Publications

April 2002 (Revised May 2005)
Case

GE's Digital Revolution: Redefining the E in GE

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Meg Glinska

This case details the implementation of the e-business initiative--the last of Jack Welch's four company-wide strategic thrusts. First, it summarizes the 20-year change process that Welch led, detailing the initiatives he put in place. It then traces how Gerry Podesta,... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Leadership Style; Business or Company Management; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Performance Effectiveness; Corporate Strategy; Internet and the Web

October 2011 (Revised November 2011)
Case

Verengo Solar Plus!

By: William A. Sahlman, Joseph B. Lassiter III and Liz Kind

In the three years since Bishop and Button purchased Verengo in a leveraged buyout (LBO), the company had gone through dramatic changes. Initially a residential windows and insulation firm, after the economic recession of 2008 the company switched gears and began... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity; Growth Management; Restructuring; Renewable Energy; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Finance; Product Development; Energy Industry; California

12 May 2021
Book

The Hard Truth About Being a CEO

change management by changing the management “There is enormous value to changing out View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

April 2004 (Revised May 2006)
Background Note

Achieving Profitable Growth and Market Value

By: James L. Heskett and Richard G. Hamermesh

Provides an overview of how a new venture needs to change as it passes from the initial start-up to the growth phase. Explores how a venture's leadership, strategy, and execution need to evolve to deal with rapid growth. View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Change Management

Article

Unconscious Bias Training That Works

By: Francesca Gino and Katherine Coffman

To become more diverse, equitable, and inclusive, many companies have turned to unconscious bias (UB) training. By raising awareness of the mental shortcuts that lead to snap judgments—often based on race and gender—about people’s talents or character, it strives to... View Details

Keywords: Implicit Bias; Social Integration; Empathy; Prejudice and Bias; Employees; Training; Attitudes; Behavior; Organizational Change and Adaptation

Find at Harvard

01 Mar 2017
Blog Post

What You Need to Know about the Latino Student Organization

Prior to HBS, Karla Mendez was working as a management consultant in the Silicon Valley, focused on customer-centric engagements for technology clients. She wanted to pursue an MBA to hone her leadership skills, develop more confidence in... View Details

November 2022
Case

Wendy Estrella: Scaling Multiple Businesses

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Sarah Mehta

Entrepreneur Wendy Estrella, a self-made, Latina millionaire based in Lawrence, Massachusetts, is attempting to simultaneously scale her law practice as well as her property management and development company. What path should she take for each and can she do it all,... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Change; Competency and Skills; Decision Making; Demographics; Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Legal Services Industry; Real Estate Industry; Massachusetts

26 Oct 2016
News

Case Study: How Much Should a New CEO Shake Things Up?

November 2017 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Redfin: Redefine Real Estate

By: Hong Luo and Huafeng Yu

Founded in 2004, Redfin envisioned a light-touch model in which clients self-served using the digital platform in exchange for a significantly lower fee than traditional agents. Realizing the narrow appeal of its initial model, Redfin had made significant changes to... View Details

Keywords: Adaptation; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Real Estate Industry; North America

09 Aug 2010
Research & Ideas

How to Speed Up Energy Innovation

other sectors. We know what to do. Establish a price for carbon, invest money in R&D, manage the money well, and we'll see enormous change very quickly. View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Energy; Utilities

05 Jul 2023
HBS Case

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

Because change is the only constant, leadership is never one-size-fits-all. Different challenges require different leadership styles. A recent note from Harvard Business School suggests that an organization’s success rides on the ability... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

23 May 2019
Book

These Entrepreneurs Take a Pragmatic Approach to Solving Social Problems

In 1908, Harvard Business School’s first dean, Edwin Francis Gay, welcomed the School’s inaugural class of 59 students by saying that HBS was challenged with encouraging its students to have the “intellectual respect for business as a profession, with the social... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Green Technology

March 2019 (Revised October 2020)
Case

GENTERA: Facing the Digital Age

By: Michael Chu and Carla Larangeira

After long dominating Mexican microfinance, Compartamos Banco faces the emergence of fintech, just as for the first time its loan portfolio and clients have declined. Enrique Majós, CEO of GENTERA, the bank´s parent company, is keenly aware of the profound changes... View Details

Keywords: Micro Finance; Base Of The Pyramid; Fintech; Microfinance; Disruption; Innovation and Management; Competitive Strategy; North America; Mexico

Richard Hamermesh was the MBA Class of 1961 Professor of Management Practice at the Harvard Business School. While at HBS Richard served as co-chair of the HBS Healthcare... View Details

Keywords: health care

04 Mar 2024
What Do You Think?

Do People Want to Work Anymore?

organization than they did four years ago.” This raises the question of the degree to which management policies vs. employee attitudes toward work are to blame. Do people want to work anymore? What do you think? Share your thoughts in the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

January 2002 (Revised March 2011)
Case

Finland and Nokia: Creating the World's Most Competitive Economy

By: Michael E. Porter and Orjan Solvell

Finland, with a special language and culture, has developed as a country in between the west (the Nordic region and Europe) and the east (especially its neighbor Russia). In the 1980s, a process started of moving out of an investment-driven economy into an... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Economic Growth; Growth and Development Strategy; Industry Clusters; Business and Government Relations; Competitive Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; Finland

17 Nov 2009
First Look

First Look: Nov. 17

printing technology platform, ZINK Paper. The case focuses on the frameworks ZINK has used to decide which markets to target and which business partners to choose. Caswell contemplates changes to the partnership model in an effort to... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

November 1995
Background Note

Reengineering a Business Process

By: Richard L. Nolan and Thomas H. Davenport

Describes the six steps included in most reengineering initiatives: selecting the processes for reengineering; identifying change enablers; developing a business vision of process objectives; understanding and measuring existing processes; designing and prototyping the... View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Change Management; Measurement and Metrics