turnarounds - Publications - Faculty & Research

05 Nov 2019
News

Alumnus Named McDonald’s CEO

Chris Kempczinski (MBA 1997) has been named the new CEO of McDonald’s. Previously serving as McDonald's USA President, Kempczinski was instrumental in the recent turnaround of the iconic burger chain, a process which was detailed at... View Details

Keywords: Food Services and Drinking Places; Hospitality

27 Mar 2024
Blog Post

Video: Inspirational Women in Business

Advanced Micro Devices. She has the unique combination of both technical genius, as well as business acumen. She led an incredible transformation and turnaround of AMD into one of the fastest-growing semiconductor companies in the world.... View Details

18 Apr 2000
Research & Ideas

Learning in Action

organizational boundaries, and attend to customer and competitive needs. In 1988, the Timken Company, America's leading manufacturer of tapered roller bearings, embarked on a bold project to revolutionize the production process for manufacturing customized bearings... View Details

Keywords: by David A. Garvin

01 Jun 2024
News

Firm Foundation

Courtesy Tracy Britt Cool Courtesy Tracy Britt Cool Tracy Britt Cool (MBA 2009) has been playing the long game as long as she can remember. The former Berkshire Hathaway executive grew up in a family business: Her father was a third-generation farmer in Manhattan,... View Details

Keywords: Janelle Nanos; private equity; Warren Buffett; career path; investment strategy; family business; Finance

Web

Harvard Business School

president of Bestfoods, where was responsible for commercial management of branded food products (Knorr, Hellmann's, Mazola). He went on to help lead the turnaround of the Home & Office Papers division of International Paper. Vernon... View Details

Philip Caldwell

Caldwell was the first CEO of Ford who was not a member of the family. He is credited with orchestrating one of the most dramatic and successful turnarounds in business history. Through his focus on quality, commitment to research, and... View Details

Keywords: Automotive & Aerospace

07–08 Feb 2022
Virtual Programming

Leading High-Performance Companies with Purpose

How can you show up to work more inspired and help others do the same??Join HBS professor?Ranjay Gulati (PHDOB 1993)?for a program exploring?the power of purpose, an underutilized approach that can embed work and life with meaning and deliver... View Details

01 Jun 2007
News

Delta’s Flight from Bankruptcy

on Tuesday and did not go home until Friday, September 14,” said Whitehurst, who is now Delta’s COO. Invited to HBS in March by the Hospitality and Travel Industry Club, Whitehurst discussed lessons learned from what he sees as the biggest View Details

Keywords: Air Transportation; Transportation

01 Dec 2017
News

In My Humble Opinion: Truth Teller

photo by Clara Molden / Camera Press / Redux Corporate turnarounds aren’t known for being a walk in the park. “Anybody who does what I do has to be incredibly resolute, to the point of bloody-minded, about the need to fracture an... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

Conde M. Nast

Nast transformed his first magazine, Vogue, from a low revenue and low readership publication into a premier fashion magazine that generated millions in revenues. Such turnarounds were typical of most Nast publications, including Glamour... View Details

Keywords: Publishing & Print Media

Joseph P. Routh

When Routh assumed the position of President in 1938, Pittston’s coal and oil production businesses were generating $26 million in revenues and losing approximately $1 million on the bottom-line. Through shrewd investments and tight financial controls, Routh created a... View Details

Keywords: Agriculture & Mining

01 Dec 2018
News

3-Minute Briefing: Jeffrey Dunn (MBA 1981)

discusses how Dunn helped lead a turnaround at Sesame Street in this episode of the Cold Call podcast. HEAR MORE Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter discusses how Dunn helped lead a turnaround at Sesame Street in... View Details

Keywords: April White

23 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Psychology, Pathology, and the CEO

In recent years, I have been inside nearly two dozen turnaround situations, in various stages of progress, in which new leaders were bringing distressed organizations back from the brink of failure and setting them on a healthier course.... View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

01 Sep 2018
News

Research Brief: Where Top-Down Tops Out

Raffaella Sadun (photo by Russ Campbell) Raffaella Sadun (photo by Russ Campbell) In the face of economic challenges, hospitals in the English National Health Service have turned to a strategy that has proven effective for small private and public organizations: hiring... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Myers

Randall L. Tobias

The first outsider to run the company, Tobias is credited with orchestrating a major turnaround of Eli Lilly. Under his direction, Lilly introduced two successful drugs (Zyprexa for schizophrenia and Gemzar for cancer), solidified and... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare

Sidney Kimmel

eighties, Kimmel was able to orchestrate a massive turnaround for the company by delivering a line of affordable, yet professional and upscale line of women’s clothing with designer Rena Rowan. He further solidified the future of the firm... View Details

Keywords: Fabric & Apparel

01 Mar 2004
News

Gibson Hits a High Note

33ffea43b3115eba957356db0b41a6e4 It’s a turnaround story almost too good to be true. Gibson Guitar was down, and nearly out, in 1986 when Henry Juszkiewicz (MBA ’79) and David Berryman (MBA ’79) bought the legendary Nashville maker of... View Details

Keywords: Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment

Vincent A. Calarco

Calarco, having been awarded the highest honor by the American Chemical Society, is regarded as one of the strongest CEO’s in the specialty chemicals industry. He has been a principal player in the industry’s consolidation and has proven his ability to successfully... View Details

Keywords: Chemicals & Industrial

Leonard D. Schaeffer

As president and CEO of Blue Cross of California, Schaeffer helped to orchestrate its turnaround and transition it into Wellpoint, which became the second largest publicly traded health care company in the United States. Under his... View Details