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Ethan Bernstein (@ethanbernstein) is an associate professor in the Organizational Behavior unit at Harvard Business School. He has spent his career researching novel talent management practices and their effect on employee behavior, collaboration, and performance.... View Details

2021
Book

Better, Simpler Strategy: A Value-Based Guide to Exceptional Performance

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee

In nearly every business segment and corner of the world economy, the most successful companies dramatically outperform their rivals. What is their secret? In Better, Simpler Strategy, Harvard Business School professor Felix Oberholzer-Gee shows how these... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Strategic Planning; Value; Analysis; Competitive Advantage; Performance Effectiveness

June 2001 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Verizon Communications, Inc.: Implementing a Human Resources Balanced Scorecard

By: Srikant M. Datar, Marc J. Epstein and Jeremy Cott

In early 2000, Verizon Communications implemented a Human Resources Balanced Scorecard to evaluate the effectiveness of and payoffs from human resource management. This case describes the benefits of the scorecard and the challenges of measurement and implementation.... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Human Resources; Telecommunications Industry

07 Jul 2003
Research & Ideas

4+2 = Sustained Business Success

business wisdom as old school, we found ourselves wondering if they were right. For years we had watched new management ideas come and go, passionately embraced one year, abruptly abandoned the next. "What really works?" we... View Details

Keywords: by Nitin Nohria, William Joyce & Bruce Roberson

November 2005 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs

By: Boris Groysberg, Scott A. Snook and David Lane

In November 1999, 11 of Goldman Sachs' finest gathered to put the final touches on a revolutionary leadership development plan. Following Goldman's explosive growth during the 1990s and its eventual IPO in 1999, a diverse group of leaders from across the firm were... View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Leadership Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Skills; Organizational Design; Planning

August 2012
Background Note

Marketing Communications

By: Thales S. Teixeira and Thales S. Teixeira

This note identifies the main issues involved in the effective management of the marketing communications process. It first defines the purpose of communication. Then it classifies the tools available to communicate with consumers. In the sequel, it elaborates on how... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Communication; Advertising; Promotion; Social Media; Digital Media; Viral Advertising; Marketing; Communications Industry; North and Central America

05 Jun 2015
News

Waltons cement grip on Wal-Mart with new chairman

October 2011 (Revised December 2013)
Case

Lehman Brothers and Repo 105

By: Anette Mikes, Gwen Yu and Dominique Hamel

The collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 was the largest bankruptcy in US history. The case examines the economics of the off-balance sheet transactions Lehman undertook prior to the collapse, and highlights the corporate governance challenges in situations where firms... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Policy; Accounting Audits; Corporate Governance; Financial Instruments; Risk Management; Financial Services Industry

02 Apr 2024
Research & Ideas

Employees Out Sick? Inside One Company's Creative Approach to Staying Productive

more effective to encourage more handshake contracts between managers to share workers than to create a central system for replacing employees, the researchers found. Since different people on production... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Fashion

1994
Book

Contrived Competition: Regulation and Deregulation in America

By: Richard H. K. Vietor

This book explains how four major firms--American Airlines, El Paso Natural Gas, AT&T, and Bank America--and their respective managements were challenged by the deregulation of markets starting in the late 1970s. The four stories illustrate the dynamic process of... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; United States

Find at Harvard

04 Jul 2011
News

Declaring Independence in the Workplace

December 1998 (Revised July 2016)
Background Note

Tools of Cooperation, The

By: Clayton M. Christensen, Howard H. Stevenson and Jeremy Dann

Presents a theory about the tools a manager can use to get people to agree on a coordinated course of action and effect change in his or her organization. The extent to which people in the organization agree on the way the world works, and agree on what they want,... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Framework; Managerial Roles; Organizations; Performance Effectiveness; Cooperation

16 Nov 1999
Lessons from the Classroom

Leading Change and Organizational Renewal

organizations, and what managers must do to effectively lead the change process. Tushman and O'Reilly are the coauthors of Winning Through Innovation: A Practical Guide to Leading Organizational Change and... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

Research Summary

Do Appearances Matter? The Impact of EPS Accretion and Dilution on Stock Prices

There is a widespread concern among practitioners and corporate managers that transactions which result in changes in future earnings-per-share (EPS) have real effects on stock prices, irrespective of whether these changes reflect differences in future cash flows. As... View Details

05 Dec 2023
Research & Ideas

Lessons in Decision-Making: Confident People Aren't Always Correct (Except When They Are)

the right people are confident, suggests recent research by Thomas Graeber, assistant professor at Harvard Business School. His work tested the effects of meta-cognition—essentially, whether more skilled people are also more confident... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

March 2006
Background Note

Customer-Introduced Variability in Service Operations

By: Frances X. Frei

Presents a typology of customer-introduced variability and offers guidance on how to manage each type. Central to the ideas developed is how to mitigate the effects of the apparent trade-off between reducing variability and diminishing the service experience or... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Six Sigma; Consumer Behavior; Service Operations; Performance Efficiency

01 Nov 2019
Blog Post

Confronting Climate Change in the Classroom and Beyond

leaders, and to inspire new ideas and practical, effective solutions that will benefit managers everywhere. In practical terms, that translates to the BEI team, led by Faculty Chair and Senator John Heinz... View Details

January 1987 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Baker Precision Instruments, Inc.

By: Ramchandran Jaikumar, Roy Shapiro, Donald Rosenfield and Kathryn E. Stecke

A rapidly growing machine parts manufacturer is trying to decide whether to acquire an advanced Flexible Manufacturing System or Systems. The selection decisions must address the impact of new technology, the effect of setup times on production planning and capacity,... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Cost vs Benefits; Machinery and Machining; Production; Decision Choices and Conditions; Management Systems; Manufacturing Industry; Industrial Products Industry