Publications

Article

Isolating the Symbolic Implications of Employee Mobility: Price Increases after Hiring Winemakers from Prominent Wineries

By: Peter W. Roberts, Mukti Khaire and Christopher I. Rider

When a skilled employee moves from one organization to another, the effects on the hiring organization can be substantive (i.e., changes in actual outcomes) and symbolic (i.e., changes in expectations or valuations and therefore prices). We theorize that strong or even... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Organizations; Performance Expectations; Price; Competency and Skills; Quality; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Selection and Staffing; Valuation; Food and Beverage Industry

27 Sep 2018
Research & Ideas

Religion in the Workplace: What Managers Need to Know

considered one of the last taboos,” says Senior Lecturer Derek van Bever. “Our students have been asking for it because they see very clearly that they will be in positions of global leadership where they will have to deal with it.” To fill that need, van Bever wrote... View Details

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

06 Jun 2008
What Do You Think?

Why Don’t Managers Think Deeply?

of the responses to this month's question about why managers don't think deeply. The list of causes was much longer than the list of proposed responses. But in the process, some other questions were posed. Ben Kirk kicked off the list of... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

17 Sep 2024
Research & Ideas

Advice for the New CEO: Talk to Your Employees Early and Often

million emails and 80 million meeting invitations. Shortly after a new CEO takes over, uncertainty among employees dampens communication within a company. However, after about five months, internal chatter sharply intensifies as View Details

Keywords: by Ami Albernaz

2008
Book

Becoming a New Manager

By: Linda A. Hill

You've just been promoted to a managerial position for the first time—congratulations! But beware: the managerial role differs markedly from the individual contributor role. Go into the job with mistaken assumptions about what to expect, and you just may be blindsided... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Management Skills; Management Style; Managerial Roles; Performance Improvement; Groups and Teams

May 2011
Article

Effective Managers Say the Same Thing Twice (or More)

By: Tsedal Neeley and Paul Leonardi

How do effective managers get employees to act promptly? New research suggests that it's by making their requests at least twice. Though you may think redundancy is unnecessary and even a waste of time, a new study indicates that it helps your message cut through... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Employees; Management Style; Performance Improvement

November 2009 (Revised January 2010)
Case

Zara: Managing Stores for Fast Fashion

By: Zeynep Ton, Elena Corsi and Vincent Marie Dessain

Pablo Isla, the CEO of Zara, wanted to improve operational efficiencies in managing its store network. In particular, he wanted to improve labor productivity at the stores. He considered outsourcing certain store operations to third parties, changing the way store... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Managerial Roles; Service Operations; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Efficiency; Performance Productivity; Retail Industry

04 May 2007
What Do You Think?

How Do Managers Think?

Summing Up Can managers acquire ways of thinking or ways of learning from doctors? Managers can learn from an understanding of how doctors think. But whether the lessons are profound or even totally... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

May 2017
Case

Vicki Fuller: Chief Investment Officer of New York State's $150+ Billion Employee Pension Fund

By: Steven Rogers and Valerie Mosley

Vicki Fuller traveled from a four-room tenement bordering Chicago’s infamous Cabrini-Green housing projects to speaking at conferences around the world and typically holding court wherever she went. As a teenager, she helped raise her siblings. As a Wall Street... View Details

December 2003 (Revised September 2004)
Case

Managing Segway's Early Development

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and David Kiron

Describes the early development of the Segway Human Transporter and focuses on the organizational issues that arise between the parent company and the new company that is being spun out to produce and market the Segway. Key issues are the distribution of bonuses and... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Business Startups; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Resource Allocation; Organizational Design; Technology Adoption

October 2015
Article

Managing the Performance Tradeoffs from Partner Integration: Implications of Contract Choice in R&D Projects

By: Alan MacCormack and Anant Mishra

Formal contracts represent an important governance instrument with which firms exercise control of and compensate partners in R&D projects. The specific type of contract used, however, can vary significantly across projects. In some, firms govern partnering... View Details

Keywords: ＂＂Partner Integration; Contract Choice; R＆D Project Management; Relational Contracts; Partnering Performance; Research and Development; Projects; Partners and Partnerships; Performance; Contracts

February 2014 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Go Mobile: Aligning District Managers and Store Teams

By: Tatiana Sandino

Indian cell phone retailer Go Mobile had implemented high-powered incentives to motivate its store employees to behave as owners and provide exceptional service. As the company scaled up, it faced multiple challenges in building a layer of district managers that were... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth Management; Organizational Design; Salesforce Management; Motivation and Incentives; Management Practices and Processes; Telecommunications Industry; India

March 2011
Case

Calveta Dining Services, Inc.: A Recipe for Growth?

By: James L. Heskett and Patricia Girardi

Calveta Dining Services contracts with senior living facilities (SLFs) for the management of food service to residents. Created by Antonio Calveta and built on his passion for food and traditional family values, the firm had enjoyed three decades of strong growth when... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Vision; Employee Empowerment; Service Management; Family Businesses; Growth Strategy; Family Business; Expansion; Communication; Employee Relationship Management; Service Operations; Organizational Structure; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

January 2011
Supplement

Matrix Capital Management (C)

By: Malcolm P. Baker and David Lane

Ben Balbale, a partner at hedge fund Matrix Capital, must decide whether to exit their investment in Rovi Corporation, a company with a diverse portfolio of patents used primarily for digital interactive guides. Rovi's shares are up over 50% from the time Balbale... View Details

Keywords: Public Ownership; Cash Flow; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Investment Funds; Financial Strategy; Valuation; Partners and Partnerships; Markets; Performance Efficiency; Patents; Stock Shares; Decisions; Financial Services Industry

April 2009
Case

Merck: Managing Vioxx (A)

By: Robert L. Simons, Kathryn Rosenberg and Natalie Kindred

This two-class case series allows students to stand in the shoes of CEO Ray Gilmartin during the unfolding stages of a reputational crisis. Merck's mission statement claims to "put patients first," but the company is widely criticized for putting profit before patient... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Crisis Management; Reputation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Customers; Business or Company Management; Cost vs Benefits; Corporate Accountability; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Customer Focus and Relationships; Pharmaceutical Industry

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

03 Nov 2011
What Do You Think?

The Ultimate Question in Management

convincing case that trust was absolutely essential to the successful implementation of policies and practices necessary to implement any strategy. For example, several managers testified to the importance of the View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

May 1997
Background Note

Institutional Perspective on Management

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

Discusses the dimensions of the institutional environment surrounding business, including the role of stakeholders and the need for new collaborations in emerging markets; the key assumptions of the institutional perspective on businesses and markets, especially in... View Details

Keywords: Economics; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Management Skills; Emerging Markets; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Perspective

April 2020
Supplement

Open Innovation at Fujitsu (C)

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Jean-François Harvey

This follow-on case study provides a multi-year update on the achievements of the Open Innovation Gateway (OIG). Over time, OIG honed a process that enabled open innovation. It developed three streams of activities, namely co-creation projects with major customers and... View Details

Keywords: Open Innovation; Inter-organizational Relationships; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Change Management; Relationships; Leadership Development