Publications

Article

Strong Leadership and Teamwork Drive Culture and Performance Change: Ohio State University Medical Center 2000–2006

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger, Fred Sanfilippo, Neeli Bendapudi and Anthony Rucci

Several characteristics of academic health centers have the potential to create high levels of internal conflict and misalignment that can pose significant leadership challenges.

In September 2000, the positions of Ohio State University (OSU) senior vice... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Organizational Structure; Performance Improvement; Customer Satisfaction; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Service Delivery; Satisfaction; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Ohio

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November 1995
Case

Transformation of Pratt & Whitney North Haven (D)

By: H. Kent Bowen, Linda A. Hill, Andrew P. Burtis, Sylvie Ryckebusch and John Schiavone

Because of conflicts between the vapor coat and pack coat cells over the decision to purchase new grit blast equipment, Business Unit Manager Tom Hutton has decided to form a second capital purchase team that will represent the pack coat cell. Meanwhile, the first... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Capital; Employees; Organizational Culture

March–April 2022
Article

Uncovering the Mitigating Psychological Response to Monitoring Technologies: Police Body Cameras Not Only Constrain but Also Depolarize

By: Shefali V. Patil and Ethan Bernstein

Despite organizational psychologists’ long-standing caution against monitoring (citing its reduction in employee autonomy and thus effectiveness), many organizations continue to use it, often with no detriment to performance and with strong support, not protest, from... View Details

Keywords: Monitoring; Transparency; Polarization; Body Worn Cameras; Quasi Field Experiment; Analytics and Data Science; Employees; Perception; Law Enforcement

October 2006 (Revised January 2009)
Case

Vitreon Corporation: The Hyalite Project

By: Roy D. Shapiro

Considers decisions facing the leader of a manufacturing staff project team assigned to a plant where yields have deteriorated sharply. The process is complex: the plant organization is not cooperative, and there are deep disagreements about what is wrong and how to... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Production; Organizational Culture; Performance Productivity; Groups and Teams; Conflict Management; Manufacturing Industry

2021
Working Paper

Multiple Team Membership, Turnover, and On-Time Delivery: Evidence from Construction Services

By: Hise O. Gibson, Bradely R. Staats and Ananth Raman

Firms who want to compete in dynamic markets are finding that they must build more agile operations to ensure success. One way for a firm to increase organizational agility is to allocate employees to multiple project teams, simultaneously—a practice known as multiple... View Details

Keywords: Multiple Team Membership; Turnover; Fluid Teams; Project Management; Groups and Teams; Projects; Management; Performance

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24 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 24, 2006

political conflict and individual and group biases occasioned by organizational differentiation. We categorize the sources of functional bias into intentional, driven by misalignment of incentives, and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2003 (Revised May 2006)
Case

Elizabeth Parker (A)

By: Tiziana E. Casciaro, Wickham Skinner and David Krackhardt

A new political appointee with years of volunteer experience takes over a highly responsible job in the state government and is met with bureaucratic inertia. Describes a successful strategy to overcome organizational resistance to change. View Details

Keywords: Public Sector; Leading Change; Managerial Roles; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Conflict and Resolution; Power and Influence

2012
Chapter

Schumpeterian Competition and Diseconomies of Scope: Illustrations from the Histories of Microsoft and IBM

By: Timothy F. Bresnahan, Shane Greenstein and Rebecca M. Henderson

We address a longstanding question about the causes of creative destruction. Dominant incumbent firms, long successful in an existing technology, are often much less successful in new technological eras. This is puzzling, since a cursory analysis would suggest that... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Opportunities; Competition; Information Technology; Innovation and Management; Organizations; Relationships; Information Technology Industry

September 2013
Article

Women Rising: The Unseen Barriers

By: Herminia Ibarra, Robin Ely and Deborah Kolb

Even when CEOs make gender diversity a priority—by setting aspirational goals for the proportion of women in leadership roles, insisting on diverse slates of candidates for senior positions, and developing mentoring and training programs—they are often frustrated by a... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Leadership Development; Working Conditions; Organizational Culture; Gender; Diversity

Teaching

Overview

Laura taught undergraduate Military Leadership and Intro to Sociology for 6 and 4 semesters, respectively, at the United States Military Academy (West Point) from 2013-2016 (see course descriptions and links below). She was promoted from instructor to Assistant... View Details

28 Jul 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Disagreement about the Team’s Status Hierarchy: An Insidious Obstacle to Coordination and Performance

Keywords: by Heidi K. Gardner

27 Oct 2008
Lessons from the Classroom

Achieving Excellence in Nonprofits

if they have different organizational forms: nonprofit, for-profit, governmental) in the managerial challenges they face and in the kinds of strategies they need to pursue in creating social value, and that they are more similar to one... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

October 1992 (Revised June 2001)
Case

Stermon Mills Incorporated

A paper company is unable to compete on cost as a result of the installation of three very efficient paper machines by competitors. Prices for its products are falling by the day, and the company is making a loss. In the face of such competition, management feels that... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competition; Production; Pulp and Paper Industry