Organizational Life Cycle - Publications - Faculty & Research

21 Aug 2017
Lessons from the Classroom

Companies Love Big Data But Lack the Strategy To Use It Effectively

brands goes to digital media. What happens when products with sensors generate such volumes of customer experience data that advertising may be a less significant factor?” Jeff Polzer, of the Organizational Behavior faculty, introduced... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

08 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Knowledge Transfer: You Can't Learn Surgery By Watching

analogy for vicarious learning is the photocopier,” says Christopher G. Myers, assistant professor of Organizational Behavior at Harvard Business School. The idea: Watch what other people do, make copies of the good things and dispose of... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health

13 Jan 2021
Research & Ideas

How 'Small C' Change Can Beat Large-Scale Rebuilding

to see. Due to the measurability of sporting performance, every manager of a professional team becomes a winner or a loser in the eyes of the public—week after week. So, it is not surprising that the shelf life for professional soccer... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Sascha L. Schmidt, and Sebastian Flegr; Sports

15 Jan 2014
Research & Ideas

Managing the Family Business: It Takes a Village

of the family business system, we need to understand what capable leaders in family business systems actually do. I've spent much of my professional life figuring this out. I've gotten to know a number of excellent family business leaders... View Details

25 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

Why IT Does Matter

tracked the number of MIPS or CPU cycles on the network from 1990 to 2002. Even using a log scale on the vertical axis would be barely enough to tilt a vertical straight line enough to create something resembling the curves of the other... View Details

Keywords: by F. Warren McFarlan & Richard L. Nolan

10 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

The COVID Two-Step for Leaders: Protect and Pivot

air.” Two critical questions, posed by Hernan Saenz and Dunigan O’Keeffe of Bain and Company, can help organizational leaders frame their thoughts about how to survive in the present and position their companies to thrive in the... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly Baden

18 Oct 2011
First Look

First Look: October 18

Organizational Forms and Community in the U.S. in 2005 Authors:Glenn R. Carroll and Magnus Thor Torfason Publication:City & Community 10, no. 1 (March 2011) Abstract Recent sociological theory and research highlights food, drink, and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

18 Nov 2002
Research & Ideas

Where Morals and Profits Meet: The Corporate Value Shift

destroy health, wealth, and life itself. The issues span the ethical spectrum: falsified books and records, misleading communications, defective and dangerous products shipped without warnings or information, abusive behavior and unsafe... View Details

Keywords: by Carla Tishler

08 Sep 2008
HBS Case

The Value of Environmental Activists

There are many methods, most financial, to measure the success of companies in meeting goals. But the question becomes a lot harder at Harvard Business School when MBAs are challenged to measure the efforts of environmental organizations like Greenpeace and the World... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Energy; Utilities

28 Apr 2003
Research & Ideas

Supply Chain Risk: Deal With It

risk, Raman explains, has been through inventory. But "for numerous reasons, inventory became very expensive." Shorter product life cycles contribute to higher expenses, for example, in the... View Details

Keywords: by David Stauffer

06 Mar 2020
Book

A Great Teacher's Lessons for Leading

scientist who can’t wait to get to the classroom to share the experiment. If you adopt this mindset, students will remain intellectually and spiritually in the classroom with you.” The Baker Foundation Professor of Management Practice in the school’s View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Education

18 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Looking in the Mirror: Questions Every Leader Must Ask

DuPont's vision is "to be the world's most dynamic science company, creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer and healthier life for people everywhere." This vision helps DuPont employees better understand what... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

21 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

The Pandemic Conversations That Leaders Need to Have Now

organization.” It is similarly beneficial to employees: “To be engaged, employees must feel heard and understood. Moreover, they must see their thoughts and reactions come to life in the real world. This is an opportunity for new leaders... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Robin Abrahams, and Katherine Connolly Baden

26 Jul 2011
First Look

First Look: July 26

(forthcoming) Abstract This paper examines the process through which management students develop personal foundations (such as self-awareness, self-management, and a grounding life narrative) for the ongoing development and practice of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

15 Jun 2007
Research & Ideas

Remembering Alfred Chandler

of organizational capabilities, technological innovation through R&D, problem solving, knowledge, and continuous learning—investment in human capital and technology that only firms could generate. Chandler placed the issue of... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

07 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

What Customers Need to Hear from You During the COVID Crisis

pandemic-related life challenges. Communications that were perceived to benefit the brand more than they benefited its consumers or ones that offered frivolous solutions rather than real ones raised consumers’ eyebrows, while programs... View Details

Keywords: by Jill Avery and Richard Edelman

16 Oct 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, October 16, 2018

methods, such as multiple-case inductive studies and traditional methods of causal inference. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=55043 Quantile Forecasts of Product Life View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

05 Dec 2013
What Do You Think?

Is Walmart Defying Economic Gravity?

Original Article There is a body of research that seeks to relate economics to human biology. It's usually associated with the notion that the life cycles of businesses parallel stages of biological life:... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Retail

10 Sep 2018
Research & Ideas

Celebrating 'The Men and Women of the Corporation' 40 Years Later

inequality in the workplace. In particular, the book makes clear how organizational roles and structures shape unequal access to opportunities, resources, and advancement. In a wide-ranging conversation, Robin Ely, the Diane Doerge Wilson... View Details

Keywords: by Robin J. Ely

04 Apr 2005
What Do You Think?

Can an Organization’s “Deep Smarts” Be Preserved?

organizational knowledge." Joe Violette raises a more practical issue: "Knowledge coaching ... cannot be effectively accomplished on a one-on-one basis. Too few people will benefit ...." Respondents provided possible... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

Publications