Publications

June 2020 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Deloitte's Pixel (A): Consulting with Open Talent

By: Michael L. Tushman, John Winsor and Kerry Herman

Deloitte Consulting’s General Manager Balaji Bondili, head of Pixel, considers how best to grow Deloitte Consulting’s use of open (on-demand) talent, as consulting companies and their clients face transformative change in the way client engagements and projects get... View Details

Keywords: Disruption; Talent and Talent Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Consulting Industry; United States

17 Oct 2014
News

Small, but fierce: How tiny firms can pack a big punch

February 2019 (Revised September 2021)
Case

The a2 Milk Company

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

The a2 Milk Company (a2MC) became the most valuable company listed on the New Zealand stock exchange in 2018 by capitalizing on a biochemical discovery related to the protein composition of cow's milk. Because many people find the A1 protein difficult to digest, and... View Details

October 2013
Article

The Strategy That Will Fix Health Care

By: Michael E. Porter and Thomas H. Lee

In health care, the days of business as usual are over. Around the world, every health care system is struggling with rising costs and uneven quality, despite the hard work of well-intentioned, well-trained clinicians. Health care leaders and policy makers have tried... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategy; Value; Customer Focus and Relationships; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

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13 Nov 2000
Research & Ideas

Managing to Learn: How Companies Can Turn Knowledge into Action

concept of a learning organization is one that is "skilled at creating, acquiring, interpreting, transferring, and retaining knowledge and at purposefully modifying its behavior to reflect View Details

Keywords: by Laurie Joan Aron

03 Apr 2009
What Do You Think?

How Much Obsolescence Can Business and Society Absorb?

existing organization communication patterns" [such as bottom up plus top down, outside in—from customers—plus inside out, etc.]. Challenges of new information... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Journalism & News; Journalism & News

15 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 15, 2008

relationship formation based on the characteristics of 'settings', or the places and times where actors meet. We argue that bridging relations form when organizations... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

October 2020 (Revised February 2025)
Technical Note

Reinvention

By: Ryan Raffaelli

This note is designed to introduce students to the fundamental concepts of leading innovation in established organizations. Reinvention is a process whereby organizations respond to changes in the environment that threaten their core business model, technologies,... View Details

Keywords: Innovation And Strategy; Leadership And Change Management; Organizational Ambidexterity; Exploration And Exploitation; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Leading Change; Technology Adoption; Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation

September 2016
Case

Hewlett Packard Enterprise: The Dandelion Program

By: Gary P. Pisano and Robert D. Austin

This case describes Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s “Dandelion Program," which has developed a new service offering for the company’s clients by drawing on the special talents of people with autism. The company has deployed “pods” organized around 8 or 9 employees with... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Information Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Talent and Talent Management; Service Operations; Training; Diversity; Innovation and Invention; Technology Industry

May 2017 (Revised November 2017)
Case

Cotopaxi: Managing Growth for Good

By: Andy Wu and Laura Huang

Cotopaxi, an innovative outdoor gear business targeting millennials, focuses on profit and social impact. This registered benefit corporation was formed by Davis Smith who coalesced his experiences as a Wharton MBA student along with professional knowledge from an... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Social Venture; Benefit Corporation; B-Corp; Retail; Consumer Products; Apparel; Social Impact; Social Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Product Positioning; Social Enterprise; Mission and Purpose; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry

10 Aug 2009
Research & Ideas

High Commitment, High Performance Management

High Commitment High Performance: How to Build a Resilient Organization for Sustained Advantage explains why and how to align the two. "High commitment, high performance (HCHP) companies are firms designed and led by their founders or by... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

03 Mar 2014
Blog Post

Align Your Social Media and Recruiting Strategies

It goes without saying that candidates seeking new job opportunities should have a presence on social media to enhance their brand identity. Similarly, organizations seeking talent should leverage social... View Details

April 1997
Case

Display Technologies, Inc.

By: Jonathan West, H. Kent Bowen and Ryota Matsui

Display Technologies, Inc. (DTI) is a new joint venture between Toshiba and IBM Japan that is manufacturing the most advanced form of flat panel displays. With success in achieving significant production volumes, DTI has been asked to double its output as quickly as... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Production; Performance Expectations; Electronics Industry

Tatiana Sandino is the Arthur Lowes Dickinson Professor of Business Administration in the Accounting and Management Unit, most recently teaching and undertaking the role of course head for the required first-year MBA course Financial Reporting and Control. She has... View Details

Keywords: retailing; service industry

04 Apr 2016
HBS Seminar

Ariel Stern, Harvard Business School

January–February 2019
Article

Why Some Platforms Thrive and Others Don't

By: Feng Zhu and Marco Iansiti

In the digital economy, scale is no guarantee of continued success. After all, the same factors that help an online platform expand quickly—such as the low cost of adding new customers—work for challengers too. What, then, allows platforms to fight off rivals and grow... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Competition; Network Effects; Competitive Strategy

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July 1998 (Revised January 2009)
Case

Display Technologies, Inc. (Abridged)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Jonathan West

Display Technologies, Inc. (DTI) is a new joint venture between Toshiba and IBM Japan that is manufacturing the most advanced form of flat panel displays. With success in achieving significant production volumes, DTI has been asked to double its output as quickly as... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Decision Choices and Conditions; Leadership Style; Production; Outcome or Result; Performance Capacity; Strategy; Hardware; Electronics Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Japan

March 2011
Case

United Cereal: Lora Brill's Eurobrand Challenge

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Carole Carlson

The case, set within the European organization of a giant multinational breakfast foods company, describes a launch decision for a new cereal product. As the case evolves, the decision has major strategic and organizational implications for Lora Brill, European VP. The... View Details

Keywords: Subsidiaries; Market Entry; Multinational Corporations; Strategy; Business Subsidiaries; Managerial Roles; Multinational Firms and Management; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Marketing Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Product Launch; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Europe