Publications

June 2021
Case

Selassie Atadika: Entrepreneurship in Africa

By: Boris Groysberg, Susan Seligson and Katherine Connolly Baden

This case profiles the career of Ghana-based chef and entrepreneur, Selassie Atadika. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, she faced many questions about the future, such as: How could she convince Ghanaian consumers to view their native cuisine in a fresh,... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneur; Women And Leadership; Women-owned Businesses; Food; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; South Africa

08 Aug 2023
Research & Ideas

Black Employees Not Only Earn Less, But Deal with Bad Bosses and Poor Conditions

published in American Sociological Review in April, Zhang measured culture, manager quality, and work-life balance based on almost 933,000 employee reviews of 8,800 companies on the career website... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

February 1998 (Revised January 1999)
Case

Rob Parson at Morgan Stanley (C) (Abridged)

A year after Rob Parson's manager decided to postpone Parson's promotion, Parson's new manager Gary Stuart faces the decision of promotion again. Stuart considers whether the efforts Parson had made were sufficient. View Details

Keywords: Management; Personal Development and Career; Performance Evaluation; Financial Services Industry

August 2004 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Stanley O'Neal at Merrill Lynch (A)

By: David A. Thomas and Ayesha Kanji

In the late 1970s, Stanley O'Neal joined Merrill Lynch as an investment banker. Profiles O'Neal's ascent at Merrill to CEO. O'Neal put Merrill through a comprehensive restructuring program, cutting costs and significantly reducing the work force. As CEO, O'Neal faces... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Race; Cost Management; Investment Banking; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Leadership; Management Succession; Performance Effectiveness; Personal Development and Career

Find at Harvard

Research Summary

Overview

By: Ethan S. Bernstein

I have spent my career studying novel talent management practices and their effect on collaboration and performance. My core research focuses on two interrelated organizational trends that have become salient in the 21st century: workplace transparency (who gets to... View Details

December 2017 (Revised January 2018)
Case

NatureSweet

By: Jose Alvarez, Forest Reinhardt and Natalie Kindred

This case describes the business model and workplace philosophy of NatureSweet, a privately owned, vertically integrated greenhouse grower and marketer of fresh tomatoes with sales across the United States and $329 million in 2016 revenues. CEO Bryant Ambelang treated... View Details

August 2010 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Rupert Murdoch: The Last Tycoon

By: Geoffrey Jones and Hari Balkrishna

The case examines the entrepreneurial career of Rupert Murdoch and the growth of News Corporation from a small Australian newspaper to a global media giant. It shows how he expanded geographically to Europe, the United States, and Asia and from newspapers to the film... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Entrepreneurship; Media; Globalized Firms and Management; Business History; Business and Government Relations; Power and Influence; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Publishing Industry; Journalism and News Industry; Europe; United States; Australia

January 2022 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Jackie Robinson: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Max Saffer

This case traces the rise of Jackie Robinson from the poor streets of Pasadena, California to one of the most famous people in America after he overturned the color barrier in baseball. The case describes how as a youth he excelled at basketball, football, baseball,... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Power And Influence; Personal Characteristics; Values And Beliefs; Mission And Purpose; Sports; Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Leading Change; Personal Development and Career; United States

February 18, 2022
Article

Why Really Smart Executives Do Really Stupid Things

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

CEO exits due to workplace misconduct are all too common. Over and over we hear about top officials at companies, universities or in government resigning, either because they had affairs with subordinates in their inner circles or made verbal advances to junior workers... View Details

Keywords: CEO; Misconduct; Management; Behavior

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February 2024
Technical Note

A Manager's Introduction to Passion for Work

By: Jon M. Jachimowicz

Today, both organizations and employees are increasingly focused on passion. An analysis of 200 million U.S. job postings found that the use of the word “passion” increased nearly tenfold from 2007 to 2019, while a recent survey of thousands of college-educated workers... View Details

Keywords: Recruitment; Job Search; Goals and Objectives; Interests; Personal Development and Career

December 1999 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Tom Tierney at Bain & Company (A)

By: Ashish Nanda

Bain managing director Tom Tierney is contemplating how best to rotate the office head position between two partners at one of the firm's offices. The case provides background information on Bain's governance structure and Tierney's management style. View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Governance Controls; Management Succession; Personal Development and Career; Consulting Industry

15 Dec 2015
First Look

December 15, 2015

moving upmarket to challenge the industry leaders. They point out that Uber, commonly hailed as a disrupter, doesn’t actually fit the mold, and they explain that if managers don’t understand the nuances of disruption theory or apply its... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

September–October 2024
Article

Should a Family Business Accept a Returning Daughter’s Radical Proposal?

By: John D. Macomber

A family-owned and controlled conglomerate in Cote d'Ivoire, West Africa, has to decide what titles and authority to give to a daughter who is being courted to leave a promising career in Europe to come back and join the business. The choices of role range from an... View Details

Keywords: Succession Planning; Power Grid; Family Business; Management Succession; Emerging Markets; Business Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Côte d'Ivoire

11 Apr 2023
Op-Ed

The First 90 Hours: What New CEOs Should—and Shouldn't—Do to Set the Right Tone

individual executives. Lock down your management team. As an outsider, you’ll need to surround yourself with a mix of respected and dedicated senior executives (ones who have no interest in challenging you for your role), as well as new... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

30 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

Why Anger Makes a Wrongly Accused Person Look Guilty

whether an accused person has committed the offense, based on the emotions he or she expresses. Such an unfair judgment can have grave consequences, affecting the accused person’s career and even leading to job loss. "People who are... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

01 Mar 2004
What Do You Think?

Are Customer Loyalty Initiatives Worth the Investment?

Reichheld, The Loyalty Effect). Instead of joining a debate, many respondents decried the misuse of the term "customer loyalty management" and superficial attempts to manage the phenomenon. In the view of Theresa Quintanilla,... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

18 Apr 2005
Lessons from the Classroom

NFL Players Touch Down at HBS

opportunity is very, very short.— Ted Johnson, New England Patriots Topics covered in the course included entrepreneurship; tax and other legal responsibilities; assessing financial health; managing yourself; analyzing a business model;... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Sports

April 2016
Teaching Note

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Junko Yoda and Her Collaboration to Address Sex Trafficking in Asia

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ai-Ling Jamila Malone and Tessa Natanay Hamilton

Following a successful career as the first female Vice President of Goldman Sachs in Asia, Junko Yoda became a 2010 Advanced Leadership Fellow at Harvard University. During her fellowship, she set out to promote awareness, and prevent and alleviate the effects of human... View Details

Keywords: Crime; Business And Community; Community Impact; Communities; Economic Development; Innovation; Leadership; Change Management; Crime and Corruption; Social Entrepreneurship; Business and Community Relations; Gender; Asia

February 1994
Case

Kathryn McNeil (A)

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr.

Charles Foley, vice president of the computer retailing firm Sayer MicroWorld, must decide whether or not to fire his employee, Kathryn McNeil, a 37-year-old product manager who has been unable to work as many hours as her colleagues due to her status as a single... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Employees; Work-Life Balance; Resignation and Termination; Mergers and Acquisitions; Retail Industry