Publications

09 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Unilever—A Case Study

that the two companies should at all times pay dividends of equivalent value in sterling and guilders. There were two head offices—in London and Rotterdam—and two chairmen. Until 1996 the "chief executive" role was performed by... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Consumer Products; Entertainment & Recreation; Food & Beverage; Manufacturing; Retail

Web

Courses | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

Accountability (LCA) In this course, students learn about the complex responsibilities facing business leaders today. Through cases about difficult managerial decisions, the course examines the legal, ethical, and economic... View Details

September 2008 (Revised March 2009)
Supplement

Traversing a Career Path: Pat Fili-Krushel (B)

By: Kathleen L. McGinn, Deborah M. Kolb and Cailin B. Hammer

Pat Fili-Krushel has agreed to take on the job of first executive vice president of administration for AOL Time Warner, leading corporate human resources, internal communications, real estate and facilities, and other administrative roles for the combined company. She... View Details

Keywords: Conflict Management; Leadership; Managerial Roles; Negotiation Tactics; Personal Development and Career; Gender; Power and Influence; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Publishing Industry; United States

September 2001 (Revised October 2018)
Case

DIENA

By: Robert Simons and Indra Reinbergs

Requires students to draw a new organization structure diagram for a rapidly evolving business. A/S DIENA is a newspaper publisher founded during Latvia's 1990/91 struggle for independence from the USSR with a clear social mission to support democracy. With the help of... View Details

Keywords: Employee Ownership; Organizational Design; Marketing Strategy; Managerial Roles; Growth and Development; Economic Systems; Publishing Industry; Journalism and News Industry; Latvia

27 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Asian and American Leadership Styles: How Are They Unique?

executives in the West? There are important differences. Are differences attributable to different cultures or to different stages of corporate development? But first, what are we talking about? Roles in organizations involve more than... View Details

Keywords: by D. Quinn Mills

20 Jan 2010
First Look

First Look: Jan. 20

Decentralize? Authors:Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen Abstract There is a widespread sense that over the last two decades firms have been decentralizing decisions to employees further down the managerial hierarchy.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

2020
Book

Management Accounting: Information for Decision Making

By: Anthony A. Atkinson, Robert S. Kaplan, Ella Mae Matsumura and S. Mark Young

An approach to management accounting from the perspective of a business manager. View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Cost Accounting; Managerial Roles; Decision Making

Find at Harvard

27 Sep 2016
First Look

September 27, 2016

development programs have entered a period of disruption catalyzed by the digitalization of content, connectivity, and communication and are driven by renewed demand for high-level executive and managerial skills. Unlike other segments of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2021 (Revised October 2024)
Background Note

Legal Analysis: Fiduciary Duties for Managers

By: J.S. Nelson and Trevor Fetter

This note describes the essential legal responsibilities of managers and company directors toward investors and other parties. These include basic fiduciary duties of loyalty, obedience, good faith and care, as well as duties that relate to... View Details

Keywords: Fiduciary Duty; Managerial Roles; Legal Liability

October 1995 (Revised September 2021)
Case

Cambridge Consulting Group: Bob Anderson

By: Jay W. Lorsch and John J. Gabarro

Describes the situation facing the head of a rapidly growing industry-focused group within a consulting company. Highlights the dilemmas of being a "producing manager" (i.e., a professional who has both individual production as well as management responsibilities).... View Details

Keywords: Management; Managerial Roles; Agency Theory; Consulting Industry

08 Jun 2009
Research & Ideas

The Return of the Salesman

included some mention of peddlers and drummers in his 1977 book, The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business. He discussed them, though only briefly, within the larger context of the rise of mass distribution and mass... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

05 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

5 Companies Where Employees Move Up the Ladder Fast

Companies vying to fill entry-level roles should take a page from AT&T and American Express and offer aggressive advancement opportunities to workers without college degrees to help expand the talent pool, says a new report. According... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

Research Summary

Searching for a Corporate Savior: The Irrational Quest for Charismatic CEOs ( Princeton University Press, October 2002)

By: Rakesh Khurana

In this book, I argue that the external CEO labor market was born in a burst of rhetoric about wresting control of corporations away from a group of self-interested insiders, as senior managers in the era of managerial capitalism had come to be portrayed. The rationale... View Details

Web

2023 Reunion Presentations - Alumni

the changes have been accelerated by technology, the pandemic, rising interest rates, and inflation. But the managerial and resource-allocation implications of these developments for start-ups and established companies are often... View Details

08 Oct 2013
First Look

First Look: October 8

Publications August 2013 The Industrial Policy Revolution I: The Role of Government Beyond Ideology Growth and the Quality of Foreign Direct Investment: Is All FDI Equal By: Alfaro, Laura, and Andrew Charlton Abstract—In this paper we... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 1993 (Revised September 2018)
Case

Rudi Gassner and the Executive Committee of BMG International (A)

By: Linda Hill and Katherine Seger Weber

Explores the roles of CEO Rudi Gassner and the 9-person executive committee in leading BMG International. BMG International is the international music subsidiary of Bertlesmann, a German company that is the second-largest media conglomerate in the world. Describes a... View Details

Keywords: Managerial Roles; Management Teams; Decision Making; Business Plan; Growth and Development Strategy; Global Strategy; Leadership Style; Organizational Culture; Business Subsidiaries; Business Conglomerates; Cost Management; Change Management; Music Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Germany

07 Jun 2023
Blog Post

My One Case: MBA Class of 2023 Looks Back

how well I did in school. The Peterson case made me realize that career success from a managerial perspective is less about individual contribution and performance and more about team-based collaboration. It made me think about questions... View Details

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Online Leadership and Management Courses | HBS Online

Essentials Professors Joseph Fuller & David Garvin Master four vital managerial processes: decision-making, implementation, organizational learning, and change management. 8 weeks, 4-7 hrs/week Pay by September 25 $1,850 Certificate... View Details

August 1999 (Revised June 2008)
Case

Taran Swan at Nickelodeon Latin America (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Kristin Doughty

Eighteen months after launching Nickelodeon Latin America, general manager Taran Swan must leave the company's Miami headquarters for her New York home because of complications with her pregnancy. Unable to travel for at least the next six months, Swan must decide how... View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Leadership Style; Managerial Roles; Organizational Culture; Groups and Teams