Publications

March 2008 (Revised December 2011)
Case

IBM Values and Corporate Citizenship

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

IBM's transformation into a globally integrated enterprise (GIE) began with a conviction about what should never change. Since its founding in 1911, the company operated under a set of principles articulated by founder Thomas Watson and became known for a strong... View Details

Keywords: Values and Beliefs; Globalized Firms and Management; Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Integration

September 2023 (Revised May 2025)
Teaching Note

On

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karolin Frankenberger, Sascha Mader, Jordan Mitchell and Karen Elterman

Teaching Note for "On," HBS Case No. 723-430. On is a premium performance running shoe company founded in Switzerland in 2010. The company rapidly gained traction through its unique CloudTec cushioning technology, its innovative midsole plate called the Speedboard, and... View Details

November 2011 (Revised June 2013)
Case

Allied Electronics Corporation Ltd: Linking Compensation to Sustainability Metrics

Robert Venter, second-generation Chief Executive (CE) of family-owned Allied Electronics Corporation Ltd (Altron), considered the pros and cons of more clearly linking the firm's compensation system to sustainability performance. In June 2011, Altron, a conglomerate... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Environmental Sustainability

05 Dec 2018
Research & Ideas

Why Managers Should Reveal Their Failures

social interaction. We can have a lot of control over how other people feel and react to us, says Brooks. “Some people might be uncomfortable about exerting that control strategically because it might seem manipulative. But the... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

November 2019
Supplement

Kids & Company: Entering the U.S.

By: Boris Groysberg, Sarah Mehta and Matthew Preble

This video supplement pairs with “Kids & Company: Entering the U.S.” (case no. 418011). It contains eight individual clips that range in length from 5 to 12 minutes. Instructors can use the videos, either in whole or in part, as an additional teaching... View Details

10 Aug 2009
Research & Ideas

High Commitment, High Performance Management

last twenty years my colleagues at TruePoint and I have asked leadership teams to define a strategic direction (business strategy and values) and then commission a task force of their best performers one to... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

November 2020 (Revised February 2022)
Case

CommonSpirit Health: Integrating a Merger of Equals

By: Robert S. Huckman, Hise Gibson and Nicole Gilmore

Soon after closing the 2019 merger of Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) and Dignity Health to create CommonSpirit Health, Lloyd Dean and Kevin Lofton-–jointly appointed to the role of CEO—must make several operational and strategic decisions related to the integration... View Details

Keywords: Health Care Delivery; Hospital; Merger; Merger Integration; Hospital Mergers; Health Information Technology; CEOs; Health Care and Treatment; Mergers and Acquisitions; Integration; Leadership; Customer Value and Value Chain; Decision Choices and Conditions; Governance; Information Technology; Health Industry; United States

09 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

It’s Time to Reset Decision-Making in Your Organization

positioning. Strategy execution and implementation Strategic planning, converting strategic objectives into activities, is central to most organizations. Still, it is not possible to anticipate every event... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Sarah Abbott

June 2015 (Revised September 2017)
Supplement

Generating Higher Value at IBM

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Scott Mayfield

This case analyzes IBM's financial performance and its capital allocation decisions over a 10-year period from 2004-2013, during which IBM returned more than $140B to shareholders through a combination of dividends and share repurchases. During this time, CEO Sam... View Details

Keywords: Dividends; Share Repurchases; Earnings Guidance; Financial Statement Analysis; Financial Ratios; Payout Policy; Earnings Per Share (EPS); Earnings Management; Change Management; Leadership; Transformation; Financial Strategy

05 Oct 2010
First Look

First Look: October 5, 2010

from 1970 to 2007, we find that better-performing teams are less likely to hire minorities to fill lower-level and mid-level coaching positions (as predicted by prior literature on labor queues), but that such teams are more likely to hire minorities into View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

13 May 2013
Research & Ideas

How to Spot a Liar

in order to suss out cues for deception. They looked for both strategic and nonstrategic language cues. "A strategic cue is a conscious strategy to reduce the likelihood of the deception being... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

2012
Working Paper

Do Market Leaders Lead in Business Process Innovation? The Case(s) of E-Business Adoption

By: Kristina S. McElheran

This paper explores the relationship between market position and business process innovation. Prior research has focused on the alignment between new technologies and the internal capabilities of firms to pursue them. I extend the investigation to include external... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Technological Innovation; Leadership; Business Processes; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Technology Adoption; Manufacturing Industry; United States

SSRN

Read Now

20 Mar 2007
First Look

First Look: March 20, 2007

Entrepreneurship in the Social Sector enables readers to attain an in-depth understanding of the distinctive characteristics of the social enterprise context and organizations. The authors offer tools to develop the knowledge to pursue social entrepreneurship more... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

31 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: Jan. 31

existing theory would predict. We discuss how these findings advance understanding of how organizational structure and corporate leadership interact and of how organizations can more effectively realize the View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne & Carmen Nobel

26 Jul 2011
First Look

First Look: July 26

Development Elective, an innovative offering within the leadership curriculum of an international MBA, which gives participants the opportunity to work with a psychotherapist during the course. Our findings suggest that the interplay... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

05 Aug 2008
First Look

First Look: August 5, 2008

savings in the development of art assets for their video games. However, the firm's management find themselves at a point at which they feel they need to make a strategic decision that will enable Glass Egg to grow more substantially and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

24 Feb 2021
Lessons from the Classroom

What History's Biggest Wars Teach Us About Leading in Peace

for corporate leaders and entrepreneurs. After all, leadership challenges, strategic choices, and high-stakes negotiations are constants not only in conflicts among nations, but in the business world, too,... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

03 Oct 2005
Research & Ideas

The Truck Driver Who Reinvented Shipping

Transporting "containerized cargo" seemed to be a natural, cost-effective extension of his business. McLean initially envisioned his trucking fleet as an integral part of an extended transportation network. Instead of truckers traversing the eastern... View Details

Keywords: by Anthony J. Mayo & Nitin Nohria; Manufacturing; Transportation; Aerospace

August 2011 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Language and Globalization: 'Englishnization' at Rakuten (A)

By: Tsedal Neeley

Hiroshi Mikitani, the CEO of Rakuten, (Japan's largest online retailer), is at the helm of an organization that is rapidly expanding into global markets. In a critical stride toward becoming the world's No. 1 Internet services company, Mikitani announces... View Details

Keywords: Teaching; Human Capital; Change Management; Transformation; Social Enterprise; Communication Strategy; Internet and the Web; Disruptive Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Leadership; Global Strategy; Technology Industry; Retail Industry; Japan