Publications

July 1993 (Revised April 1999)
Case

ABB's Relays Business: Building and Managing a Global Matrix

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Describes the development and management of the relays business area (BA) in ABB's global matrix organization. Focuses on three levels of management--corporate, BA, and operating company. Highlights the roles and responsibilities of individuals at each level as ABB... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Business or Company Management; Business Strategy; Organizational Structure; Managerial Roles; Management Practices and Processes; Employees; Organizational Culture; Success; Manufacturing Industry

2022
Book

Productive Tensions: How Every Leader Can Tackle Innovation's Toughest Trade-Offs

By: Chris Bingham and Rory McDonald

Why is leading innovation in nascent business environments so distressingly hit-or-miss? More than 90% of high-potential ventures don’t reach their projected targets. Surveys show that 80% of executives consider innovation crucial to their growth strategy, but only 6%... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Innovation and Management; Organizational Culture; Leadership Style; Decision Making

01 Feb 2011
First Look

First Look: Feb. 1

founders sold their remaining shares shortly after the IPO. Two years later, Alantec was acquired for the equivalent of $70 per share. Following the sale, the founders sued, alleging that the venture capitalists had committed fraud and... View Details

31 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 31

analyze all questions and answers from the inception of the Google Answers service through November 2003, and I find notable trends in answerer behavior: more experienced answerers provide answers with the characteristics askers most value, receiving higher ratings... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2003 (Revised December 2003)
Case

Mitchells/Richards

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Corey B. Hajim

Describes a small, luxury retail chain's operational sophistication achieved through the use of technology and high-touch customer service. A family-run business, Mitchells has built its success with a customer service strategy know internally as "hugging." The term is... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Expansion; Family Business; Attitudes; Organizational Culture; Luxury; Customer Focus and Relationships; Retail Industry

April 2024
Article

Speaking up and Taking Action: Psychological Safety and Joint Problem-solving Orientation in Safety Improvement

By: Hassina Bahadurzada, Michaela J. Kerrissey and Amy C. Edmondson

Healthcare organizations face stubborn challenges in ensuring patient safety and mitigating clinician turnover. This paper aims to advance theory and research on patient safety by elucidating how the role of psychological safety in patient safety can be enhanced with... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare Operations; Psychological Safety; Teams; Retention; Safety; Customer Satisfaction; Organizational Culture; Performance Evaluation; Health Industry

Read Now

July 2002 (Revised August 2002)
Case

Washington Hospital Center (D): Emergency Medicine After September 11

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Michelle Heskett

The all-risks-ready emergency room prototype project becomes widely accepted as a need after September 11, 2001. The already operational medical informatics system, Insight, comes under heavy demand after its strong performance during crises and is noticed by various... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Health Care and Treatment; Nonprofit Organizations; Medical Specialties; Organizational Culture; Crisis Management; Technological Innovation; Higher Education; Performance Productivity; Health Industry; District of Columbia

24 Jul 2012
First Look

First Look: July 24

portfolios, such as exposure to climate change, remain hidden. If this disclosure void continues to exist, the competitiveness of U.S. companies and its capital market will be at risk. While not a panacea, we believe that developing... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Article

Technology, Identity, and Inertia: Through the Lens of 'The Digital Photography Company'

By: Mary Tripsas

Organizations often experience difficulty when pursuing new technology. Large bodies of research have examined the behavioral, social, and cognitive forces that underlie this phenomenon; however, the role of an organization's identity remains relatively unexplored.... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Disruptive Innovation; Organizational Culture; Behavior; Cognition and Thinking; Identity; Perception; Technology Adoption

Find at Harvard

Read Now

04 Oct 2011
First Look

First Look: October 4

elite-oriented cultural and educational institutions and social welfare-oriented organizations. We find that corporate density enhances the growth of both types of nonprofits, as does location in the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 Jun 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

Fame, Faith, and Social Activism: Business Lessons from Bono

celebrities including Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Oprah Winfrey, was drawn to Bono's commitment to conscious capitalism and to the question of what made Bono, well, Bono. "It so clicked for me," she says. "I hadn't listened to U2 in 10... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Entertainment & Recreation

July 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Taj Hotel Group

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Vineeta Vijayaraghavan

R.K. Krishna Kumar, managing director and head of Taj Hotel Group, has to decide whether to reexamine a promotion decision. In an attempt to deliver a level of service quality that met global standards at the Indian hotel chain, Kumar had introduced new personnel... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Human Resources; Leadership Development; Management Teams; Organizational Culture; Alignment; India

09 Feb 2016
First Look

February 9, 2016

entrepreneurship in organizational sectors. Prior research suggests that firm foundings are driven by collective patterns of activity—that is, by patterns of prior foundings—including support from related markets as well View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Dec 2009
News

One Man Crime Wave

languages. To many writers, critics, and fans, “JDM” lives on as an underappreciated master, a born storyteller who served up riveting, best-selling adventure tales that feature penetrating social commentary and sharp insights into human... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; fiction writing; Arts, Entertainment; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

June 2010 (Revised October 2011)
Case

ProPublica

By: Michel Anteby, Philippe Bertreau and Charlotte Newman

Stephen Engelberg, ProPublica's managing editor, entered the organization's newsroom located in lower Manhattan on September 16, 2008. He knew a historical financial debacle was happening at his doorstep, yet none of his journalists were covering that beat. It would... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Leadership; Leading Change; Resource Allocation; Organizational Culture; Motivation and Incentives; Journalism and News Industry; Publishing Industry; New York (city, NY)

21 Aug 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, August 21, 2018

new world. Typical approaches used by legacy players such as using technology to improve efficiency, encouraging business units to do digital experiments, or launching independent units to spur innovation have met with limited success.... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

28 Jul 2015
First Look

First Look: July 28, 2015

of the business model as decisions enforced by the authority of the firm; this definition enables the analysis of business models through the analysis of individual firm choices. We situate negotiation outcomes within the strategy... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

July 2002
Case

Introducing ... The XFL!

By: Susan M. Fournier, Stephen A. Greyser and Seth Schulman

When the XFL professional football league debuted on February 3, 2001, it generated a Nielsen rating of 10.1, higher than any nationally televised program in a Saturday evening time slot. The next week, ratings plummeted, and by week nine the XFL game earned the title... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Forecasting and Prediction; Product Positioning; Consumer Behavior; Product Development; Culture; Commercialization