Publications

November 2009
Supplement

Managing a Global Team: Greg James at Sun Microsystems, Inc. (B)

By: Tsedal Neeley

This case updates students on the steps Greg James took to solve the problems that instigated the crisis documented in “Managing a Global Team: Greg James at Sun Microsystems, Inc. (A).” We find out how James solves the process problems involved in his team's breakdown... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Globalized Firms and Management; Crisis Management; Service Delivery; Business Processes; Performance Productivity; Groups and Teams; Technology Industry

Research Summary

Manager Specific Human Capital Investment: A Model of Block Trading and Firm Stability

I develop a model in which workers can undertake specific human capital investments in the firm and in the manager employed by the firm. If the manager leaves the firm, a worker has to decide whether to join her in the new firm or stay in the old firm. In case of... View Details

08 Aug 2011
Research & Ideas

The Death of the Global Manager

comes to resolving the inherent tensions between headquarters—where the focus might be on standardizing products to drive down cost—and subsidiaries lobbying to adapt products to meet the specific needs of a... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

March 2024
Case

East Rock Capital: 'Talent Is the Best Asset Class'

By: Boris Groysberg, Sarah L. Abbott and Izzy Yeoh

Adam Shapiro and Graham Duncan launched East Rock Capital, LLC in 2006 with a seed investment from Stuart Miller, executive chairman of Lennar Corporation. East Rock managed long-term assets for high-net-worth families, primarily working with external managers who had... View Details

Keywords: Alternative Assets; Hiring; HNW Products And Services; Recruiting; Hedge Funds; Wealth Management; Asset Management; Private Equity; Financial Institutions; Marketing Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Financial Services Industry; United States

September 13, 2021
Article

Managing Through Crunch Time—Without Burning Out Your Team

By: Flavio Serapiao, Andrew Hill and Boris Groysberg

Crunch times—the long, stressful hours of work that are often required in the final weeks before a new product launch—can have an inordinate impact on the success of businesses and they’re powerful shapers of organizational culture. Effective leaders understand that... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Situation or Environment; Management Skills

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Web

Supply Chain Management - Course Catalog

firms. Educational Objectives Supply Chain Management (SCM) builds on aspects of the first-year Technology and Operations Management (RC TOM) course. However, whereas RC TOM focuses primarily on producing... View Details

28 Mar 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Do Incentive Plans for Exemplary Employees Lead to Productive or Counterproductive Outcomes?

Keywords: by Carolyn Deller and Tatiana Sandino; Telecommunications

Web

Healthy Outcomes - Managing the Future of Work

responsibilities—but management tends to lack a strategic response. This is because few employers calculate or track the economics of providing support to caregiving employees. Our research shows that employers who make the right... View Details

Article

Reflections on the 2013 Decade Award: 'Exploitation, Exploration, and Process Management: The Productivity Dilemma Revisited' Ten Years Later

By: Mary Benner and Michael Tushman

This paper reflects on Benner and Tushman (2003): "Exploitation, Exploration, and Process Management: The Productivity Dilemma Revisited." Our paper received the Academy of Management Review's best paper award in 2003 and the decade award in 2013. We consider the... View Details

Keywords: Organizations; Innovation and Invention; Performance Productivity; Innovation and Management

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September 2013
Case

Management Levels at Staples (A): Company and Organization (Abridged)

By: David A. Garvin

Abridged version of one of six cases that describe the roles and responsibilities of managers at each of the hierarchical levels of management within the U.S. Stores business unit of Staples, the world's largest office supply company. Together, the cases form a... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Managerial Roles; Organizational Design; Management Practices and Processes; Job Design and Levels; Business Processes; Consumer Products Industry; United States

12 Mar 2020
News

5 Tips for Staying Productive and Mentally Healthy While You’re Working From Home

01 Feb 1997
News

Merton Discusses Risk Management at Dean's Seminar

increasingly must make sophisticated financial decisions. Last November, Robert C. Merton, the George Fisher Baker Professor of Business Administration at HBS, discussed this problem and elaborated on the importance of risk management in... View Details

Keywords: Elizabeth McNair

2011
Case

Xinxing Ductile Iron Pipes: Transforming the Management Control System in Time of Crisis

By: Ning Jia, F. Warren McFarlan and Xiaohui Li

Xinxing Ductile Iron Pipes Co. is a Chinese state-owned enterprise (SOE) that manufactures cast pipe products and steel products. The company had grown to become a dominant player in the ductile iron pipe industry, holding more than 40% domestic market share and nearly... View Details

Keywords: Control Systems; Cost Centers; Manufacturing; Profit Centers; China

01 Apr 2020
Blog Post

The Product Design Sprint - 5 Things I Learned in Launch Lab 1

Launch Lab 1 – and what I’m carrying with me into my product management career. 1. Start with the customer. Why do you design products? Theoretically, you don’t do it just for the sake of building something.... View Details

June 2016 (Revised November 2021)
Case

Longchamp

By: Jill Avery, Tonia Junker and Daniela Beyersdorfer

Longchamp’s Le Pliage is one of the fashion world’s most successful products, a cultural icon across the globe. But managing the low priced, nylon handbag is challenging as Longchamp tries to move its brand upmarket into higher priced, luxury leather goods. How much... View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Luxury Brand; Brand Positioning; Product Strategy; Retailing; Pricing Strategy; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Luxury; Family Business; Price; Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; France; Europe

February 15, 2022
Article

How Managers Can Build a Culture of Experimentation

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Neil Hoyne

Testing in business presents qualitatively different challenges than those in clinical trials and most scientific research. There are very few opportunities for randomized control experiments in a changing, competitive market. Yet, change and competition make testing a... View Details

Keywords: Experimentation; Management; Decision Making

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2009
Chapter

Do Private Equity-owned Firms Have Better Management Practices?

By: Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun and John Van Reenen

We use an innovative survey tool to collect management practice data from over 4,000 medium sized manufacturing firms across Asia, Europe and the US. These measures of managerial practice are strongly associated with firm-level performance (e.g. productivity,... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Management Practices and Processes; Production; Private Ownership; Performance Improvement; Performance Productivity

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April 2019
Case

GE Appliances: Implementing Haier's Made-In-China Management System

By: Dennis Campbell, Marshall Meyer, Bonnie Yining Cao and Dawn H. Lau

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; China; United States