Publications

30 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 30, 2008

management may motivate managers to operate with insufficient labor levels, which, in turn, degrades profitability. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/09-040.pdf Cases & Course... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

21 Nov 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

The New Challenge of Leading Financial Firms

banker who has spent months and months and months analyzing a particular deal between two companies can spend only a few minutes making a hiring decision for his team, when the firm is sometimes paying millions of dollars in guaranteed compensation," Groysberg... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

March 2019
Case

Investing in the Future: Corning Inc. and the Alternative School for Math and Science

By: Derek van Bever and Miho Kubagawa

In early 2017, Kim Frock (MBA 1987), founder and administrative head of school for the Alternative School for Math and Science (ASMS) in Corning, New York, is beginning to think through the issue of leadership succession at the school. Founded in close partnership with... View Details

Keywords: Middle School Education; Leadership; Management Succession; Partners and Partnerships; Business and Community Relations

29 Nov 2022
Research & Ideas

Is There a Method to Musk’s Madness on Twitter?

and even foolhardy. Some in tech suggest there’s more of a “move fast, break things” strategy to it than perhaps meets the eye. How does it look to you? Wu: We shouldn’t be surprised by the management style that Musk is taking to Twitter.... View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette; Technology

July 2010 (Revised March 2011)
Case

A&M/Octone Records: All Rights or Nothing?

By: Anita Elberse, Elie Ofek and Caren Kelleher

In April 2008, after successfully transitioning Octone Records to Universal Music Group and relaunching the label as A&M/Octone Records, president and CEO James Diener is facing a new challenge. Diener and his executive team have trouble convincing a new, promising... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Intellectual Property; Contracts; Rights; Product Marketing; Product Development; Technology; Music Industry

June 2010
Article

Are You a High Potential?

By: Douglas A. Ready, Jay A. Conger and Linda A. Hill

Some employees are more talented than others, and nearly every company has its method for identifying their high-potential managers. So how can you get on your company's high-potential list? Douglas A. Ready, of the talent-management research center ICEDR; Jay A.... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Employees; Leadership Development; Personal Development and Career; Personal Characteristics

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March 2004 (Revised February 2005)
Case

Emerging Business Opportunities at IBM (A)

By: David A. Garvin and Lynne Levesque

By June 2003, IBM had made significant progress in changing the way it managed new, emerging businesses. Describes the development of a separate management program at IBM designed to identify, fund, and shepherd new businesses through growth. Traces the history of the... View Details

Keywords: History; Business or Company Management; Talent and Talent Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Strategy

September 1999 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Deloitte & Touche (B): Changing the Workplace

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Jane Roessner

Deloitte & Touche women's initiative changed the workplace culture at the firm, solved retention problems, and brought external benefits. Now a new CEO must decide how to take this a step further as competition for talent was even stronger, young people had different... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Organizational Culture; Accounting; Gender; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Loss; Change Management; Jobs and Positions; Resignation and Termination; Accounting Industry; United States

February 2022 (Revised September 2022)
Case

InstaDeep: AI Innovation Born in Africa (A)

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Esel Çekin

Karim Beguir and Zohra Slim were the co-founders of InstaDeep, a deep tech startup focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. Instadeep was one of the few companies globally that were partnering with DeepMind, an AI subsidiary of Google [Alphabet Inc.].... View Details

Keywords: AI; Artificial Intelligence; Entrepreneurship; Operations; Business Subsidiaries; Brands and Branding; Innovation and Invention; Growth and Development Strategy; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Industry; Africa

May 2014
Case

Building a High Performance Culture at IDFC

By: V.G. Narayanan and Vidhya Muthuram

IDFC was set up in 1997 to direct private finance to infrastructure projects in India. Over the years, it expanded its capabilities to become a 'complete solutions provider' offering financing solutions including debt and equity, investment banking, brokerage and asset... View Details

08 Oct 2020
Research & Ideas

Keep Your Weary Workers Engaged and Motivated

[This is the sixth installment in a monthly series on management issues in the time of COVID-19.] We recently asked 600 CEOs: What is keeping you awake at night during this global pandemic? A major and multifaceted concern that emerged is... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

24 Jul 2007
First Look

First Look: July 24, 2007

and waste" mentality to a "product and product" mentality, and thereby actively manage the quantities of both products to maximize profit. We find that it is almost never profit-maximizing for the firm to continue... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

04 Apr 2023
What Do You Think?

How Does Remote Work Affect Innovation?

here”? Would the result have been the same? We can at least hypothesize several notions based on early research regarding remote work. Many talented people love it. Some of the reasons they love it, such as the ability to gain more... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

May 2009
Article

The Definitive Guide to Recruiting in Good Times and Bad

By: Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, Boris Groysberg and Nitin Nohria

This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading. Few companies are thinking about hiring right now, but that's a mistake. If history... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Management Practices and Processes; Managerial Roles

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September 2013
Case

United Rentals (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch, Kathleen Durante and Emily McTague

In December 1997 United Rentals (URI) went public on the NYSE. Ten years later, during the peak of the economic meltdown, the company's performance was in decline. United Rentals had experienced its share of problems in the prior years and was still struggling to... View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Board Dynamics; Accounting Fraud; Governance; Board Committees; Merger; Corporate Governance; Construction Industry; United States

12 Aug 2019
Research & Ideas

How Scale Changes a Manager's Responsibilities

bottom line is that there are people on your team who will grow beautifully as the business grows, and there are those who just don’t do well in a mature environment. Some tips on how to manage this effectively: DNA. I’ve seen too many... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

2025
Book

The World Is Your Office: How Work from Anywhere Boosts Talent, Productivity, and Innovation

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury

A research-based look at a growing phenomenon—companies allowing their employees to work from anywhere in the world—and how those who adopt this model can boost talent, innovation, and productivity.
In recent years, companies in a wide range of industries have... View Details

Keywords: Remote Work; Telecommuting; Employees; Business Offices; Organizational Culture; Retention; Recruitment; Policy; Competitive Advantage

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September 2008 (Revised April 2009)
Supplement

Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B)

By: William W. George

Martha Goldberg Aronson of Medtronic is trying to decide whether to accept the offer from Medtronic CEO Bill Hawkins to become senior vice president and chief talent officer. Aronson returned from an executive role in Europe just 18 months before as vice president,... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Job Design and Levels; Leadership; Managerial Roles; Work-Life Balance

December 2011 (Revised June 2015)
Case

Chairman Zhang and Broad Group: Growth Dilemmas

By: Christopher Marquis, Nancy Hua Dai and Juelin Yin

Zhang Yue, founder and chairman of Broad Group, had developed a series of innovative products aimed at solving China's environmental problems. Broad Group's products, services, and management were guided by values that prioritized morals, responsibility, environmental... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; China