Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(3,028)
- Faculty Publications (1,000)
- October 2006 (Revised May 2007)
- Case
King Arthur Flour
By: Thomas J. DeLong, James Holian and Joshua Weiss
Steve Voigt, the CEO of King Arthur Flour, must determine how the company can continue to grow, whilst preserving its unique culture. In 1996, the company was sold to employees in as ESOP transaction. The following decade saw significant growth, despite declining sales... View Details
- October 2006 (Revised January 2009)
- Case
Vitreon Corporation: The Hyalite Project
By: Roy D. Shapiro
Considers decisions facing the leader of a manufacturing staff project team assigned to a plant where yields have deteriorated sharply. The process is complex: the plant organization is not cooperative, and there are deep disagreements about what is wrong and how to... View Details
- September 2006 (Revised October 2007)
- Case
BT Plc: The Broadband Revolution (A)
By: Michael L. Tushman, David Kiron and Adam M. Kleinbaum
In early 2003, CEO Ben Verwaayen and Chief Broadband Officer Alison Ritchie of BT Plc. are trying to transform the former British Telecom from a stodgy telephone company into a 21st century broadband company. Their efforts to focus the firm on broadband issues within... View Details
- September 2006 (Revised November 2007)
- Case
Board of Directors of Medtronic, Inc.
By: Jay W. Lorsch and Alexis Chernak
The board of directors of Medtronic, Inc., a company known for its commitment to effective corporate governance, must prepare for the departure of Chairman and CEO Bill George and the retirement of four long-time directors. The company had experienced rapid growth in... View Details
- September 2006 (Revised October 2007)
- Case
Shinsei Bank: Developing an Integrated Firm
By: Thomas J. DeLong and Masako Egawa
Tom Pedersen, newly appointed chief learning officer (CLO) of Shinsei Bank in Japan, pondered how he could facilitate development of an integrated culture and transformation of the organization. Shinsei Bank had not developed longstanding tradition or a strong... View Details
- August 2006
- Background Note
Analyzing Work Groups
By: Linda A. Hill and Michel Anteby
Work groups are the building blocks of organizations. They are found in all areas of an organization, from research and development to customer service, and at all levels, from the executive suite to the factory floor. Some are incredibly successful, while others are... View Details
- August 2006 (Revised November 2007)
- Background Note
A Framework for Pursuing Diversity in the Workplace
By: Thomas J. DeLong and Michael Brookshire
Assesses the costs and benefits of pursuing diversity and pinpoints the primary barriers to creating diverse workplaces. It also proposes some options for advancing diversity in an organization. View Details
- August 2006 (Revised September 2008)
- Case
Duane Morris: Balancing Growth and Culture at a Law Firm
By: Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams
After nearly 100 years as a mid-size regional law firm, Duane Morris entered a period of spectacular growth led by CEO Sheldon Bonovitz. Originally founded by Quakers, the firm had a distinct organizational culture featuring a number of unique or unusual business... View Details
- 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
- April 2006 (Revised October 2006)
- Case
Dansko, Inc.
By: Amy C. Edmondson and Victoria Winston
For the past 18 months, Mandy Cabot had worried that the shoe business she had built into a thriving operation with $90 million in annual revenue and over 110 employees might instead be a "house of cards." The management philosophy that had guided Dansko's growth,... View Details
- April 2006 (Revised November 2021)
- Case
Endesa Chile: Raising the Ralco Dam (A)
By: Kathleen L. McGinn, Paula J. Laschober and Dina Pradel
Endesa Chile, the largest electricity generation company in Chile, is building a major power plant on the Biobio River in Southern Chile. A historic conflict involving the indigenous people of the Biobio River, the Chilean government, and international conservation... View Details
- April 2006 (Revised April 2020)
- Case
"The Case of Leadership Inertia"
The CEO of an international bank has raised the bank's performance by emphasizing a new culture of leadership that empowers people at all levels. Managers are rated both on their business results and their leadership—how they model new behaviors—but 12 senior managers... View Details
- March 2006 (Revised August 2006)
- Case
Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture
By: Nitin Nohria and Charles Nichols
Charles "Ed" Haldeman Jr. is promoted CEO of Putnam Investments after the firm was badly damaged by a series of improper trading practices. He is charged with the task of managing the crisis, repairing the company culture, and putting the firm back into a pattern of... View Details
- February 2006 (Revised November 2006)
- Case
GE's Growth Strategy: The Immelt Initiative
Follows the actions of GE CEO, Jeff Immelt, as he implements a growth strategy for the $150 billion company in a tough business environment. In four years, he reinvigorates GE's technology, expands its services, develops a commercial focus, pushes developing countries,... View Details
- January 2006 (Revised February 2015)
- Case
Innovation at Timberland: Thinking Outside the Shoe Box
By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Ryan Raffaelli
Innovation was linked to Timberland's heritage. In 2005, CEO Jeff Swartz and COO Ken Pucker hoped the Invention Factory, an advanced concept lab, would develop new breakthrough products and reinvigorate the company's culture of innovation. Since the 1960s, Timberland... View Details
- January 2006 (Revised June 2008)
- Case
Lehman Brothers (A): Rise of the Equity Research Department
By: Ashish Nanda, Boris Groysberg and Lauren Prusiner
Under Jack Rivkin's leadership, Shearson Lehman's research department rose from relative obscurity to the highest ranking research department on Wall Street within three years. When Rivkin is promoted to head of equity, he wonders how to succeed in his new position. A... View Details
- 2006
- Working Paper
On the Origin of Shared Beliefs (and Corporate Culture)
This paper shows why members of an organization often share similar beliefs. I argue that there are two mechanisms. First, when performance depends on making correct decisions, people prefer to work with others who share their beliefs and assumptions, since such... View Details
- 2006
- Working Paper
The Limits of Authority: Motivation versus Coordination
This paper studies the effects of open disagreement on motivation and coordination. It shows how, in the presence of differing priors, motivation and coordination impose conflicting demands on the allocation of authority, leading to a trade-off between the... View Details
- December 2005 (Revised March 2007)
- Case
Leerink Swann & Co.: Creating Competitive Advantage
By: Boris Groysberg and Andrew N. McLean
In the spring of 2005, CEO Jeff Leerink has called a meeting of the executive committee to formulate Leerink Swann's growth strategy over the next five years so that it accomplishes three goals: expand into a new business, reinforce the firm's legacy businesses, and... View Details