Publications

23 Jul 2024
In Practice

The New Rules of Trade with China: Navigating Tariffs, Turmoil, and Opportunities

myriad industries, including Starbucks, Pfizer, Ralph Lauren, and Corning, have expanded in China despite the increasingly complex geopolitical relationship. Even American chip technology companies, such as Lam Research and Wolfspeed,... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Manufacturing; Retail; Fashion; Industrial Products; Consumer Products; Steel; Transportation; Telecommunications

Research Summary

Technology and Innovation

Professor Snow's research focuses on technological innovation, specifically the relationship between new and old technologies. While most technology scholars and experts have focused on the issues surrounding new technologies, he likes to point out that... View Details

April 2012
Case

Bank of America: Mobile Banking (Abridged)

By: Sunil Gupta and Michael Norris

In January 2010, Bank of America is discussing its future mobile strategy. Should the company add complexity to its app, design multiple apps for business segments, or expand into other mobile channels? View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; United States

Video

Adenike Ogunlesi

Adenike Ogunlesi, Founder and Chief Responsibility Officer of Ruff 'n' Tumble, addresses the complexities and opportunities for incorporating environmental and social responsibility in businesses, particularly in the context of Nigeria. View Details

09 Aug 2006
Research & Ideas

Career Advancement Without Experience

A worker seeks fulfillment in a new job involving expanded skills and responsibilities. The dilemma: Without prior experience in the field, how can she prove her capability to a potential employer? The challenge is even more daunting for contract workers making their... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Motion Pictures & Video; Technology

2012
Chapter

Pursuing Public Value: Frameworks for Strategic Analysis and Action

By: Herman B. Leonard and Mark H. Moore

Features Harvard Kennedy School scholars who focus diverse conceptual lenses on a single high-stakes management task—enhancing port security across the United States. This title considers the challenge of driving change in a complex system involving hundreds of private... View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; National Security; Complexity; Performance Improvement; United States

13 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

The Inner Life of Leaders

stern letter, Eisenhower was on the verge of replacing him as commander of one of the armies. Q: What do the hedgehog and fox metaphors mean in relation to the complexities of leadership? A: The title of the book is a debt I owe to Isaiah... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

November 2007 (Revised June 2016)
Background Note

Differences at Work: The Individual Experience

By: Sandra J. Sucher

This note presents some basic concepts and findings from social science research that can help you anticipate and manage some of the complexities of differences at work. View Details

Keywords: Demographics

December 2001 (Revised January 2002)
Case

COSCO

By: F. Warren McFarlan and David Lane

Focuses on the IT challenges facing COSCO, one of the largest shipping companies in the world, as it deals with the Internet and modern information technology. The challenge is to understand what they are trying to do and understand the complexity of the task. View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Information Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Technological Innovation; Complexity; Problems and Challenges; Shipping Industry; China

2012
Book

Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate, and Compete in the Knowledge Economy

By: Amy C. Edmondson

Continuous improvement, understanding complex systems, and promoting innovation are all part of the landscape of learning challenges today's companies face. I show that organizations thrive, or fail to thrive, based on how well the small groups within those... View Details

Keywords: Change; Interpersonal Communication; Learning; Values and Beliefs; Innovation and Invention; Management; Performance Improvement; Groups and Teams; Research; Strategy; Complexity; Value

October 2012 (Revised February 2019)
Case

Whaling Ventures

By: Tom Nicholas and Jonas Peter Akins

Whaling was a prominent global industry in the nineteenth century and the United States was dominant. By 1850 there were about 900 whaling ships in the world and 700 of these were American. Rates of return on capital were high compared to benchmark investments, at... View Details

Keywords: Whaling; Organization Design; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Finance; Organizational Design; Industry Growth; History; United States

June 2022 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Individual FoodService, Kelso, and Ken Sweder

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

When and how much risk to take? In October 2020, Ken Sweder, CEO of Individual FoodService (“IFS”), contemplated this question as he evaluated a proposal to acquire Brady Industries, a distributor of janitorial and sanitation products. Sweder and his private equity... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Risk Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Value Creation; Business Divisions

September 1971 (Revised September 1983)
Case

Gentle Electric Co.

By: W. Earl Sasser

Designed to illustrate various levels of complexity in determining optimum order sizes for a single item inventory policy. Students are asked to evaluate the impact of recent operational changes on the firm's ordering policy. Intended to follow the students' initial... View Details

Keywords: Change; Policy; Supply Chain; Complexity; Electronics Industry

16 Aug 2016
First Look

August 16, 2016

temporary groups. Drawing from two streams of research to unpack team diversity, this paper seeks to describe the complexity of cross-boundary teaming, while highlighting factors that may be central to its effectiveness. Past research on... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2000 (Revised May 2000)
Case

Patagon.com: Building (and Defending) the First Financial Destination in Latin America

By: William A. Sahlman, Ramiro Montealegre and Luis Pereiro

Describes Patagon.com, a company trying to build a financial portal in Latin America. The company's founders, Wenceslao Casares and Constancio Larguia, must deal with complex financial and strategic challenges as they guide the company in a difficult context. View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Problems and Challenges; Business Startups; Finance; Financial Services Industry; Latin America

October 1993 (Revised March 2023)
Case

Conflict on a Trading Floor (A)

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Jerry Useem

A junior salesperson on FirstAmerica Bank's trading floor is assisting a top salesperson, Linda, on a deal to finance the construction of a new cruise ship for Poseidon Cruise Lines. While the terms of the deal are being worked out, he realizes Linda has taken... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Profit; Knowledge Use and Leverage

18 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Who Controls Water?

must grow crops even as the available water supply to his operation is curtailed by drought conditions, court decisions, and quotas imposed by government agencies. The case examines how water, a basic building block of agriculture, is affected by a View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Agriculture & Agribusiness

TeachingInterests

Leading Innovation and Change

By: Michael L. Tushman

This portion of a doctoral seminar at the Harvard Graduate School of Education explores the relationship between innovation, organization design, and leadership in complex educational environments. We pay particular attention to leading large system change. View Details

2017
Book

Extreme Teaming: Lessons in Complex, Cross-Sector Leadership

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Jean-François Harvey

Today's global enterprises increasingly involve collaborative work by teams of experts operating across different professions, organizations, and industries. Extreme Teaming provides new insights into the world of complex, cross-industry projects and the ways... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Complexity