Publications

September 2018 (Revised November 2018)
Case

From Beirut With Love (A)

By: Christina R. Wing, Esel Y. Cekin and Samer Al-Rachedy

This case describes how Robert Fadel, CEO and chairman of ABC, one of Lebanon’s leading retail and real estate groups, professionalized the family business. Robert was the second son of the company’s founder, Maurice Fadel, who had run it single-handedly. Concerned... View Details

01 Sep 2021
What Do You Think?

Can We Train for Trust?

(Image credit: iStockphoto/jubaphoto) How many times have we discussed the contributions of employee engagement and the loyalty it produces to an organization’s performance? Trust is, as it is for many things in society, the bedrock for employee engagement. A View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

2001
Book

From Heresy to Dogma: An Institutional History of Corporate Environmentalism

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

This is a pathbreaking account of how the environmental movement has led to profound changes in the perceptions and practices of large-scale corporations, as shown here in the chemical and petroleum industries. The book traces how market, social, and political... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Environmental Sustainability; Public Opinion; Social Issues

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04 Apr 2011
HBS Case

Reinventing the National Geographic Society

emerging. Various units operated as independent fiefdoms. In 1998, Fahey was named CEO, and the task was clear: build an organization to thrive for the next 100 years. To do so, he "assembled a management team of diverse backgrounds... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Publishing

01 Oct 2015
News

The Real Reason Men and Women Prefer Male Bosses

20 Jan 2014
Research & Ideas

Language Wars Divide Global Companies

more efficient, the use of such a lingua franca can add layers of complication and delay. And instead of fostering collaboration, it can create cultural fissures between employees. “It's volcanic, waiting for something to ignite it, and... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard

December 2010
Case

Leadership, Culture, and Transition at lululemon

By: Michael Tushman, Ruth Page and Tom Ryder

The case examines leadership and organizational change within a strong culture context through a multimedia study of lululemon, a specialty retailer of high-end athletic apparel. Video segments trace the company's history from its founding in 1998 as a single retail... View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Transition; Growth Management; Management Teams; Organizational Structure; Governing and Advisory Boards; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry; Vancouver; United States

2017
Performance & Appearance

Hair Penalties and Other Organizational Sins: Racism Disguised as Professionalism

February 2004 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Financial Reporting in the Catholic Church

The Catholic Church is a large and complex international organization with several layers of management spread across a diverse range of services and geographical areas. Creating a coherent and manageable communication strategy for is a challenging task that requires... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Disclosure; Religion; Financial Reporting; Organizational Culture; Communication Strategy

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2015
Working Paper

The Challenges and Enhancing Opportunities of Global Project Management: Evidence from Chinese and Dutch Cross-Cultural Project Management

By: Ying Zhang, Christopher Marquis, Sergey Filippov, Henk-Jan Haasnoot and Martijn van der Steen

This study investigates the role of national and organisational culture in day-to-day activities of multinational project teams, specifically focusing on differences between Chinese and Dutch project managers. We rely on fieldwork observation and interviews with... View Details

Keywords: Management; Organizational Culture; Projects; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; China; Netherlands

SSRN

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14 Feb 2022
Research & Ideas

Curiosity, Not Coding: 6 Skills Leaders Need in the Digital Age

to share in decision-making and creating a culture that makes people feel safe enough to take risks and act on behalf of organizational interests. It’s also about earning trust from and offering trust to increasingly diverse stakeholders... View Details

Keywords: by Linda A. Hill, Ann Le Cam, Sunand Menon, and Emily Tedards; Technology

2011
Teaching Note

UFIDA (B) (TN)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Bin Yang and E. Chen

This case highlights the leadership, cultural and organizational structure dimensions of UFIDA. The case begins with Founder/Chairman Wang Wenjing's rags-to-riches story. Then UFIDA's senior and middle management of different backgrounds talk about their leader,... View Details

Keywords: Computer Software; Corporate Vision; Emerging Markets; Leadership; Organizational Structure; China; Applications and Software; China

June 2020 (Revised October 2020)
Case

What Went Wrong with Boeing's 737 Max?

By: William W. George and Amram Migdal

This case describes the development of the Boeing 737 Max airplane model and the events leading up to two tragic plane crashes, in which a total of 346 people died: the crash of Lion Air flight 610 on October 29, 2018, in Indonesia, and the crash of Ethiopian Airlines... View Details

Keywords: Communication; Communication Intention and Meaning; Communication Strategy; Forms of Communication; Announcements; Decision Making; Decision Choices and Conditions; Judgments; Ethics; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Globalization; Global Strategy; Governance; Corporate Accountability; Governance Controls; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Leadership; Leadership Style; Management; Business or Company Management; Crisis Management; Management Practices and Processes; Management Skills; Management Style; Management Systems; Risk Management; Time Management; Markets; Demand and Consumers; Digital Platforms; Supply and Industry; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Industry Structures; Operations; Product Development; Organizations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Outcome or Result; Failure; Success; Planning; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Safety; Strategy; Transportation; Air Transportation; Aerospace Industry; Air Transportation Industry; Africa; Ethiopia; Asia; Indonesia; North and Central America; United States; Seattle; Chicago

16 May 2012
Research & Ideas

Can Decades of Military Overspending be Fixed?

States has often turned to cutting-edge technology solutions to solve strategic and operational challenges. “Costs tend to rise in all organizations unless managers and their staffs are skilled in industrial management and strongly... View Details

Keywords: by J. Ronald Fox; Service

Article

Spanning the Institutional Abyss: The Intergovernmental Network and the Governance of Foreign Direct Investment

By: Juan Alcacer and Paul Ingram

Global economic transactions such as foreign direct investment must extend over an institutional abyss between the jurisdiction, and therefore protection, of the states involved. Intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), whose members are states, represent an important... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Market Transactions; Foreign Direct Investment; Government and Politics; Risk and Uncertainty; Networks; Culture; Complexity; Public Administration Industry

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February 1999 (Revised August 2006)
Background Note

What Is an Organization's Culture?

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Kristin Shu

A synopsis of the writings of Edgar Schein, Modesto Maidique, and B.J. Zirger on what organizational culture is, where it comes from, how it can be changed, and how it inhibits change. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Business or Company Management; Organizational Culture

December 1999 (Revised May 2000)
Case

Morgan Stanley: Becoming a "One-Firm Firm"

By: M. Diane Burton, Thomas J. DeLong and Katherine Lawrence

John Mack, the newly appointed president of Morgan Stanley, feels strongly that the firm needs to change in order to compete in a changing investment banking environment. Mack and his senior team undertake initiatives in order to transform the culture and working style... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Goals and Objectives; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Performance Evaluation; Competitive Strategy

July 1995 (Revised September 1995)
Background Note

Technology for Teams

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Geoffrey Bock

The importance of groups in organizations has long been recognized but, until recently, groups were always "tacked onto" organizations that were designed around individuals. It was not just the logic of classical organizational theory that perpetuated this focus on the... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Groups and Teams