Publications

2019
Working Paper

From Know-It-Alls to Learn-It-Alls: Executive Development in the Era of Self-Refining Algorithms, Collaborative Filtering and Wearable Computing

By: Mihnea Moldoveanu and Das Narayandas

We examine the future of executive education on a technological and cultural landscape that is imminent but different to the one we are accustomed to. We show how the contextualization, socialization and personalization of learning—avowed but distal goals of current... View Details

Keywords: Executive Education; Leadership Development; Technological Innovation; Customization and Personalization; Management Skills; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Sharing

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February 2008 (Revised February 2008)
Case

Stanford Graduate School of Business

By: Srikant M. Datar, David A. Garvin and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In fall 2007, Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) adopted a new curriculum that it heralded as a "revolutionary change in management education." The new approach aimed at increasing the level and quality of student academic engagement. This case describes the... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Higher Education; Curriculum and Courses; Globalization; Leadership Development; Cognition and Thinking; Adaptation; Education Industry; California

01 Jun 2016
What Do You Think?

When Business Performance Falters, is Culture Change the Fix?

business models. This view is that a culture in which people trust each other and their leadership is one in which change (of a strategy or business model) is easier to achieve. Its advocates cite the primacy of culture in business... View Details

Keywords: by James L. Heskett

01 Aug 2008
What Do You Think?

Has the Time Come for “Stretch” in Management?

schedules slip and targets are missed...." Above all, leadership is generally thought to be critical to the successful application of stretch. Edward Hare reminded us that "the essence of great management, View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Women Leading Business: A New Kind of Conversation

called a "forum" rather than a "course"? Hart: Yes. Our focal points are leadership issues and contemporary concerns such as international expansion, or the impact of the Internet. Our participants need to stay abreast... View Details

Keywords: Re: Myra M. Hart & Cynthia A. Montgomery

19 Oct 2010
First Look

First Look: October 19, 2010

Authors:Scott Snook, Herminia Ibarra, and Laura Ramo Publication:Chap. 22 in Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice, edited by Nitin Nohria and Rakesh Khurana Abstract Despite the wealth of managerial and scholarly attention paid to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Sep 2019
What Do You Think?

Are Overlooked Forces Shielding the US from Severe Economic Downturns?

trade war continues (TonyO), leadership or lack thereof (Harry White), actions by the current US administration to encourage firms to bring jobs home and promulgate “America first” policies (Todd Z.), reduced dependency on foreign oil,... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Service

24 Jul 2018
Op-Ed

4 Ways Managers Can Exercise Their 'Agency' to Change the World

Leaders When CEOs Become Activists Responsible Leadership in an Unforgiving World What do you think? Do you have ideas on other ways workers at any level can use their agency to improve world conditions? Share your insights below. View Details

Keywords: by George Serafeim

December 2010 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Back to the Future: Redeveloping Unilever House

By: A. Eugene Kohn, Arthur I Segel and Andrew Pierson Terris

Steve Williams, General Counsel of Unilever PIc, has two key decisions to make prior to commencing construction on the redevelopment of Unilever House - the company's London corporate headquarters. The purpose of the redevelopment is to reinvigorate the corporate... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Leasing; Sales; Restructuring; Leading Change; Financing and Loans; Decisions; Business Headquarters; Design; Projects; London

March 2010 (Revised March 2012)
Teaching Note

PNC Financial: Grow Up Great (TN) (A) and (B)

By: Christopher Marquis, V. Kasturi Rangan and Bobbi Thomason

Teaching Note for [409108]. View Details

Keywords: Investment; Problems and Challenges; Opportunities; Leadership; Early Childhood Education; Brands and Branding; Organizational Structure; Success; Financial Services Industry

July – August 2011
Article

The Enabling Role of Social Position in Diverging from the Institutional Status Quo: Evidence from the U.K. National Health Service

By: Julie Battilana

This study examines the relationship between social position, both within the field and within the organization, and the likelihood of individual actors initiating organizational changes that diverge from the institutional status quo. I explore this relationship using... View Details

Keywords: Status and Position; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Projects; Leading Change; Managerial Roles; Relationships; Power and Influence; Health Industry; United Kingdom

Find at Harvard

2009
Working Paper

Taking a 'Deep Dive': What Only a Top Leader Can Do

By: Howard H. Yu and Joseph L. Bower

Unlike most historical accounts of strategic change inside large firms, empirical research on strategic management rarely uses the day-to-day behaviors of top executives as the unit of analysis. By examining the resource allocation process closely, we introduce the... View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; Management Practices and Processes; Resource Allocation; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure

SSRN

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July 2005 (Revised August 2011)
Case

Jesse Holman Jones and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation

By: Nitin Nohria, Anthony Mayo and Bridget Gurtler

Jesse Holman Jones is regarded as one of the most influential men in reviving the American economy from the Great Depression. With only an 8th grade education, he rose to the top of the banking, real estate, and lumber industries, as well as the upper echelons of... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Financial Strategy; Business History; Leading Change; Managerial Roles; Business and Government Relations; Power and Influence

February 2020 (Revised February 2022)
Case

Sustainable Product Management at Solvay

By: George Serafeim, Vincent Dessain and Mette Fuglsang Hjortshoej

In November 2019, Ilham Kadri, CEO of Solvay, a Belgian specialty chemicals and advanced materials group, with annual revenues of more than €10 billion in 2018, announced the group’s mid-term strategy, eight months after she took the helm as Solvay’s 11th CEO. The case... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Sustainable Business And Innovation; Sustainability Management; Sustainable Development; Management Accounting; Innovation; Carbon Emissions; Sustainability Reporting; Sustainability Targets; Target-setting; Product; Management; Transformation; Growth and Development Strategy; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Chemical Industry; Europe; Belgium

2012
Chapter

Institutional Pressures and Organizational Characteristics: Implications for Environmental Strategy

By: Magali A. Delmas and Michael W. Toffel

A broad literature has emerged over the past decades demonstrating that firms' environmental strategies and practices are influenced by stakeholders and institutional pressures. Such findings are consistent with institutional sociology, which emphasizes the importance... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Natural Environment; Business Strategy