Publications

Research Summary

Managing the Advantages and Tradeoffs of Collaborative Structures

By: Ethan S. Bernstein

To solve complex problems, organizations must both collect facts and use them to solve problems. In one study, my coauthors and I show that increased connectivity—measured as network... View Details

Keywords: Networks; Human Behavior; Performance; Virtual Work; Hybrid Work; Office Space; Workplace Design; Communication; Social and Collaborative Networks; Behavior; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Leadership; Management

2014
Chapter

Technology, Innovation and Economic Growth in Britain Since 1870

By: Tom Nicholas

This chapter examines technological change in Britain over the last 140 years. It analyzes the effects of patent laws and innovation prizes that were designed to promote technical progress. It explores the challenge associated with the changing organizational structure... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; History; Economic Growth; Change; Innovation and Invention; Great Britain

Read Now

February 2025
Tutorial

Preparing Business Leaders for an Era of Climate Instability: Understanding and Managing Physical Climate Risk

By: Michael W. Toffel and Spencer Glendon

In this compelling video, Spencer Glendon, founder of Probable Futures and Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School, describes the profound implications of climate change for businesses, the economy, and societies around the world. Drawing from his background in... View Details

Keywords: Modeling; Climate Change; Adaptation; Risk and Uncertainty; Risk Management; Forecasting and Prediction

February 2010
Supplement

Organization and Strategy at Millennium (B)

By: Julie M. Wulf and Scott Waggoner

This case examines Millennium's strategic and organizational responses to the rapid evolution of the biopharmaceutical industry. In the early 2000s, as Millennium's competitive advantage in early-stage research slipped away and its losses mounted, founder CEO Mark... View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; Transformation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Crisis Management; Competitive Advantage; Commercialization; Selection and Staffing; Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Pharmaceutical Industry

November 2016 (Revised February 2017)
Case

BrightStar Care: The Evolution of a Leadership Team

By: Boris Groysberg, Colleen Ammerman and John D. Vaughan

BrightStar Care was a rapidly growing franchise of home health care agencies. Founded by husband and wife team JD and Shelly Sun as a single agency near Chicago in 2002, BrightStar had opened nearly 300 franchises across the United States by 2016, generating over $300... View Details

Keywords: Health Care Services; Entrepreneurs; Board Of Directors; Boards Of Directors; Health Care Industry; Growth Strategy; Organizational Change; Brand Positioning; Entrepreneurial Organizations; Entrepreneurial Management; Franchising; Family-owned Business; Home Health Care; Managing Growth; Management Styles; Organizational Development; Talent Management; Women Executives; Women And Leadership; Business Startups; Family Business; Small Business; Talent and Talent Management; Governing and Advisory Boards; Health Care and Treatment; Human Capital; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Management Skills; Management Style; Management Succession; Management Systems; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Strategy

Research Summary

Energy, IT, real estate, and sustainability

By: Rebecca M. Henderson

Professor Henderson’s current research focuses on the energy, information technology, and real estate sectors and the challenges firms encounter as they attempt to act in more sustainable ways. This work is an outgrowth of her decade-long examination of the... View Details

September 1989 (Revised December 1989)
Case

Siemens Electric Motor Works (A) and (B) (Combined)

Explores how a cost system can help support a firm's decision to change strategies. In the process, students are exposed to a simple activity-based cost system. Also examines Siemens policy for transferring products between sales and manufacturing divisions. Transfer... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Business Strategy; Technology Industry

January 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Colbún and Chile’s Energy Transition

By: Forest Reinhardt, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Mariana Cal

In May 2023, Colbún, Chile’s second-largest electricity generator, plans capacity expansions using renewable energy and storage. This strategy supports Chile’s commitment to carbon neutrality (also known as net zero emissions) by 2050. The case delves into the... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Climate Change; Investment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Infrastructure; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Expansion; Business Strategy; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; Latin America; South America; Chile

01 Mar 2024
News

Alumni and Faculty Books and Podcasts

pervasive and least-understood fail point that threatens to kneecap even the best-laid scaling plan: organizational friction. Bier reveals why organizational frictions take... View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

May 2012 (Revised November 2015)
Case

The National Geographic Society (A) (Abridged)

By: David A. Garvin and Annelena Lobb

In January 2010, John Fahey, president, CEO, and chairman of the board of trustees' executive committee of the Washington, D.C.–based National Geographic Society (NGS), must decide how best to organize the 121-year old mission-driven organization for a world of... View Details

Keywords: General Management; Change Management; Media And Publishing; Digital Convergence; Strategy Development; Business Models; Information Publishing; Online Technology; Business Model; Organizational Structure; Business Strategy; Publishing Industry

September 2007 (Revised November 2007)
Case

Bunge: Food, Fuel, and World Markets

By: Tarun Khanna, Santiago Mingo and Jonathan West

In 2007, Bunge, an agribusiness company, had over $26 billion in worldwide sales and was considered, along with Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), one of three very integrated worldwide agribusiness companies. Headquartered in White Plains, NY, the company has... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Operations; Organizational Design; Situation or Environment; Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; White Plains; Brazil

November–December 2017
Article

Innovation Streams and Executive Leadership

By: Michael Tushman

Incumbent firms face steep challenges in dealing with technological change and associated innovation streams. The firm's senior leadership team, and especially R&D leadership, plays a central role in shaping a firm's ability to both exploit existing capabilities and... View Details

Keywords: Ambidexterity; Exploit Vs. Explore; Dynamic Capabilities; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Technology Adoption; Innovation Leadership

October 1994 (Revised January 1995)
Case

Rhone-Poulenc (A) and (B) Condensed

Rhone-Poulenc, France's largest chemical firm, has achieved a major position in the United States as the result of an ambitious series of acquisitions. As it expanded in the United States from 1986 to 1990, Rhone-Poulenc management sought to take a "hands-off" approach... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Multinational Firms and Management; Organizational Structure; Chemical Industry; France; United States

July–September 2020
Article

Innovation Contest: Effect of Perceived Support for Learning on Participation

By: Olivia Jung, Andrea Blasco and Karim R. Lakhani

Background: Frontline staff are well positioned to conceive improvement opportunities based on first-hand knowledge of what works and does not work. The innovation contest may be a relevant and useful vehicle to elicit staff ideas. However, the success of the... View Details

Keywords: Contest; Innovation; Employee Engagement; Organizational Learning; Health Care; Health Care Delivery; Innovation and Invention; Organizations; Learning; Employees; Perception; Health Care and Treatment

2015
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Robert Whelan and the Student Loan Crisis (B)

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Grace Sza-Hua Chen and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Bob Whelan developed an idea with partners that was a seed before his fellowship year and addressed a significant national challenge - college financing - with a creative concept and experience from his years in investment banking. His nonprofit was called 13th Avenue... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; Higher Education; Financing and Loans; Borrowing and Debt; Leading Change; Education Industry; Financial Services Industry

15 May 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Flexing the Frame: TMT Framing and the Adoption of Non-Incremental Innovations in Incumbent Firms

Keywords: by Ryan Raffaelli, Mary Ann Glynn, and Michael Tushman

December 2008 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Hema Hattangady and Conzerv (A)

By: Michael L. Tushman and David Kiron

This case describes the evolution of a fast-growing Indian energy firm. It illustrates both leadership change as Hema is evolving as a leader, as well as how organization architecture (culture, systems, incentives, and human resources) is evolving. The case highlights... View Details

Keywords: Change; Decision Choices and Conditions; Leadership Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Energy Industry; India