Publications

September 2024 (Revised December 2024)
Case

Ming Min Hui at Boston Ballet

By: Edward H. Chang, David Allen and Annelena Lobb

This case asks how Ming Min Hui, the newly appointed executive director of Boston Ballet, should ensure that the company stays true to its art form yet relevant to its times. Hui stood out among ballet leaders as a young, Asian American woman with a Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: Arts; Change; Diversity; Gender; Race; Theater Entertainment; Leadership; Management; Nonprofit Organizations; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States; Massachusetts; Boston

November 2000 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Bush Boake Allen

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Ashok Nimgade

Bush Boake Allen, a flavor and fragrance firm, is considering strategic options that would integrate customers into its innovation process via a potentially disruptive Internet-based technology. As this approach could result in dramatic changes to the firm's business... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Disruptive Innovation; Technological Innovation; Management Teams; Product Design; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Conflict Management; Internet; Chemical Industry

March 2012
Article

Enriching the Ecosystem

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

To remain a leader in innovation, the United States needs the support of foundational institutions that help seed, grow, and renew enterprises. Historically, these institutions-such as universities, venture creators, labor markets, and job-training programs-have tended... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Organizations; Research and Development; Social and Collaborative Networks; Growth and Development Strategy; United States

March 2001 (Revised May 2001)
Case

Corning 1983-1996: Transition at the Top

By: Michael J. Roberts and Michael L. Tushman

Focuses on Jamie Houghton's efforts to revitalize Corning from 1983-1996, including the development of a very strong set of values and culture. The issue centers around Roger Ackerman's rise to president, then chairman/CEO, and his drive to both change the business... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Management Teams; Strategy

Find at Harvard

July 1997
Case

Walt Disney's Dennis Hightower: Weaving Together the European Operations

By: Ashish Nanda

The case describes the actions taken by Dennis Hightower as president of Disney Consumer Products in Europe and the Middle East from 1988 to 1994. It focuses on how he has gone about establishing a regional office and knitting local operations closer together, the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business or Company Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Middle East; Europe

25 Jul 2019
Blog Post

Advancing a More Sustainable World with an MBA/MPA-ID

commons where the equilibrium is not a stable one, and incentives to deviate are high for individual actors (profitability strikes again!). Consequently, a lot of the game theory we studied actually comes... View Details

13 Mar 2005
Research & Ideas

Reinforcing Values: A Public Dressing Down

Faced with the need for massive change, most managers respond predictably. They revamp the organization's strategy, then round up the usual set of suspects—people, pay, and processes—shifting around staff,... View Details

Keywords: by David A. Garvin & Michael A. Roberto

10 Jan 2005
Research & Ideas

How to Put Meaning Back into Leading

early-twentieth-century social scientists is what we call "the meaning and organization problem." One of the main trends of modern society was the rise of large formal work organizations.... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

March 2025
Case

Taylor Guitars: Making Employee Ownership Work The Taylor Way

By: Dennis Campbell, Petros Kusmu and Stacy Straaberg

In 2013, guitar manufacturer Taylor Guitars’ co-founders Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug were considering several exit options including selling to a competitor or to a private equity firm. The co-founders decided, instead, to embark on a seven-year process to transfer 100%... View Details

September 2006 (Revised April 2007)
Supplement

Tim Keller at Katzenbach Partners LLC (B)

By: Boris Groysberg, Christopher Marquis and Ayesha Kanji

Supplements the (A) case. The (B) case presents the final outcome of the events. Reveals how Keller is able to turn around perceptions about him and forge relationships with key decision makers. Includes reflections and lessons learned from all parties and Keller's... View Details

Keywords: Projects; Management; Leadership; Organizations; Situation or Environment; Competition; Rank and Position; Attitudes; Motivation and Incentives; Consulting Industry

26 Mar 2008
First Look

First Look: March 26, 2008

Working PapersDiffusing Management Practices within the Firm: The Role of Information Provision Authors:Michael J. Lenox and Michael W. Toffel Abstract A key role of corporate View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

15 Jul 2008
First Look

First Look: July 15, 2008

distributional issues, and the likely effects of reforms to tax provisions such as the AMT are considered. Download the paper from SSRN.com ($5): http://www.nber.org/papers/w14149 Inexperienced Investors and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

17 Oct 2007
Research & Ideas

Why Global Brands Work

bureaucracy in which regional managers exaggerate the need for local adaptations to defend their turf; and a deteriorating market share, financial performance, and stock price.... View Details

Keywords: by John A. Quelch; Auto

22 Dec 2015
First Look

December 22, 2015

International Management Entrepreneurial Imagination and a Demand and Supply-side Perspective on the MNE and Cross-border View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

March 2015
Case

Clifford Chance: Women at Work

By: Boris Groysberg, Katherine Connolly and Stephanie Marton

It was October 2013, and global law firm Clifford Chance was coming under fire for the second time in less than a year for reputedly failing to provide a supportive work environment for its female associates. A memo entitled "Speaking Effectively" was just issued to... View Details

Keywords: Women; Law; Fairness; Employee Relationship Management; Retention; Human Capital; Organizational Culture; Performance Expectations; Work-Life Balance; Public Opinion; Problems and Challenges; Legal Services Industry; United States

January 2020 (Revised July 2020)
Case

Chemours (A)

By: David G. Fubini and David Lane

The July 2015 spin-off of DuPont’s performance chemicals division as the independent company Chemours burdened new CEO Mark Vergnano and his team with perilous challenges. Despite market-leading offerings in several areas, the company faced a glutted market for its... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Chemicals; Leading Change; Crisis Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Chemical Industry; United States

20 Feb 2007
First Look

First Look: February 20, 2007

development strategy in 2006. Highlights the strengths and limitations of developing products for public sector organizations in markets created by legislation, as well as the opportunities View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

November 2010 (Revised January 2011)
Case

Computerized Provider Order Entry at Emory Healthcare

By: Richard G. Hamermesh, F. Warren McFarlan, Mark Keil, Andrew Katz, Michael Morgan and David LaBorde

The Computerized Provider Order Entry at Emory Healthcare case presents one hospital system's efforts to implement computerized provider order entry (CPOE) across all of its hospitals and the challenges they faced in doing so. Issues such as standardization of care,... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Information Management; Management Systems; Standards; Service Delivery; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Projects; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Health Industry