Publications

06 Mar 2013
What Do You Think?

Who Should Manage Our Work Time?

Summing Up Who Will Save Us From Our Work Habits? We have a problem in the workplace. Some of it is being forced upon us by forces in society. Some of it is of our own making. But we face increasing challenges in View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

September 2015 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Managing Consumer Touchpoints at Nissan Japan

By: Thales Teixeira, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno

In 2015, Nissan was third place in the Japanese auto market, behind Toyota and Honda. The challenge of increasing market share was that 80% of car shoppers who were non-Nissan owners did not consider Nissan during their purchase process. This process involved three... View Details

Keywords: Nissan; Automobiles; Cars; Touch Points; Digital Marketing; Internet and the Web; Marketing Channels; Advertising; Auto Industry; Japan

04 Sep 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Level II Negotiations: Helping the Other Side Meet Its ‘Behind the Table’ Challenges

Keywords: by James Sebenius

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

July 2015 (Revised March 2016)
Teaching Note

Uber and Stakeholders: Managing a New Way of Riding

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Daniel Fox

This case provides a vehicle to analyze stakeholder relations as a company grows, particularly in the context of new business models that challenge established industries. It introduces the dilemmas posed by rapid growth, new technologies, regulatory uncertainty, and... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business or Company Management; Entrepreneurship; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Innovation and Invention; Transportation Industry

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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12 Nov 2014
Op-Ed

A Challenge to the New Congress: Pass Housing Finance Reform

housing finance agencies? We must not capitulate to the status quo and hold our breath, dreading the next bubble. We must continue to chart reform. If the Congress remains unable to advance the agenda, the Enterprises will remain mired in conservatorship risking the... View Details

Keywords: by Nicolas Retsinas & Rob Couch; Construction; Real Estate

May 2024
Teaching Note

Vineyard Wind Starts Spinning: Overcoming Onshore Challenges to Offshore Wind

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jacob A. Small

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 324-113. To activate the first wind turbines in the ocean off Martha’s Vineyard eventually supplying clean energy to 400,000 households, Vineyard Wind’s leaders had to navigate the permitting process, numerous delays, and objections from... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Renewable Energy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Energy Industry; Massachusetts; Martha's Vineyard; New Bedford

December 5, 2010
Article

Gregg Steinhafel Has Faced Up to Many Challenges as Target CEO

By: Bill George

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Management

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Teaching Interest

Owner and President Management (OPM); HBS Executive Education; 2022

Taught management and leadership to executives in small group sessions
Conducted one-on-one sessions focused on complex business challenges and personal leadership development
Teaching Rating: 6.75 / 7 (8 students)

View Details

May 2010
Case

Clayton Industries, Inc.: Peter Arnell, Country Manager for Italy

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Benjamin H. Barlow

Clayton Industries, a sixty-year-old U.S.-based firm in the HVAC industry (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning), with nearly $1 billion in revenues, has gradually built a presence in a number of countries, including several in Europe. Peter Arnell, previously... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Multinational Firms and Management; Organizational Structure; Corporate Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Conflict and Resolution; Sales; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Wisconsin; Italy; United Kingdom

November 1990
Supplement

Honda Motor Co. (B): Views of Senior Management

Provides a follow-up to Honda Motor Co. and Honda of America (A). Describes the memos of Nobuhico Kawamoto, newly appointed Honda president, and Shoichiro Irimajiri, newly appointed executive vice president, with respect to the challenges facing Honda in the 1990s.... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Planning; Auto Industry

22 Feb 2010
Research & Ideas

Manager Visibility No Guarantee of Fixing Problems

Observing and understanding the tasks and challenges that workers face every day is important. But managers who merely put in time "walking the floor" are not doing enough; in fact, it can make... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Health

1990
Chapter

New Challenges for Japanese Multinationals: Is Organizational Adaptation Their Achilles Heel?

By: C. A. Bartlett and H. Yoshihara

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Problems and Challenges; Japan

30 Apr 2024
Book

When Managers Set Unrealistic Expectations, Employees Cut Ethical Corners

organization, says Paine, a Baker Foundation Professor. In fact, the fault often lies with managers who set unrealistic deadlines, production targets, or other objectives that lead decent people to take shortcuts to achieve the goal... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

March 2022
Background Note

Climate Challenges for Cities: Introduction to Issues and Actions in the United States

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Catarina Mia Martinez

This background Note introduces the implications of climate change (global warming) for American cities. In the U.S., partisan political divides and unaddressed economic and racial disparities in climate vulnerabilities can inhibit action. The two main fronts for... View Details

05 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

The Middle Manager of the Future: More Coaching, Less Commanding

Middle managers aren’t going extinct. They’re evolving. Once a wasteland where careers stalled or abruptly ended in layoffs, middle management has adapted and is thriving, seeing double-digit growth in some... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

Article

Act Like a Scientist: Great Leaders Challenge Assumptions, Run Experiments, and Follow the Evidence

By: Stefan Thomke and Gary W. Loveman

Though they’ve been warned for decades about the dangers of overrelying on gut instinct and personal experience, managers keep failing to critically examine—much less challenge—the ideas their decisions are based on. To correct this problem they need to think and act... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Decision Making; Science; Leadership Style