Publications

December 2009
Article

Restructuring Within an Academic Health Center to Support Quality and Safety: The Development of the Center for Quality and Safety at the Massachusetts General Hospital

By: Richard Bohmer, Jonathan David Bloom, Elizabeth Mort MD, Akinluwa Demehin and Gregg Meyer MD

Recent focus on the need to improve the quality and safety of health care has created new challenges for academic health centers (AHCs). Whereas previously quality was largely assumed, today it is increasingly quantifiable and requires organized systems for... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Performance Improvement; Quality; Safety; Massachusetts

11 Mar 2010
Working Paper Summaries

The Many Faces of Nonprofit Accountability

Keywords: by Alnoor Ebrahim

21 Aug 2000
Research & Ideas

Inside the OR: Disrupted Routines and New Technologies

piqued the interest of Edmondson, Bohmer, and Pisano. To study the group and organizational level factors affecting the adaptation of this new technology, they examined the successes and failures of 16... View Details

Keywords: by Hilah Geer

January 2021 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Arçelik: From a Dealer Network to an Omnichannel Experience

By: Ayelet Israeli and Fares Khrais

Arçelik Turkey, the country’s market leader in household appliances, was at an omnichannel crossroads in January 2020. Arçelik was a B2B player utilizing a dealership network with an umbrella of brands and had one of the largest brick-and-mortar store networks in... View Details

April 21, 2023
Article

When Scenario Planning Fails

By: Kalle Heikkinen, William R. Kerr, Mika Malin, Panu Routila and Eemil Rupponen

How can organizations perform scenario planning when they are hit by shocks outside of leaders’ field of vision? Interviews with Nordic executives, who experienced both the Covid-19 pandemic and were in close proximity to Russia as the country invaded Ukraine, can... View Details

Keywords: Planning; Crisis Management; Organizational Structure; Forecasting and Prediction; System Shocks; Organizational Change and Adaptation

Read Now

23 Apr 2020
News

What pandemic? How Goldman Sachs and Amazon may bring the office home for these interns.

Research Summary

Managing in an Information Age

By: Lynda M. Applegate

Lynda M. Applegate's research focuses on the influence of information technology on markets and organizations. Her findings on the evolution of electronic commerce and on the role of information technology as an enabler of flexible and adaptive ... View Details

22 Dec 2008
Research & Ideas

10 Reasons to Design a Better Corporate Culture

the answer lies in recognizing that strong, adaptive cultures can foster innovation, productivity, and a sense of ownership among employees and customers. They also outlast any individual charismatic leader. But how can you as a manager... View Details

Keywords: by James L. Heskett, W. Earl Sasser & Joe Wheeler

14 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Restarting Under Uncertainty: Managerial Experiences from Around the World

signals and quickly adapt their activities to newly emerging information. They actively cooperate with external stakeholders (including, in some instances, their competitors) to pool and disseminate information and safeguard the stability... View Details

Keywords: by Raffaella Sadun, Andrea Bertoni, Alexia Delfino, Giovanni Fassio, and Mariapaola Testa

June 2014
Teaching Note

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.: Driving Change Through Internal Communication

By: Boris Groysberg, Sarah L. Abbott and Robin Abrahams

Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL), confronted in 2003 with an urgent need to change how it operated externally, adopted a highly innovative approach to communicating internally. This case, set in 2010, presents an overview of the new, more interactive model of employee... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Change Management; Communication; Change; Leadership; Management; Energy Industry; India

June 1991 (Revised June 1993)
Background Note

The Decline of the British Cotton Industry (Abridged)

Supplements the general argument concerning the decline of the British economy by showing how vertical specialization, horizontal competition, and entrenched job control combined to create incentives for management to adapt to changing international conditions by... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Business Cycles; Organizational Structure; Consumer Products Industry; Great Britain

Article

The Translucent Hand of Managed Ecosystems: Engaging Communities for Value Creation and Capture

By: Elizabeth J. Altman, Frank Nagle and Michael Tushman

Management research has increasingly explored the domains of ecosystems, platforms, and open/user/distributed innovation—governance structures focused on engaging with external communities. While these research areas include substantial empirical and theoretical work... View Details

Keywords: Ecosystems; Platforms; Open And User Innovation Strategy; Capabilities; Governance; Innovation Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Value Creation

Register to Read

April 2011 (Revised July 2014)
Case

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.: Driving Change Through Internal Communication

By: Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind

Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL), confronted in 2003 with an urgent need to change how it operated externally, adopted a highly innovative approach to communicating internally. This case, set in 2010, presents an overview of the new, more interactive model of employee... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Interpersonal Communication; Employee Relationship Management; Innovation and Management; Leading Change; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Corporate Strategy; India

23 Jun 2023
HBS Case

This Company Lets Employees Take Charge—Even with Life and Death Decisions

back to our organizations?’ And as companies face employee reductions in this economic climate, perhaps they should consider doing so in a way that removes layers of organizational structure as well.” How Buurtzorg works Jos de Blok, one... View Details

Keywords: by Annelena Lobb; Health

January 1996 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream, Inc.: A Period of Transition

By: David J. Collis and Melinda B. Conrad

Bob Holland takes over as CEO of this iconoclastic ice cream company in February 1995 when it faces a major crisis. Holland must now develop a strategy that both adapts to the external environment and is consistent with the company's unique heritage. View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Business Strategy; Adaptation; Crisis Management; Organizational Culture; Food and Beverage Industry

September – October 2008
Article

Care Platforms: A Basic Building Block for Care Delivery

By: Richard Bohmer and David Lawrence

Without significant operational reform within the nation's health care delivery organizations, new financing models, payment systems, or structures are unlikely to realize their promise. Adapting insights from high-performing companies in other high-risk, high-cost,... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Management Systems; Standards; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Business Processes; Organizational Design; Customization and Personalization; Health Industry