office culture - Publications - Faculty & Research

June 2020 (Revised February 2023)
Teaching Note

GitLab and the Future of All-Remote Work

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 620-066 and 620-117. View Details

Keywords: Remote Work; Remote Operations; Business Offices; Value Creation; Organizational Culture; Business or Company Management; Employee Relationship Management; Communication Strategy; Organizational Structure

Citation

Purchase

30 Jan 2019
What Do You Think?

Who Will Measure up to These Two Remarkable Leaders?

leaders—there are plenty of fine people who can lead an organization. What these two did, as you point out, was create a culture around the mission of their organizations. Their employees live the mission in their work How do you teach... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Air Transportation; Financial Services

16 Jul 2024
Op-Ed

Corporate Boards Are Failing in Their No. 1 Duty

should be developing a half-dozen or more leaders who could be long-term CEO candidates. The ideal future CEO should be at least 10 years from the company’s typical retirement age, so they have sufficient time in office to make... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

25 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

Studying Japan from the Inside

Harvard Business School started its Japan Research Office in December 2001—smack in the middle of an incredibly turbulent time for the country's economy. The boom years of the 1970s and 1980s—when Japanese management practices and... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

03 Nov 2022
Op-Ed

Feeling Separation Anxiety at Your Startup? 5 Tips to Soothe These Growing Pains

early employees often find themselves with managers between them and the founders. This can create separation anxiety that manifests in different ways—from temper tantrums in meetings to disengagement and generally bad behavior—and can be the root of View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

22 Jun 2021
Research & Ideas

The COVID-19 Mutiny: When Teams Leave and Take Their Clients

information provided by office culture is gone. You could wear your best suit and have a two-hour meeting in the middle of the day with the C-suite of your firm’s biggest competitor without anyone being the... View Details

Keywords: by Robin Abrahams, Boris Groysberg, and Steven L. Manchel

06 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

After Germanwings, More Attention Needed on Employee Mental Health

culture change starts at the top. "As always, an expression of support from leadership is very important," says Quelch. "Leaders can set good examples by not sending emails at 3 a.m. or showing up in the View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health; Air Transportation

20 Dec 2018
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Stories and Research Papers of 2018

moms are high achievers at work. Now it turns out they are happy, too. Amazon vs. Whole Foods: When Cultures Collide Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods seemed a Wall Street dream come true. But then Amazon's data-driven efficiency met... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

07 Apr 2003
Research & Ideas

How the U.S. Army Develops Leaders

high turnover, waning commitment, missed recruiting goals, and officer retention nightmares. By studying the development of professional identity over time within the Army's career structure, we hoped to identify a conceptual leverage... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

05 Jun 2013
What Do You Think?

Do We Need to Extend ‘No Surprises Management?’

or are reluctant to risk carrying bad news up the chain of command, making a bad situation worse. What if the NSM concept was extended downward, to entreat managers not to surprise those reporting to them? The potential benefits were suggested by research I carried out... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

22 Jun 2011
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Motivation

into the most effective way to design a compensation plan, concentrating on whether bonuses boost sales productivity and whether they should be awarded quarterly or annually. Research, focusing on the sales force of a large office supply... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty

20 Mar 2013
Research & Ideas

How CEOs Sustain Higher-Ambition Goals

participants have led higher-ambition efforts at their companies for years. Office supply company United Stationers started a foundation to connect employees with charitable activities, including raising money for a children's hospital... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

31 Oct 2006
HBS Case

Governing Sumida Corporation

examines how CEO Shigeyuki ("Shiggi") Yawata moves Sumida toward a U.S.-inspired "committee system" for its board of directors, the first Japanese company to do so. The case was a collaborative project undertaken by Professor Lynn Paine and Japan... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Electronics

14 Nov 2007
Research & Ideas

Growing CEOs from the Inside

HBS case study mentioned in Bower's book, Mulcahy drew counsel from a wide constituency of friends and acquaintances at the company to help set its future direction based on color printers and office services. Xerox has since rebounded... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Employment

18 May 2010
First Look

First Look: May 18

"IVK extended case series," a fictitious but reality-based story about a newly appointed, not technically trained chief information officer (CIO) in his first year on the job. We designed the course around a narrative and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

05 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

In Praise of Marketing

local imitations, were quick to try and adopt the former forbidden fruit. Was this democratization of access to American brands a Trojan horse for American cultural imperialism? No. In most product categories in most countries, there are... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Advertising

30 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Big Companies, Big Opportunities—Big Questions

financial officer of Grupo Elektra, Latin America's leading specialty retailer and consumer finance company. Global banks are decreasing their positions in Latin America. Last year alone, he said, major banks reduced investments in Latin... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Jette

13 Sep 2011
First Look

First Look: September 13

energy and potential of their people to deliver superior economic and social value. Book: http://hbr.org/product/higher-ambition-how-great-leaders-create-economic-/an/12957-HBK-ENG The Culture Cycle: How to Shape the Unseen Force That... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

16 Aug 2024
In Practice

Election 2024: What's at Stake for Business and the Workplace?

encourage voter turnout among customers, similar to Facebook's Election Day notifications or Lyft’s discounted rides to polling stations. Support election administration by donating resources such as ballot boxes, office supplies, and... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

29 May 2001
Research & Ideas

Howard Stevenson on the Lessons of the Internet Era

companies must develop new expertise. Stevenson pointed to the Chief Technical Officer as a key figure in this transformation, a person combining the right technical acumen with an understanding of the competitive landscape. The CTO, said... View Details