Publications

2019
Book

The Technology Fallacy: How People Are the Real Key to Digital Transformation

By: Gerald C. Kane, Anh Phillips, Jonathan Copulsky and Garth Andrus

Digital technologies are disrupting organizations of every size and shape, leaving managers scrambling to find a technology fix that will help their organizations compete. This book offers managers and business leaders a guide for surviving digital disruptions―but it... View Details

January 1995
Case

Oticon A/S: Project 330

Describes the conceptualization and implementation of a totally new organization structure built around projects, knowledge, and personal development. The organization is fluid with almost no formal controls. Physical work space is fundamentally changed and almost all... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure

2011
Working Paper

How Foundations Think: The Ford Foundation as a Dominating Institution in the Field of American Business Schools

By: Rakesh Khurana, Kenneth Kimura and Marion Fourcade

The question of institutional change has become central to organizational research (Powell, 2008). Recent scholarship has demonstrated, often through carefully researched cases, that institutions can and sometimes do change. According to this research, there are two... View Details

Keywords: Change; Business Education; Business History; Organizations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Relationships; Behavior

Read Now

01 Jun 2002
News

Profile: The Invisible Hand - Robert Massie and God's Green Earth

know what I was talking about — I wanted to change that. I also wanted to understand business, one of the most powerful institutions in society, and learn about leadership and... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; management; ethics

29 Jul 2020
Working Paper Summaries

What Jobs Are Being Done at Home During the COVID-19 Crisis? Evidence from Firm-Level Surveys

Keywords: by Alexander Bartik, Zoë Cullen, Edward L. Glaeser, Michael Luca, and Christopher Stanton

Research Summary

Research overview

By: Julie Battilana

How can actors – be they individuals or organizations – diverge from deeply-seated norms and develop new ones, when their beliefs and actions are shaped by these very norms? This question lies at the heart of Professor Battilana’s research. To address it, she... View Details

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Implementing New Practices: An Empirical Study of Organizational Learning in Hospital Intensive Care Units

Keywords: by Anita L. Tucker, Ingrid M. Nembhard & Amy C. Edmondson; Health

01 Apr 1996
News

Stewards of the Seventh Generation

Development (now known as the World Business Council for Sustainable Development). Their initial work culminated in the publication of the book Changing Course: A Global Business Perspective on Development View Details

Keywords: Marguerite Rigoglioso, Garry Emmons, Linda Goodspeed, and Elaine Gottlieb

29 Jul 2020
Blog Post

To New Beginnings: Reflecting on Transitioning Careers and Starting a Family while at HBS

students and professors I’ve met. In my first semester alone, there were so many activities and memories I’ll cherish forever. In September, my section’s social chairs View Details

February 2003 (Revised July 2005)
Case

British Broadcasting Corporation (B): Making it Happen

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Douglas A Raymond

Greg Dyke, the new director general of the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC), has launched an ambitious change program, called Making It Happen, with the objective of unlocking creativity, building a sense of common purpose, and encouraging collaboration throughout the... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Media; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Leadership Development; Competition; Creativity; Relationships; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United Kingdom

March 2000 (Revised February 2005)
Case

Hewlett Packard--Computer Systems Organization: Selling to Enterprise Customers

By: Das Narayandas and Robert C. Dudley

In late 1996, Manuel Diaz, head of Worldwide Sales for Hewlett-Packard's (HP) Computer Systems Organization (CSO), is reviewing the results of an audit of HP's enterprise customer management approach with the objective of identifying market and organizational... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Transformation; Customer Relationship Management; Cost vs Benefits; Marketing Strategy; Sales; Computer Industry

January 1994
Case

Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc.

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

This case examines the career path of Merck's CFO, Judy C. Lewent, as a way of tracing changes over time in Merck's finance function. It describes the adoption of innovative quantitative analytical models, changes in job definitions and in the organization of the... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Mathematical Methods; Personal Development and Career; Organizational Design; Innovation and Invention; Pharmaceutical Industry

March 2022
Article

From Proprietary to Collective Governance: How Do Platform Participation Strategies Evolve?

By: Siobhan O'Mahony and Rebecca Karp

When platform leaders change the rules guiding who can access and control a platform, the strategies of those who create value from the platform can be upended. Little research examines how platform participants adapt their strategies when a platform leader changes the... View Details

Keywords: Platform Governance; Access; Crowdsourcing; Applications and Software; Employees; Leadership Style; Cybersecurity; Risk Management

Find at Harvard

08 Jul 2019
News

When the World Matches the Apocalypse in Your Novel

February 1996 (Revised March 1996)
Case

Harvey Golub: Recharging American Express

By: David A. Garvin and Artemis March

Harvey Golub, CEO American Express, initiated and led a large-scale change process. The case describes the organization he inherited, two successive waves of reengineering, his "principles-driven" approach to decision making, and his goal of converting American Express... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Engineering; Leadership Style; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Core Relationships; Integration; Value

April 1990 (Revised August 1997)
Case

Organizational Capabilities and U.S. War Production: The Controlled Materials Plan of World War II

By: Robert D. Cuff and Richard S. Tedlow

A vehicle for the discussion of a very important set of institutional arrangements that helped enable America to mobilize its economy for World War II. View Details

Keywords: Economy; Production; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; War; United States

January 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Runa

By: Paul Gompers and Carla Larangeira

In early 2022, Courtney McColgan, founder and CEO of Runa, a human resources and payroll Software-as-a-Service platform, faced an unexpected tech market downturn. Founded in 2018, Runa catered to small and medium-sized businesses in Mexico, offering an affordable and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Volatility; Entrepreneurship; Decision Making; Leadership; Management; Venture Capital; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Growth and Maturation; Latin America