Publications

01 Aug 2004
Conference Presentation

Achieving Flexibility in NPD: New Processes and New Ways of Organizing

By: Alan MacCormack

Keywords: Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Practices and Processes

November 1987 (Revised June 1988)
Case

ServiceMaster Industries, Inc.

By: James L. Heskett

The CEO of ServiceMaster Industries has convened an internal task force to come up with ideas for reorganizing the company to accommodate unusually fast growth. In developing both alternatives and criteria for appraising them, the task force has to keep in mind the... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture

April 2015 (Revised June 2016)
Case

The Transformation of NCR

By: David Collis, Raffaella Sadun and Matthew Shaffer

During his tenure as CEO since 2005, Bill Nuti had moved NCR Corporation (originally National Cash Register) from its historical competence in hardware to become a provider of hardware and software for managing transactions across a range of industries and payments... View Details

Keywords: NCR; Hardware; Software; Acquisitions; Financial Services; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Expansion; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Transformation; Acquisition; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry

March 2011 (Revised December 2012)
Teaching Note

Bono and U2 (TN)

By: Nancy F. Koehn, Nora N. Khan and Elizabeth Legris

Teaching Note for 809148. View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Transformation; Information Technology; Business Model; Arts; Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Music Industry

June 1996
Case

Becton Dickinson: Managing the Global Enterprise, 1996

Becton Dickinson, a U.S.-based maker of medical and diagnostic devices, has been organized into a mixed structure of U.S.-based divisions and country/region organizations. In 1995, three businesses shifted to become worldwide divisions, forcing a reexamination of the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business or Company Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Organizational Structure; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

2017
Report

The Competitive Advantage of Racial Equity

By: Mark R. Kramer, Angela Glover Blackwell, Lalitha Vaidyanathan, Lakshmi Iyer and Josh Kirschenbaum

Corporate America is missing out on one of the biggest opportunities of our time for driving innovation and growth: creating business value by advancing racial equity.
Developed in partnership with PolicyLink and funded by the Ford and W.K. Kellogg foundations,... View Details

Keywords: Racial Equity; Diversity; Race; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Advantage; Value Creation

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December 2010
Supplement

Rackspace Hosting (2000)

By: W. Earl Sasser, James L. Heskett and Tom Ryder

The leadership team of Rackspace, faced with accommodation of its service offering and dwindling financial reserves, decides to make customer focus the rallying cry of its new strategy. View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Planning; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Service Delivery; Strategy; Finance; Information Technology Industry

14 Feb 2018
News

A ‘Hopeaholic’ Promotes Diversity, Inclusion, and Equality in the Workplace

Ina Coleman (MBA 1986) found her professional calling by empowering others to take action for gender equality, inclusion, and diversity in their work environments. An organizational development consultant at Sirenia Partners, Coleman... View Details

19 Apr 2016
Blog Post

First Minutes are Critical in New-Employee Orientation

just by changing something minor in the onboarding process." Identity Experiments In the field experiment, the researchers divided batches of new call agents into an individual identity group, an View Details

Keywords: All Industries

01 Aug 2012
What Do You Think?

Should CEOs Worry About ‘Too Big to Succeed?’

barrier is not new. It has been a concern for years because it often necessitates a change in leadership and form of organization, something many founders and their organizations are unwilling to undertake. The second data point is the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Manufacturing; Financial Services

June 2008
Teaching Note

The Treadway Tire Company: Trouble at the Lima Tire Plant (Brief Case)

By: C. Wickham Skinner and Heather Beckham

Teaching Note for (2189) View Details

Keywords: Superior ＆ Subordinate; Labor Relations; Work Force Management; Human Resource Management; Hiring; Job Satisfaction; Leadership; Selection and Staffing; Change Management; Satisfaction; Organizational Culture; Rank and Position; Labor and Management Relations

April 1995 (Revised June 2002)
Case

Xerox: Outsourcing Global Information Technology Resources

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Kevin Davis

In order to increase revenues, develop new technologies, and manage information technology more efficiently, Xerox decided to sign a 10-year, $3.2 billion contract with Electronic Data Systems (EDS). This case describes the events that preceded Xerox's decision to... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Information Technology Industry

January 2006 (Revised February 2015)
Case

Innovation at Timberland: Thinking Outside the Shoe Box

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Ryan Raffaelli

Innovation was linked to Timberland's heritage. In 2005, CEO Jeff Swartz and COO Ken Pucker hoped the Invention Factory, an advanced concept lab, would develop new breakthrough products and reinvigorate the company's culture of innovation. Since the 1960s, Timberland... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Organizational Culture; Change Management

01 Mar 2012
News

In Memoriam

1950), a renowned sociologist and a member of the HBS faculty for 44 years, died in November at the age of 89. The School’s Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Organizational Behavior, Emeritus, and the author of 26 books, Lawrence was one... View Details

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

August 1998 (Revised October 1998)
Case

Disney's "The Lion King" (A): The $2 Billion Movie

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis

In 1994, just 10 years after its filmed entertainment division lost $33 million, Disney's animated creation "The Lion King" became the second highest grossing film ever. In addition to drawing $740 million in worldwide box office sales, its merchandise sales exceeded... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Marketing Strategy; Expansion; Creativity; Film Entertainment; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Product Development; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Retail Industry

13 Mar 2005
Research & Ideas

Reinforcing Values: A Public Dressing Down

reinforce organizational values on a constant basis, using actions to back up their words. Their goal is to change behavior, not just ways of thinking. For example, a leader can talk about values such as... View Details

Keywords: by David A. Garvin & Michael A. Roberto

31 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: Jan. 31

negative emotions, lower intrinsic motivation, and less favorable perceptions of the organization-with negative consequences for performance. These actions include signaling low expectations for innovation; switching strategic direction too frequently; miscoordination... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne & Carmen Nobel

12 Jul 2011
First Look

First Look: July 12

amplify pressures to improve. Examining organizational responses to a change in a prominent information disclosure program, we provide some of the first empirical evidence characterizing organizations'... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

August 2008 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Repositioning CARE USA

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Katharine Lee

CARE USA, a large ($600 million) international nonprofit/NGO, had recently revamped its external branding and positioning in support of its international development work. The case lays out the challenges facing its new CEO, Helene Gayle, as she manages through the... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Management; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Non-Governmental Organizations; Adaptation; United States