Adaptability - Publications - Faculty & Research

October 2019
Case

Engaging the Nationwide Workforce

By: Ethan S. Bernstein, Jessica Gover and Sarah Mehta

Nationwide is “on your side,” but did employees feel that way? CAO Gale King and CEO Steve Rasmussen, starting in 2008, invested heavily in a human capital strategy centered around “engagement” at the Ohio-based Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. Set in 2014, this... View Details

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15 Jun 2010
First Look

First Look: June 15

wants to adjust the company's business, headcount, and cost levels to adapt to changing economic conditions after one of the worst economic downturns in decades. His all-male executive committee has raised eyebrows since it is a step back... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

22 Dec 2003
Research & Ideas

Why Negotiation is Like Jazz

negotiation requires adapting your communication acts to the most advantageous pattern. Learning The Notes Imagine you're a sales rep negotiating with the procurement manager of a professional services firm. Your company is the only... View Details

Keywords: by Kathleen L. McGinn

16 Dec 2002
Lessons from the Classroom

Marrying Distance and Classroom Education

"It's amazing how much you see with your ears and hear with your eyes in the classroom." You have the visual and auditory environment in the classroom that you don't have online. And so, how do you adapt your teaching style to... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

15 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

Why Business IT Innovation is so Difficult

Harvard Business School professor Kristina Steffenson McElheran studies the effect of information technology on business process innovation. It's a topic, she is sometimes told, that is, well, less than exciting. "I've had people say to me that studying IT use is like... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish

01 Nov 2024
In Practice

Layoffs Surging in a Strong Economy? Advice for Navigating Uncertain Times

From tech to media to management consulting firms, layoffs are back. Downsizing during a healthy economy can help lay the foundation for efficient growth or make space for new roles that harness newer technology, such as artificial intelligence. Companies such as... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology; Information Technology

March 2019
Teaching Note

KITEA (A)—(F)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This Teaching Note accompanies the KITEA series of cases, which details how the Moroccan furniture company KITEA prepared for the entry of IKEA into the Moroccan market and describes the outcome of that entry. View Details

Keywords: Private Sector; For-Profit Firms; Business Strategy; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Adaptation; Corporate Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Retail Industry; Africa; North Africa; Morocco

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January 2010 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Credit Suisse Group: Managing Equity Research as a Business

By: Boris Groysberg, Paul M. Healy and Sarah Abbott

In 2003, in the midst of industry turmoil and company-specific challenges, Stefano Natella was named Global Head of Equity Research at Credit Suisse. Over a six-year period, Natella implemented and refined a new methodology for valuing equity research analysts, both... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Change Management; Customer Satisfaction; Compensation and Benefits; Selection and Staffing; Balanced Scorecard; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Financial Services Industry

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January 1998 (Revised February 1998)
Case

Sideco Americana S.A. (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Harold F. Hogan Jr

This case focuses on a decision the Sideco management team faces when customers of its newly acquired and privatized water and sewer company neglect to pay its bills. Describes the effort to transform an old-style Argentine construction and engineering company into a... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Transformation; Business or Company Management; Values and Beliefs; Argentina

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June 1995
Case

Northern Telecom and Netas (B): Transferring Technology to Central Asia

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Kalman D. Applbaum and Pamela A. Yatsko

In the early 1990s, the Turkish telecommunications firm, Netas, established joint ventures in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan as miniature replications of Netas's own experience on the receiving end of technology transfer with Netas's 51% owner, Northern Telecom. This case... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Change Management; Transition; Developing Countries and Economies; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Learning; Technology Adoption; Telecommunications Industry; Turkey; Kazakhstan; Azerbaijan

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03 Jul 2012
First Look

First Look: July 3

and Michael Slind show how trusted and effective leaders are adapting the principles of face-to-face conversation in order to pursue a new form of organizational conversation. They explore the promise of conversation-powered... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

07 Jun 2011
First Look

First Look: June 7

This case, set in 2010, presents an overview of the new, more interactive model of employee communication that HPCL introduced as part of its effort to adapt to increased market competition during the early 21st century. (HPCL, previously... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

12 Aug 2002
Research & Ideas

‘Let the Buyer Beware’ Doesn’t Protect Investors

going public, except in unusual circumstances. The prospectus is full of language originally intended to inform an investor, but which now protects the offerers. This is a well-known dynamic of regulation, in which those regulated adapt... View Details

Keywords: by D. Quinn Mills

April 2013 (Revised November 2013)
Case

Growing Financial Services in India: Aditya Birla Financial Services Group

By: Paul M. Healy and Rachna Tahilyani

Aditya Birla Financial Services Group is a large, broad-based, Indian financial services institution offering products ranging from life insurance and mutual funds to private equity. The company has witnessed a turnaround in recent years and regained lost market share.... View Details

Keywords: Regulatory Environment; Finance; Asset Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Transformation; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Business Processes; Organizational Structure; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Segmentation; Financial Services Industry; Insurance Industry; India

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June 1985 (Revised April 1989)
Case

Benetton (B)

By: James L. Heskett

The managing director of Benetton is faced with several issues concerning the adequacy of the company's organization to capitalize on the early success it has achieved in an important foreign market, the United States. Specifically, the case raises questions about... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Global Strategy; Transition; Growth and Development Strategy; Success; Business Headquarters; Business Subsidiaries; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Growth and Maturation; United States; Italy

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15 Dec 2009
First Look

First Look: Dec. 15, 2009

organized systems for improvement. Traditional structures and cultures within AHCs, although well suited to the tripartite missions of teaching, research, and clinical care, are not easily adaptable to the tasks of measuring, reporting,... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

May 2024
Case

SofMedica Group: Managing Growth

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott

SofMedica Group had expanded from its origins as a medical equipment distributor in Romania to a holding company with four business lines operating in six countries. This expansion had been driven by SofMedica’s mission: to make cutting edge medical technology... View Details

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April 2022
Case

Gender Equality in Business: 100 Years of Progress?

By: Boris Groysberg and Colleen Ammerman

"Gender Equality in Business: 100 Years of Progress?" traces the history of women in management from the early 20th to early 21st century through analysis of Harvard Business Review's coverage of women and gender. The case identifies six distinct phases in the... View Details

Keywords: History; Business History; Gender; Management; Employees; Leadership; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Work-Life Balance; Prejudice and Bias; Social Issues; Diversity; Equity; United States

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February 2010
Supplement

Organization and Strategy at Millennium (B)

By: Julie M. Wulf and Scott Waggoner

This case examines Millennium's strategic and organizational responses to the rapid evolution of the biopharmaceutical industry. In the early 2000s, as Millennium's competitive advantage in early-stage research slipped away and its losses mounted, founder CEO Mark... View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; Transformation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Crisis Management; Competitive Advantage; Commercialization; Selection and Staffing; Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Pharmaceutical Industry

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February 1996 (Revised November 1996)
Case

Wainwright Industries (A): Beyond the Baldrige

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Norman Klein

Traces the growth of Wainwright, a small automotive supply company, focusing on its commitment to quality in 1981 and the evolution of its quality culture. Breakthrough programs that stress "trust and belief" in the workforce and commitment to customers result in... View Details