Publications

October 2005 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Reactivity: A Case of Re-Invention

By: Myra M. Hart and Sylvia Sensiper

By the time Glenn Osaka joined Reactivity as its new CEO in January 2001, the Internet bubble had burst, the financial markets had turned, and the company's core businesses were drying up. He was not hired to lead a turnaround, but Osaka found that the firm's future... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Venture Capital; Organizational Culture; Applications and Software; Leadership Style; Product; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Consulting Industry

15 Apr 2008
First Look

First Look: April 15, 2008

Farjoun argues that we have neglected the full array of modes of cognition between rational choice and feedback-based adaptive learning and have therefore overstated the role of our focal mode, reasoning by analogy. Third, he highlights... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

08 Aug 2017
First Look

First Look at Research and Ideas, August 8, 2017

if any, should be made to adapt to a chosen market. Given high levels of piracy in the music industry, students are not only able to explore the value creation aspects of AKB48, but also the value-capture features of its business model.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

10 May 2016
First Look

May 10, 2016

Identity and Reputation Matrix (CBIRM), introduced here for the first time. Eight key reputation elements adapted from the literature and enriched by the case study are incorporated within an existing corporate brand identity framework.... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

03 Feb 2015
First Look

First Look: February 3

making the concept of enterprise architecture more operational, improving a firm's ability to analyze its architecture, understand its performance implications, and adapt and improve it in the future. Download working paper:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

29 Oct 2013
First Look

First Look: October 29

provides an opportunity to understand how private equity investors need to adapt to emerging markets. Purchase this case: http://hbr.org/search/213043-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 814-019 Building Life Science Businesses Fall... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 Oct 2015
Blog Post

Alumni: Where Are They Now? Featuring Bryan Guerra...

developed a higher comfort threshold for dealing with uncertainty, but also, I gained a greater flexibility to adapt to a variety of situations, which has given me a certain confidence for dealing with new situations, which I didn't have... View Details

Keywords: Technology

Web

Data for Impact: Impact Measurement from Startup to Fortune 500 C-Suite - Course Catalog

for how companies should adapt to amplify their impact and (often) their profitability. DFI will be of core interest to students with aspirations to manage for impact in businesses and nonprofits of all sizes as well as students with an... View Details

01 Apr 2002
News

New Director of MBA Career Services Focuses on Power of Alumni Network

the MBA student body is adapting well, with counseling and career search workshops being offered for those who have less experience with job searches. "We have a very independent student body that is used to taking the initiative,"... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

October 2012
Case

GSK's Acquisition of Sirtris: Independence or Integration? (Abridged)

By: Toby Stuart and James Weber

An executive from pharmaceutical company GSK must choose how much to integrate a recently acquired biotechnology firm, Sirtris. Moncef Slaoui, GSK's global head of R&D, championed the acquisition of Sirtris to gain access to its potentially revolutionary science.... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Resource Allocation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Research and Development; Science-Based Business; Integration

Purchase

March 2010
Case

Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2007

By: Jan W. Rivkin, Michael Roberto and Ranjay Gulati

In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Robert Mueller, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), sought to transform the storied Bureau. The FBI had long served as both the chief law enforcement agency and the main domestic intelligence wing of the... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Organizational Structure; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Government Administration; National Security; Corporate Strategy; Knowledge Acquisition; Law Enforcement; Public Administration Industry; United States

Purchase

May 2008 (Revised April 2018)
Case

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center: Interdisciplinary Cancer Care

By: Michael E. Porter and Sachin H. Jain

In 2006, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center was an internationally leading institution for cancer care, education, and research. Since 1996, it had successfully reorganized itself from a cancer hospital that was physically organized around clinical... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Health Disorders; Organizational Structure; Medical Specialties; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Value Creation; Service Delivery; Research; Health Care and Treatment; Education Industry; Health Industry; Texas

Purchase

November 2006 (Revised November 2007)
Case

EFJ, Inc.

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Ajay Vinze and Mara Vatz

Michael Jalbert plans to transform EFJI, a land mobile radio manufacturer, into a leading radio systems and solutions provider. Taking advantage of new industry standards and the country's increased focus on public safety agencies and homeland security, Jalbert says... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy; Expansion

January 2008
Article

Putting Leadership Back into Strategy

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery

In recent decades an infusion of economics has lent the study of strategy much needed theory and empirical evidence. Strategy consultants, armed with frameworks and techniques, have stepped forward to help managers analyze their industries and position their companies... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Managerial Roles; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Creativity; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage

October 1995
Case

DISC (A) (Abridged)

By: Nitin Nohria and Scott A. Snook

Follows the development and implementation of fundamental organizational change in a large government bureaucracy. The case is set in the Defense Industrial Supply Center (DISC) and follows two senior leaders as they grapple with issues of fundamental change in a... View Details

Keywords: Government Administration; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Restructuring; Transformation; Decision Choices and Conditions; National Security; Leadership Style

17 Dec 2015
News

Acquiring Business Skills To Advance A Career Trajectory

As a boy in Asheboro, North Carolina, George Sondecker (MBA 2016) developed a fondness for launching rockets that evolved into a passion for working in the aerospace industry. A fellowship provided by gifts to the HBS Fund is helping him pursue an MBA to acquire the... View Details

Keywords: Machinery Manufacturing; Manufacturing

September–October 2020
Article

When It's Time to Pivot, What's Your Story?: How to Sell Stakeholders on a New Strategy

By: Rory McDonald and Robert Bremner

To succeed, a new company must rally investors, staff, customers, and the media around a good story. But often that narrative turns out to be wrong, and entrepreneurs realize they need to change direction. How that shift is communicated can have a huge impact on a... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Strategy; Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Communication Strategy; Business and Stakeholder Relations