Publications

July 2021
Supplement

Trouble at Basecamp: Managing Politics, Polarization, and Conflict in the Workplace (B)

By: Nour Kteily, Deepak Malhotra and David Lane

Supplement to the (A) case View Details

January 1996 (Revised September 1997)
Case

Scott Paper Company

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Jeremy Cott

A professional turnaround manager attempts to implement a massive global downsizing program at the world's largest producer of consumer tissue products. The plan involves laying off almost one third of the company's 34,000 hourly and salaried employees and dramatically... View Details

Keywords: Assets; Global Strategy; Resignation and Termination; Goals and Objectives; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Sales; Value Creation; Pulp and Paper Industry

March 2023 (Revised May 2023)
Supplement

OneTen At Delta Air Lines: Catalyzing Family-Sustaining Careers for Black Talent (B)

By: Linda A. Hill and Lydia Begag

In January 2023, Delta Air Lines (Delta) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ed Bastian and his team had just launched the third iteration of an internal skills-first apprenticeship program, designed to move frontline employees into "merit" positions in four job categories.... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Diversity; Race; Talent and Talent Management; Training; Human Resources; Air Transportation Industry; United States

February 2009 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Jieliang Phone Home! (A)

By: Willy Shih, Ethan Bernstein and Nina Bilimoria

At Precision Electro-Tek's mobile phone manufacturing facility in southern China, thousands of operators—bright and capable young men and (mostly) women like Jieliang Hao—are motivated to improve line productivity through small innovations for faster assembly and have... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Job Design and Levels; Business Processes; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Manufacturing Industry; China

2006
Working Paper

Too Motivated?

By: Eric J. Van den Steen

I show that an agent's motivation to do well (objectively) may be unambiguously bad in a world with differing priors, i.e., when people openly disagree on the optimal course of action. The reason is that an agent who is strongly motivated is more likely to follow... View Details

Keywords: Governance Controls; Employees; Wages; Measurement and Metrics; Outcome or Result; Performance; Agency Theory; Motivation and Incentives

SSRN

November 2007
Case

Differences at Work: Alex (A)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Rachel Gordon

At an interview for his dream job, Alex has been asked an inappropriate question by the interviewer. How will Alex handle the situation? Should he accept the position is offered? View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Behavior; Job Interviews; Ethics; Human Resources; Diversity; Power and Influence

December 2001
Exercise

Exercise on Employee Stock Option Dilution

By: Brian J. Hall

Discusses the effects of option dilution on stock prices and shareholder value. To simplify the example and isolate the complexity of option dilution, we make a number of simplifying assumptions. View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Price; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Business and Shareholder Relations; Complexity; Value

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July 1995
Teaching Note

Managing Conflict in a Diverse Workplace TN

By: Mary C. Gentile and James I. Cash Jr.

Teaching Note for (9-395-090). View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Conflict Management; Spoken Communication; Employees; Culture; Diversity

June 2018
Teaching Note

Difficult Conversations and Dealing with Challenging Situations at Work

By: Boris Groysberg and Amram Migdal

Teaching Note for HBS Nos. 416-031, 416-032, 416-033, 416-034, 416-035, and 416-036. View Details

October 2024
Case

Reed Group and Succession in a Family Business: An Impossible Job to Fill?

By: Lauren H. Cohen and Tonia Labruyere

James Reed had taken over Reed Group, the recruitment and career services company his father had founded and built, in 1994. He was now reflecting on succession planning and other challenges that lay ahead: with no obvious choice among his family members, he needed to... View Details

Keywords: Charity; Succession Planning; Family Business; Values and Beliefs; Management Succession; Mission and Purpose; Family Ownership; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Family and Family Relationships; Recruitment; AI and Machine Learning; Employment Industry; United Kingdom; London

June 2018
Case

Candor at Clever

By: Ethan Bernstein and Om Lala

Clever, a high-growth EdTech company based in San Francisco, had grown quickly in market share and headcount. As with many high-growth companies, however, early employees (many of whom had never managed people before) had been given the opportunity to manage teams, and... View Details

September 1999 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Eggrock Partners, LLC (A)

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Myra M. Hart and Sharon Peyus

Explores the challenges of choosing how to grow a professional services firm (PSF). Before developing a growth strategy, the partners need to agree on what business(es) the company should be in. Each of the three partners has differing views of what the company should... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Expansion; Business Processes; Industry Structures; Customer Focus and Relationships; Employees; Partners and Partnerships; Service Industry

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01 Oct 2000
News

Books

Design Rules: The Power of Modularity (Volume 1) by Carliss Y. Baldwin and Kim B. Clark (The MIT Press) Today's fast-paced global economy often seems to operate as an independent force, but its products, firms, and markets are all derived from View Details

2011
Working Paper

CEO Bonus Plans: And How to Fix Them

By: Kevin J. Murphy and Michael C. Jensen

Almost all CEO and executive bonus plans have serious design flaws that limit their benefits dramatically. Such poorly designed executive bonus plans destroy value by providing incentives to manipulate the timing of earnings, mislead the board about organizational... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Competency and Skills; Cost of Capital; Executive Compensation; Risk Management; Performance Evaluation; Projects; Motivation and Incentives; Value

SSRN

May 2008
Supplement

Finansbank 2006 (CW)

By: C. Fritz Foley and Linnea Meyer

How do financial policy requirements and benefits of ownership concentration affect the need for and process of corporate restructuring? This case provides students with an opportunity to analyze the restructuring of a Turkish multinational business group by way of a... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Restructuring; Financing and Loans; Policy; Compensation and Benefits; Growth and Development Strategy; Ownership; Business and Shareholder Relations; Banking Industry; Russia; Turkey; Romania; Switzerland; Ukraine