Publications

September 2010
Case

Freddie Mac: Managing in Conservatorship

By: Robert Steven Kaplan, Nitin Nohria and Ben Creo

Ed Haldeman has recently become CEO of Freddie Mac, one of three major government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) charged with supporting U.S. residential mortgage finance. The company was placed into conservatorship by the U.S. treasury on September 7, 2008.... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Financial Crisis; Mortgages; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Business and Government Relations; Financial Services Industry; United States

2011
Other Unpublished Work

Functional Centralization and the Division of Labor in Management

By: Julie Wulf, Maria Guadalupe and Hongyi Li

This paper shows that the trend towards flatter hierarchies in large US firms since the mid-80's has been accompanied by increased centralization of activities at the top of the organization. In particular, the number of functional managers (e.g., Chief Financial... View Details

Keywords: Executive Compensation; Management Teams; Organizational Structure; Business Strategy; Diversification; Information Technology; United States

Article

Unconventional Insights for Managing Stakeholder Trust

By: Michael Pirson and Deepak Malhotra

Initiatives to build and maintain trust with various stakeholders, including customers, employees, suppliers and investors, are at the top of the executive agenda at many organizations. But most companies don't really understand how to manage stakeholder trust... View Details

Keywords: Values and Beliefs; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Organizational Culture; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Perspective; Trust; Cooperation

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Article

Managing Information Systems by Committee

By: R. L. Nolan

Keywords: Information; System; Groups and Teams

October 2005 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Infosys (A): Strategic Human Resource Management

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Jaya Tandon and Ganesh Rengaswamy

Hema Ravichandar, head of human resources, was given a new and aggressive milestone to reach: ensure Infosys is on the Top 10 lists of both Best Performing Companies and Best Employers by 2007. No large organization had ever been able to achieve this distinction... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Transition; Cost; Human Resources; Employee Relationship Management; Problems and Challenges; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology Industry

Educators

November 2022 (Revised February 2024)
Exercise

Managing Customer Retention at Teleko

By: Eva Ascarza

This exercise aims to teach students about 1) Targeting Policies; and 2) Algorithmic decision making, and 3) Retention management. View Details

Keywords: Algorithmic Decision Making; Marketing Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships

October 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Teaching Note

Managing Customer Retention at Teleko

By: Eva Ascarza and Ta-Wei Huang

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 523-005. View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; United States

January – February 2009
Article

Managing Strategy with External Partners

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez and Bjarne Rugelsjoen

Keywords: Management; Strategy; Partners and Partnerships

2003
Chapter

Managing in a Transnational Network

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Sumantra Ghoshal

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Networks

2014
Chapter

The Language of Global Management

By: Tsedal Neeley

Over the last two decades, organizations seeking global expansion have been mandating an English lingua franca, or common language to facilitate global collaboration regardless of the country location of their headquarters. This article explains why stipulating a... View Details

Keywords: Language; Lingua Franca; Networks; Governance; Information Technology; Management; Ethics; Emerging Markets; Innovation and Invention

July/August 2004
Article

Stakeholders and Environmental Management Practices: An Institutional Framework

By: Magali Delmas and Michael W. Toffel

Despite burgeoning research on companies' environmental strategies and environmental management practices, it remains unclear why some firms adopt environmental management practices beyond regulatory compliance. This paper leverages institutional theory by proposing... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Environmental Management; Adoption; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Organizational Structure; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Competition; Framework; Governance Compliance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

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05 Jul 2023
What Do You Think?

How Are Middle Managers Falling Down Most Often on Employee Inclusion?

asked to consider its relationship to diversity, inclusion, and belonging at work.” She reminds us: “A recent tidal wave of harassment claims highlights the costs of failing to create a psychologically safe workplace for women.” May it... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

14 May 2007
Research & Ideas

The Key to Managing Stars? Think Team

important career matter for individuals as well as for managers who want to inspire, nurture, and recruit stars. A new study by Harvard Business School's Boris Groysberg and Linda-Eling Lee on star knowledge workers, specifically security... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

January 2010 (Revised February 2010)
Supplement

IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion (CW)

IBM consultants are convinced that there is a positive relationship with staffing levels and conversion rate. How should Dillard's, a large department store chain, use this insight to manage their staffing levels? View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Operations; Retail Industry

August 2005 (Revised December 2006)
Case

Procter & Gamble: Electronic Data Capture and Clinical Trial Management

By: Robert S. Huckman and Mark J. Cotteleer

Considers whether the management of Procter & Gamble (P&G) Pharmaceuticals should adopt Web-based electronic data capture (EDC) as the default standard for the management of its clinical drug trials. Provides a detailed description of the existing paper-based process... View Details

Keywords: Health Testing and Trials; Internet and the Web; Information Technology; Adoption; Business Processes; Industry Structures; Technological Innovation; Service Operations; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

Educators

Article

Are They Useful? The Effects of Performance Incentives on the Prioritization of Work Versus Personal Ties

By: Julia Hur, Alice Lee-Yoon and Ashley V. Whillans

Most working adults report spending very little time with friends and family. The current research explores the aspects of work that encourage employees to spend less time with personal ties. We show that incentive systems play a critical role in shaping how people... View Details

Keywords: Rewards; Performance Incentives; Social Relationships; Instrumentality; Time Allocation; Performance; Motivation and Incentives; Relationships; Time Management

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11 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

The High Risks of Short-Term Management

Companies that manage for short-term gain rather than long-term growth have been blamed for everything from popularizing celebrity CEOs to causing a significant chunk of the current financial crisis. Now new research findings suggest that... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services

February 2017
Teaching Note

The Tate's Digital Transformation

By: Jill Avery

John Stack was the visionary Head of Digital Transformation at the Tate, a collection of four major art galleries in the UK, including Tate Modern, the most visited gallery devoted to modern and contemporary art in the world. Stack was the architect of the Tate’s... View Details