Continuous Improvement - Publications - Faculty & Research

26 Mar 2024
Research & Ideas

How Humans Outshine AI in Adapting to Change

continuously understand where they are in the world and what problem they are solving in response to changing circumstances far better than current AI does.” “The current way to achieve this feat with AI is to throw a lot of data at it... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology; Information Technology

13 Oct 2015
First Look

October 13, 2015

Shiv, and Rebecca M.C. Spencer Abstract—Conventional wisdom and studies of unconscious processing suggest that sleeping on a choice may improve decision making. Though sleep has been shown to benefit several cognitive tasks, including... View Details

26 Apr 2023
In Practice

Is AI Coming for Your Job?

supply. "Once companies learn how to exploit generative AI, we can anticipate rapid restructuring at many companies that involve substantial cuts in white-collar staff." Historically, companies have asked, “How can this new technology View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Technology

09 Jan 2024
In Practice

Harnessing AI: What Businesses Need to Know in ChatGPT’s Second Year

remote or hybrid setups; it’s about how AI and generative technologies are reshaping the very essence of work. I continue to have an abiding faith in everyone’s ability to learn and shape our AI-intensive future. Tsedal Neeley is the... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Information Technology

05 Mar 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, March 5, 2019

structures such as codes are associated with improvements in supplier labor practices, especially in organizations in which they compete with productivity-driving incentive structures. We investigate under what internal structural... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

03 Nov 2009
First Look

First Look: Nov. 3

the role of government regulators, particularly the FDIC, during times of crisis. Purchase this case: http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/910006-PDF-ENG Collaborating to Improve Richard Bohmer and Ingrid M. NembhardHarvard Business... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

17 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

What the Stockdale Paradox Tells Us About Crisis Leadership

be.” — Admiral James Stockdale. In August, while most developed nations’ rates of COVID-19 infections are falling, the rate in the United States continues to rise. States that had reopened or begun to, such as California and Texas, have... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

19 Apr 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Is India’s Manufacturing Sector Moving Away from Cities?

Keywords: by Ejaz Ghani, Arti Grover Goswami & William R. Kerr; Manufacturing

23 Jun 2023
HBS Case

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

centralization can improve complex problem-solving in a shifting environment because it helps preserve diversity of ideas and enables a core to elevate the best ones, as long as two-way communication exists. One way to preserve that... View Details

Keywords: by Annelena Lobb; Health

January 2016
Case

Haiti Hope: Innovating the Mango Value Chain

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Jean-François Harvey

This case study examines a market-based approach to economic development through the eyes of NGO TechnoServe's project manager, implementing a US$9.5 million five-year public-private partnership between Coca-Cola, IDB, and USAID. The case ends at the beginning of the... View Details

Citation

Educators

Purchase

20 Apr 2010
First Look

First Look: April 20

a certain port, and shippers could keep track of their shipments. Since steamships were very costly to build and operate, cable communication would then allow profitability as ships could be continuously transporting full loads of cargo.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

01 May 2024
What Do You Think?

Have You Had Enough?

time to time, but it will be a topic on which I may be able to shed some light rather than only ask, “What do you think?” Browse some of James Heskett's most-read columns: 2023: How Should Artificial Intelligence Be Regulated—if at All? 2021: How Long Does It Take to... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

December 2020 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Responsive Working at PepsiCo UK (A): Streamlining a Turnaround

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Nancy Boghossian Staples

Facing a significant decline in revenues in 2016, David Gwilliam, Head of Transformation at PepsiCo UK introduced a new way of working (“Responsive Working”), which encompasses a set of work practices and some new team structures. The work practices comprise a set of 9... View Details

Keywords: SLAM Teams; Turnaround; Groups and Teams; Employees; Training; Decision Making; Planning; Performance Improvement; Consumer Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United Kingdom; Europe

Citation

Educators

Purchase

25 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

The Importance of Teaming

Editor's note: Many managers are taught to think of teams as carefully designed, static groups of individuals who, like a baseball team or improv comedy troupe, have ample time to practice interacting successfully and efficiently. The... View Details

Keywords: Re: Amy C. Edmondson

09 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

Uncompromising Leadership in Tough Times

differently from the norm, too. Martha Lagace: What observations or experiences have driven you and your colleagues to study uncompromising leadership? How and why did you select the CEOs in your study? Michael Beer: My colleagues and I have been working with many... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

12 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

Rocket Science Retailing: A Practical Guide

The New Science of Retailing: How Analytics Are Transforming the Supply Chain and Improving Performance (Harvard Business Press). As a practical guide, The New Science of Retailing helps retailers mine their sales data to identify and... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Retail; Auto

10 Dec 2009
Working Paper Summaries

State Owned Entity Reform in Absence of Privatization: Reforming Indian National Laboratories and Role of Leadership

Keywords: by Prithwiraj Choudhury & Tarun Khanna

07 Feb 2022
Research & Ideas

Digital Transformation: A New Roadmap for Success

digital transformation an even more urgent need, companies must also morph iteratively to keep up with the speed of emerging technologies. It’s a process of continuous learning and pivoting to adapt to an evolving competitive landscape.... View Details

Keywords: by Linda A. Hill, Ann Le Cam, Sunand Menon, and Emily Tedards

08 Dec 2022
HBS Case

The War in Ukraine and Nestlé’s Moral Dilemma: Stay or Leave Russia?

plants, laying off employees, and selling assets and real estate. Ultimately, Nestlé chose a middle ground. The company announced on March 23 it would halt the “vast majority” of its sales, including nonessential items such as chocolate, while maintaining its assets... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Consumer Products

October 2015 (Revised September 2016)
Case

The Transformation of Mudo

By: Anthony J. Mayo, Esel Çekin and Çiğdem Çelik

After 16 years in management consulting, Barış Karakullukçu left to become the CEO of Mudo in 2012, one of the best-known names in Turkey's retail industry. She was tasked with leading Mudo's transition from a family business to a more institutionalized, corporate... View Details