Publications

06 Jul 2009
What Do You Think?

Are You Ready to Manage in an Irrational World?

their own goals, appraise their own achievements, and reach their own conclusions about how to improve. Managers should also spend more of their time inspiring (through stories) and devising engaging... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

Teaching Interest

Overview

By: Nancy F. Koehn

My teaching and research focus on crisis leadership and how men and women use crises to make themselves better leaders. I currently teach a module in the Advanced Management Program and an HBS Online LIVE course on Courageous Leadership. The purpose of each course is... View Details

Keywords: History Of Leadership; Effective Leadership In Turbulent Times; Crisis Management; Change Management; Entrepreneurship; History; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Advertising Industry; United States; Europe

18 Apr 2013
Working Paper Summaries

The Impact of Pooling on Throughput Time in Discretionary Work Settings: An Empirical Investigation of Emergency Department Length of Stay

Keywords: by Hummy Song, Anita L. Tucker & Karen L. Murrell; Health

26 Jan 2021
Research & Ideas

A New Way to Cut Credit Card Debt: Pay Off One Purchase at a Time

Debt, Norton and his fellow researchers argue that separating the purchase from the actual payment demotivates consumers from paying more than the minimum. In contrast, repayment-by-purchase “recouples” the elements of the transaction and “brackets” the debt into... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Financial Services

16 Jan 2019
Research & Ideas

What Football Firings Teach Managers About Staying Relevant

their teams did not seem to be a relevant factor, nor did team history (whether or not the franchise had won a Super Bowl in the past before hiring the respective coach). “The very best coaches stay consistent and win over long periods of View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Evan M.S. Hecht, and Abhijit Naik; Sports

11 Jan 2000
Lessons from the Classroom

New Game, New Rules: Developing Managers for a Competitive World

and organizations, strategic planning, and operations management as we have come to know them. Professor Christopher Bartlett is faculty chair of the Program for Global Leadership. Executive Education recently invited him to discuss his... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

24 Jan 2023
Research & Ideas

Passion at Work Is a Good Thing—But Only If Bosses Know How to Manage It

research sounds a cautionary note to hiring managers wooing employees with the passion pitch. Once they’re on board, conflicts may arise, for example, over how much time they must devote to a specific... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

January 2010 (Revised February 2010)
Case

IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion

This case illustrates the challenges associated with matching staffing levels with variable workload in retail stores and highlights how decisions related to staffing and scheduling affect operational performance and the quality of labor at the stores. The case... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Employees; Market Transactions; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Performance Improvement; Retail Industry

12 Feb 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Management Practices, Relational Contracts, and the Decline of General Motors

Keywords: by Susan Helper & Rebecca Henderson; Auto

24 Jul 2018
Op-Ed

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

PeopleImages New business school graduates have now made their way from campus to workplace. For them, this should be a time of optimism and energy, of setting ambitious goals and testing new ideas. At Harvard Business School, where I... View Details

Keywords: by George Serafeim

01 Dec 2003
What Do You Think?

Is This the Twilight Era for the Managed Mutual Fund?

prohibiting others from doing so, presumably in return for favors. Some favored international funds managers with investments spread across time zones who have a continuing stream of fresh investment... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

2011
Other Unpublished Work

Military Ties, New Ventures, and Political Risk Management in Emerging Economies

By: Shon R. Hiatt and Wesley Sine

New ventures in emerging economies face a number of challenges such as political instability, corruption, and uncertain property rights that can severely hinder their ability to grow and survive, yet little is known about how startups can mitigate such risk. Using data... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Business Startups; Government and Politics; Developing Countries and Economies; Latin America

30 Nov 2016
What Do You Think?

How Do Leaders Manage the Tension Between Pride and Arrogance?

or arrogance. Martina suggested that “pride in one’s organization stems from a collective reach for excellence, civility, and a humble perspective this is what is fostered by management teams who lead by example. Arrogance I believe comes... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

April 1997 (Revised May 1997)
Case

Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (A): The Growth Initiative

By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In late 1994, James Down, member of Mercer's Executive Committee, has to decide whether or not he should push ahead with the writing and publication of a book on growth--at a time when the more successful business publications focus on reengineering and cost cutting.... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Organizational Culture; Business Growth and Maturation; Knowledge Management; Product Development; Information Publishing; Books; Consulting Industry; Publishing Industry

October 2014
Supplement

Honeywell and the Great Recession: The Economic Recovery (B)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Susan J. Winterberg

Five years after the Great Recession, Honeywell's CEO Dave Cote and his executive team reflect on the choices they made to manage costs and earnings forecasts during that uncertain time. They discuss which cost cutting measures they decided to take and their personal... View Details

Keywords: Layoffs; Furloughs; Downsizing; Work Sharing; Short Time Work; Recessions; Earnings Forecast; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Cost Management; Executive Compensation; Crisis Management; Financial Crisis; Manufacturing Industry

August 2018
Background Note

Note on Hackathons

By: Ethan Bernstein

Organizations have often sought to meet the pressures of rapid change through novel ways of managing human capital to boost innovation and productivity. Hackathons have emerged as one of the latest approaches to do just that. How can those responsible for managing... View Details

Keywords: Hackathon; Crowdsourcing; Hack; Innovation; Productivity; Minimum Viable Product; Time; Transparency; Bootcamp; Design; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Management; Organizational Structure; Performance Productivity; Technology; Technology Industry

October 2021
Article

Can European Electric Utilities Manage Asset Impairments Arising from Net Zero Targets?

By: Conor Hickey, John O'Brien, Ben Caldecott, Celine McInerney and Brian O' Gallachoir

This paper develops a framework to assess the ability of electric utilities to sustain the forced impairment of carbon emitting power plants and applies it to the European market. We present a new method to measure asset impairment, for both the company and the... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Emissions; Environmental Regulation; Transition; Utilities Industry; Europe

Read Now

2014
Working Paper

Learning from the Kursk Submarine Rescue Failure: the Case for Pluralistic Risk Management

By: Anette Mikes and Amram Migdal

The Kursk, a Russian nuclear-powered submarine, sank in the relatively shallow waters of the Barents Sea in August 2000 during a naval exercise. Numerous survivors were reported to be awaiting rescue, and within a week, an international rescue party gathered at... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Groups and Teams; Crisis Management