Publications

09 May 2024
Research & Ideas

Called Back to the Office? How You Benefit from Ideas You Didn't Know You Were Missing

the same view, he says. Implications beyond universities While the study focuses specifically on academic research, it may also have meaning for other organizations, Duede says—those that similarly lean on employees for their ability to... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

OCT TechNovation: Accessing the Ideas Cloud

Through a renewed focus on innovation and technology, NASA seeks to be an important catalyst for intellectual and economic expansion for the nation. Our inaugural TechNovation Speaker Forum gathered NASA employees from across the agency to listen to our special... View Details

September 2002 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Siebel Systems: Organizing for the Customer

By: Robert Simons and Antonio Davila

Siebel Systems is one of the fastest growing companies in America. Tom Siebel, the company's founder, has organized the business to accommodate growth and focus on the customer. Innovative information technology systems and clear accountability prove to be essential to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Applications and Software; Business Growth and Maturation; Information Technology; Performance Evaluation; Performance Expectations; Innovation and Management; Technological Innovation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Management Teams; Information Technology Industry; North and Central America

18 Oct 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Racial Diversity Initiatives in Professional Service Firms: What Factors Differentiate Successful from Unsuccessful Initiatives?

Keywords: by Modupe Akinola & David A. Thomas; Service

December 2007 (Revised July 2011)
Case

Leadership in Energy: Jim Rogers at Cinergy

By: Boris Groysberg, Nitin Nohria, Colleen Kaftan and Geoff Eckman Marietta

Jim Rogers, CEO of the energy company Cinergy, has led the company from the brink of bankruptcy to one of the premier energy companies through selecting a focused strategy, aligning the organization to support it, and mobilizing all the employees to implementation. The... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Leading Change; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Alignment; Corporate Strategy; Energy Industry

April 2012 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Dovernet

By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred

This case illustrates the implications of using stringent performance measurement systems to create performance pressure, motivate employee achievement, and sharpen a firm's competitiveness. It opens by describing the downsides of the ruthlessly competitive culture at... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Information Technology; Competitive Advantage; Decision Choices and Conditions; Organizational Culture; Performance Evaluation; Compensation and Benefits; Web Services Industry; Information Technology Industry; Vancouver

01 Mar 2023
What Do You Think?

How Much Does 'Deep Purpose' Matter to the Bottom Line?

mission is the starting point for its culture. The nature of a mission statement matters only if leaders and their employees believe in it and live it. In my research, too often I’ve found that leaders are content to check the box on... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

21 Mar 2018
Research & Ideas

Why Artificial Intelligence Isn't a Sure Thing to Increase Productivity

(USPTO), which has used innovative practices around employees working remotely. “I found the US patent office fascinating,” Choudhury says. “It is not only a large organization with more than 10,000 people,... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology; Information

22 Mar 2021
Research & Ideas

How to Learn from the Big Mistake You Almost Make

What if businesses could learn from their worst mistakes without actually making them? How might the same progress and innovation occur, without firms incurring the costs associated with such errors? The results of a recent study about... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Health

June 1989 (Revised July 1994)
Case

Ito Yokado

By: Walter J. Salmon

Describes the means by which management has empowered the sales clerks and part time employees of this chain of 131 department stores. They are responsible for all sales and inventory management. This empowerment has led to fewer stockouts, higher sales, lower... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Management; Distribution; Supply Chain Management; Sales; Japan

26 Mar 2018
Research & Ideas

To Motivate Employees, Give an Unexpected Bonus (or Penalty)

says. “Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you’re fired.” This might seem an extreme way to motivate employees (and, of course, fails spectacularly in the movie). But companies hold so-called tournaments based on... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Manufacturing

December 1999
Case

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (A): An Enterprise of Change

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Jane Roessner

In 1999, Sun Microsystems, Inc., was claiming a leadership position in the burgeoning world of e-commerce and networking computers. Its goal: "to dot-com the world." What was it about Sun's culture that made it so conducive to innovation and entrepreneurship? And how... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Leading Change; Innovation Leadership; Information Infrastructure; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Growth and Development Strategy; Global Strategy; Experience and Expertise; Technology Industry; Computer Industry

01 Nov 2012
HBS Seminar

Bill Kerr, Harvard Business School

09 May 2012
Research & Ideas

Clayton Christensen’s “How Will You Measure Your Life?”

debt, it was forced to declare bankruptcy. The bank was sold to ING for just 1 pound. Twelve hundred employees lost their jobs, some of them his friends. And Leeson was sentenced to six and a half years in a Singaporean prison. How could... View Details

August 2011
Supplement

Raj Datta, Former Chief Knowledge Officer of MindTree, In-Class Comments, April 1, 2011

By: David A. Garvin

MindTree is a mid-sized Indian IT services company known for its knowledge management practices, its collaborative communities, and its strong culture and values. The CEO has set a goal of becoming a $1 billion company by 2014; to reach that goal, employees must create... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Management; Social and Collaborative Networks; Innovation and Invention; Organizational Culture; Learning; Values and Beliefs; Information Technology Industry; Service Industry; India

31 May 2004
Research & Ideas

How Team Leaders Show Support–or Not

What do leaders do to make employees in creative functions feel supported or not? That was one of the research questions posed by Harvard Business School professor Teresa Amabile and colleagues in what has turned into a penetrating study... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

2012
Book

The Culture Cycle: How to Shape the Unseen Force That Transforms Performance

By: James Heskett

The contribution of culture to organizational performance is both substantial and quantifiable. This book presents the results of field research that demonstrates how an effective culture can account for up to half of the differential in performance between... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Learning; Framework; Policy; Retention; Books; Analytics and Data Science; Innovation and Invention; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Performance Expectations; Research

Find at Harvard

04 May 2015
Research & Ideas

Need to Solve a Problem? Take a Break From Collaborating

Got a problem? Throw some collaboration software at it. It's a common strategy among today's managers: Organizations spend a lot of money on technology that enables employees to tackle problems collectively. Hence, the market is rife with... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Video Game; Web Services

April 2023 (Revised September 2023)
Case

Levels: The Remote, Asynchronous, Deep Work Management System

By: Joseph B. Fuller and George Gonzalez

Levels is a highly innovative startup in the health care space. They intend to revolutionize health by linking behavior—eating, exercise, sleeping, etc.—to changes in metabolism. They believe metabolic health can be managed through careful monitoring of changes in... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Business Startups; Organizational Culture; Management Style; Technology Industry; United States