Publications

Find at Harvard

July 1997
Case

Earle Palmer Brown (A)

The CEO of one of the top 25 advertising agencies confronts major changes in the marketplace. He chooses to reengineer the firm. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business or Company Management; Industry Growth; Advertising Industry

Find at Harvard

01 Dec 2020
News

Courtesy Coles This was going to be the year everything got back to normal. Since Leah Weckert (MBA 2008) became the CFO at Australia’s Coles Group in 2018, the supermarket giant had announced a demerger—the largest in the country’s history—from corporate parent... View Details

Keywords: April White; COVID-19; change management; leadership; women; grocery stores; Food and Beverage Stores; Retail Trade

30 Apr 2020
News

Coronavirus Career Limbo

11 Mar 2014
News

Innovation in Big Companies

Keywords: big business; innovation; leadership; manageement

01 Mar 2015
News

The Next Big Swing

Oscar-nominated 2011 adaption of Michael Lewis’s Moneyball. But well before baseball stats went Hollywood, Tippett was quietly turning industry heads with something decidedly less flashy: a graphics-light, stat-heavy computer baseball... View Details

Keywords: Andrew Clark; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services; Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services; Information

27 Apr 2015
Lessons from the Classroom

Leadership Lessons From Outer Space

Asked for leadership advice, Terry Virts thought for a moment, letting his microphone float weightless in front of him before responding. "You have to adapt your leadership style to the situation you're in," he said. Nobody... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Aerospace

15 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

Five Questions for Paul Gompers and Josh Lerner

efforts have been launched in the past decade to "transplant" the venture model: to adapt the key features of the venture capital approach within large corporations, academic institutions and hospitals, and nations without a... View Details

Keywords: by Carol Elsen; Financial Services

27 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

Gen AI Marketing: How Some 'Gibberish' Code Can Give Products an Edge

at the top because it genuinely has more desired features? Or is it just because I’m putting in some gibberish?” she asks. You Might Also Like: Why Technology Alone Can't Solve AI's Bias Problem How Humans Outshine AI in Adapting to... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Technology

04 Aug 2023
Blog Post

Four Remarkable Stories of HBS MBA Students Tackling Climate Change

their inspiring stories. Chidalu Onyenso: Empowering small business owners’ self-sufficiency Climate change and the energy crisis have disproportionately impacted underdeveloped countries and the most vulnerable populations with them. These nations often lack the... View Details

01 Mar 2012
News

Alumni Book Briefs

team, how to measure progress, and more. The Virtual Manager: Cutting-Edge Solutions for Hiring, Managing, Motivating, and Engaging Mobile Employees by Kevin Sheridan (MBA 1988) (Career Press) As more and more jobs can be performed from home, managers must learn how to... View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

May 2017
Teaching Note

Building a Developmental Culture: The Birth of Deloitte University

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott

This Teaching Note is a companion piece to the case, “Building a Developmental Culture: The Birth of Deloitte University,” HBS No. 411-059. View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; Problems and Challenges; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Teams; Competency and Skills; Training; Employees; Values and Beliefs; Education Industry; Consulting Industry; United States

October 2011 (Revised May 2015)
Case

The American Repertory Theater

By: Rohit Deshpande, Allen S. Grossman and Ryan Johnson

When Diane Paulus, artistic director and CEO of the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) first started in 2008, she attracted media coverage around an aesthetic that aimed to give the audience more ownership over the theater experience, excited theatergoers by... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Arts; Business Model; Leading Change; Media; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Nonprofit Organizations; Competitive Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; North and Central America

January 2010 (Revised March 2010)
Case

Transforming ASUSTeK: Breaking from the Past

By: Willy C. Shih, Ho Howard Yu and Hung-Chang Chiu

What happens when an original design manufacturer (ODM) firm tries to transform itself into a branded goods seller? The case traces the evolution of ASUSTeK from a motherboard supplier, to an ODM of desktop and notebook PCs, through its split into three companies that... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Disruptive Innovation; Brands and Branding; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Competitive Strategy; Computer Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Taiwan

October 2007 (Revised March 2009)
Case

Engineering a Renaissance: The Launch of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Dean Venky of the newly launched School of Engineering and Applied Sciences is faced with a range of opportunities and challenges as he presides over the launching of a new school of engineering at Harvard University. His opportunities include an ample endowment, a... View Details

Keywords: Higher Education; Engineering; Leading Change; Product Launch; Service Operations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Alliances; Competitive Strategy

October 2004 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Sonoco Products Company (A): Building a World-Class HR Organization

By: David A. Thomas, Boris Groysberg and Cate Reavis

Describes the steps the vice-president of human resources takes in revamping an HR function that was noncooperative and, at times, competitive and introducing the company to the notion of HR as a strategic business partner. Explores changes made to the company's... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Compensation and Benefits; Management Succession; Measurement and Metrics; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy

August 1998 (Revised October 1998)
Case

Disney's "The Lion King" (A): The $2 Billion Movie

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis

In 1994, just 10 years after its filmed entertainment division lost $33 million, Disney's animated creation "The Lion King" became the second highest grossing film ever. In addition to drawing $740 million in worldwide box office sales, its merchandise sales exceeded... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Marketing Strategy; Expansion; Creativity; Film Entertainment; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Product Development; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Retail Industry

01 Mar 2016
News

The Western Front

Illustration by Brian Stauffer Illustration by Brian Stauffer The government used to be America’s greatest innovator. Among many things, it developed or helped fund the creation of the Internet, GPS, microchips, and even Cheetos. (True story: The military’s need for... View Details

Keywords: Jason Feifer

2017
Working Paper

Platforms, Open/User Innovation, and Ecosystems: A Strategic Leadership Perspective

By: Elizabeth J. Altman and Michael L. Tushman

Platform, open/user innovation, and ecosystem strategies embrace and enable interactions with external entities. Firms pursuing these approaches conduct business and interact with environments differently than those pursuing traditional closed strategies. This paper... View Details

Keywords: Platforms; Open/user Innovation; Ecosystems; Crowdsourcing; Institutional Logics; Strategic Leadership; Top Management Teams; CEO Role; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Digital Platforms; Innovation and Invention; Organizational Design; Strategy; Managerial Roles

SSRN

Read Now

2014
Working Paper

Conflicts of College Conference Realignment: Pursuing Revenue, Preserving Tradition, and Assessing the Future

By: Vadim Kogan and Stephen A. Greyser

Over the past two years, conference realignment has taken a front seat in the college sports landscape. Economic incentives were too attractive to overlook for some universities. College football programs across the country have a lot at stake, because for many,... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Motivation and Incentives; Higher Education; Sports; Revenue; Emotions; Sports Industry; Education Industry