Publications

June 11, 2014
Article

Keep Learning Once You Hit the C-Suite

By: Boris Groysberg

What skills do companies prize in C-level executives? To answer these questions, we surveyed 32 senior search consultants at a top global executive-placement firm. Experienced search consultants typically interview hundreds and even thousands of senior executives; they... View Details

Keywords: Executive Ability; Management Skills; Learning

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spring 1991
Article

Breaking the Cycle of Failure in Services

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and James Heskett

Most managers recognize that good service is a direct result of having effective, productive people in customer contact positions. However, most service companies perpetuate a cycle of failure by tolerating high turnover and expecting employee dissatisfaction. This... View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Service Delivery; Success; Failure; Management Skills; Service Industry

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July 2020 (Revised September 2020)
Case

The Honor Foundation: Accessing Special Operations Talent

By: Boris Groysberg and John Masko

In 2020, The Honor Foundation (THF), a nonprofit dedicated to helping U.S. military special operators to transition into civilian careers, was facing a series of strategic challenges. THF had been founded in 2013 by former Navy SEAL trainee Joe Musselman, who observed... View Details

March 2024
Module Note

Accounting Standards for the 21st Century

By: Jonas Heese

Over the past two decades, accounting standards have evolved to meet the demands of a rapidly changing business environment. This module note focuses on understanding the impact of these standards on measuring firm performance and financial position in the context of a... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Standards; Performance Evaluation; Change Management

19 Sep 2005
Research & Ideas

Rethinking Company Loyalty

companies are willing to rethink how they define loyalty and how they manage their people. Reevaluating Loyalty Loyalty should not be viewed as an either/or proposition. It's true, the experts say, that to produce their best work,... View Details

Keywords: by Lauren Keller Johnson

December 1999
Case

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (B): Nurturing Entrepreneurs and Change Agents

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Jane Roessner

Thirty-one "change agents" at Sun Microsystems, Inc. told the story of their most recent significant change project: its origins and goals, the project team, the chronology of the work, the challenges, results, and lessons learned. Their stories answer two questions:... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Projects; Problems and Challenges; Outcome or Result; Learning; Experience and Expertise; Independent Innovation and Invention; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Technology Industry; Computer Industry

2010
Chapter

Business Groups in Historical Perspectives

By: Geoffrey Jones and Asli M. Colpan

Business groups-collections of legally independent firms interconnected by multiple economic and social linkages that exhibit widely diversified product portfolios-are viewed as the prototypical large-enterprise form in contemporary emerging economies. By exploring the... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Management Skills; Emerging Markets; Alliances; Groups and Teams; Competitive Advantage; Great Britain

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11 Jul 2023
Blog Post

Second Life: Reflections on Complementing Success with an Encore Career

In 2015, Steve Kloeblen retired and thought he was done with the corporate world. A graduate of HBS Executive Education’s General Management Program, Kloeblen had more than 30 years of experience with IBM, culminating with his transition... View Details

Rosabeth M. Kanter

Rosabeth Moss Kanter holds the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professorship at Harvard Business School, specializing in strategy, innovation, and leadership for change. Her strategic and practical insights guide leaders worldwide through teaching, writing, and direct... View Details

March 2023
Background Note

A Primer on OKRs

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan (Jason) Ni

The OKR framework is a popular goal-setting and strategy execution tool that uses goal setting through “Objectives” and measuring performance using “Key Results” on a periodic basis to measure and drive performance. The OKR framework has been adopted and practiced at... View Details

Keywords: Business Organization; Talent and Talent Management; Framework; Corporate Governance; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Management Practices and Processes; Management Skills; Management Systems; Measurement and Metrics; Outcome or Result; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Evaluation; Performance Expectations; Performance Productivity; Performance Efficiency

25 Jul 2005
Research & Ideas

Fool vs. Jerk: Whom Would You Hire?

jerk. Things got a lot more interesting, though, when people faced the choice between competent jerks and lovable fools. Ask managers about this choice—and we've asked many of them, both as part of our research and in executive education... View Details

Keywords: by Tiziana Casciaro & Miguel Sousa Lobo

March 12, 2021
Article

Is Your C-Suite Equipped to Lead a Digital Transformation?

By: J. Yo-Jud Cheng, Cassandra Frangos and Boris Groysberg

The pandemic has rapidly accelerated many companies’ digital efforts, but do they have the right executives in place to lead this sort of transformation? To answer this question, the authors analyzed more than 100 search specifications for C-suite positions in Fortune... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Information Technology; Transformation; Competency and Skills; Digital Transformation

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February 2008 (Revised May 2008)
Case

Lincoln Financial Group (A)

Lincoln Financial Group (LFG) reorganizes its business in order to improve customer intimacy. However, to implement the strategy, they need to effect significant changes in the skills of their salespeople. This case series straddles human resource management, corporate... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Customer Relationship Management; Training; Selection and Staffing; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Evaluation; Sales; Corporate Strategy

September 2021 (Revised December 2023)
Case

On the Bubble: Startup Bootstrapping

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Tom Quinn and Annelena Lobb

Bubble was a software company in the low-code/no-code market, making tools that allowed users without traditional programming backgrounds or technical skills to build software. The case covers cofounder Joshua Haas’s engineering background, as he experienced a high... View Details

2024
Working Paper

Migration, Climate Similarity, and the Consequences of Climate Mismatch

By: Marguerite Obolensky, Marco Tabellini and Charles Taylor

This paper examines the concept of “climate matching” in migration—the idea that migrants seek out destinations with familiar climates. Focusing on the US, we document that temperature distance between origin and destination predicts the distribution of migrants across... View Details

Keywords: Migration; Climate; Immigration; Residency; Weather; Ethnicity; Climate Change; Geographic Location; Policy; United States

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22 May 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, May 22, 2018

exit, output, and R&D. Taxing the continued operation of incumbents can lead to sizable gains (of the order of 1.4% improvement in welfare) by encouraging exit of less productive firms and freeing up skilled labor to be used for... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

June 2014 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation

By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Joshua D. Margolis and Matthew G. Preble

What do you do when your rising professional career is cut short by an unexpected cancer diagnosis? Kathy Giusti shifted careers, built a new organization that transformed how cancer research is done, and now faces the challenge of sustaining the organization and its... View Details