Publications

November 1992
Case

PPG: Developing a Self-Directed Work Force (A)

By: David A. Garvin and Norman Klein

PPG has built a state-of-the-art glass plant in Berea, Kentucky. The plant is pursuing the goal of a "self-directed workforce." The case describes the progress to date and the unresolved issues faced by management. These include questions about shift rotation,... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Organizational Culture; Managerial Roles; Management Style

September 13, 2023
Article

The Myth of the CEO as Ultimate Decision Maker

By: Nitin Nohria

Chief executives are responsible for guiding corporations, so the role inevitably requires making many decisions. But people overestimate the level of personal involvement CEOs have in this process. Instead of making decisions, CEOs tend to shape decisions, by... View Details

Keywords: Problem Solving; Delegation; Leadership Style; Decision Making; Time Management; Power and Influence

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October 2011
Exercise

Energy Necklace Sculpture Challenge: Leader-2 Instructions

By: Joshua D. Margolis and Anthony J. Mayo

Explains the exercise and role of the team leader for the Energy Necklace Sculpture Challenge. View Details

Keywords: Leadership Style; Managerial Roles; Management Teams

30 Jan 2019
What Do You Think?

Who Will Measure up to These Two Remarkable Leaders?

didn’t need to be chasing more income. He built a business on the belief that the term “investment management” was an oxymoron, that an unmanaged portfolio of every stock weighted to reflect the performance of an entire market would outperform a View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Air Transportation; Financial Services

January 2008 (Revised May 2014)
Case

Kazuo Inamori, a Japanese Entrepreneur

By: Anthony J. Mayo, Masako Egawa and Mayuka Yamazaki

The case provides insight into a business leader whose cognizance of contextual forces (social, economic, and political) allowed him to drive significant change in an industry and Japanese society in the second half of the twentieth century. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business History; Leading Change; Management Style; Personal Development and Career; Telecommunications Industry; Japan

July 2000
Case

Dawn Riley at America True (B)

By: Linda A. Hill and Kristin Doughty

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Leadership; Problems and Challenges; Sports; Gender; Business Startups; North and Central America; New Zealand; San Francisco

19 Dec 2012
Research & Ideas

How to be Extremely Productive

having everyone come together on a way it can get done by a mutually agreed deadline. Q: On the subject of management styles, you write about the wisdom of adapting your personal style to that of your boss.... View Details

Keywords: by Deborah Blagg

September 2004 (Revised June 2005)
Case

Hancock Land Company and Hancock Lumber Company (A)

By: John A. Davis, Dwight B. Crane and Kelly M. Mulderry

After inheriting the leadership of their family's land and lumber companies, Matt and Kevin Hancock struggled with how to revise their internally focused governance system. View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Governance; Leadership Style; Growth Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation

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

27 Apr 2015
Lessons from the Classroom

Leadership Lessons From Outer Space

Spangler Auditorium at HBS. Hands-off is Virts' usual management style in the space station, he said, considering the pedigrees of the current crew. His colleagues and bunkmates include former ISS commander... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Aerospace

February 2018
Case

Robert K. Steel at Wachovia (A)

By: Gautam Mukunda, Nien-hê Hsieh and David Lane

In September 2008, Robert Steel presided over the sale of Wachovia, a top U.S. bank, less than three months after becoming its CEO. Wachovia’s exposure to risky home loans led depositors and creditors to flee the bank on Friday, September 26, after the FDIC seized and... View Details

November 1992
Case

Primerica: Sandy Weill and His Corporate Entrepreneurs

By: Andrall E. Pearson and Philip M. Rosenzweig

As CEO of Primerica, Sandy Weill has built a $6.6 billion company from acquisitions and underperforming firms. The case examines Weill's distinctive approach to building, managing, and leading an organization that seeks the benefits of scale without the problems of... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Business or Company Management; Acquisition

December 1997 (Revised February 2002)
Case

Franco Bernabe at ENI (A)

By: Linda A. Hill, Jennifer Suesse and Mara Willard

Describes Franco Bernabe's ascent to leadership at ENI, Italy's national oil and gas company. Illustrates Bernabe's early career experiences in academia, as the chief economist at Fiat. Then describes his arrival at ENI during the early 1980s, where he became first the... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Style; Personal Development and Career; Management Teams; Management Style; Strategic Planning; Crisis Management; Privatization; Italy

October 1992
Supplement

Cooper Industries Video

By: David J. Collis

Bob Gigile, Chairman and CEO of Cooper Industries, describes the company's philosophy behind acquisitions and his corporate strategy. He then answers questions raised by the case discussion. View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Management Style; Corporate Strategy

December 2010
Article

The Hidden Advantages of Quiet Bosses

By: A. M. Grant, F. Gino and D. A. Hoffman

The article discusses research that identified situations where introverts are more apt to be effective leaders than extroverts. Although it is generally accepted that extroverts make the best leaders, the authors found that introverts can be better in unpredictable,... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Leadership; Management Style; Groups and Teams; Personal Characteristics

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March 2022
Article

From Proprietary to Collective Governance: How Do Platform Participation Strategies Evolve?

By: Siobhan O'Mahony and Rebecca Karp

When platform leaders change the rules guiding who can access and control a platform, the strategies of those who create value from the platform can be upended. Little research examines how platform participants adapt their strategies when a platform leader changes the... View Details

Keywords: Platform Governance; Access; Crowdsourcing; Applications and Software; Employees; Leadership Style; Cybersecurity; Risk Management

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05 Feb 2015
Research & Ideas

How New BofA Executives Learn its ’Deep Smarts’

as what the new leader needs to know about the inherited leadership team and the challenges that the new leader will face. Team members may also raise questions that they would like to have addressed by the new leader, such as management... View Details

Keywords: Re: Dorothy A. Leonard; Banking

May 1984 (Revised May 1989)
Case

Cleveland Twist Drill (B)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh

Describes events at Cleveland Twist Drill between April 1982 and February 1983. Jim Bartlett's approach to the union and the implementation of the "move strategy" are described. Students are asked to evaluate these actions and to develop plans for dealing with current... View Details

Keywords: History; Management Style; Leadership Style; Standards; Power and Influence

January–February 2014
Article

Blame Me

By: Kevin Sharer

The author looks at the psychological side of management, discussing his realization that thinking about and acknowledging his own contributions to organizational underperformance or other work problems is critical to getting employees to improve and generating... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Perspective; Relationships; Performance