Publications

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November 2011 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Jaipur Literature Festival — Beyond the Festival Template

By: Tarun Khanna, Dennis A. Yao, Hillary Greene and Amrita Chowdhury

Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF), dubbed "the greatest literary show on earth" was an annual event held in late January at the Diggi Palace in Jaipur. JLF provided a platform for international authors and Indian language authors from the subcontinent to engage in a... View Details

Keywords: Literature; Festival; Economic Development; Social Development; Literacy; Development Economics; Social Entrepreneurship; Organizational Structure; Social Issues; India

May 1996 (Revised May 1997)
Case

Colliers International Property Consultants, Inc.: Managing a Virtual Organization

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In less than 20 years, the real estate firm Colliers International expanded into a federation of 180 offices with close to 4,500 professionals in over 30 countries. Because Colliers expanded by signing up existing firms strong in their local markets, its leaders had to... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Globalized Firms and Management; Management Practices and Processes; Service Operations; Information Technology; Organizational Structure; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Strategy; Budgets and Budgeting; Real Estate Industry

2012
Book

The Architecture of Innovation: The Economics of Creative Organizations

By: Josh Lerner

Innovation is a much-used buzzword these days, but when it comes to creating and implementing a new idea, many companies miss the mark—plans backfire, consumer preferences shift, or tried-and-true practices fail to work in a new context. So is innovation just a... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Organizational Structure; Microeconomics

March 2010 (Revised January 2011)
Case

Public Education in New Orleans: Pursuing Systemic Change through Entrepreneurship

By: Stacey M. Childress and James Weber

After Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in August 2005, the state had taken over 102 of the 118 public schools in New Orleans and shifted the management structure from a “single school system to a system of schools.” Entrepreneurs from the region and around the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Governance; Natural Disasters; Education; Entrepreneurship; Education Industry; New Orleans

15 Nov 2006
Research & Ideas

Lessons Not Learned About Innovation

from current activities and investing in new growth, they create organizational flexibility, and they foster communication and relationships. Q: What are you working on currently? A: I'm working with a small number of exemplary global... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

03 Jul 2012
First Look

First Look: July 3

and Michael Slind show how trusted and effective leaders are adapting the principles of face-to-face conversation in order to pursue a new form of organizational conversation. They explore the promise of conversation-powered... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 Oct 2018
Sharpening Your Skills

Startup or Established Company? Which Is Best for You?

organizational structure that requires political and communication savvy. You may have to sacrifice title and maybe some salary to get a foot into larger institutions who may view your past role, which may... View Details

Keywords: by Julia B. Austin

October 1993 (Revised September 1996)
Case

BANC ONE - 1993

By: Hugo Uyterhoeven and Myra M. Hart

From a small local bank, Banc One has grown to one of the largest and most profitable banks in the United States under the leadership of its CEO, John B. McCoy. It has an impressive track record of improving the performance of its acquisitions while retaining the... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Acquisition; Organizational Culture; Policy; Adaptation; Business Growth and Maturation; Strategy; Performance Improvement; Industry Structures; Banking Industry; United States

June 2011 (Revised November 2014)
Case

Vehbi Koç and the Making of Turkey's Largest Business Group

By: Asli M. Colpan and Geoffrey Jones

The case describes the creation of Turkey's largest business group by Vehbi Koç. The foundation of this group in the interwar years, and its subsequent diversification into many industries, including automobiles, household goods, and services, is analysed. The case... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Globalization; Organizational Structure; Diversification; Manufacturing Industry; Turkey

March 2000
Case

Lockheed Martin: The Employer of Choice Mission

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Michael D Overdorf

A Lockheed Martin manager is faced with the decision of where to focus the organization's resources in order to develop a world-class employee development system. The manager's recommendation will serve as the basis for the company's goal of becoming an Employer of... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Resource Allocation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Employees; Human Resources; Leadership Development; Cost Management; Organizational Design; Aerospace Industry

16 Aug 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Managing Political Risk in Global Business: Beiersdorf 1914-1990

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones & Christina Lubinski; Beauty & Cosmetics

14 Sep 2010
First Look

First Look: September 14, 2010

PublicationsRecent Advances in the Empirics of Organizational Economics Authors:Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen Publication:,em>Annual Review of Economics Vol. 2 (2010) Abstract We present a survey of recent... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 1994 (Revised May 1995)
Case

Engineering Inspection & Insurance Company

By: Robert H. Hayes

Engineering Inspection & Insurance Co. (EIIC) is a small but highly successful company that offers machinery and boiler inspection and insurance services. After years of above-average growth and profits, both are retreating toward the industry average, policy delivery... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Business Strategy; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Insurance; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Insurance Industry; United States

16 Nov 2021
HBS Case

How a Company Made Employees So Miserable, They Killed Themselves

on the chopping block themselves. One manager who had overseen 200 workers was accused of “professional incompetence” and abruptly relocated across the country. “I have no work anymore,” he reportedly said. “I am not even in the View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

October 2010 (Revised July 2013)
Case

ActionAid International: Globalizing Governance, Localizing Accountability

By: Alnoor Ebrahim and Rachel Gordon

As a global NGO working in 45 countries, ActionAid International aims to eradicate poverty by addressing its underlying causes such as injustice and inequality. This case follows a series of radical transformations implemented by the organization's CEO, Ramesh Singh—a... View Details

Keywords: Local Range; Globalized Firms and Management; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Nonprofit Organizations; Power and Influence; Johannesburg; London

Article

Beyond Magic Bullets: True Innovation in Health Care

By: Vaibhav A. Narayan, Marco Mohwinckel, Gary Pisano, Michael Yang and Husseini Manji

The molecular medicine revolution—based on advances in fields such as genomics and network modeling in the decade since the human genome sequence was completed—has changed the way we think about, study, and approach the development of novel therapies. However, these... View Details

Keywords: Integration; Business Model; Organizational Structure; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Invention; Pharmaceutical Industry

Find at Harvard

March 2010 (Revised February 2011)
Case

Cognizant 2.0: Embedding Community and Knowledge Into Work Processes

By: Robert G. Eccles and Thomas H. Davenport

Knowledge management has been a high priority for Cognizant Technology Solutions since its inception since its global delivery model requires the global sharing of knowledge. Its first major tool was called the Knowledge Management Appliance but as Web 2.0 tools came... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Management; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Product Development; Service Delivery; Business Processes; Organizational Structure; Cooperation; Information Technology Industry