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04 Aug 2023
Blog Post

Four Remarkable Stories of HBS MBA Students Tackling Climate Change

their inspiring stories. Chidalu Onyenso: Empowering small business owners’ self-sufficiency Climate change and the energy crisis have disproportionately impacted underdeveloped countries View Details

07 Apr 2022
News

Change Is Hard. Here’s How to Make It Less Painful.

March 1996 (Revised April 1996)
Case

Andy Chew at Siemens Nixdorf: Change from the Middle

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and John F. McGuire

Andy Chew, a British manager reassigned to Germany by a large German computer company, is in the middle of carrying out a project as a designated "change agent" in a program to reshape the culture toward one that is more entrepreneurial for success as a nimble global... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Organizational Culture; Information Technology; Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Projects; Computer Industry; Electronics Industry; Germany

Web

Driving Social Change | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

Driving Social Change Background I’ve always been interested in public sector issues and what we call “institutional change,” especially change that breaks with the accepted... View Details

2022
Working Paper

Institutional Emplacement and the Novel Resurgence of Independent Bookstores

By: Ryan Raffaelli and Ryann Noe

This study reveals how actors leverage physical place as an asset to facilitate organizational adaptation and industry evolution. Through a longitudinal, qualitative analysis of the U.S. independent bookselling industry from 1995 to 2019, we outline how dispersed... View Details

Keywords: Industry Growth; Small Business; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Processes; Retail Industry; Publishing Industry; United States

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Web

Systems Change Forum | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

their goals. Alternatively, some might lean into their comparative advantage in area, and let go of the other. Three notable tensions 1. How, as an organizational leader, does one navigate resource... View Details

2010
Journal Article

Competitiveness: Business Model Reconfiguration for Innovation and Internationalization

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Joan E. Ricart

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on competitiveness by using the business model concept and to understand the need to adapt business models to changes in the environment. View Details

Keywords: Modeling Innovation; Business Improvement; Spain; Competitive Strategy; Business Model; Change; Globalization; Innovation and Invention; Situation or Environment; Competition

Find at Harvard

May 1990 (Revised July 1996)
Case

Ingvar Kamprad and IKEA

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Ashish Nanda

Traces the development of a Swedish furniture retailer under the leadership of an innovative and unconventional entrepreneur whose approaches redefine the nature and structure of the industry. Traces IKEA's growth from a tiny mail order business to the world's largest... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development; Innovation Strategy; Leadership; Management Succession; Distribution; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Expansion; Value; Retail Industry

July 2017 (Revised March 2019)
Technical Note

The Future of Mobility: Economic, Environmental, and Social Implications

By: George Serafeim and David Freiberg

This technical note explores how advancements in technology are fundamentally transforming how consumers interact with mobility. Transformation is being driven by three independent trends: the emergence of affordable electric vehicles, the development of autonomous... View Details

Keywords: Oil ＆ Gas; Automobile Manufacturing; Technological And Scientific Innovation; Mobility; Inequality; Electric Vehicles; Ride-sharing; Ambidexterity; Transformation; Disruption; Change; Technological Innovation; Transportation; Equality and Inequality; Auto Industry; Technology Industry; Transportation Industry; Distribution Industry

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

Article

How to (Inadvertently) Sabotage Your Organization

By: Stefan Thomke

Some of the biggest threats to organizational performance can and do come from within. In an age when companies are told to be agile, to learn from experiments, and to be entrepreneurial, we are still vulnerable to actions — deliberate or unintentional — that stem from... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices; Effective Managers; Self-awareness; CIA,; Organizational Behavior; Management Practices and Processes; Organizations; Behavior; Performance

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April 2011 (Revised September 2011)
Case

BlackRock Solutions

By: Kenneth A. Froot and Scott Waggoner

The BlackRock Solutions case examines the different functions and economics of a global asset manager's value chain, with particular emphasis on the "money management" and the "investment systems platform" businesses. Students analyze why BlackRock decided to unbundle... View Details

Keywords: Investment Management; Strategic Vision; Organizational Behavior; Economies Of Scale And Scope; Unbundling Of Services; Strategic Planning; Risk Management; Financial Management; Asset Management; Competitive Advantage; Value; Corporate Strategy; Organizational Culture; Investment; Financial Strategy

May 2024
Case

Shell's Balancing Act: Resource Allocation and the Green Transition

By: David Collis and Haisley Wert

In mid-2023, amid pressure from climate change activists, shareholder activists, and confronting enormous uncertainty about the future demand for and price of fossil fuels, new Shell CEO Wael Sawan (Harvard MBA 2003) announced a change in strategy for the U.K. oil... View Details

Keywords: Portfolio Analysis; Climate; Oil; Oil And Gas; Oil Companies; Renewables; Petroleum; Investor Demand; Investors; Corporate Strategy; Resource Allocation; Climate Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations; Energy Industry; United Kingdom

September 2007 (Revised October 2007)
Supplement

Children's Hospital and Clinics (B)

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Ingrid M. Nembhard and Kate Roloff

Explores the numerous initiatives Children's Hospital and Clinics has undertaken to improve patient safety since the late 1990s--from the perspective of 2007. The case thus updates the A case by revisiting the hospital to find out what happened as a result of the... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Legal Liability; Leadership; Management Teams; Health Industry

May 2014
Case

Gunfire at Sea (multi-media case)

By: Michael Tushman and Tom Ryder

This short video illustrates the challenges of leading innovation and change. This classic case (one of the oldest in the HBS system) retains its timeliness. The case describes how Lt. Sims develops a new form of gunfire at sea—continuous aim gunfire. While 3,000% more... View Details

Keywords: Organization Behavior; Change; Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Innovation Leadership; United States

10 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

The COVID Two-Step for Leaders: Protect and Pivot

fabricated or real crisis is an essential ingredient for effective change management, as an existential threat breaks down many barriers to change. With such an unprecedented crisis, it is stretching and... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly Baden

September 2019 (Revised December 2022)
Supplement

Cooking Down a Storm: Changing Culture at Pasta Serafina (B)

By: Susanna Gallani, Francesca Gino and Raffaella Sadun

The case complements Pasta Serafina (A) by describing the aftermath of a town hall meeting in which management had publicly denounced the absenteeism problem and challenged the employees to find a solution. In spite of the initial mistrust against management, the fear... View Details

Keywords: Absenteeism; Employees; Behavior; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Employee Relationship Management; Problems and Challenges; Decision Making; Performance Evaluation

Article

Capabilities, Cognition and Inertia: Evidence from Digital Imaging

By: M. Tripsas and G. Gavetti

There is empirical evidence that established firms often have difficulty adapting to radical technological change. Although prior work in the evolutionary tradition emphasizes the inertial forces associated with the local nature of learning processes, little... View Details

Keywords: Business Offices; Organizations; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques