Publications

November 2020
Teaching Note

Unilever's Response to the Future of Work

By: William R. Kerr and Bailey McAfee

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 820-104. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Human Capital; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Structure; Transformation; Human Resources; Consumer Products Industry; Europe

October 1981 (Revised August 2010)
Case

Quabbin Cablevision Company

By: Henry B. Reiling

Several entrepreneurs are considering the purchase of an existing cable TV business with the financial assistance of several investors. They must decide whether to establish the company as a partnership or a corporation, and how to capitalize the company for an optimal... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Organization; Television Entertainment; Entrepreneurship; Capital Structure; Taxation; Telecommunications Industry; Massachusetts

December 2002 (Revised October 2013)
Case

Williams, 2002

By: Joshua Coval, Robin Greenwood and Peter Tufano

Williams, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based firm in various energy businesses, must decide whether to accept a financing package offered by Berkshire Hathaway and Lehman Brothers. The proposed one-year credit facility would provide the firm with financial resources in a... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Crisis Management; Credit; Capital Structure; Financial Strategy; Financing and Loans; Financial Instruments; Energy Industry; United States

December 2002 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Cargill (A)

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Jose M. M. Porraz

Cargill is one of the world's leading marketers, processors, and distributors of agricultural, food, industrial, and financial products. In 1998, the company decided to develop a strategic intent to restructure and refocus the company. It did so in response to the... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Agribusiness; Restructuring; Industry Structures; Global Strategy; Genetics; Demand and Consumers; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

18 Nov 2021
Op-Ed

5 Principles for Scaling Change from IBM’s High School Innovation

college system, and then you had the employer connection, with IBM. How did you structure the program and make it appeal to these different parties? Litow: To bring about change, you have to have a conscious change strategy. If you expect... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

27 Jun 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, June 27

emerging markets. Centralizing, decentralizing, or creating a hybrid structure is now Molinas' first priority. On top of these pressing organizational issues, shortly after assuming her new role, domestic and international events suddenly... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Dec 2011
First Look

First Look: Dec. 6

wrong answer unless one takes into account the different ways in which firms compete (that is, their business strategy). Because macro-level shocks reverberate differently at the firm level depending on whether a firm has a cost structure... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

12 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

Rocket Science Retailing: A Practical Guide

precisely the benefits that will accrue to a retailer from adopting a new technology: This often leads to retailers being reluctant to invest in the new technology. But by structuring your investment as a "call option," if the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Retail; Auto

09 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

Rebuilding Commercial Real Estate

viewed as a new asset class that competes with stocks and bonds for investment capital. It earned that newfound status on the strength of market-stabilizing structural changes that took root after the last crash. "Everything we do... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Construction; Real Estate

29 Jul 2008
First Look

First Look: July 29, 2008

agglomerating (e.g., universities, government). Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/09-003.pdf Communication (and Coordination?) in a Modern, Complex Organization Authors:Adam M. Kleinbaum, Toby E. Stuart, and Michael L. Tushman Abstract This is a... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

14 Nov 2005
Research & Ideas

How Can Start Ups Grow?

"These social resources are acquired by mimicking the structures and activities of established firms, and by affiliating with high-status customers respectively," she wrote in the abstract to her recent paper, Great Oaks from... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Advertising

January 1971 (Revised August 1984)
Case

Dansk Designs Ltd.

Dansk Designs Ltd., a supplier of high quality, highly designed tableware products, plans to enter a new product area in housewares. Past growth and anticipated future expansion make organizational changes necessary. Overseas operations, design changes, supplier... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth Management; Expansion; Organizational Structure; Consumer Products Industry

Fall 2023
Article

Identify Critical Roles to Improve Performance

By: Boris Groysberg, Eric Lin, Abhijit Naik and Sascha L Schmidt

Putting strategy into play requires knowing your organization’s crucial roles and making sure your best talent occupies them. View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Employees; Organizational Structure

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Article

Corporate Headquarters in the Twenty-first Century: An Organization Design Perspective

By: Sven Kunisch, Markus Menz and David J. Collis

The corporate headquarters (CHQ) of the multi-business enterprise, which emerged as the dominant organizational form for the conduct of business in the twentieth century, has attracted considerable scholarly attention. As the business environment undergoes a... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Business Headquarters