Publications
Publications
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(2,018)
- Faculty Publications (286)
- Article
Why Hospitals Don't Learn from Failures: Organizational and Psychological Dynamics That Inhibit System Change
By: A. Tucker and A. Edmondson
The importance of hospitals learning from their failures hardly needs to be stated. Not only are matters of life and death at stake on a daily basis, but also an increasing number of U.S. hospitals are operating in the red. This article reports on in-depth qualitative... View Details
- October 2003 (Revised November 2003)
- Module Note
Organizing to Learn Module Note
By: Amy C. Edmondson
Teaches a framework for managing in dynamic or uncertain organizational contexts, designed for either MBA or Executive Education courses. Offers a new perspective on how managers can help stimulate and guide a collective learning process in their organizations. The... View Details
- September 2003 (Revised November 2005)
- Case
Best Buy Co., Inc. (A): An Innovator's Journey
By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Brian DeLacey
The CEO of Best Buy, a hugely successful retailing company, has hired consulting firm Strategos to imbue the company with an improved innovative capability. The six-month program of experimental learning yields new business ideas and also trains Best Buy employees as... View Details
- May 2003
- Module Note
Product Development Process Design and Improvement
By: Stefan H. Thomke
Describes the conceptual foundations and pedagogy for a module on the design and improvement of processes for the development of products and services. Can also be used as part of a more general course on Managing Technology and Innovation. Central to Managing Product... View Details
- 2003
- Conference Paper
Follow the Money: What Really Drives Technology Innovation in Construction
By: John D. Macomber
Technology enthusiasts, academics, and software companies remain concerned about the slow pace of innovation in the construction industry. Tools are widely available that seem to provide eminently sensible and clearly apparent improvement to the process of design and... View Details
- February 2003
- Background Note
Leading Teams
This note which describes the architecture and processes that characterize effective teams, begins by detailing the steps involved in designing a team, from diagnosing the complexity, interdependence, and objectives of the task to harnessing the key resources teams... View Details
- February 2003 (Revised March 2003)
- Case
Large Scale Change at The WSSC
By: Amy C. Edmondson and Corey B. Hajim
Describes the organizational transformation occurring at the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC), a public utility. Faced with the possibility of privatization after decades of providing service in the absence of competition or performance pressures, the... View Details
- October 2002 (Revised March 2013)
- Case
Intermountain Health Care
By: Richard M.J. Bohmer, Amy C. Edmondson and Laura Feldman
Intermountain Health Care (IHC), an integrated delivery system based in Utah, has adopted a new strategy for managing health care delivery. The approach focuses management attention not only on the facilities where care takes place but also on physician decision making... View Details
- July 2002 (Revised August 2002)
- Case
Washington Hospital Center (A): Rescuing Emergency Medicine
By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Michelle Heskett
Dr. Craig Feied and Dr. Mark Smith, recruited to turn around the Washington Hospital Center Emergency Department, prepare to roll out their most revolutionary change yet--an information system that could radically improve the practice of emergency medicine. A review of... View Details
- July 2002 (Revised March 2003)
- Case
Restructuring Bulong's Project Debt
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Michael Kane
Preston Resources, a small Australian gold mining company, bought the Bulong nickel mine for A$319 million in November 1998 and financed the acquisition by issuing a US$185 million (A$294 million) project bond. At the time, mining had been underway for several months,... View Details
- November 2001 (Revised September 2007)
- Case
Children's Hospital and Clinics (A)
By: Amy C. Edmondson, Michael Roberto and Anita L. Tucker
Describes the major phases of an initiative designed to transform the organization and enhance patient safety. Raises interesting questions about how to encourage candid discussion about failures while continuing to hold people accountable for their performance. View Details
- October 2001
- Background Note
A Note on Team Process
By: Linda A. Hill and Maria Farkas
When tasks are highly complex, demand a diversity of skills, or require a commitment from the involved parties, teams are usually the most effective way to approach them. But a group of people working together does not automatically equally a team, and groups are often... View Details
- August 2001
- Background Note
Work Methods Design: Note on Time Standards
By: H. Kent Bowen
Looks at production design. Helps students observe and work with procedures and consider cost reduction ideas using a view of methods improvement. View Details
- June 2001
- Teaching Note
Coordinating + Managing Supply Chains: Course Overview Note TN
By: Ananth Raman
Describes the MBA elective course on supply chain management at HBS. Coordinating and Managing Supply Chains focuses on the managerial aspects of supply chains. Acquaints students with practical issues in a variety of supply chains and then identifies barriers to, and... View Details
- June 2001 (Revised November 2001)
- Case
Plum Creek Timber (B)
By: Max H. Bazerman, Jack Troast, Hannah Bowles and Nicole Nasser
Plum Creek Timber Co. decides to go ahead with negotiations for a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) on its Pacific Northwest properties. HCP represents a new form of public-private-sector collaboration and innovation to improve upon command-and-control environmental... View Details
- April 2001 (Revised November 2001)
- Case
Supply Chain Management at World Co., Ltd.
By: Ananth Raman, Marshall L. Fisher and Anna Sheen McClelland
Describes a supply chain with very quick (i.e., two week) response times and allows students to explore how such short response times are achieved. Allows students to explore why other supply chains, with much longer response times, might not be able to replicate this... View Details
- March 2001 (Revised September 2002)
- Case
Merck Latin America (A)
By: Michael Beer and James Weber
Introduces Grey Warner, the vice president of Merck's Latin America region, and his efforts to improve the organizational effectiveness of the region and to introduce a more global business culture and values. Discusses Merck's ethics and values, its Latin American... View Details
- February 2001 (Revised August 2001)
- Case
Henry Heinz: Making Markets for Processed Foods
By: Nancy F. Koehn
Outlines many of the supply-side innovations, such as improved transportation, communication, and technological developments, that greatly expanded the productive capacity of the United States in the late 19th century. Explores a range of demand-side shifts, including... View Details
- November 2000 (Revised November 2002)
- Case
Activity-Based Management at W.S. Industries (A)
By: V.G. Narayanan and Sanjay Pothen
W.S. Industries undertakes the design and implementation of an activity based costing (ABC) system, and the ABC information empowers workers to make process improvement decisions. Workers' incentive pay is tied to cost savings from process improvements. View Details
- November 1999
- Case
Lucent Technologies: Optical Networking Group
By: Marco Iansiti and Barbara Feinberg
Set in June 1999, this case describes the development of a new platform product, the Wavestar OLS 400G, that responded both to a demand for greater "bandwidth" and aggressive competitors seeking to supply it. The 400G's development process took only 14 months and... View Details