Publications

March 1999 (Revised August 1999)
Case

SCORE! Educational Centers (A)

Describes the start-up, strategy, organizational design, and operations of SCORE! Educational Centers, an after-school tutoring enterprise. Alan Tripp, founder and CEO, is faced with growing organizational stresses and a looming venture capital deadline. Examines... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Management Style; Leadership; Organizational Design; Teaching; Entrepreneurship; Education Industry; United States

08 Aug 2022
HBS Case

Building an 'ARMY' of Fans: Marketing Lessons from K-Pop Sensation BTS

What would it take to attract customers who are so loyal that they would not only buy your products, but would also lavish your distributors with flowers and purchase advertising to elevate your brand? Ask the minds behind K-pop sensation BTS. Created by a Korean View Details

Keywords: by Shalene Gupta; Media & Broadcasting; Music

October 1984 (Revised March 1999)
Case

NIKE (E)

Provides the background for a discussion of Nike (E1), (E2), and (E3). Outlines Nike's senior management group's early program to deal with the company's increasingly difficult competitive circumstance. View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Competition; Situation or Environment; Management Teams; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sports Industry

November 1998 (Revised December 1998)
Case

Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Kristin Doughty

Jeanne Lewis, after six years with Staples, Inc., is promoted to senior vice president of marketing. She is to work for fifteen months alongside her predecessor, a legacy in the organization, "learning the ropes" before he moves on. This case is set nine months after... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Style; Change Management; Marketing Strategy; Management Succession; Competitive Advantage; Problems and Challenges; Management Teams; Retail Industry; United States

May 2018
Case

Inditex: 2018

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In 2018, Inditex, based in Spain, was the largest specialist fashion retailer in the world, generating sales of $31.5 billion in 2017 from a portfolio of eight retail brands selling through a total of 7,475 stores located in 96 countries and from websites in 49... View Details

Keywords: Fashion; Succession; IPO; Competition; Initial Public Offering; Multinational Firms and Management; Management Succession; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry; Fashion Industry

01 Sep 2023
News

That Was Then, This Is Now

leaping. And leaping. Video Embed Tony Deifell on the HBS Portrait Project. Jon Swan (MBA/MPP 2009) Managing Director and Partner, Boston Consulting Group I am going to rediscover the buffalo. As a young kid, an elder on my reservation... View Details

Keywords: Photographed by Tony Deifell (MBA 2002); edited by Julia Hanna. Above: Heidi Brooks, photographed in 2003 and 2023.; life experience; family; leadership

October 1979 (Revised January 1983)
Background Note

IBM Corp., Background Note

Describes some aspects of how the senior managers of IBM conducted its affairs. Much of this note is a factual description of the design of the organization and of the formal process by which members of the organization worked together. Also contains excerpts from... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Management Teams; Computer Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

December 2014 (Revised January 2018)
Background Note

Troubled Marriages

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Daniel Fox

Compilation of articles looking at merger integration strategies: "business marriages." Problems of culture, management style, and business goals are revealed. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Goals and Objectives; Management Style; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges

March 1991 (Revised July 1993)
Case

Kyocera Corp.

By: John P. Kotter

Examines the three factors critical to this company's remarkable success in the high tech field. The first factor is the founder, Dr. Inamori's powerful leadership. The second is the strong corporate culture or philosophy of the firm. The third element in Kyocera's... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Information Infrastructure; Leadership Style; Management Systems; Management Style; Organizational Culture; Practice; Profit; Planning; Technology Industry; Electronics Industry

16 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Breaking the Code of Change

gains-sharing plan was introduced to mold union workers and management into a common community of purpose. Throughout the decade of change, there were no layoffs, although many managers at the plant and... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Beer & Nitin Nohria

01 Nov 2020
News

Good Leadership Is an Act of Kindness

07 Dec 2021
Op-Ed

Want to Build Better Leaders? Focus on Mindset, Skills, Knowledge

Middle management used to be the place where careers stalled, but the COVID-19 pandemic has turned that notion on its head. In fact, mid-level leaders possess more agency now than at any other time in recent history. The tight job market... View Details

Keywords: by Hise Gibson and Shawnette Rochelle

March 2000 (Revised July 2000)
Case

Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (A) (Abridged)

By: Linda A. Hill and Jennifer Suesse

Jeanne Lewis, after six years with Staples, Inc., is promoted to senior vice president of marketing. She is to work for fifteen months alongside her predecessor, a legacy in the organization, "learning the ropes" before he moves on. This case is set nine months after... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Style; Change Management; Marketing Strategy; Management Succession; Competitive Advantage; Problems and Challenges; Management Teams; Retail Industry; United States

23 May 2016
Blog Post

Advice for Prospective Students from Africa

family in the U.S. at the time. After graduating from college I had a technical background, experience as a management consultant, and a keen passion to become an entrepreneur and a change-maker in Africa. But I didn’t have any business... View Details

July 2021
Case

Performance Review: Joseph Park and Elena Ramírez

By: David G. Fubini and Patrick Sanguineti

Niya Jones, a Partner at a major management consulting firm, must review the work of two of her mentees––Joseph Park and Elena Ramírez––for their first end-of-year performance review as new Project Leaders. Both have produced strong results in their new roles, but... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Management Style; Goals and Objectives; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Leadership Style

March 2022 (Revised March 2024)
Case

DaVita Responds to COVID

By: Susanna Gallani and David Lane

Early in August 2021, DaVita CEO Javier Rodriguez was assessing the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on his firm, which provided life-sustaining kidney dialysis to roughly 240,000 people. Effective infection control practices and information sharing had ensured... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Change Management; Communication; Talent and Talent Management; Fairness; Values and Beliefs; Corporate Accountability; Health Care and Treatment; Health Pandemics; Human Resources; Employee Relationship Management; Retention; Wages; Working Conditions; Leadership Style; Crisis Management; Organizational Culture; Health Industry; United States

June 2010 (Revised November 2011)
Case

Zensar: The Future of Vision Communities (A)

By: David A. Garvin and Rachna Tahilyani

Zensar is a rapidly growing, mid-sized Indian IT services company with a collaborative management philosophy and innovative HR policies. One of its practices, Vision Communities, is an inclusive forum for innovation and strategy formulation. As the company grows,... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Leadership Style; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Cooperation; Information Technology Industry; India