IT giant Atos to lead the company into the next era of digital transformation. Noticing that customers’ digital needs were evolving to become even more specialized and global... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Leading Change; Mergers and Acquisitions; Environmental Sustainability; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Digital Transformation; Information Technology Industry

06 Feb 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas: February 6, 2018

contracts are structured as a repeated tournament with no carryover of performance across periods, we predict and find that workers subject to implicit rewards (penalties) exhibit performance reactions that counterbalance those of workers... View Details

April 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Anthropic: Building Safe AI

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai

In March 2024, Anthropic, a leading AI safety and research company, made headlines with the launch of Claude 3, its most advanced AI model. This marked Anthropic’s bold entry into the multimodal GenAI domain, showcasing capabilities extending to both image and text... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business Growth and Maturation; Corporate Strategy; Technology Industry; United States

01 Jun 2009
Lessons from the Classroom

The Challenges of Investing in Science-Based Innovation

In economic downtimes, businesses are apt to cut R&D projects that don't promise a speedy return on investment. But take a cue from smart science-based businesses, which view the recession as an opportunity to stoke up research and... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Banking; Auto; Pharmaceutical

August 2012 (Revised October 2012)
Technical Note

Congruence Model Note

By: Shon R. Hiatt and James Weber

This note describes the Congruence Model, a method by which an organization can assess whether its building blocks (critical tasks, formal organizational arrangements, people, and culture) are aligned (congruent) with its strategy. The model postulates that... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Business Processes; Alignment

01 Dec 2015
Research & Ideas

What to Do When Your Organization Has Dueling Missions

the social mission. “Hybrids have to simultaneously pursue commercial and social objectives,” says Julie Battilana, an associate professor in the Organizational Behavior unit at Harvard Business School. “The big question is, is it really... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

04 Jun 2020
Book

It’s Not About You: Why Leaders Need to Look Outward

for teams to thrive, even in the leader’s absence. Frei, the UPS Foundation Professor of Service Management at Harvard Business School, served as senior vice president for leadership and strategy at Uber and has consulted with WeWork and... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

September 2023 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Going Mobile-First? The Digital Transformation of Davivienda Bank in Colombia

By: Jorge Tamayo and Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago

Set in 2017, this case describes the digital transformation strategy of Davivienda— a leading player in Colombia’s commercial banking and one of the companies belonging to Grupo Bolívar, a major Colombian financial conglomerate. The case also describes the pioneer role... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Information Technology; Digital Strategy; Digital Transformation; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Banking Industry; Latin America; Central America; South America; Colombia