Publications

October 1992 (Revised December 1997)
Case

Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program

Describes the design and implemenation of a quality improvement program. Sterling Chemical's management hoped the program would improve teamwork and productivity at the plant. View Details

Keywords: Quality; Groups and Teams; Performance Productivity; Performance Improvement; Chemical Industry

October 2024
Teaching Plan

Teamworks: Tackling a Forecasting Fumble

By: Lou Shipley and Stacy Straaberg

In late March 2018, Teamworks CEO Zach Maurides learned Q1 2018 sales were at risk for a large forecasting miss. Founded in 2004, Teamworks’s software application assisted support staff in messaging, scheduling, and sharing documents with collegiate and professional... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Communication Strategy; Decisions; Forecasting and Prediction; Business Cycles; Technological Innovation; Sports; Growth and Development Strategy; Resource Allocation; Marketing; Sales; Business Strategy; Expansion; Sports Industry; Technology Industry; United States; North Carolina

March 2024
Case

Teamworks: Tackling a Forecasting Fumble (A)

By: N. Louis Shipley and Stacy Straaberg

In late March 2018, Teamworks CEO Zach Maurides learned Q1 2018 sales were at risk for a large forecasting miss. Founded in 2004, Teamworks’s software application assisted support staff in messaging, scheduling, and sharing documents with collegiate and professional... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Communication Strategy; Decisions; Forecasting and Prediction; Business Cycles; Technological Innovation; Sports; Growth and Development Strategy; Resource Allocation; Marketing; Sales; Business Strategy; Expansion; Sports Industry; Technology Industry; United States; North Carolina

News

How Sports Impacts The Lives Of Girls And Women Long After Their Playing Days Are Done

04 May 2017
News

Leading a Team to the Top of Mount Everest

February 1991 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Ann Hopkins (A)

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Ilyse Barkan

Intended to help students understand the many barriers organizations face as their members and their management ranks grow more diverse. As a case on business ethics, it encourages students to discuss what "fairness" and "diversity" mean when an organization is also... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Employee Relationship Management; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Problems and Challenges; Groups and Teams

23 Jun 2015
News

The Leadership Behaviors That Make or Break a Global Team

April 1997
Case

Romeo Engine Plant (Abridged)

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Amy P. Hutton

A newly reopened automobile engine plant has been organized along total quality and teamwork principles. Employees now solve problems and ensure quality, rather than watch parts being produced. New operating and financial systems have been installed to promote... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Cost Management; Groups and Teams; Employees; Performance Improvement; Auto Industry

09 May 2011
News

Cisco and a Cautionary Tale about Teams

13 Nov 2019
News

Amy Edmondson: Psychological safety is critically important in medicine

07 Oct 2019
News

In praise of dissenters

21 Jun 2012
News

Put the smartphone down: It'll be okay

November 1993 (Revised March 1997)
Case

Romeo Engine Plant

By: Amy P. Hutton and Robert S. Kaplan

A newly reopened automobile engine plant has been organized along total quality and teamwork principles. Employees now is to solve problems and ensure quality, rather than watch parts being produced. New operating and financial systems have been installed to promote... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Motivation and Incentives; Management Practices and Processes; Groups and Teams; Performance Efficiency; Performance Improvement; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry

April 2020
Case

Cockpit Dynamics in Air France 447 and United 232

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Joshua Raymond

This case compares leadership and team dynamics between the cockpit crews in two renowned passenger airline crashes, twenty years apart: Air France 447 in 2009 and United 232 in 1989. The key dimensions of difference across the cases include organization and task... View Details

Keywords: Teams; Team Launch; Crisis Management; Groups and Teams; Leadership; Communication; Air Transportation Industry

06 Dec 2022
HBS Seminar

Elizabeth Lyons, UC San Diego

August 1991
Case

Momenta Corp. (A)

Momenta is a one-month-old high-tech company founded by Kamran Elahian who has already helped found two other successful firms. Having faced problems of teamwork and communication before, Kamran is determined to establish the right corporate culture early on. Teaching... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Business Startups

July 2008
Exercise

Information Use by Managers in Decision Making: A Team Exercise

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Ann Cullen

The purpose of this exercise is to explore the challenges of information collection and analysis. Students will, experientially, gain insights into how information is used and be exposed to a framework for identifying and evaluating information. In addition, the... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Decision Making; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Managerial Roles; Business Processes; Groups and Teams

November 1991 (Revised June 1992)
Case

AT&T: The Dallas Works (B)

Describes the innovative use of a cross-level team as a tool for driving change at a troubled AT&T plant. After the team is disbanded, the case raises questions about the group's achievements, and about how well the organization is positioned to tackle the changes that... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Groups and Teams; Telecommunications Industry; Texas