Publications

Educators

October 2017 (Revised March 2020)
Case

Medicetra Medtech Company, Inc.

By: Doug J. Chung

Medicetra MedTech Company is a dental equipment distributor, and senior management is deciding whether to implement a new incentive compensation program for the sales force. For many years, Medicetra had paid salespeople only a fixed salary. Although the current plan... View Details

Keywords: Sales Compensation; Sales Force Retention; Employee Fairness; Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Retention; Fairness; Performance Improvement

Educators

15 Apr 2024
Book

Struggling With a Big Management Decision? Start by Asking What Really Matters

think that the four questions are yet another of the many lists offered to managers for making decisions. But this badly underestimates their power and their importance. These questions are the basic structure, the steel beams, of our... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

2021
Article

Internment as a Business Challenge: Political Risk Management and German Multinationals in Colonial India (1914–1947)

By: Christina Lubinski, Valeria Giacomin and Klara Schnitzer

Internment in so-called “enemy countries” was a frequent occurrence in the 20th century and created significant obstacles for multinational enterprises (MNEs). This article focuses on German MNEs in India and shows how they addressed the formidable challenge of the... View Details

Keywords: Internment; Political Risk; International Business; Multinational Firms and Management; Employees; War; History; Outcome or Result; India; Germany

24 Jul 2018
Op-Ed

4 Ways Managers Can Exercise Their 'Agency' to Change the World

they feel a lack of “agency,” a sense that only the highest rank of management can effect positive social change from within a business. Ironically, an increasing number of C-suite executives, including former Starbucks CEO Howard... View Details

Keywords: by George Serafeim

30 Nov 2016
What Do You Think?

How Do Leaders Manage the Tension Between Pride and Arrogance?

recommended) being attentive to the changes in the external environment communicating with middle managers and leading by example, motivating employees to speak, listening to customers.” Several asked... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

May–June 2019
Article

Cross-Silo Leadership

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Tiziana Casciaro and Sujin Jang

Today the most promising innovation and business opportunities require collaboration among functions, offices, and organizations. To realize them, companies must break down silos and get people working together across boundaries. But that’s a challenge for many... View Details

Keywords: Cross-functional Management; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation Leadership; Groups and Teams; Employees; Attitudes

Register to Read

03 Jun 2002
What Do You Think?

Are We Entering an Era of European Management Leadership?

Summing Up Readers of this month's column agree that there are marked differences in the social environment for management in Europe and the United States. In some parts of Europe, at least, they foster View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

03 Oct 2018
What Do You Think?

How Should Managers Deal with the Challenges of Building an Inclusive Workplace?

CamiloTorres What Are the Most Effective Management Approaches to Inclusion? Inclusion is important to an organization. But it is a challenge in the current day workplace climate, especially when it comes to such things as one-on-one... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

15 Feb 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Embracing Commitment and Performance: CEOs and Practices Used to Manage Paradox

Keywords: by Tobias Fredberg, Michael Beer, Russell Eisenstat, Nathaniel Foote & Flemming Norrgren

1990
Article

Managing Your Boss: People are Your Most Important Asset

By: John J. Gabarro

Keywords: Management; Employees; Assets

August 2020
Case

Mary Guerrero and the Advancement of Latinx Talent: Developing an Employee Resource Group at a Top Tier Bank (A)

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Amy Hernandez Turcios

Mary Guerrero was a first-generation Latina and an investment banking analyst at a top tier bank on Wall Street—Bulge Bracket Bank (BBB). She was committed to increasing representation of Latinx talent at her firm. She was already doing a lot of individual work to make... View Details

Keywords: Latin America; Bank; Representation; Scale; Inclusion; Coalition; Resources; Latinx; Talent and Talent Management; Diversity; Ethnicity; Banks and Banking; Leadership

Educators

August 2020
Supplement

Mary Guerrero and the Advancement of Latinx Talent: Developing an Employee Resource Group at a Top Tier Bank (B)

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Amy Hernandez Turcios

Mary Guerrero decided to pursue the challenging road and kicked off Hispanic/Latinx Advancement and Career Engagement (HACE) at her Bulge Bracket Bank (BBB). For Mary, her larger purpose was to advance Latinx talent in the U.S. because she believed it was important for... View Details

Keywords: Latin America; Career; Engagement; Bank; Inclusion; Scale; Latinx; Talent and Talent Management; Diversity; Ethnicity; Leadership; Personal Development and Career; Leadership Development; Banks and Banking

January 2025
Supplement

Go Mobile: Aligning District Managers and Store Teams (B)

By: Tatiana Sandino and Samuel Grad

In January 2025, Modi reflects on the past decade of Go Mobile and looks ahead to new growth strategies. View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth Management; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Salesforce Management; Motivation and Incentives; Management Practices and Processes; Telecommunications Industry; India

13 Nov 2000
Research & Ideas

Managing to Learn: How Companies Can Turn Knowledge into Action

in their thinking about issues the right way. What criteria do they use? Why do they think the way they do? What alternatives have they considered? What premises do they have?" Similarly, at Serengeti Eyewear, a division of Corning, General View Details

Keywords: by Laurie Joan Aron

06 Dec 2004
What Do You Think?

Why Do Managers Fail to Act on Their Predictions?

Summing Up Respondents to the December column produced such a lengthy list of reasons why managers fail to act on their predictions that it is a wonder that organizations are ever able to respond with the foresight needed to avert... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

21 Jan 2015
Lessons from the Classroom

Managing the Family Business: Market Basket’s Lessons About Buyouts

2014, when George's branch obtained control and fired the CEO—who happened to be a cousin, Arthur T. Demoulas. Management was outraged, and the employees walked out in support of their CEO. The company lost... View Details

Keywords: Retail

Article

What's Your Language Strategy?: It Should Bind Your Company's Global Talent Management and Vision

By: Tsedal Neeley and Robert Steven Kaplan

Language pervades every aspect of organizational life. Yet leaders of global organizations—where unrestricted multilingualism can create friction—often pay too little attention to it in their approach to talent management. By managing language carefully, firms can hire... View Details

Read Now

2023
White Paper

Managing Workforce Risk in an Era of Unpredictability and Disruption

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Michael Griffiths, Reem Janho, Michael Stephan, Carey Oven, Keri Calagna, George Fackler, Robin Jones, Sue Cantrell and Zac Shaw

Keywords: Employees; Human Capital; Risk and Uncertainty; Talent and Talent Management

Read Now

June 2016
Article

Managing the High Intensity Workplace: An 'Always Available' Culture Breeds a Variety of Dysfunctional Behaviors

By: Erin M. Reid and Lakshmi Ramarajan

People today are under intense pressure to be “ideal workers”—totally committed to their jobs and always on call. But after interviewing hundreds of professionals in many fields, the authors have concluded that selfless dedication to work is often unnecessary and... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Working Conditions; Work-Life Balance; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture