Publications

October 2005 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Reactivity: A Case of Re-Invention

By: Myra M. Hart and Sylvia Sensiper

By the time Glenn Osaka joined Reactivity as its new CEO in January 2001, the Internet bubble had burst, the financial markets had turned, and the company's core businesses were drying up. He was not hired to lead a turnaround, but Osaka found that the firm's future... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Venture Capital; Organizational Culture; Applications and Software; Leadership Style; Product; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Consulting Industry

April 2010 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Southwest Airlines: In a Different World

By: James L. Heskett and W. Earl Sasser Jr.

This is the fourth in a 35-year series of HBS cases on an organization that has changed the rules of the game globally for an entire industry by offering both differentiated and low-price service. The focus of the case is on whether Southwest Airlines should buy gates... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Organizational Culture; Competitive Strategy; Air Transportation Industry; New York (city, NY)

January 1997 (Revised February 1998)
Case

Elsie Y. Cross Associates, Inc. and CoreStates Financial Corp.

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Thomas Dretler

A consulting firm specializing in diversity and organizational change assists an 18,000-employee bank with a massive culture change effort. View Details

Keywords: Change; Size; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Diversification; Consulting Industry; Financial Services Industry

September–October 1998
Article

How to Kill Creativity

By: T. M. Amabile

The article addresses the topic of business creativity, its benefits, and how managers can inspire it. The author's research shows that it is possible to develop the best of both worlds: organizations in which business imperatives are attended to and creativity... View Details

Keywords: Creativity; Situation or Environment; Motivation and Incentives; Organizational Culture; Management Practices and Processes

March 2020
Case

Girls Who Code

By: Brian Trelstad, Amy Klopfenstein and Olivia Hull

In 2012, Reshma Saujani founded Girls Who Code (GWC) with the mission of closing the technology (tech) industry’s gender gap. While GWC offered coding education programs to middle- and high-school-aged girls, the organization also sought to alter cultural stereotypes... View Details

Keywords: Coding; Gender Stereotypes; Information Technology; Gender; Education; Programs; Performance Effectiveness; Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

November 1990 (Revised August 1992)
Case

American Airlines (C): Committing to Leadership

In an effort to grow and contain costs, the airline initiates a series of cultural change programs designed to increase employee participation and decision-making, and accordingly decrease the proportion of supervisors. CTL is the most recent, and by far the most... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership Development; Organizational Culture; Air Transportation Industry; United States

November 2011 (Revised May 2013)
Case

The Freelancers Union (A)

By: Michel Anteby and Erin McFee

Sara Horowitz faces a major strategic decision. Founder and CEO of the Freelancers Union, Horowitz has worked tirelessly to operationalize her new mutualist ideals, which comprise collective strength, independence, and shared protections. In 2008, she plans to move the... View Details

Keywords: Labor Unions

13 Aug 2020
Blog Post

The U.S. Job Search for International Students

the academic year (September – November). Other organizations recruit students throughout the winter (December – February), while still others recruit in the spring closer to graduation (March – May). What would you like international... View Details

Profile

Ann Chao

Student clubs have also been vital to this process, offering career treks, alumni networking, and the chance to connect with like-minded classmates. As a conference panel organizer for the Entertainment/Media Club, I was able to network... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment / Media

2011
Working Paper

From Counting Risk to Making Risk Count: Boundary-Work in Risk Management

By: Anette Mikes

For two decades, risk management has been gaining ground in banking. In light of the recent financial crisis, several commentators concluded that the continuing expansion of risk measurement is dysfunctional (Taleb, 2007; Power, 2009). This paper asks whether the... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Financial Crisis; Risk Management; Measurement and Metrics; Organizational Culture; Situation or Environment; Banking Industry

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14 Jan 2014
First Look

First Look: January 14

Publications January 2014 Harvard Business Review IDEO's Culture of Helping By: Amabile, Teresa, Colin M. Fisher, and Julianna Pillemer Abstract—Leaders can do few things more important than encouraging helping behavior within their... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2013
Article

Women Rising: The Unseen Barriers

By: Herminia Ibarra, Robin Ely and Deborah Kolb

Even when CEOs make gender diversity a priority—by setting aspirational goals for the proportion of women in leadership roles, insisting on diverse slates of candidates for senior positions, and developing mentoring and training programs—they are often frustrated by a... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Leadership Development; Working Conditions; Organizational Culture; Gender; Diversity

Nitin Nohria served as the tenth dean of Harvard Business School from 2010-2020. He previously served as co-chair of the Leadership Initiative, Senior Associate Dean of Faculty Development, and Head of the Organizational Behavior unit.

As Dean, building on... View Details

Article

From Counting Risk to Making Risk Count: Boundary-Work in Risk Management

By: Anette Mikes

For two decades, risk management has been gaining ground in banking. In light of the recent financial crisis, several commentators concluded that the continuing expansion of risk measurement is dysfunctional (Power, 2009; Taleb, 2007). This paper asks whether the... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Banks and Banking; Financial Crisis; Expansion; Organizational Culture; Management Teams; Managerial Roles

February 2009 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Big Spaceship: Ready to Go Big?

By: Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind

Big Spaceship, a digital marketing agency, faced a rather big challenge: How to scale the distinctive culture that was essential to its competitive strategy? Renowned for the cutting-edge websites that it developed to market major Hollywood movies and leading consumer... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Management; Human Capital; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Groups and Teams; Competitive Strategy; Value Creation

2014
Book

Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation

By: Linda A. Hill, Greg Brandeau, Emily Truelove and Kent Lineback

Why can some organizations innovate time and again, while most cannot? You might think the key to innovation is attracting exceptional creative talent. Or making the right investments. Or breaking down organizational silos. All of these things may help—but there's only... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Innovation Leadership; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Innovation and Invention