Best Practices - Publications - Faculty & Research

09 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

How Social Entrepreneurs Can Increase Their Investment Impact

Both impact investing and traditional philanthropy are on the rise after the decade-long economic boom following the Great Recession. But when does an impact investment make a bigger difference than a grant? The question is far more complicated than simply evaluating... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

28 Jun 2010
HBS Case

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

CEO, he convinces Kotagal to lead the hospital's improvement efforts as senior vice president of quality and transformation. Anderson, a practicing attorney with expertise in the quality improvement methods used by manufacturing firms, is... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Health

15 Sep 2003
Lessons from the Classroom

HBS Cases: Developing the Courage to Act

P. Donham, a graduate of Harvard Law School who later practiced law and had taught corporate finance at the business school. His background led him to see strong parallels between the two professions. In a 1922 article, he observed that... View Details

Keywords: by David A. Garvin

15 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

Why Business IT Innovation is so Difficult

has to be implemented across a large, distributed organization. "Large firms definitely had some work to do to adopt," says McElheran. "But it seems that the best firms had practices in place to deal with... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish

22 Aug 2012
Research & Ideas

Advertising: It’s Not ‘Mad Men’ Anymore

clients' campaigns. This practice was institutionalized by an arrangement known as the "recognition system" between agencies and publishers, and administered by a set of trade associations. Among other things, the system supported... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Advertising

08 Jan 2001
Research & Ideas

Can Japan Compete? [Part Two]

must distinguish these two very different agendas, which present different organizational challenges. As I will develop more fully in my next book, best practice improvement is organizationally much easier... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace & Hilah Geer

04 Feb 2015
What Do You Think?

Is There a Stanford-Google-Silicon Valley School of Management?

to several of the responses. As Carl X. Parks put it, "Organizations can utilize tools from Google's best practices to enhance or redevelop their own (where applicable). But as a whole, this may not... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Education

07 Jun 2004
Research & Ideas

The Competition of Countries

involved in a large-scale field study of best practice in environmental management. Having just completed a case text on competing countries, Vietor discusses globalization and national development... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

06 Aug 2014
What Do You Think?

What Is Warren Bennis’s Legacy?

fully integrated human beings who know themselves and bring out the best in others . As I was joining Medtronic (a company George would later lead) in 1989, I read Warren's classic, On Becoming a Leader. For the first time an author... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Education

07 Sep 2007
What Do You Think?

Are Elite Business Schools Fostering the Deprofessionalization of Management?

like. The French term of 'cadre' may best accommodate the reality of business practitioners in a modern world." Respondents also provided some possible remedies. Osbert Lancaster suggested that what is needed is an injection of... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

01 Mar 2022
What Do You Think?

Is It Time for More Reverse Mentoring?

(iStockphoto/Sanja Radin) Increasingly, I hear and read about questions such as: Why are my best tech people leaving our great company to work on something called crypto and Web3? What are the strategic implications for my organization of... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

17 Dec 2020
Research & Ideas

The 10 Most Popular Stories of 2020

learn the rules, managers are unsure how to help them, and organizations get a glimpse into the future. Prithwiraj Choudhury, Tsedal Neeley, Lakshmi Ramarajan, and Julia Austin share advice for managers. 6 Traits That Set Top Business Leaders Apart What do the View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

22 Apr 2002
Research & Ideas

Profits and Prophets: The Role of Values in Investment

other schools competing for the best students. Hayes drew a line between personal investing—he himself is a socially responsible investor, he said—and other types of investment vehicles. Several audience members questioned Hayes on that... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

31 Dec 2012
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Stories of 2012

Product Published: April 23, 2012 Upgrades to existing product lines make up a huge part of corporate research and development activity, and with every upgrade comes the decision of how to brand it. Harvard Business School marketing professors John T. Gourville and... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

02 Jul 2014
What Do You Think?

Are Today’s Business Heroes Challenging Our Ideas About Leadership?

concerned about the outcomes of business practices and products on our global society, and evaluate leaders accordingly." Yadeed Lobo commented that "the mark of a great leader is the impression they leave on any employee."... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

24 Oct 2007
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Managing Innovation

innovative solutions? Can Innovation And Creativity Be Managed? High Note: Managing the Medici String Quartet Many managers in business experience difficulty dealing with their best creative thinkers. So how does violinist Paul Robertson,... View Details

02 Jul 2010
What Do You Think?

Is Profit as a “Direct Goal” Overrated?

have observed. Almost to a person, they treat profit as a by-product of other things to which they devote most of their attention, things such as a focused strategy that delivers results to carefully-selected customers while pursuing policies and View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

02 Sep 2014
First Look

First Look: September 2

across geographies is a fool's errand. Best practices simply don't travel well across borders. That's because conditions not just of economic development but of institutional maturity, educational norms,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 Jul 2015
What Do You Think?

Do Americans Work Too Much and Think About Work Too Little?

profits) don't generally rely on long hours. When is the last time you saw an investment banking firm, in an industry known for working its people mercilessly, near the top of the best place to work list? Consider insurer USAA, which... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Financial Services

13 Dec 2004
Research & Ideas

How Leaders Create Winning Streaks

self-scrutiny to continuously improve, respect, and cooperation. Positive behaviors lead to good problem-solving based on information and facts, teamwork and speed, and creativity and courage; in turn, good problem-solving leads to disciplines and View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter & Walter Kiechel

Publications