Publications

April 2011
Case

Kay Sunderland: Making the Grade at Attain Learning

By: Linda A. Hill and Heather Beckham

Kay Sunderland is an account director at Attain Learning Inc., a business training solutions company. In January 2011, one of Attain's most important clients, Juan Nunez of Gramen Equipment Company, contacts Sunderland with a request: Nunez would like Attain content... View Details

Keywords: Communication; Interpersonal Relations; Personal Strategy ＆ Style; Creativity; Conflict; Interdepartmental Relations; Talent Management; Management Style; Interpersonal Communication; Talent and Talent Management; Relationships; Conflict and Resolution; Communication Strategy; Power and Influence; Service Industry

31 Aug 2016
News

Managing McDonald’s Makeover

(McDonald's) (McDonald's) McDonald’s has a new head of US operations: Chris Kempczinski (MBA 1997). The former Kraft executive takes over effective January 1, and comes, according to the Associated Press, a year after new McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook took over and... View Details

Keywords: Food Services and Drinking Places; Hospitality

07 Jan 2013
Lessons from the Classroom

Culture Changers: Managing High-Impact Entrepreneurs

worried about students going into these culture industries only thinking in terms of traditional management styles and industry structures, bottom lines, and financial incentives, without thinking about what... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Beauty & Cosmetics; Food & Beverage; Entertainment & Recreation; Information; Publishing

April 2006
Case

Managing a Public Image: Cheri Mack

By: Robin J. Ely and Ingrid Vargas

Cheri Mack, an African-American woman, has just arrived at Harvard Business School after working for three years at a major consulting firm where she learned to adopt the demeanor of her male colleagues in order to fit in. Some of her male classmates are critical of... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Race; Reputation; Personal Development and Career; Leadership Style; Gender; Massachusetts

January 2011
Case

Program Management at Wipro Technologies

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Bradley R. Staats and Melissa Valentine

This case examines the execution of one program by Wipro Technologies, an Indian software services provider. The case also explores the evolution of program management at Wipro. View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Problems and Challenges; Leadership Style; Recruitment; Programs; Management; Information Technology Industry; India

October 2022 (Revised December 2022)
Case

Reimagining Enel: Enabling Sustainable Progress

By: Michael L. Tushman and Kerry Herman

CEO Francesco Starace is considering what is next for Enel SpA, one of world's largest energy companies. From 2014 to 2022, he has wrought a dramatic transformation at Enel, restructuring the company's business units; redeploying senior talent across functions and... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Leadership And Change Management; Leadership Style; Leadership Succession; Renewables; Energy; Transformation; Renewable Energy; Business Divisions; Digital Transformation; Restructuring; Organizational Structure; Energy Industry; Europe; Latin America; North America; Spain; Italy

05 Mar 2008
What Do You Think?

Where Will Management Innovation Take Us?

Management Style and Your Life, HBS Press 2004.) Original Article There appears to be a growing impatience with the lack of progress in management innovation and change in the... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

June 2010
Case

Managing the Client Portfolio

By: Nitin Nohria and Ashish Nanda

The German country managing partner of a global law firm must decide how to respond to a corporate mandate to restructure its client portfolio. The case enables a discussion of different types of clients in a global professional service firm in terms of relative... View Details

Keywords: Attorney and Client Relationships; Management Style; Corporate Governance; Business Subsidiaries; Business Headquarters; Conflict and Resolution

05 Dec 2018
Research & Ideas

Why Managers Should Reveal Their Failures

when we choose to be polite or rude, or to give someone else compliments or not, it’s all interpersonal regulation. “If we’re doing these things anyway, why not do it in ways that are wise, productive, and kind?” Managers can be... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

10 Aug 2009
Research & Ideas

High Commitment, High Performance Management

high commitment, high performance company. Martha Lagace: What differentiates HCHP firms and their leaders? Michael Beer: The leaders manage with a multiple stakeholder perspective. Contrary to many CEOs, HCHP leaders—with support from... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

02 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Casino Payoff: Hands-Off Management Works Best

Learning Effects of Monitoring by Dennis Campbell and Francisco de Asís Martinez-Jerez of HBS and Marc Epstein of Rice University, are the result of an extensive study of the culture and management style at... View Details

Keywords: by Dennis Fisher; Entertainment & Recreation

27 Sep 2018
Research & Ideas

Religion in the Workplace: What Managers Need to Know

considered one of the last taboos,” says Senior Lecturer Derek van Bever. “Our students have been asking for it because they see very clearly that they will be in positions of global leadership where they will have to deal with it.” To fill that need, van Bever wrote... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage; Apparel & Accessories

25 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

Rapport: The Hidden Advantage That Women Managers Bring to Teams

managerial practices necessitate a good rapport with workers, and some managerial styles and approaches only work if you have that good rapport. [Lack of rapport could] lead to increased turnover and low effort or so-called quiet... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin; Food & Beverage

05 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

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

another employer and maybe move up in rank,” Zhang says. “The career ladder is still there, but it’s changing how you play the game.” Adapting your management style The evolution of View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

27 Jun 2016
Research & Ideas

These Management Practices, Like Certain Technologies, Boost Company Performance

What’s the best way to run a company? The question has bedeviled economists as long as companies have existed. How, after all, do you measure something as soft as management style across the range of... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

22 Feb 2010
Research & Ideas

Manager Visibility No Guarantee of Fixing Problems

Observing and understanding the tasks and challenges that workers face every day is important. But managers who merely put in time "walking the floor" are not doing enough; in fact, it can make employees feel worse about their... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Health

April 2023 (Revised September 2023)
Case

Levels: The Remote, Asynchronous, Deep Work Management System

By: Joseph B. Fuller and George Gonzalez

Levels is a highly innovative startup in the health care space. They intend to revolutionize health by linking behavior—eating, exercise, sleeping, etc.—to changes in metabolism. They believe metabolic health can be managed through careful monitoring of changes in... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Business Startups; Organizational Culture; Management Style; Technology Industry; United States