Publications

July 2004 (Revised June 2005)
Case

Digitas (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Ashley Robertson

Raises issues about how the nature and function of a board changes as its company moves from ownership by its employees (including the founder) to ownership by a private equity firm, Hellman & Friedman, to public ownership. Teaching Purpose: To consider changes in... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Governing and Advisory Boards; Behavior; Organizations; Employee Ownership; Public Ownership

October 1978 (Revised November 1985)
Background Note

Managing Interpersonal Conflict

Discusses the nature and dynamics of interpersonal conflict and suggests how to diagnose and manage a conflict situation. The perspective employed is that of an interested third party who wishes to intervene in the conflict to resolve or control it. Focuses on how to... View Details

Keywords: Conflict Management

22 Aug 2021
News

We Are Not Ready for the Asynchronous Future

19 Jun 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Learning to Manage: A Field Experiment in the Indian Startup Ecosystem

Keywords: by Aaron Chatterji, Solene Delecourt, Sharique Hasan, and Rembrand Koning; Technology

September 1985 (Revised January 1986)
Case

Peter Wendell

By: William A. Sahlman

Contains a description of a decision confronting an employee of IBM in late 1981. Should he leave IBM to become head of a new venture capital fund which will specialize in technology investments? The case is designed to expose students to the nature of the opportunity... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Jobs and Positions; Opportunities; Valuation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Resignation and Termination; Venture Capital; Financial Services Industry; Computer Industry

September 2017 (Revised March 2023)
Background Note

Production Processes

By: Willy Shih and Michael W. Toffel

This note describes four broad categories of process architectures and then examines the nature of task assignment that typically would be found in a factory organized along the lines of each process type. It then delves more deeply into work flow policies, materials... View Details

Keywords: Production Management; Production Planning; Production Scheduling; Process Analysis; Process Maps; Processing Times; Process Improvement; Production; Management; Product; Consumer Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry

March 2015
Supplement

MELF and Business Culture in the Twin Cities (C)

By: Clayton S. Rose and David Lane

Leaders of the many Fortune 500 firms headquartered in Minneapolis-St. Paul have a long history of engaging collectively, and with educational, political and social leaders, to deal with important community issues. Focusing on the participation of leading CEOs in the... View Details

Keywords: Education; Business and Community Relations; Management Teams; Minneapolis; Saint Paul

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

Read Now

July 2006
Case

Paul Chesler, Director, Quality Assurance

Introduces the systemic nature of product quality and the complexity of quality problems. A new director of quality assurance discovers an apparent quality problem. The actions of different departments and functions contribute to the problem. The new director must... View Details

Keywords: Quality; Production

18 Mar 2014
News

Massachusetts' Hard Look at Hospital Mergers

31 Jul 2020
News

Remote Work Isn’t Working? Maybe Your Company Is Doing It Wrong

07 Nov 2011
News

Paul Lawrence, at 89; pioneered study of organizational behavior

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

Find at Harvard

17 Jul 2019
Blog Post

Tech for the People

HBS Leadership Fellow Henry Tsai (MBA 2017) was working as a technology and innovation advisor in the San José mayor’s office in the fall of 2017 when he began thinking about the plight of families forced from their homes during natural... View Details

August 2019 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Lemonade: Disrupting Insurance with Instant Everything, Killer Prices, and a Big Heart

By: Elie Ofek and Danielle Golan

Launching its first products in the fall of 2016 in New York, insurtech startup Lemonade was on a mission to disrupt the insurance market by using AI and behavioral economics principles. The company offered renters, homeowners, and condo insurance and mainly targeted... View Details

Keywords: AI; Business Startups; Insurance; Technological Innovation; Business Model; Disruption; Brands and Branding; Growth and Development Strategy; Global Strategy; Decision Making; Insurance Industry; Technology Industry