Publications

October 2014 (Revised May 2015)
Case

HandsOn Bay Area: Scaling Up Community Service

By: James Heskett

HandsOn Bay Area, an organization devoted to the performance of (and development of leaders for) community service, is undergoing a significant (and internally controversial) shift in its business model from "retail" projects involving individual volunteers to... View Details

2024
Working Paper

The Wade Test: Generative AI and CEO Communication

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Bart S. Vanneste and Amirhossein Zohrehvand

Can generative artificial intelligence (AI) transform the role of the CEO by effectively automating CEO communication? This study investigates whether AI can mimic a human CEO and whether employees’ perception of the communication’s source matter. In a field... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; AI and Machine Learning; Perception; Communication

Read Now

2008
Working Paper

Communication (and Coordination?) in a Modern, Complex Organization

By: Adam M. Kleinbaum, Toby E. Stuart and Michael L. Tushman

This is a descriptive study of the structure of communications in a modern organization. We analyze a dataset with millions of electronic mail messages, calendar meetings and teleconferences for many thousands of employees of a single, multidivisional firm during a... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Interpersonal Communication; Organizational Structure; Social Issues; Boundaries

Read Now

August 2006 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Revenue Recognition Problems in the Communications Equipment Industry

By: Paul M. Healy and Arjuna J Costa

Designed to explore recognition issues in the context of a potential market downturn. In late 2000, Lucent Technologies reports multiple revisions to its recent financial results due to revenue recognition problems, leading to a dramatic decline in its stock price.... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Disclosure; Revenue Recognition; Policy; Supply and Industry; Performance; Communications Industry

December 2001 (Revised June 2002)
Case

Compensation at Level 3 Communications

Level 3's unique compensation plan rewarded managers for the firm's performance only if the firm's stock price movement exceeded that of the market. This design was intended to maximize shareholder value by tying manager's performance more closely to that of the firm,... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Compensation and Benefits; Telecommunications Industry

August 1981
Background Note

Overview of Data Communications Technology

By: James I. Cash Jr.

Keywords: Information Technology

Find at Harvard

May 1998 (Revised August 2001)
Teaching Note

Timberland and Community Involvement TN

By: James E. Austin

Teaching Note for (9-796-156). View Details

Keywords: Apparel and Accessories Industry

March 1976
Teaching Note

King Community Hospital, Teaching Note

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

09 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

The Manager’s Guide to Communicating with Customers Collection

to craft a more effective message to, and to get lucrative insights from, the shopping public would be well advised to listen to what Underhill and Zaltman have to say. Following are some of their communication secrets. Examine the... View Details

Keywords: by Richard Bierck; Retail

March 1986
Teaching Note

American Communications (A), Teaching Note

By: D. Quinn Mills and G. Bruce Friesen

Keywords: Communication; Telecommunications Industry

September 1999
Background Note

Revolution in the Communications Switching Industry

By: Jay O. Light, Lynda M. Applegate and Daniel J. Green

As data packet switches threatened the voice circuit switch industry in 1999, major switch and router vendors began paying high premiums to acquire venture-backed switch companies. This note explains what a switch is and suggests why large vendors might be so anxious... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Restructuring; Capital; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Communications Industry; Communications Industry

November 1995
Case

Communications Revolution, The : 1995

By: Richard S. Tedlow and James Weber

Keywords: Communication; Communication Technology

Find at Harvard

01 Aug 1967
Conference Presentation

Commitment Mechanisms in Utopian Communities

By: R. M. Kanter

Keywords: Civil Society or Community

October 1975 (Revised June 1983)
Background Note

Understanding Communications in One-To-One Relationships

By: John J. Gabarro

Introduces the concepts of assumptions, perceptions and feelings, and applies these concepts to the problem of understanding the behavior that takes place between people in relationships. The note discusses a particular interaction that takes place between two men in a... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Emotions; Behavior; Attitudes; Perspective; Relationships

01 Aug 1970
Conference Presentation

Communes of the Past and Present

By: R. M. Kanter

Keywords: Civil Society or Community

April 2011 (Revised July 2014)
Case

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.: Driving Change Through Internal Communication

By: Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind

Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL), confronted in 2003 with an urgent need to change how it operated externally, adopted a highly innovative approach to communicating internally. This case, set in 2010, presents an overview of the new, more interactive model of employee... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Interpersonal Communication; Employee Relationship Management; Innovation and Management; Leading Change; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Corporate Strategy; India