Publications

March 2025
Case

Taylor Guitars: Making Employee Ownership Work The Taylor Way

By: Dennis Campbell, Petros Kusmu and Stacy Straaberg

In 2013, guitar manufacturer Taylor Guitars’ co-founders Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug were considering several exit options including selling to a competitor or to a private equity firm. The co-founders decided, instead, to embark on a seven-year process to transfer 100%... View Details

13 Oct 2009
Research & Ideas

7 Lessons for Navigating the Storm

It is tough to think positively in a crisis. Yet one overarching lesson in a new book by HBS professor Bill George, 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis (Jossey-Bass), is exactly that: See crisis as a chance to develop and enhance your View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

29 Oct 2019
Sharpening Your Skills

Robots in the Boardroom

Learning Teaches Us about CEO Leadership StyleResearchers turn to machine-learning technology to look for links between a CEO's communications style and company performance. Use Artificial Intelligence to... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

09 Mar 2023
Blog Post

Where Will You Be in 30 Years: Behind the Scenes of the 5 Big Life Decisions Documentary

moving into leadership roles in a racially charged environment, as well as their international classmates returning to Eastern Europe after the fall of communism. Furthermore, while the conversation around entrepreneurship is commonplace... View Details

Web

Online Management Course | HBS Online

& Anthony Mayo Learn to bring out the best in others by applying and adapting your leadership style and managing the conditions that drive team performance. 6 weeks, 7-9 hrs/week Pay by July 7 $1,850... View Details

11 May 2009
Research & Ideas

The IT Leader’s Hero Quest

character of the CEO and allows Barton to "walk in the shoes" of the CEO to see from his perspective why he didn't follow Barton's recommendation. Q: Barton seems to accept and perhaps appreciate the different personalities and work View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

May 2023 (Revised July 2023)
Case

Ferrari: Shifting to Carbon Neutrality

By: Raffaella Sadun, Elena Corsi and Leila Doumi

A sports car manufacturer commits to carbon neutrality and to electrifying a large part of its car fleet. View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Leadership Style; Auto Industry; Italy

23 May 2018
News

Abigail P. Johnson, MBA 1988

service, innovation, and cross-company collaboration. “We are in the midst of a major transition that takes advantage of technology to deliver better service,” she says. Fidelity today fully reflects Johnson’s laser focus and quiet, authoritative View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

March 2022 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Doubling Down: Elon Musk's Big Bets in 2022

By: David Yoffie and Daniel Fisher

2021 was a banner year for Elon Musk. CEO of the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, the aerospace manufacturer SpaceX, and a few smaller startups, Musk became the richest person on Earth after Tesla reached a market capitalization of $1 trillion and SpaceX a private... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Transportation; Strategic Planning; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Goals and Objectives; Aerospace Industry; Auto Industry; Battery Industry; United States; Europe; China

01 Jan 2013
News

Roger W. Sant, MBA 1960

considered part and parcel of leadership, especially when running a multibillion-dollar enterprise, Sant's quiet style is more Socratic. "I like grappling with ideas, not dictating what should be done," says the BYU graduate, who found... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

22 Mar 2013
Research & Ideas

Pulling Campbell’s Out of the Soup

thinking. But people aren't mind readers," Conant told a roomful of CEOs during the second Higher-Ambition CEO Leadership Conference, held at Harvard Business School in January. "I had to go out on a limb and talk about my... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage

April 2024
Case

Dr. Tom Mihaljevic and Cleveland Clinic

By: Linda A. Hill and Lydia Begag

In December 2022, Dr. Tomislav (“Tom”) Mihaljevic, CEO and President of Cleveland Clinic, was reflecting on the last few years at the hospital, marked both by unprecedented challenges and remarkable achievements. Cleveland Clinic had recently been ranked the world’s... View Details

October 2003
Case

Henry Tam and the MGI Team

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer, Ingrid Vargas and Hillary Anger Elfenbein

Within a short time frame, seven diverse team members assemble to write a business plan for a new company and struggle to define their roles, make decisions together, and resolve conflict. Henry Tam, a second-year Harvard MBA student, who joins an aspiring start-up... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Business Plan; Groups and Teams; Decision Making; Jobs and Positions; Leadership Style; Human Resources; Management Teams; Conflict and Resolution; Diversity

February 2001 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Howard Schultz and Starbucks Coffee Company

By: Nancy F. Koehn

Investigates the entrepreneur's strategic initiatives to develop a mass market for specialty coffee in the 1980s and 1990s. These initiatives included the development of premium products, rapid expansion of company-owned stores--each with attractive retail environments... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Groups and Teams; Brands and Branding; Growth Management; Employee Relationship Management; Consumer Behavior; Organizational Design; Leadership Style; Customer Relationship Management; Competitive Advantage; Vertical Integration; Food and Beverage Industry

Web

Credential of Leadership, Impact, and Management in Business | HBS Online

leader, unleash the capabilities of others, and cultivate high-performing teams. This course leverages self-assessments, 360° feedback from colleagues, and peers’ perspectives to help you build greater self-awareness and enhance the versatility of your View Details

11 Mar 2021
News

Leading with Heart

Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Spotify More Skydeck episodes Niren Chaudhary (AMP 191, 2016) has spent most of his career in restaurants, working in leadership positions at Yum! Brands and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts before becoming the CEO... View Details

07 Nov 2012
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Sir Alex Ferguson--Managing Manchester United

Anita Elberse, a Professor of Business Administration in the Marketing unit at Harvard Business School, studies high performers in creative industries—from basketball superstar LeBron James to pop diva Lady Gaga, from actor Tom Cruise to tennis powerhouse Maria... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Sports; Entertainment & Recreation

2021
Working Paper

T-Shaped Managers—One Size Does Not Fit All: Exploratory Study from the Military

By: Hise O. Gibson

People are an organization’s most important resource. Managers who are collaborative and innovative ensure that organizations remain competitive. This type of manager has been referred to as a T-shaped manager. “T” given that the vertical portion represents the depth... View Details

Keywords: T-shaped Management; Leader Development; Talent Management; Leadership Style; Leadership Development; Management Skills; Talent and Talent Management