Publications

Program

Senior Executive Leadership Program—Middle East

businesses seeking the best opportunities for growth in the region need exceptional leaders—executives who are bold decision-makers, global thinkers, and skilled strategists. Taught in a series of modules offered in Boston and Dubai, this business View Details

September 2017 (Revised March 2018)
Case

Chai Point: Disrupting Chai

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Ramana Nanda and Rachna Tahilyani

Chai Point is India’s largest organized chai retailer. It has missed its target for retail store openings by approximately 25%, goals that are very important to its investors who are also board members. However, it has developed an exciting new internet-based tea... View Details

23 Jan 2012
Research & Ideas

Break Your Addiction to Service Heroes

Institute, which advises managers in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, says that as organizations increasingly ask customers to play a more active role in transactions, saving money shouldn't be... View Details

Keywords: by Deborah Blagg; Service

Web

Live from Klarman Hall - Alumni

Friday, November 8 Video Recording (login required) Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well 8:00–9:00 a.m. EST Speaker: Amy Edmondson (PHDOB 1996) , Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management Video Recording (login required)... View Details

02 Feb 2007
What Do You Think?

Is There Too Little “Know Why” In Business?

purpose itself evolutionary? Does it change as organizations grow? Does it change from one generation of management to the next? How can it be made as tangible to employees as profit? Can we aspire to a... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

2020
Working Paper

No Line Left Behind: Assortative Matching Inside the Firm

By: Achyuta Adhvaryu, Vittorio Bassi, Anant Nyshadham and Jorge Tamayo

How do firms pair workers with managers, and which constraints affect the allocation of labor within the firm? We characterize the sorting pattern of managers to workers in a large readymade garment manufacturer in India and then explore potential drivers of the... View Details

Keywords: Assortative Matching; Productivity; Global Buyers; Readymade Garments; Management; Employees; Performance Productivity

Read Now

17 Jul 2023
Research & Ideas

Money Isn’t Everything: The Dos and Don’ts of Motivating Employees

looking to boost morale. “People are quitting, and companies are noticing that it’s harder to get people to join the company and hold on to them, so they’re going back to the drawing board.” Hall is working on a how-to guide about HR systems for View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

March 2011
Case

Grand Circle Travel: Where Risk Comes with the Territory

By: Herman B. Leonard

A worldwide travel company is intrinsically exposed to risks of natural and man-made disasters. How do you organize a business for success when it must on a nearly daily basis cope with hazards ranging from minor mishaps to large-scale catastrophes? Alan and Harriet... View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Safety; Transportation; Organizational Design; Decision Choices and Conditions; Organizational Structure; Mission and Purpose; Competitive Advantage; Travel Industry

05 Nov 2014
What Do You Think?

Are We Entering an Era of Neuromanagement?

our choice(s) in life." Henry Kwok commented, "The field of neuroscience and brain scanning will only get more advanced, and thus we can expect better reading However, the job of managing and leading will be evolving in a fast... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

August 1998 (Revised February 1999)
Case

Product Development at Dell Computer Corporation

By: Stefan H. Thomke, Vish V. Krishnan and Ashok Nimgade

Describes how Dell redesigned its new product development process after experiencing a major product setback and a significant decline in firm profits in 1993. Dell's new process is challenged during the development of a new line of portable computers when the incoming... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Profit; Managerial Roles; Risk Management; Product Development; Business Processes; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Hardware; Computer Industry

27 Feb 2006
Research & Ideas

Corporate Values and Employee Cynicism

welcome suggestions from readers regarding organizations that are explicitly trying to manage such value tensions, and encourage them to contact us (sandra.cha@mcgill.ca and aedmondson@hbs.edu). View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

22 Jul 2020
Blog Post

Is a Business School-Industry Collaboration Needed to Attract Black Talent to Campus?

Diversity and inclusion in organizations enhances various kinds of performance, from creativity to profitability. A growing body of research tells us this. So they are not just the right things to do; there is both an economic and social... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

2023
Chapter

Organizational Development

By: Min Basadur, Tim Basadur and Goran Calic

Our review of the field of Organizational Development (OD) reveals an extensive range of tools which attempt to help organizations improve performance. We believe that OD should be studied differently: As a continuous process of change-making or innovation. How this... View Details

Keywords: Change; Cognition and Thinking; Creativity; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Innovation and Management

Register to Read

February 2018 (Revised March 2018)
Case

ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia

By: Sophus A. Reinert, Sarah Nam, Sisi Pan and Eric Werker

During the summer of 2014, Alan Knight, general manager of corporate responsibility at the integrated steel and mining company ArcelorMittal, observed the unfolding of an Ebola epidemic in Liberia and other countries in West Africa with great concern. On the one hand... View Details

June 1994 (Revised October 1999)
Background Note

Beer Game, The: Board Version

By: Janice H. Hammond

The beer game is an exercise that demonstrates supply channel dynamics. Simulates the flow of material and information in a simplified channel of beer production and distribution, focusing on the linkages among a beer manufacturer, its distributors, a wholesaler, and a... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Information; Distribution Channels; Production; Supply Chain Management; Problems and Challenges

21 Dec 2010
First Look

First Look: December 21

with age. Temptation and Productivity: A Field Experiment with Children Authors:Alessandro Bucciol, Daniel Houser, and Marco Piovesan Publication:Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (forthcoming) Abstract Substantial evidence... View Details

Program

Leading Professional Service Firms

achievement Create an intimate, flexible culture that is inclusive, supportive, and collegial Help professionals manage rising expectations, remain productive, and grow throughout their careers Develop leaders at all levels of your View Details

Keywords: Professional Services; Professional Services

05 Jul 2023
HBS Case

What Kind of Leader Are You? How Three Action Orientations Can Help You Meet the Moment

Organizations rarely reinvent themselves in a perfectly straight line. More often than not, reinvention is like riding a roller-coaster, with the highest of highs and lowest of lows. This is true even at the best organizations, despite... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

April 2006
Case

Medical Innovation Beyond MedStar: Mobilizing for National Impact

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Ryan Raffaelli and Michelle Heskett

Dr. Craig Feied, director of MedStar Health's Medical Informatics programs, wanted his innovations to influence national health care. Since joining Washington Hospital Center's Emergency Department in 1995 with Dr. Mark Smith, their information system had become the... View Details

Keywords: Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Policy; Government and Politics; Innovation and Management; Projects; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Health Industry; Washington (state, US)