Publications

September 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Managing Knowledge and Learning at NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

By: Dorothy A. Leonard and David Kiron

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) faces a serious loss of knowledge--both because of the "faster, better, cheaper" mandate for Mars missions and from the retirement of key personnel. An extensive knowledge management system for NASA/JPL includes formal knowledge-capture... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Management; Knowledge Dissemination; Leadership Development; Internet and the Web; Risk and Uncertainty; Organizational Culture; Retirement; Human Resources; Human Capital

03 Oct 2018
What Do You Think?

How Should Managers Deal with the Challenges of Building an Inclusive Workplace?

CamiloTorres What Are the Most Effective Management Approaches to Inclusion? Inclusion is important to an organization. But it is a challenge in the current day workplace climate, especially when it comes to such things as one-on-one... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

Teaching Interest

Overview

By: Dante Roscini

Over the past decade, I have taught the course Business, Government and the International Economy, part of the required curriculum in the MBA program and the course Managing International Trade and Investment, part of the elective curriculum for second-year MBAs. View Details

Keywords: Trade; Investment; Foreign Direct Investment; Portfolio Investment; Risk Assessment; Political Economy; Globalized Firms And Management

October 2015
Case

DPDHL Group: Employee Safety and Wellbeing

By: John A. Quelch and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Management at Deutsche Post DHL Group is designing a three-country test of investment in a new health and wellbeing strategy. View Details

Keywords: Health; Wellbeing; Wellness; Safety; Risk; Employees; Human Resources; Risk Management; Service Industry; China; Mexico; Middle East

June 2023
Case

Investing in the Climate Transition at Neuberger Berman

By: George Serafeim and Benjamin Maletta

By mid-2023, Neuberger Berman (NB), an active asset manager, had grown its assets under management to about half a trillion dollars and took pride in its client centricity and innovative spirit. Responding to client demand for investment products that integrated... View Details

May 2013 (Revised September 2013)
Case

The Kashagan Production Sharing Agreement (PSA)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Florian Bitsch

When discovered in the 1990s, the Kashagan oil field was the second largest oil field in the world. The project sponsors (equity investors) signed a 40-year production sharing agreement (PSA) with the Kazakh government in 1997, with the expectation the field would... View Details

Article

Agile Product Development: Managing Development Flexibility in Uncertain Environments

By: S. Thomke and D. Reinersten

Keywords: Research and Development; Product; Management; Risk and Uncertainty

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Web

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

Managing Risks Balancing Innovation and Control Featured Exercises Analyze your organization’s approach to managing common organizational tensions Analyze a job using the Job... View Details

17 Nov 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

Managing the Family Business: Are Optimists or Pessimists Better Leaders?

Editor's note: This is part of a series of occasional columns on managing the family business written by Senior Lecturer John A. Davis. Optimism and pessimism are strong, stable traits that reflect our coping strategies. We live in an... View Details

06 Dec 2004
What Do You Think?

Why Do Managers Fail to Act on Their Predictions?

Summing Up Respondents to the December column produced such a lengthy list of reasons why managers fail to act on their predictions that it is a wonder that organizations are ever able to respond with the foresight needed to avert... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

03 Jun 2002
What Do You Think?

Are We Entering an Era of European Management Leadership?

Summing Up Readers of this month's column agree that there are marked differences in the social environment for management in Europe and the United States. In some parts of Europe, at least, they foster View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

19 Nov 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Management and the Financial Crisis (We Have Met the Enemy and He is Us …)

Keywords: by William A. Sahlman

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

July 2018
Article

Personality Traits of Entrepreneurs: A Review of Recent Literature

By: Sari Pekkala Kerr, William R. Kerr and Tina Xu

We review the extensive literature since 2000 on the personality traits of entrepreneurs. We first consider baseline personality traits like the Big-5 model, self-efficacy and innovativeness, locus of control, and the need for achievement. We then consider risk... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurs; Venturing; Personality Traits; Characteristics; Big-5; Risk Attitudes; Goals; Skills; Entrepreneurship; Personal Characteristics; Goals and Objectives; Competency and Skills; Success; Demographics; Research

June 2016
Article

Managing the High Intensity Workplace: An 'Always Available' Culture Breeds a Variety of Dysfunctional Behaviors

By: Erin M. Reid and Lakshmi Ramarajan

People today are under intense pressure to be “ideal workers”—totally committed to their jobs and always on call. But after interviewing hundreds of professionals in many fields, the authors have concluded that selfless dedication to work is often unnecessary and... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Working Conditions; Work-Life Balance; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture

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01 Feb 2022
What Do You Think?

Is Concierge Management an Answer to the “Big Quit”?

economies. It’s also testimony to a darker phenomenon. A recent study reported in MIT Sloan Management Review concludes that from April through September, the main reason for quitting in the US (10 times more important than compensation)... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

June 2025
Article

What Board-level Control Mechanisms Changed in Banks Following the 2008 Financial Crisis? A Descriptive Study

By: Shelly Li, Shivram Rajgopal, Suraj Srinivasan and Yu Ting Forester Wong

Following the 2008 financial crisis, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) identified major shortcomings in bank board governance, contributing to systemic risk management failures. This study adapts a management control framework and empirically examines... View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Management Control; Governing and Advisory Boards; Governance Controls; Risk Management; Change Management; Banks and Banking; Financial Crisis

SSRN

2025
Article

Educating Students and Professionals on the Business Implications of Climate Change

By: Michael W. Toffel

As climate change poses unprecedented challenges and opportunities, the private sector must play a pivotal role in both adaptation and mitigation efforts. This article discusses the new Harvard Business School Online course, Business and Climate Change, designed to... View Details

Keywords: Climate Impact; Online Courses; Online Education; Decarbonization; Mitigation Policies; Climate Risk; Climate Change; Risk Management; Science; Policy; Business Education; Adaptation