Publications

22 Feb 2010
Research & Ideas

Manager Visibility No Guarantee of Fixing Problems

Observing and understanding the tasks and challenges that workers face every day is important. But managers who merely put in time "walking the floor" are not doing enough; in fact, it can make employees feel worse about their situation. In their working... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Health

Profile

Jolie Chow

finance." HBS has changed the way Jolie sees leadership and decision-making. "I used to think that there was one right answer," Jolie says. "In my first cases, it was hard; I was scared to pick choice 'A, B, or C.' But... View Details

30 Jun 2016
Blog Post

4 Ways I've Changed at HBS

opportunities that seem more fulfilling and sustainable in the long term. 2. My leadership style One of the biggest surprises I’ve had at HBS is how much personal growth I have undergone. A lot of... View Details

August 1993
Case

General Motors: Smith's Dilemma

By: Nitin Nohria and Sandy Green

Discusses Roger Smith's tenure as CEO of General Motors. Describes his vision for changing General Motors, and how he went about implementing that vision. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Teams; Leadership Style; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry

12 Apr 2016
News

How Disney’s Alan Horn Manages the Movies

The most recent issue of Variety features a cover story on Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn (MBA 1971). The piece paints Horn as a rare character in Hollywood, being “both successful and beloved,” and tracks his departure from Warner Bros. and subsequent... View Details

01 Dec 2010
News

Breakthrough Insights

thinking and research. Breakthrough Insights will cover topics such as innovation, strategy, operational and management issues, and leadership style and how they can be incorporated into participants’ work... View Details

01 Mar 2019
News

The Fight Beyond

posting. Green’s fiscal management and office leadership in Cairo received high marks, but being an OSS administrator was not enough; within six months, he was campaigning for a spot in Special Operations. In January 1944, Green... View Details

Keywords: April White; illustration by Wesley Allsbrook

November 2010
Teaching Note

Belco Global Foods (TN)

By: C. Fritz Foley and Matthew Johnson

Teaching Note for 211033. View Details

Keywords: Managerial Roles; Leadership Style; Trade; International Finance; Globalization; Decisions; Customers; Food and Beverage Industry

November 1993 (Revised June 2007)
Case

Jack Thomas

By: John P. Kotter and Andrew P. Burtis

This redisguised version of an earlier case, Tom Levick, provides an updated setting but does not change the teaching objectives. Chronicles the first six weeks of experience on the job for a recent business school graduate. Emphasis is on managing... View Details

Keywords: Power and Influence; Behavior; Leadership Style; Strategy; Rank and Position; Publishing Industry

19 Jan 2021
News

Goodbye Bureaucracy, Hello Common Sense

29 Oct 2019
News

Is This Disney’s Next CEO?

A recent article in Bloomberg notes that Disney strategy chief Kevin Mayer (MBA 1990) might be positioned to succeed longtime Disney CEO Bob Iger. The article highlights Mayer’s recent initiatives at Disney, including a 2015 strategic review conducted with Bain that... View Details

01 Dec 2015
News

3-Minute Briefing: Michelle Ross (MBA 2011)

Math and science were always a part of me. And I’m the oldest child in my family, too, so I don’t want to say that I like to boss people around—but it came more naturally to me to delegate. Kettering University had a co-op program, so as I earned my degree in... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing; Manufacturing

December 2016 (Revised December 2017)
Case

Faber-Castell

By: Ryan Raffaelli and Christine Snively

By 2016, Count Anton-Wolfgang von Faber-Castell had led the 255-year-old pencil manufacturer Faber-Castell through waves of technological change. The pocket calculator decimated Faber-Castell’s slide rule business in the 1970s, and computer aided design technology... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Style; Leading Change; Family Ownership; Manufacturing Industry; Germany

April 1996 (Revised June 1999)
Case

NYPD New

By: James L. Heskett

Police Commissioner Bratten and his staff have led a process designed to create a results-oriented police department from one that previously emphasized and measured effort. With increasing budgeting pressures, the next phase of effort calls for increasing emphasis on... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Performance Productivity; Leadership Style; Budgets and Budgeting; Public Administration Industry