Publications

25 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

Developing the Global Leader

What skills do today's executives need to develop to become effective global leaders of tomorrow? And how do corporations teach these skills to their own leaders? "The shift from a country-centric corporation to one that is more global in its outlook will have a... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

March 1995
Background Note

Gender Differences in Managerial Behavior: The Ongoing Debate

Do men and women have distinct leadership styles? Do they approach management differently? This note summarizes the two perspectives that have dominated the ongoing debate on gender differences in organizational leadership and management behavior. Psychological... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Style; Gender

02 Jul 2024
Book

Five Essential Elements to Build the Capital You Need to Lead

To aspiring entrepreneurs and other business practitioners looking to advance their careers, the path to a leadership role may seem daunting. Yet anyone with a dream to open a business, start a nonprofit, or simply move up the ranks at... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

2008
Book

Hedgehogs and Foxes: Character, Leadership, and Command in Organizations

By: Abraham Zaleznik

In this compelling look at charismatic leaders and their leadership styles, Abraham Zaleznik asserts that leaders are either "hedgehogs," who view leadership as a single-minded track driven by unwavering rules, or "foxes," who assess and re-evaluate their... View Details

Keywords: Attitudes; Leadership Style; Government and Politics; Power and Influence; Innovation and Invention

September 2004 (Revised June 2005)
Case

Hancock Land Company and Hancock Lumber Company (A)

By: John A. Davis, Dwight B. Crane and Kelly M. Mulderry

After inheriting the leadership of their family's land and lumber companies, Matt and Kevin Hancock struggled with how to revise their internally focused governance system. View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Governance; Leadership Style; Growth Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation

19 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Rupert Murdoch and the Seeds of Moral Hazard

twice—first when NYNEX, where he was CEO, merged with Bell Atlantic, and then when the successor company, Verizon, bought GTE—was associated with a leadership style responsible for the emergence of Verizon... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Journalism & News; Publishing

May 2013
Case

Bridgewater Associates

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer and Heidi K. Gardner

Bridgewater Associates was the world's largest hedge fund with approximately $120 billion in assets under management in mid-2012, and its leaders attribute its record-beating performance to the firm's culture of "radical transparency." The founder, Ray Dalio, was... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Motivation and Incentives; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Performance; Leadership Style; Investment; Financial Services Industry

12 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

What Great American Leaders Teach Us

took advantage of the coalescing context of their times. They built businesses that thrived in a specific contextual framework and modified their operations and leadership styles as the contextual factors... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

November 2001 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Taking Charge at Dogus Holding (A)

By: Rakesh Khurana, Gina Carioggia and Simon Johnson

Describes 37-year-old Ferit Sahenk's challenges in taking over his father's traditionally managed $14 billion Turkish conglomerate in a period of economic instability. Leading the large holding company into the 21st century will require the establishment of a more... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Trade; Competitive Strategy; Decision Making; Leadership; Performance Effectiveness; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Family Business; Change Management; Turkey

2019
Working Paper

From Know-It-Alls to Learn-It-Alls: Executive Development in the Era of Self-Refining Algorithms, Collaborative Filtering and Wearable Computing

By: Mihnea Moldoveanu and Das Narayandas

We examine the future of executive education on a technological and cultural landscape that is imminent but different to the one we are accustomed to. We show how the contextualization, socialization and personalization of learning—avowed but distal goals of current... View Details

Keywords: Executive Education; Leadership Development; Technological Innovation; Customization and Personalization; Management Skills; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Sharing

Read Now

16 Dec 2013
HBS Case

D’O: Making a Michelin-Starred Restaurant Affordable

the restaurant, failing to fill seats nightly, starts operating at a loss. But then there's D'O, a restaurant in Cornaredo, Italy, that opened in 2003 and received a Michelin star only one year later. Under the leadership of chef and... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel & Joanie Tobin; Food & Beverage

24 Jun 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Don’t Just Survive—Thrive: Leading Innovation in Good Times and Bad

Keywords: by Lynda M. Applegate & J. Bruce Harreld

24 Oct 2023
HBS Case

From P.T. Barnum to Mary Kay: Lessons From 5 Leaders Who Changed the World

Would Jack Welch’s Leadership Style Fare in Today’s World? Do Leaders Learn More From Success or Failure? Steve Jobs and the Rise of the Celebrity CEO Feedback or ideas to share? Email the Working Knowledge... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

July 1972 (Revised September 1985)
Case

Saturday Evening Post (Revised)

Permits analysis of the need for adapting strategy to environmental change and for choosing among strategic alternatives in the light of new environmental opportunities. Management and board failures in these areas may be traced to some of the underlying causes,... View Details

Keywords: Journals and Magazines; Management Style; Values and Beliefs; Governing and Advisory Boards; Adaptation; Leadership Style; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

Program

Authentic Leader Development

through difficult and pressure-filled challenges Adapt your leadership style to different scenarios, while remaining true to your values and purpose Balance your intrinsic and extrinsic motivations to find... View Details

January 2008
Article

Where Will We Find Tomorrow's Leaders?

By: Linda A. Hill

Unless we challenge long-held assumptions about how business leaders are supposed to act and where they're supposed to come from, many people who could become effective global leaders will remain invisible, warns Harvard Business School professor Hill. Instead of... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Globalization; Innovation Leadership; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Situation or Environment; Personal Characteristics

Find at Harvard

23 Feb 2010
First Look

First Look: Feb. 23

Theory and Practice, edited by Nitin Nohria and Rakesh Khurana Harvard Business Publishing, 2010 Abstract The idea of a contingency theory of leadership is not novel. In the 1960s several scholars conducted research and proposed such an... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

July 2023 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Raymond Jefferson: Trial by Fire

By: Anthony Mayo and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In the spring of 2021, Raymond (Ray) Jefferson applied for a job in President Joseph Biden’s administration. Ten years earlier, false allegations were used to force him to resign from his prior U.S. government position as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans’... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Style; Personal Development and Career; Ethics; Lawsuits and Litigation

March 2022
Article

From Proprietary to Collective Governance: How Do Platform Participation Strategies Evolve?

By: Siobhan O'Mahony and Rebecca Karp

When platform leaders change the rules guiding who can access and control a platform, the strategies of those who create value from the platform can be upended. Little research examines how platform participants adapt their strategies when a platform leader changes the... View Details

Keywords: Platform Governance; Access; Crowdsourcing; Applications and Software; Employees; Leadership Style; Cybersecurity; Risk Management