Publications

January 2007
Teaching Note

Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance (TN)

By: Nancy F. Koehn

Teaching Note to 803127. View Details

Keywords: Leadership Style; Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Moral Sensibility; Groups and Teams; Managerial Roles; Crisis Management; Goals and Objectives; Antarctica

March 2013
Case

Robin Ash and Printzhof Press

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Lynda St. Clair

Robin Ash has just been promoted to Chief Operating Officer of Printzhof Press and Vice President of its parent company, Education and Entertainment Holdings, Inc. Her first objective is to create an action plan that will achieve two seemingly contradictory corporate... View Details

Keywords: United States; Organizational Change; Management Styles; General Management; Change Management; Morale; Communication; Human Resource Management; Book Publishing; Information Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Conflict Management; Leading Change; Competitive Strategy; Organizational Culture; Planning; Education Industry; Publishing Industry

August 2020
Case

This Old House of Worship: St. Anthony Shrine (A)

By: Ryan Raffaelli

This multimedia case asks students to consider how leaders of non-profit organizations manage difficult financial, operational, and cultural turnarounds. Since its founding in 1947, St. Anthony Shrine had been a central partner in serving the Downtown Boston community.... View Details

Keywords: Leadership And Change Management; Turnarounds; Non-profit Management; Leadership; Change Management; Nonprofit Organizations; Management; Religion; Mission and Purpose; Transformation; Organizational Culture; United States

April 2009 (Revised July 2009)
Module Note

Delivering Personally on Responsibility

By: Joshua D. Margolis

How can individuals equip themselves to exercise leadership in the face of moral adversity? This six-session module aims to prepare students to meet moral responsibility when it is simultaneously most essential and most difficult. Moral adversity refers to situations... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Leadership; Moral Sensibility; Leadership Development

15 Apr 2024
Book

Struggling With a Big Management Decision? Start by Asking What Really Matters

book Your True Moral Compass: Defining Reality, Responsibility, and Practicality in Your Leadership Moments. In the following excerpt from the book, Badaracco, the John Shad Professor of Business Ethics,... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

06 Jun 2011
Research & Ideas

Why Leaders Lose Their Way

people; rather, they lose their moral bearings, often yielding to seductions in their paths. Very few people go into leadership roles to cheat or do evil, yet we all have the capacity for actions we deeply... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

25 Jun 2001
Lessons from the Classroom

Machiavelli, Morals, and You

of career-life tradeoffs, Badaracco said. "This is where we really get into these issues of accountability. And the second big test of moral leadership is not what kind of character you have or what... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

March 2017 (Revised June 2019)
Case

CEO Activism (A)

By: Michael W. Toffel, Aaron K. Chatterji and Julia Kelley

This case introduces CEO activism, a phenomenon in which business leaders engage in political or social issues that do not relate directly to their companies. The case uses several examples to describe why business leaders are engaging in CEO activism and the potential... View Details

August 2008
Case

Sloan & Harrison: The Associate Challenge

By: Boris Groysberg and Eliot Sherman

The law firm, Sloan & Harrison, was confronting issues pertaining to morale and turnover among its associate ranks. Annual surveys of associates revealed increasing dissatisfaction, particularly with respect to partner communication, work-life balance, and mentorship.... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Employees; Human Resources; Leadership Development; Management Style; Performance; Work-Life Balance; Conflict Management; Legal Services Industry

Research Summary

Overview

By: Julian J. Zlatev

First, Professor Zlatev studies how people make decisions that reinforce a sense that they are good or moral. He studies the psychology behind dual motive behaviors—actions that incorporate self-interested and prosocial motives—and the structure of moral identity. For... View Details

March 1999 (Revised August 1999)
Case

SCORE! Educational Centers (D)

Describes Rob Waldron's actions upon assuming leadership of SCORE! Educational Centers, an after-school tutoring enterprise. Examines the issue of acquiring and growing a small, self-owned company into a professional organization. Focuses on the steps Waldron takes to... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Business Growth and Maturation; Employee Relationship Management; Teaching; Recruitment; Education Industry; United States

February 2007 (Revised March 2007)
Module Note

Things Fall Apart Summary: The Challenge of New Principles

By: Sandra J. Sucher

A summary of the major themes discussed in the fourth class of The Moral Leader (EC curriculum). View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Leadership; Decision Making; Moral Sensibility

August 1999
Case

Rob Waldron at SCORE! Educational Centers

Describes Rob Waldron's actions upon assuming leadership of SCORE! Educational Centers, an after-school tutoring enterprise. Examines the issue of acquiring and growing a small, self-owned company into a professional organization. Focuses on the steps Waldron takes to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Education

Find at Harvard

April 2021 (Revised August 2024)
Case

The Turnaround at Ford Motor Company

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Olivia Jung

This case describes the corporate turnaround of the Ford Motor Company under the charismatic leadership of Alan Mulally. Ford was in deep trouble in the early 2000s as its prices and debt ratings plummeted and employee morale suffered. In 2006, the company anticipated... View Details

Keywords: Turnaround; Transformation; Restructuring; Organizational Culture; Leading Change; Performance Improvement; Auto Industry; North America