Publications

27 Feb 2013
Working Paper Summaries

In Strange Company: The Puzzle of Private Investment in State-Controlled Firms

Keywords: by Mariana Pargendler, Aldo Musacchio & Sergio G. Lazzarini; Banking; Financial Services

08 Aug 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Entrepreneurship and Business History: Renewing the Research Agenda

Keywords: by Geoffrey G. Jones & R. Daniel Wadhwani

Research Summary

Professor Gilbert's research focuses on the areas of corporate entrepreneurship, discontinuous change, cognitive framing, and strategic resource allocation. Below is an description of his most recent research paper: 'Unbundling the Structure of Interia: Resource vs.... View Details

December 1989 (Revised February 1993)
Case

Frito-Lay, Inc.: A Strategic Transition (C)

By: Lynda M. Applegate

In 1989, Frito-Lay designed an information technology infrastructure to support time-based competition and organizational restructuring. The company planned to provide timely flexible information to all major decision makers at all levels. This case describes the... View Details

Keywords: Design; Information Technology; Information Infrastructure; Competitive Strategy; Time Management; Organizational Structure; Information Management; Strategic Planning; Performance Effectiveness; Decision Choices and Conditions; Food and Beverage Industry; Manufacturing Industry

2014
Teaching Note

Bluestar's Acquisition of Adisseo (B) (TN)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Donghong Li and Lei Li

This case describes the post-M&A integration of Adisseo of France in 2006 by Bluestar Group, the largest subsidiary of ChemChina (a Fortune 500 company) until 2013. Adisseo was mainly engaged in production of methionine, a feed additive, while China had no methionine... View Details

Keywords: Internationalization; Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Postmerger Integration; Strategy; China; France; Chemicals; China; France

June 2010
Article

Change for Change's Sake

By: Freek Vermeulen, Phanish Puranam and Ranjay Gulati

No one disputes that firms have to make organizational changes when the business environment demands them. But the idea that a firm might want change for its own sake often provokes skepticism. Why inflict all that pain if you don't have to? That is a dangerous... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Innovation and Invention; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Creativity; Power and Influence; Adaptation

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05 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

The Middle Manager of the Future: More Coaching, Less Commanding

American Journal of Sociology. While artificial intelligence promises to transform the workplace and disrupt the organizational chart, Zhang’s research suggests that middle managers will still play a key role even in innovation-heavy... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

April 2003
Case

HP-Cisco Alliance (A), The

In 2002, Hewlett-Packard and Cisco Systems strove to develop their long-standing partnership into a strategic alliance with increasing impact. Critical components of successful alliance implementation emerge from the analysis. Specifically, the case illuminates the... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Interpersonal Communication; Organizational Design; Alliances; Organizational Structure

February 2000 (Revised October 2000)
Case

E-commerce at Williams-Sonoma

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Daniel Galvin

Describes Williams-Sonoma's development of a third channel of business on the Internet. Describes the strategies for managing changes in the organizational, operational, and technological structure of the company. The new e-commerce division confronts challenges posed... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Internet and the Web; Trade; Corporate Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Operations; Information Technology; Technological Innovation; Information Technology Industry; Retail Industry; California

May 2005 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Arctic Timber AB: Engineered Woods Division (A)

By: Michael L. Tushman, David Kiron and Wendy Smith

Describes the leadership challenges involved in managing strategic innovation and change in a highly mature business unit. Allows systematic exploration of organizational structures, incentives, competencies, and culture that impede innovation. Pivots on a new leader's... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Leadership; Management Teams; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure

Research Summary

Automotive Product Development

At present, my primary research focus is studying product development in the auto industry. I am working with Stefan Thomke (HBS) and Takahiro Fujimoto (University of Tokyo) on the 4th Round of the Global Automotive Development Study. The first round of this... View Details

March 1992 (Revised June 1992)
Case

Thermo Electron Corp.

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

George Hatsopoulos, CEO at Thermo Electron Corp., is considering whether to issue shares in a subsidiary via an initial public offering (IPO). The company has developed an unusual corporate structure in which subsidiaries fund new ventures by raising debt and equity in... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Business Subsidiaries; Resource Allocation; Valuation; Organizational Structure; Business Headquarters; Initial Public Offering; Capital Structure; Capital Markets; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance; Semiconductor Industry; Technology Industry

March 2015 (Revised December 2016)
Case

Philips Healthcare Latin America

By: Sunil Gupta

On a beautiful sunny afternoon in October 2013, Daniel Mazon (GMP 15), decided to take some time out of his busy schedule of the General Management Program (GMP) at the Harvard Business School to reflect on his company's situation. Mazon was the Vice President and... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Latin America; Organizational Structure; Salesforce Management; Health Care and Treatment; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Health Industry; Latin America

June 2020
Case

RBC: Transforming Transformation (A)

By: Ethan Bernstein, Francesca Gino and Aldo Sesia

In 2017, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), a Canadian financial icon, mandated a swat team of “enablers of collaboration” (their job description) to support the personal and commercial bank in the enterprise-wide RBC Cultural Transformation initiative. Historically,... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Information Technology; Transformation; Change Management; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Decision Making; Human Resources; Management Systems; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Groups and Teams; Management Teams; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Canada

January 2008 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Glass Egg Digital Media

Glass Egg is an outsource games development firm in Vietnam. They are able to offer brand-name publishers-Microsoft EA, Atari-significant cost savings in the development of art assets for their video games. However, the firm's management find themselves at a point at... View Details

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Product Development; Organizational Structure; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

05 Jun 2006
Research & Ideas

Using Competition to Reform Healthcare

Knowledge next month.How can providers compete on value? To do so, they must embrace a series of strategic and organizational imperatives, shown in Figure 5-1. We describe the imperatives in the context of hospitals and physician groups.... View Details

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter; Health

January 2001 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Novartis Pharma: The Business Unit Model

By: Srikant M. Datar, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis

In June 2000, Novartis reorganized its pharmaceutical business to form global business units in oncology, transplantation, ophthalmology, and mature products. The remaining primary care products continued to be managed within global functions (e.g., R&D and marketing).... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Recruitment; Product Marketing; Organizational Structure; Problems and Challenges; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

2020
Book

Competing in the Age of AI: Strategy and Leadership When Algorithms and Networks Run the World

By: Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani

In industry after industry, data, analytics, and AI-driven processes are transforming the nature of work. While we often still treat AI as the domain of a specific skill, business function, or sector, we have entered a new era in which AI is challenging the very... View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Technological Innovation; Change; Competition; Strategy; Leadership; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; AI and Machine Learning

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