Publications

March 2018 (Revised June 2018)
Case

City Year at 30: Toward Long-Term Impact

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and James Weber

In 2018, City Year was a 30-year-old nonprofit that recruited and organized teams of young-adult “volunteers” (corps teams) to provide a year of citizen service. It had 3,100 corps members serving in 327 schools located in 28 U.S. cities. In its early decades, City... View Details

Keywords: Education; Service Operations; Nonprofit Organizations; Growth and Development Strategy; Performance Efficiency; Resource Allocation; Change Management; Social Entrepreneurship; Middle School Education; Secondary Education; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Human Capital; Growth Management; Service Delivery; Organizational Design; Social Enterprise; Poverty; United States

May 2013
Article

Guidance from ARIN on Legal Aspects of the Transfer of Internet Protocol Numbers

By: Benjamin Edelman and Stephen Ryan

Every device connected to the global Internet needs a numeric identifier, an "Internet Protocol" address ("IP address"). The Internet's continued growth presents a challenge: most IP addresses have already been assigned to networks and organizations, leaving few left... View Details

Keywords: IP Addresses; Regulation; Market Design; Market Transactions; Rights; Contracts; Internet; Technology Adoption; Technology Networks

Read Now

29 Jun 2007
First Look

First Look: June 29, 2007

(CRM) project would require, the bank decided to explore its benefits with a smaller pilot project. It appointed a CRM project team to design and implement a project focused on credit cards. Describes the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

April 1990 (Revised April 1993)
Case

Bridgeton Industries: Automotive Component & Fabrication Plant

Bridgeton Industries was experiencing reduced sales. To become more competitive it introduced a classification procedure for products based upon their productivity and other factors. Products were classified into three groups: world class, potentially world class, and... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Competition; Cost Management; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry

23 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 23, 2008

presided over the development of the empirical social sciences to address questions of labor regulation and control within manufacturing industries. Next, we look at the creation of the Carnegie Tech... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

September 1994 (Revised January 2002)
Case

BMW: The 7-Series Project (B)

By: Gary P. Pisano and Sharon L. Rossi

Describes the decision made on the 7-Series project with respect to prototyping and its impact on quality. View Details

Keywords: Research and Development; Quality; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Germany

September 1991 (Revised December 1993)
Case

Tombow Pencil Co. Ltd.

Tombow Pencil Co. Ltd., one of Japan's two premier pencil manufacturers, has been using a subcontractor network in order to respond to changing market conditions. The system currently faces a new challenge as Tombow moves to address a volatile business market for... View Details

Keywords: Production; Supply Chain Management; Manufacturing Industry; Japan

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

01 Jun 2011
News

Rust Belt Turns ‘Sun Belt’ with Solar

true for the “green economy” movement: aged or unused factories in the Midwest being refurbished and turned into solar energy manufacturing plants. But Tom Tiller (MBA ’91) is really making it happen, the... View Details

17 Dec 2015
News

Acquiring Business Skills To Advance A Career Trajectory

technology is expanding rapidly as the industry is being reinvigorated with new competitors and advanced electronics, materials, and manufacturing processes,” says Sondecker.... View Details

Keywords: Machinery Manufacturing; Machinery Manufacturing

September 1996 (Revised September 1999)
Case

Mobil USM&R (A): Linking the Balanced Scorecard

By: Robert S. Kaplan

The CEO of the marketing and refining division of a major oil company is in the midst of implementing a profit turnaround. He transforms the strongly centralized, functionally-organized division into 17 independent business units and 14 internal service companies. The... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Measurement and Metrics; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Design; Balanced Scorecard; Corporate Strategy; Mining Industry; Energy Industry

September 1992 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Chrysler: Iacocca's Legacy

By: Nitin Nohria and Sandy Green

Describes the changes fashioned by Iacocca during his tenure as CEO of the Chrysler Corp. Pays particular attention to the rhetoric he employed in mobilizing change and the actions he took to implement change. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Leadership Style; Management Teams; Communication Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry

04 Mar 2014
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Managing Innovation

employees to raise their creative game. But Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, has a different approach, creating an organization that values and rewards innovation rather than attempting to create it with his bare hands. AG Lafley, P&G's... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty

January 2018
Case

Scaling Swagbucks (A)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Matthew G. Preble

In early 2014, Chuck Davis (HBS '86) has joined Swagbucks as its first professional CEO to scale a successful and profitable brand promotion and consumer research business. Davis came into the job while serving as a venture partner at TCV, a growth stage VC firm,... View Details

Keywords: Loyalty Management; Scaling; Scale; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Leading Change; Growth Management; Religion; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Transition; Leadership; Web Services Industry; Technology Industry

07 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 7

topic generated a multi-year research project that ultimately led to a comprehensive program, built around eight key management attributes, designed to help Google employees become better managers. By November 2012, the program had been... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

February 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Versity.com

By: Leslie A. Perlow

Versity.com has grown from four college students working out of a dorm to a $125 million venture capital-backed company. The young founders and new professional managers struggle to create a company vision and grapple with the question of whether to acquire another... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Growth and Development; Organizational Design; Mission and Purpose; Strategic Planning; Conflict and Resolution; Mergers and Acquisitions; Management Teams; Core Relationships

Find at Harvard

May 1992 (Revised January 2000)
Case

Asea Brown Boveri: The ABACUS System

By: Robert L. Simons

Describes the computer-based information system (ABACUS) used to monitor and control business operations in a complex, global company. Describes the technical attributes of the database system, financial reporting requirements, target setting and profit calculations on... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Profit; Business Growth and Maturation; Analytics and Data Science; Design; Accounting Audits; Growth and Development; Globalized Firms and Management; Complexity; Technology Industry

2009
Book

High Commitment, High Performance: How to Build a Resilient Organization for Sustained Advantage

By: Michael Beer

Integrating knowledge from strategic management, performance management, and organization design, strategic human resource expert and Harvard Business School Professor Michael Beer outlines what the high-commitment, high-performance organization looks like and provides... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Leadership; Management; Goals and Objectives; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Performance; Practice; Business Strategy; System