Publications

Find at Harvard

July 2002 (Revised August 2002)
Case

Washington Hospital Center (C): Progress and Prospects, 1995-2001

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Michelle Heskett

Dr. Craig Feied and Dr. Mark Smith have already transformed a "worst-in-area" emergency medicine department into the best in the area. Industry-wide and hospital system-specific challenges remain, including their newest project of national importance--creating an... View Details

Keywords: History; Higher Education; Organizational Culture; Medical Specialties; Technological Innovation; Change Management; Nonprofit Organizations; Expansion; Crisis Management; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; District of Columbia

15 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

High Ambition Leadership

and physical assets, not creating social value." Higher-ambition leaders, as the authors call them, also make decisions about long-term relationships with all their stakeholders in mind. "Consider United Stationers' strategy of 'enabling... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

16 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

Transitions of Power Are Difficult. What Joe Biden and Other Incoming Leaders Need to Know.

have developed a perspective on strategies for the near-term and long-term. But first, before anything else, it’s important to stop the bleeding; that is, deal with crises and pain points. Whether the problems involve financial distress... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

16 Feb 2004
Research & Ideas

Marketing Wine to the World

Michael Roberto: My parents are Italian immigrants, and my family back in Tuscany and the Campania region of Italy continue to make their own wine. Therefore, I've always had an interest in the wine-making process. A few years ago, when teaching the View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls; Consumer Products; Entertainment & Recreation; Food & Beverage

February 2015 (Revised February 2016)
Case

CrossFit (A)

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Ali Huberlie and Christopher Payton

The case provides a sense of motivations of venture capital firms, the pivotal role that founders play, and explores the limits of founder-driven growth.
CrossFit (CF) describes the approach taken by its founder Greg Glassman in setting up one of the most... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Venture Capital; Strategy; Organizational Culture; Entrepreneurship; Franchise Ownership; Innovation and Invention; United States; North America

April 2009 (Revised August 2010)
Case

Buro Happold

By: Robert G. Eccles and Kerry Herman

Padraic Kelly became Managing Director (MD) of the engineering services firm Buro Happold in 1996. One of his first initiatives was "Aim for Growth," which was intended to help the firm grow beyond its current size where it was constrained by a structure of having each... View Details

Keywords: Training; Entrepreneurship; Leadership Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Skills; Organizational Culture; Programs

May 2003 (Revised May 2009)
Case

ZARA: Fast Fashion

Focuses on Inditex, an apparel retailer from Spain, which has set up an extremely quick response system for its ZARA chain. Instead of predicting months before a season starts what women will want to wear, ZARA observes what's selling and what's not and continuously... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Multinational Firms and Management; Competitive Advantage; Manufacturing Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry; Spain

February 1999
Case

Sports Agents: Is There a Firm Advantage?

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Brian R. Harris

Focuses on the decision of a young tennis player on what kind of agent to have as his representative. The choice is between someone in a large sports management/marketing firm and an independent agent representing a small number of individual athletes. Outlines the... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Knowledge Management; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Organizational Structure

22 Feb 2011
Research & Ideas

The Most Important Management Trends of the (Still Young) Twenty-First Century

strategy and organizational management. Products are being developed through open innovation, with input from people connected to each other and the company only through a common interest—and electronic... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

April 1993 (Revised September 1996)
Case

ABB Deutschland (A)

By: Hugo Uyterhoeven

Describes Europe's most famous postwar multinational merger between Asea of Sweden and Brown Boveri of Switzerland. Gives background on both companies and focuses particularly on BBC's geographic organization, its corporate culture, and the relationship between its... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Subsidiaries; Corporate Governance; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Behavior; Business Strategy; Sweden; Switzerland

Find at Harvard

03 Jun 2008
First Look

First Look: June 3, 2008

examining performance over time, comparing adopters to non-adopters, and incorporating strategies to overcome selection bias. Evaluations that meet the highest methodological standards are critical to inform the debates about this new... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Value Judgments: Business Ethics Across Borders

organizational values and business ethics, Paine focused on U.S. companies engaged in business principally at home. But faced with an increasing number of questions from international students about whether U.S. standards and values... View Details

Keywords: by Judith A. Ross

06 May 2013
Research & Ideas

How Local Events Shake Up Corporate Philanthropy

philanthropy because even global companies tend to focus corporate giving on local nonprofits. Charitable behavior is a key area of interest for Marquis, whose research and teaching focuses on businesses' social strategies and activities.... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

18 Feb 2014
First Look

First Look: February 18

Abstract—Innovation has traditionally taken place within an organization's boundaries and/or with selected partners. This Chandlerian approach to innovation has been rooted in transaction costs, organizational boundaries, and information... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2015
Technical Note

The On-Demand Economy

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery, James Weber and Elizabeth Anne Watkins

This note describes the emerging on-demand economy, also referred to as the sharing economy. The note highlights several companies including Uber and Airbnb that exemplify this new mode of competition, a model that threatens to disrupt traditional firms. Uber provides... View Details

Keywords: Regulation; Reform; Disruption; Disruptive Innovation; Strategy; Technological Innovation; Labor; Employment; Working Conditions; Human Capital; Rights; Organizational Design; Social and Collaborative Networks; Service Industry

2022
Book

Productive Tensions: How Every Leader Can Tackle Innovation's Toughest Trade-Offs

By: Chris Bingham and Rory McDonald

Why is leading innovation in nascent business environments so distressingly hit-or-miss? More than 90% of high-potential ventures don’t reach their projected targets. Surveys show that 80% of executives consider innovation crucial to their growth strategy, but only 6%... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Innovation and Management; Organizational Culture; Leadership Style; Decision Making

February 2003 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Safe to Say at Prudential Financial

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Corey B. Hajim

The CEO initiated a cultural change process at Prudential Financial to support a major business reorientation. Prudential, historically a privately held ("mutual") insurance company, went public in 2001. The cultural change was intended to prepare the organization to... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Risk and Uncertainty; Private Ownership; Going Public; Transformation; Organizational Culture

July 2001
Case

Paula Evans and the Redesign of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (B)

By: Linda A. Hill, Kristin Doughty and Ellen Pruyne

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Strategy; Secondary Education; Restructuring; Leadership; Education Industry; Cambridge