Publications

July 2003 (Revised December 2003)
Case

Mitchells/Richards

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Corey B. Hajim

Describes a small, luxury retail chain's operational sophistication achieved through the use of technology and high-touch customer service. A family-run business, Mitchells has built its success with a customer service strategy know internally as "hugging." The term is... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Expansion; Family Business; Attitudes; Organizational Culture; Luxury; Customer Focus and Relationships; Retail Industry

28 Oct 2015
Research & Ideas

A Dedication to Creation: India's Ad Man Ranjan Kapur

hour-long discussion driving around the city. Young Kapur had just joined the firm Ogilvy & Mather after a brief stint at Citibank, where he’d decided he needed a more creative career. His conversation with Ogilvy confirmed that he’d made the right decision. “The... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Advertising

February 2005 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Shinhan Financial Group (A)

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Ryan Raffaelli

Mr. Young Hwi Choi, president and CEO of Shinhan Financial Group, embarked on an unconventional post-merger integration strategy with recently acquired Chohung Bank. The strategy focused on integrating traditional operations while attending to employees' reactions to... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Change Management; Employees; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Emotions; Integration; South Korea

August 1992 (Revised December 1994)
Case

Sexual Harassment, Free Speech or ...?

By: Lynn S. Paine

Presents two brief vignettes about female employees who object to gender discrimination in their work environment. In one case, the manager of a convenience store removes "adult" magazines from the store's shelves because she sees them as damaging to women. In the... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Working Conditions; Law; Behavior; Managerial Roles; Crime and Corruption; Groups and Teams; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Gender

2018
Working Paper

Trust and Democracy: Leader Turnover during Economic Crises

By: Nathan Nunn, Nancy Qian and Jaya Y. Wen

We study the relationship between interpersonal trust and political stability in democratic countries. Using a six-decade-long annual country-level panel dataset, we find that recessions are more likely to cause political turnover in countries with lower levels of... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Trust; Recessions; Leader Turnover; Political Instability; Culture; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Trust; Political Elections

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March 1981 (Revised February 1993)
Case

Hank Kolb, Director, Quality Assurance

By: Frank S. Leonard and W. Earl Sasser

Designed to introduce the systemic nature of product quality and the complexity of quality problems. Uses a new director, quality assurance, and the discovery of a quality problem. The new director has to decide if it is a real problem, what to do about it, and how to... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Product; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Quality; Attitudes; Complexity

16 Sep 2002
Research & Ideas

The Irrational Quest for Charismatic CEOs

image of a cowboy, the Lone Ranger, or Prince Valiant coming in to clean up the town or rescue the distressed. So, in many ways they are just as much embedded in this larger kind of cultural construct. If you look at business magazines,... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

May 2024
Teaching Note

Making Progress at Progress Software (A) and (B)

By: Katherine Baldiga Coffman, Hannah Riley Bowles, Emma Ronzetti and Alexis Lefort

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 924-010 and 924-011. View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; Organizational Culture; Performance Evaluation; Prejudice and Bias; Employee Relationship Management; Personal Development and Career; Technology Industry

June 2008
Teaching Note

The Treadway Tire Company: Trouble at the Lima Tire Plant (Brief Case)

By: C. Wickham Skinner and Heather Beckham

Teaching Note for (2189) View Details

Keywords: Superior ＆ Subordinate; Labor Relations; Work Force Management; Human Resource Management; Hiring; Job Satisfaction; Leadership; Selection and Staffing; Change Management; Satisfaction; Organizational Culture; Rank and Position; Labor and Management Relations

October 2024
Article

Racial Inequality in Organizations: A Systems Psychodynamic Perspective

By: Sanaz Mobasseri, William A. Kahn and Robin J. Ely

This paper uses systems psychodynamic concepts to develop theory about the persistence of racial inequality in U.S. organizations and to inform an approach for disrupting it. We treat White men as the dominant group and Black people as the archetypal subordinate group... View Details

Keywords: Equality and Inequality; Race; Prejudice and Bias; Organizational Culture; Gender; Power and Influence; Employees; Attitudes

Find at Harvard

2006
Working Paper

The Limits of Authority: Motivation versus Coordination

By: Eric J. Van den Steen

This paper studies the effects of open disagreement on motivation and coordination. It shows how, in the presence of differing priors, motivation and coordination impose conflicting demands on the allocation of authority, leading to a trade-off between the... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Governance Controls; Organizational Culture; Agency Theory; Conflict and Resolution; Motivation and Incentives

SSRN

10 Sep 2013
First Look

First Look: September 10

hold when considering changes in India's incumbent industry structures from 1989, determined before large-scale deregulation began, to 2005. Publisher's link: http://www.people.hbs.edu/wkerr/Ghani_Kerr_OConnell_RS_IndiaSpatial-8-26-13.pdf 2006 View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

16 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

At the Center of Corporate Scandal Where Do We Go From Here?

organizational processes, systems, and culture that drive individual and organizational integrity. Accountability and responsibility to customers, the larger community, and society. Of course, we ought to—and we do—come at this work with... View Details

Keywords: by Kim B. Clark

09 Jun 2015
First Look

First Look: June 9, 2015

Publications June 2015 Perspectives on Psychological Science Three Principles to REVISE People's Unethical Behavior By: Ayal, S., F. Gino, R. Barkan, and D. Ariely Abstract— Dishonesty and unethical behavior are widespread in the public... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 2017
Teaching Plan

An Intern's Dilemma (A) and (B)

By: Sandra J. Sucher

Teaching Plan for HBS Nos. 316-128 and 316-129. View Details

Keywords: Conflict; Leadership; Conflict Management; Competition; Ethics; Knowledge Acquisition; Organizational Culture; Employees; Power and Influence

01 Jul 2002
Research & Ideas

What it Takes to Lead Through Turmoil

Succeeding in the Digital Culture of Tomorrow. Denial The "change journeys" of the leaders and laggards, which often come in three phases, could not be more different. For laggards, that journey looks like this, Kanter said.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

2021
Book

Harvard Business Review Family Business Handbook: How to Build and Sustain a Successful, Enduring Enterprise

By: Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer

Navigate the complex decisions and critical relationships necessary to create and sustain a healthy family business--and business family. Though "family business" may sound like it refers only to mom-and-pop shops, businesses owned by families are among the most... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Entrepreneurship; Family and Family Relationships; Outcome or Result; Business Model; Conflict and Resolution; Organizational Culture