Publications

March 2012
Background Note

Managing the Layoff Process: France

By: Sandra J. Sucher

This note is an overview of the context for managing layoffs in France. It describes the legal responsibilities of managers in conducting layoffs, recent unemployment trends, and the financial, health, training, job placement, and other benefits that laid-off employees... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Resignation and Termination; Compensation and Benefits; Ethics; Management; Employees; Governance Compliance; France

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1997
Chapter

Environmental Determinants of Work Motivation, Creativity, and Innovation: The Case of R&D Downsizing

By: T. M. Amabile and R. Conti

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Research and Development; Working Conditions; Motivation and Incentives; Creativity; Innovation and Invention

27 Sep 2011
First Look

First Look: September 27

the boundaries of organizations. Though experience and productivity improvement may be seen as key benefits of this trend, little is known about how this shift toward outsourcing influences learning. When producing a unit of output, the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 1982 (Revised December 1984)
Case

Hi-Tech Corp.

By: Fred K. Foulkes and William E. Fruhan Jr.

Hi-Tech examines the financial implications of a reduction in the work force via a voluntary severance program which offers up to two and a half times annual pay if an employee voluntarily terminates employment. View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Financial Management; Retirement; Employees; Compensation and Benefits; Corporate Finance; Technology Industry; Europe

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02 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Explaining China's Crash

part from massive outsourcing on the part of companies in developed markets. They were moving production to China in droves because labor was cheap, so the economy grew very, very fast. In the process of becoming the “factory of the... View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese; Financial Services

Profile

Ben Steiner

consultants involved in business-process outsourcing to India. Ben gained experience in health care and investment banking at Goldman Sachs. “My interests became focused on affecting change through for-profit ventures,” says Ben.... View Details

31 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

A Scholarly Crowd Explores Crowdsourcing

When Clayton Christensen and Derek van Bever prepared to write The Capitalist's Dilemma for the June issue of Harvard Business Review, they took an approach rarely tried on the same scale: They outsourced it with 150 Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

27 Aug 2007
Op-Ed

Mattel: Getting a Toy Recall Right

million toys manufactured in China with lead paint and/or loose, potentially dangerous magnets. Clearly Mattel did not have sufficiently tight quality control procedures in its supply chain to compensate for the extra risks of outsourcing... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Consumer Products

May 2024 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Leading Culture Change at Microsoft Western Europe

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Cat Huang

In 2023, Cindy Rose, President of Microsoft Western Europe, faced a critical decision. Rose grappled with the potential impact of widespread layoffs on psychological safety and the cultural transformation she had championed since her arrival. When Rose had first joined... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Organizational Culture; Transformation; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Problems and Challenges; Motivation and Incentives; Groups and Teams; Business or Company Management; Technology Industry; Europe

25 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

We May Have Taken Too Much Credit for Easing Workplace Segregation

companies, and this is where we’re seeing more segregation. So, we made gains in some companies, but overall have seen a loss in diversity. That’s problematic.” The connection between racial segregation and wage inequality The authors are now investigating how View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

September 2012 (Revised May 2013)
Case

Automating the Paris Subway (A)

By: Michel Anteby, Elena Corsi and Emilie Billaud

In 2001, the head of the Paris Subway reflected on how to transform Line 1 into a driverless line without triggering a social conflict. After the shock of the 2000 Notre Dame de Lorette subway accident, in which a train derailed and caused 25 injuries in a Paris subway... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Technological Innovation; Rail Transportation; Labor Unions; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Conflict Management; Rail Industry; Transportation Industry; Paris

January 2003 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Cat is out of the Bag, The: KANA and the Layoff Gone Awry (A)

By: Leslie A. Perlow and David Ager

Vicki Amon-Higa, vice president of KANA, a publicly traded, midsize development company, was working with Bryan Kettle, KANA's CFO, to plan a layoff in which KANA would reduce the size of its workforce by nearly 40%. Despite the best of intentions, news of the layoff... View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Employees; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Problems and Challenges; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Conflict Management

05 Feb 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, February 5, 2019

case:https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/818043-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 618-044 ZBJ: Building a Global Outsourcing Platform for Knowledge Workers (A) ZBJ.com (ZBJ), an online platform that connects knowledge workers to small-... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

October 2000 (Revised June 2002)
Supplement

Nick Fiore: Healer or Hitman? (B)

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Tara Donovan

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Strategic Planning; Decision Choices and Conditions

01 Dec 2004
News

Finding a Balance

government has been unresponsive to date. With Western companies such as Microsoft, GE, and IBM making significant investment in IT outsourcing in India, the pressure is on for the government to toe the legal line. “None of these... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

01 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 1

parts supply & logistics, FAPA, worked with his colleagues in the U.S., UK, China, and India to conduct analysis and develop three options: outsourcing e-coating to a third party in Sanand, outsourcing... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2024
Case

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM): The AI Journey

By: Shikhar Ghosh

In early 2024, Bill Fandrich, Executive VP and CIO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM), faced a critical decision about AI adoption within the organization. Fandrich had championed AI implementation at BCBSM. After successfully developing three AI... View Details