Publications

Find at Harvard

Read Now

2009
Working Paper

Authority versus Persuasion

By: Eric J. Van den Steen

This paper studies a principal's trade-off between using persuasion versus using interpersonal authority to get the agent to "do the right thing"; from the principal's perspective (when the principal and agent openly disagree on the right course of action). It shows... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Managerial Roles; Projects; Motivation and Incentives; Power and Influence

Read Now

February 2007
Case

South African Airways (A)

By: Joshua D. Margolis, Laura Morgan Roberts and Laura Winig

Amid efforts to engineer a turnaround at South African Airways (SAA), the CEO confronts an impending strike at the struggling company. How should the company address questions of distributive and procedural justice in post-Apartheid South Africa, and how should the CEO... View Details

Keywords: Fairness; Crisis Management; Employees; Employment; Growth and Development; Developing Countries and Economies; Air Transportation Industry; South Africa

September 2005
Case

IBM Network Technology (A) (Abridged)

By: Michael L. Tushman

An unconventional manager within IBM leads the creation of a business unit with multibillion-dollar potential, winning over customers and nudging the organization to make the changes needed to achieve dramatic growth. Exemplifies how organizational design and... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Management Teams; Leadership Style; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Employees; Information Technology Industry

February 2003 (Revised June 2006)
Case

Implementing the Nissan Renewal Plan

By: Michael Y. Yoshino and Masako Egawa

Carlos Ghosn, a former executive vice-president of Renault, became the COO of Nissan Motor Co., a troubled auto company in Japan when Renault bought 38% of the company in 1999. This case deals with how Ghosn turned the company around. Examines in considerable detail... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Change Management; Employees; Leading Change; Strategic Planning; Motivation and Incentives; Auto Industry; Japan

January 1990 (Revised February 1990)
Teaching Note

Sedalia Revisited, Teaching Note

By: Roy D. Shapiro

Teaching Note for (9-687-004). View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Design; Quality; System; Employees; Framework; Competition; Production; Strategy

01 Jun 2020
News

Effective Communication in the Age of Zoom

are exactly the same between dating and business. SUGGESTED RESOURCES Greenwald’s “13 Conversation Behaviors To Avoid” 100 Virtual Icebreakers SUGGESTED RESOURCES Greenwald’s “13 Conversation Behaviors To... View Details

Keywords: Zoom

Web

Data: The Ever-Expanding Frontier - Race, Gender & Equity

worldviews and ways of operating are directly informed by the circumstances of our lives. Many employers have facilitated implicit bias tests that help team members understand the deeply entrenched nature of our interpersonal interactions. Other employers have created... View Details

November 2008
Article

Winning the Race for Talent in Emerging Markets

By: Douglas A. Ready, Linda A. Hill and Jay A. Conger

"This war for talent is like nothing we've ever seen before," write the authors, who have spent decades studying talent management and leadership development. Recently they interviewed executives at more than 20 global companies to identify strategies for attracting... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Development; Selection and Staffing; Talent and Talent Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Organizational Culture; Recruitment; Diversity; Developing Countries and Economies

Find at Harvard

January 2025
Case

Netflix: Takedown Troubles

By: Clayton S. Rose, Tom Quinn and Maxim Pike Harrell

In October 2021, Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos sent an all-staff email addressing backlash to comedian Dave Chappelle’s new stand-up special, The Closer. Released on October 5, the comedian’s depiction of the transgender community and other LGBTQ+ groups prompted... View Details

Profile

John Bracaglia

longitudinal health data study to "map human health." "At the time I applied," John says, "I had no idea what I'd be doing at HBS. But I respected the alumni and the talent the school produces. HBS builds people... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing/Energy; Tech; CPG

20 Jul 2017
News

Life Lab Nurtures Early Stage Startup Day Zero Diagnostics

rise. It’s one of the greatest threats that human health is facing today,” says Miriam Huntley, a DZD cofounder who focuses on computational approaches to genomic analysis. “Patients with severe infections can die within hours, but... View Details

Keywords: Scientific Research and Development Services

13 Mar 2025
Blog Post

Advancing Health Care Innovation and Impact with Anita Gupta (GMP 29, 2020)

Learn about the career resources available to HBS alumni through HBS Career & Professional Development When I came to Harvard Business School (HBS) to participate in the Executive Education General Management Program, I wasn’t looking... View Details

March 2025 (Revised June 2025)
Case

Designing the Future of Work: Atlassian's Distributed Work Practices

By: Ashley Whillans and Gabriel Rondón Ichikawa

In early 2020, the software company Atlassian made a bold commitment: employees could work from anywhere—forever. While many tech peers reversed course on remote work, Atlassian worked to optimize their fully distributed model across 13 countries. This case follows... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Working Conditions; Management Practices and Processes; Product Development; Organizational Culture; Business Strategy; Employees; Technology Industry

September 2019
Technical Note

Care Economy in the U.S. (Primer)

By: Joseph B. Fuller, William R. Kerr, Manjari Raman and Carl Kreitzberg

This case describes how caregiving responsibilities influence American employees, firms, and the broader economy. It details how sociodemographic trends in the late 20th century transformed the way that Americans balance their personal and professional lives, analyzing... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Talent and Talent Management; Demographics; Labor; Health Care and Treatment; Family and Family Relationships; Strategy; Management; United States

April 1996 (Revised May 2008)
Exercise

Adam Baxter Company/Local 190: 1985 Negotiation Baxter Management Confidential Information

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Victoria Medvec

ncludes a series of three negotiation exercises portraying management/labor relations at ABC over a period of seven years. ABC, initially a family-owned business, had prided itself on its cooperative relationship with its union, Local 190. With the skyrocketing... View Details

Keywords: Inflation and Deflation; Compensation and Benefits; Wages; Working Conditions; Management; Negotiation Process; Labor and Management Relations