Publications

May 1996
Background Note

The GM's Operational Challenge: Managing Through People

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Ashish Nanda

Highlights and explores how a general manager adds value to the firm at the operational level by managing through people. Discusses how assumptions about human motivation influence the employment contract that the general manager implicitly enters into with the workers... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Selection and Staffing; Contracts; Managerial Roles; Operations; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Motivation and Incentives; Value

27 Sep 2018
Research & Ideas

Religion in the Workplace: What Managers Need to Know

rather routine work situations that many businesses face, but when religious beliefs clashed with business principles, hurt feelings led to legal battles that dragged on for years. The two cases have raised questions for business owners View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage; Apparel & Accessories

01 Mar 2023
News

The Exchange: Micro Management

convincing story about the sector’s success, but to what extent have the loans meaningfully improved livelihoods? That question has been more difficult to track, say Natalia Rigol and Ben Roth. Both development economists View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles

January 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Background Note

Managing Networked Businesses: Course Overview for Students

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Provides an overview for students of the MBA elective course Managing Networked Businesses (MNB). MNB focuses on management challenges in businesses that exhibit network effects. The first section of the note explains that such businesses comprise a large and growing... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Capital Structure; Business or Company Management; Network Effects; Organizational Design; Business and Government Relations; Social and Collaborative Networks; Competitive Strategy

February 2016
Supplement

The Maggi Noodle Safety Crisis in India (C)

By: Karthik Ramanna and Radhika Kak

The local government in Delhi has ordered a ban on Nestlé's flagship product in India—Maggi Noodles, citing excessive lead content per government lab tests. Nestlé disputes the government tests, noting that internal and third-party tests show the product to be safe.... View Details

Keywords: Multinationals; Globalization; Regulation; Customer Relations; Business And Government; Safety; Leadership; Food; Multinational Firms and Management; Governance Compliance; Crisis Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Business and Government Relations; Food and Beverage Industry; Delhi

03 Dec 2020
Research & Ideas

Cut Payroll Costs with Transparency, Fairness, and Compassion

transparent as possible with the entire organization in discussing layoffs. Elaine Varelas, managing partner of Keystone Partners, stresses that senior leaders should be present on teleconference company calls during layoff announcements.... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Sarah Abbott

November 2000 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Alaska Airlines and Flight 261 (A)

Weeks after the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261, 64 mechanics claim that they have been "pressured, threatened, and intimidated" into taking shortcuts. After briefly describing Alaska Airlines' history and CEO John Kelly, the case details how the airline responded... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Air Transportation; Crisis Management; Labor and Management Relations; Air Transportation Industry; Alaska

14 Sep 2012
Working Paper Summaries

What Do Managers Do? Exploring Persistent Performance Differences among Seemingly Similar Enterprises

An abstract is unavailable at this time. View Details

Keywords: by Robert Gibbons & Rebecca Henderson

2018
Article

What Can Managers Privately Disclose to Investors?

By: Eugene F. Soltes

Regulators have long been aware that differential access to information can undermine the efficiency and fairness of financial markets. In an effort to place investors on equal footing, the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2000 created Regulation Fair Disclosure... View Details

Keywords: Disclosure Regulation; Information; Communication; Business and Shareholder Relations; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

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30 Jan 2012
Research & Ideas

Measuring the Efficacy of the World’s Managers

showed that a company's overall management score was directly related to how many competitors a firm faces—the higher number of reported competitors, the higher the management... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

Article

Unconventional Insights for Managing Stakeholder Trust

By: Michael Pirson and Deepak Malhotra

Initiatives to build and maintain trust with various stakeholders, including customers, employees, suppliers and investors, are at the top of the executive agenda at many organizations. But most companies don't really understand how to manage stakeholder trust... View Details

Keywords: Values and Beliefs; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Organizational Culture; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Perspective; Trust; Cooperation

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January 2004 (Revised February 2005)
Background Note

A Note on Methodological Fit in Management Field Research

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Stacy McManus

To use in doctoral-level management courses on the design of field research methods. Advocates the importance of fit, or internal consistency, among the different elements of a field research project. Although the scientific method provides an essential framework for... View Details

Keywords: Management; Research

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22 Feb 2016
News

Every Company Needs a Growth Manager

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

2016
Article

The Mirroring Hypothesis: Theory, Evidence, and Exceptions

By: Lyra J. Colfer and Carliss Y. Baldwin

The mirroring hypothesis predicts that organizational ties within a project, firm, or group of firms (e.g., communication, collocation, employment) will correspond to the technical dependencies in the work being performed. This article presents a unified picture of... View Details

Keywords: Modularity; Mirroring Hypothesis; Organization Design; Conway's Law; Knowledge Boundaries; Relational Contracts; Open Source Software; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Boundaries; Knowledge Management; Applications and Software