Publications

September 2013
Article

Great Leaders Who Make the Mix Work

By: Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly

Business leaders send a powerful message when they make a commitment to diversity that goes beyond rhetoric. But what motivates them to do so, and how do they actually create inclusive cultures? To find out, the authors interviewed 24 CEOs whose firms were known for... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Development; Working Conditions; Leading Change; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Diversity; Gender

Find at Harvard

March 2001 (Revised May 2001)
Case

Corning 1996-2000: Growing Corning

By: Michael J. Roberts and Michael L. Tushman

Focuses on Roger Ackerman's successful cultural change effort--growing Corning. Presents a detailed description of Ackerman's effort and the changes that transpired in the business, the culture, and the senior team. View Details

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

Find at Harvard

December 2022 (Revised November 2023)
Module Note

What Is the Game? Understanding the Environment

By: Maria P. Roche

As a strategist, one of your main tasks is to size up the external environment of your organization in its entirety. In this module, you will learn basic concepts and tools that will allow you to better understand the environment in which your organization operates. View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure

March 2000 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Ethan Berman at RiskMetrics Group (A)

Ethan Berman, CEO of J.P. Morgan's risk management spinoff, has grown RiskMetrics Group (RMG) from a small team of 30 to a 70-person firm contemplating an IPO. Along the way, the consensus-based decision-making process that he espoused started to prove unwieldy; his... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Style; Business Growth and Maturation; Decision Making; Service Industry; Consulting Industry

June 2016
Case

Big Spaceship: The Evolving Agency

By: Boris Groysberg and Matthew G. Preble

This case discusses the evolution of Big Spaceship, an advertising and marketing agency, from a product-focused business to a relationship-oriented one as clients seek deeper and more meaningful long-term partnerships. The 15-year-old company had already evolved... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Marketing; Organizational Structure; Organizational Design; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Social Media; Advertising Industry; United States; New York (city, NY)

2015
Working Paper

Corporate Sponsorship in Culture—A Case of Partnership in Relationship Building and Collaborative Marketing by a Global Financial Institution and a Major Art Museum

By: Ragnar Lund and Stephen A. Greyser

Purpose: This paper examines cultural sponsorship from a partnership and relationship marketing perspective. It studies a case of how a partnership between two international institutions, a bank and a museum, adds value to both in terms of interaction with... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Partners and Partnerships; Marketing Strategy; Culture; Banks and Banking

Read Now

November 22, 2023
Article

Unifying Your Company Around a Moral Goal

By: Ranjay Gulati

In turbulent times, companies need a reliable anchor to guide decision-making. When organizations become moral communities, underpinned by purpose, they provide that stability for stakeholders as well as a reassuring sense of hope, solidarity, agency, and meaning.... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Corporate Strategy; Leadership

Thomas J. DeLong is a Baker Foundation Professor of Management Practice and the former Philip J. Stomberg Professor of Management Practice in the Organizational Behavior Department at the Harvard Business School. He is an expert in leader development, organizational... View Details

11 Mar 2001
Research & Ideas

Evolving for Success [Part Two]

Evolve!: Succeeding in the Digital Culture of Tomorrow (HBS Press).Q: Many people rushing to use the Internet in their businesses have made some real mistakes that you warn your readers about. What are some of them? A: Tongue in cheek, I... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

01 Oct 2007
Research & Ideas

Encouraging Dissent in Decision-Making

which all organized human groups are susceptible—the suppression, especially during planning and decision-making, of views that might be perceived as contentious or disruptive to an organization's foundational beliefs. Consider the costs... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons

February 2025
Case

Ingersoll Rand: Broadening Employee Ownership

By: Ethan Rouen and Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago

Set in 2024, this case examines how Ingersoll Rand—a global leader in air, liquid, and gas handling technologies—approached broadening employee ownership. The company granted restricted stock units (RSUs) to all employees on their one-year anniversary, reinforcing a... View Details

Keywords: Stock Shares; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Retention; Employee Ownership; Mergers and Acquisitions; Organizational Culture; Expansion; Africa; Asia; Europe; Latin America; Middle East; North and Central America

July 2009 (Revised March 2010)
Case

Sotheby's & Christie's Inc.

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Catherine Jane Wise

The fine art auction business has remained a duopoly over its 250 year history. The industry is dominated by Sotheby's and Christie's Inc. Curiously, neither competitor has been able to overtake the other by a notable margin despite the clear network effects of this... View Details

Keywords: Arts; Business Model; Restructuring; Economics; Auctions; Market Entry and Exit; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Operations; Competition

06 Jun 2016
Blog Post

Meet the HBS Africa Business Club

The Africa Business Club (ABC) provides services and resources for African students, students who have worked in Africa, and any student with a professional or cultural interest in Africa. We also promote the engagement of the African... View Details

Henry W. McGee

Henry McGee joined the HBS faculty in 2013 after retiring as President of HBO Home Entertainment, the digital and DVD program distribution division of Home Box Office, the pioneering premium television company. A member of the Entrepreneurial Management Unit,... View Details

Keywords: television; motion pictures; media; e-commerce industry; entertainment; broadcasting; distribution; health care; journalism; wholesale; arts; nonprofit industry

Amy C. Edmondson

Amy C. Edmondson is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, a chair established to support the study of human interactions that lead to the creation of successful enterprises that contribute to the betterment of... View Details

Keywords: health care; nonprofit industry; professional services; consulting

May 2006 (Revised November 2006)
Case

IKEA's Global Sourcing Challenge: Indian Rugs and Child Labor (A)

By: Christopher A. Bartlett, Vincent Marie Dessain and Anders Sjoman

Traces the history of IKEA's response to a TV report that its Indian carpet suppliers were using child labor. Describes IKEA's growth, including the importance of a sourcing strategy based on its close relationships with suppliers in developing countries. Details the... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Moral Sensibility; Policy; Employment; Contracts; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Natural Environment; Non-Governmental Organizations; Social Issues

November 2000 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Meg Whitman at eBay Inc. (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Maria Farkas

Meg Whitman takes over as CEO of eBay from the founder. She must figure out how to lead the company through a stage of phenomenal growth without compromising eBay's unique external customer culture and internal culture--its key success factors. A rewritten version of... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Style; Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth Management; Organizational Culture; Success