Publications

Research Summary

Strategic Human Capital

My research focuses on the links between managerial background, job attributes, organizational/firm characteristics, and firm performance. Broadly speaking, I am interested in how a manager's skills, knowledge, connections, experiences, and other attributes... View Details

March 2025 (Revised June 2025)
Case

Designing the Future of Work: Atlassian's Distributed Work Practices

By: Ashley Whillans and Gabriel Rondón Ichikawa

In early 2020, the software company Atlassian made a bold commitment: employees could work from anywhere—forever. While many tech peers reversed course on remote work, Atlassian worked to optimize their fully distributed model across 13 countries. This case follows... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Working Conditions; Management Practices and Processes; Product Development; Organizational Culture; Business Strategy; Employees; Technology Industry

October 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

MDH Partners: Evolving a Family Legacy

By: Christina R. Wing and Sarah Mehta

This case is about succession planning for MDH Partners, an Atlanta-based industrial real estate investment firm founded in 2005. When Jeffrey Small, Jr. cofounded MDH Partners, he named the company in honor of his grandfather, Mark Durward (MD) Hodges, an early... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Business Ventures; Ownership; Business Exit or Shutdown; Family Business; Management Succession; Personal Development and Career; Financial Services Industry; Real Estate Industry; United States; Georgia (state, US); Atlanta

September 2016
Case

Hotel Vertu: Financing the Venture in the Boutique Hotel Industry

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Michael J. Roberts

Two recent MBA graduates are considering a business opportunity in the boutique hotel industry. Having found a seemingly attractive property in Savannah, Georgia, Yvonne D'Arcy and Elisabeth Whiting face questions about financing, deal structure, and unequal power... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Accommodations Industry

June 2024 (Revised August 2024)
Case

Hospital for Special Surgery: Returning to a New Normal? (A)

By: Robert S. Huckman, Michael Lingzhi Li and Camille Gregory

Early on the morning of April 27, 2020, Justin Oppenheimer stood outside the entrance to the lobby of the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) Pavilion Building with mixed emotions. On one hand, Oppenheimer, HSS’ Enterprise Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy... View Details

Keywords: Operations Management; Scheduling; Optimization; COVID-19; Health Care and Treatment; Operations; Customer Focus and Relationships; Disruption; Health Industry; United States

12 May 2011
Research & Ideas

The Difficult Transition from For-Profit to Nonprofit Boards

nonprofit board member must be cognizant. Some of the more important items are discussed in this section. Similarities There are a number of similarities between for-profits and non-profits which make people with for-profit experience... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

September 2011
Article

Up Close and Personal: Developing Foundations for Leader Development through Personalization of Management Learning

By: Gianpiero Petriglieri, Jack D. Wood and Jennifer L. Petriglieri

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 leadership. We conducted an inductive, qualitative study... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Development; Innovation and Invention; Personal Development and Career; Curriculum and Courses; Customization and Personalization; Learning; Management Practices and Processes; Business Education

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02 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

10 Trends to Watch in 2024

The lightning-fast ascent of generative AI isn’t the only sea change on the horizon for businesses in the new year. The global economy is in flux as war, climate change, trade issues, and infrastructure problems demand attention. Many companies continue to struggle to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

04 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

How Female Stars Succeed in New Jobs

readers of HBS Working Knowledge who would be willing to share their experiences around any of the strategies I've just mentioned or on building successful careers in general. Their insights would further... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

July 2020 (Revised September 2020)
Case

The Honor Foundation: Accessing Special Operations Talent

By: Boris Groysberg and John Masko

In 2020, The Honor Foundation (THF), a nonprofit dedicated to helping U.S. military special operators to transition into civilian careers, was facing a series of strategic challenges. THF had been founded in 2013 by former Navy SEAL trainee Joe Musselman, who observed... View Details

04 Mar 2024
What Do You Think?

Do People Want to Work Anymore?

month’s column How Do You Hire for Attitude? Hiring for attitude, training for skills is an important and winning strategy. But too many applicants experience what Caroline Hickey, in an email to me, described: “As a View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

25 Feb 2019
Research & Ideas

How Gender Stereotypes Kill a Woman’s Self-Confidence

“occupational sorting,” with men choosing careers that pay higher wages than women do, labor economists say. For example, women represent only 26 percent of US workers employed in computer and math jobs, according to the Department of... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

2007
Text Book

Teaching the Moral Leader: A Literature-Based Leadership Course

By: Sandra J. Sucher

This book is a comprehensive, practical manual to help instructors integrate moral leadership in their own courses, drawing from the experience and resources of the Harvard Business School course "The Moral Leader," an MBA elective taken by thousands of HBS students... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Curriculum and Courses; Moral Sensibility; Body of Literature; Books; Leadership; Personal Development and Career

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Research Summary

Consumer's Relationships with Technologies

Susan M. Fournier is involved with two lines of research investigating consumers' relationships with technological products. The first project (with Professor David Mick of the University of Wisconsin) concerns 'everyday technologies' such as... View Details

08 Sep 2010
First Look

First Look: September 8, 2010

adult decision maker. Finally, we list a set of open questions that could be profitably addressed by future research. Social Preferences and Strategic Uncertainty: An Experiment on Markets and Contracts Authors:Marco Piovesan, Antonio... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

05 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

The Middle Manager of the Future: More Coaching, Less Commanding

Middle managers aren’t going extinct. They’re evolving. Once a wasteland where careers stalled or abruptly ended in layoffs, middle management has adapted and is thriving, seeing double-digit growth in some industries. Managing others is... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

07 Feb 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

Creating the Founders’ Dilemmas Course

young dreamers might not otherwise consider—including their personal lives. Early in the course, the professor essentially plays a foil to the blindly enthusiastic entrepreneur by taking on the role of a concerned spouse: "Look at... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Education

January 1998 (Revised September 1998)
Case

Staples (A)

By: Myra M. Hart, Marco Iansiti and Barbara Feinberg

Chronicles development of a new business concept. Starts with Stemberg's search for a new employment opportunity, then provides details of his decision to launch a new venture concept through careful matching of personal capabilities and experience against a variety of... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Personal Development and Career; Entrepreneurship; Management Skills; Retail Industry