Publications

June 2012 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Business-driven Research at IBM Research India

By: Willy Shih, Margaret Pierson, Pankaj Agarwal, Diego Medicina and Juan Prajogo

What is the right mix between business-driven and pure research? This case considers the question in the setting of IBM Research India, where a management push for balance between exploratory research and the fulfillment of business needs meets some resistance from... View Details

Keywords: R＆D; Computer Services Industries; IT R＆D; Internet; Web-enabled Application; Technological Planning; Emerging Technologies; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Research and Development; Projects; Practice; India

11 Sep 2012
First Look

First Look: September 11

Rockman, Sven Beckert, and David Waldstreicher. University of Pennsylvania Press, forthcoming Abstract The traditional story of modern management begins in the factories of England and New England, extending only much later to the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Article

How to Bounce Back from Adversity

By: Joshua D. Margolis and Paul G. Stoltz

The article focuses on how companies can be managed to overcome adversity with resilience. The characteristics of resilient managers who provide leadership for their teams and can build resilience in their employees are discussed. The manager's ability to shift... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Leadership; Crisis Management; Managerial Roles; Behavior; Cognition and Thinking

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Article

Why Do Firms Have 'Purpose'? The Firm's Role as a Carrier of Identity and Reputation

By: Rebecca Henderson and Eric Van den Steen

Why do so many firms publicly espouse a "purpose" beyond simple profit maximization? And why do so many managers and employees appear to care deeply about this purpose and to believe that it is critically important? In this paper we argue that the conventional answers... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Identity; Reputation

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19 Mar 2012
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Overcoming the Stress of ‘Englishnization’

second phase involved bringing in lecturers to discuss with employees how to study and manage learning the language. The last phase was encouraging workers to use English in meetings. In line with a... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard

17 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

How ‘Hybrid’ Nonprofits Can Stay on Mission

From Bolivia In a recent Academy of Management Journal article, Battilana and Silvia Dorado from the University of Rhode Island tell the true tale of two Bolivian microfinancing organizations, Banco Solidario and Caja de Ahorro y Préstamo... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

January 2021
Case

Value-Based Insurance Design at Onex

By: Joshua Schwartzstein, Amitabh Chandra and Amram Migdal

The operating executives of Health and Benefits for Onex Partners, Megan Jackson Frye and Sam Camens, faced a challenge: Healthcare costs for employees of Onex’s portfolio companies were continuing to rise above the consumer price index, reflecting broader trends... View Details

11 AM – 12 PM EST, 13 Jan 2016
Webinars: Trending@HBS

What Great Service Leaders Know and Do: Creating Breakthroughs in Service Firms

In their recently completed book by the same title, Professor Schlesinger and coauthors and fellow HBS faculty members James L. Heskett (emeritus) and W. Earl Sasser posit the following: that management has within its control the authority, and, they think, the... View Details

March 2011 (Revised June 2011)
Supplement

Arck Systems (D)

By: Ian Larkin

The Arck Systems series of cases describes the dilemmas faced by a senior sales manager in determining a sales compensation plan at an enterprise software company. The existing compensation plan is aggressive and highly rewards "star" performers. The cases track a... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits

June 2010 (Revised November 2011)
Case

Zensar: The Future of Vision Communities (A)

By: David A. Garvin and Rachna Tahilyani

Zensar is a rapidly growing, mid-sized Indian IT services company with a collaborative management philosophy and innovative HR policies. One of its practices, Vision Communities, is an inclusive forum for innovation and strategy formulation. As the company grows,... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Leadership Style; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Cooperation; Information Technology Industry; India

July 2012 (Revised March 2013)
Supplement

Shanghai Diligence Law Firm (B)

By: Robert G. Eccles and Catherine Zhang

Shanghai Diligence Law Firm continued with its approach to grow through a merger, rather than organically, and was eventually merged into a bigger law firm in China. After the merger, a refined A-B-C-D model is still in use as compensation system, although the... View Details

Keywords: Professional Service Firms; Compensation; Law Firms; Motivating Professionals; Client Management; Developing Professionals; Entrepreneurship; China; Mergers and Acquisitions; Employee Relationship Management; Compensation and Benefits; Groups and Teams; Legal Services Industry; China

16 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

Is Your Workplace Biased Against Introverts?

Managers almost universally say they want to see passion in their employees. Yet sometimes, they can’t spot it when it’s right in front of them. Extroverted employees are more likely to be considered... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

April 2010
Case

George Martin at The Boston Consulting Group (A)

By: Leslie A. Perlow and Kerry Herman

George Martin, managing partner at The Boston Consulting Group, is worried as some of his best performers have recently pulled him aside to discuss the challenges they face managing the demands of their work lives with their desire for more predictable time with their... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Work-Life Balance; Management Teams; Interpersonal Communication; Jobs and Positions; Employees; Consulting Industry; Boston

2008
Book

Ownership Quotient: Putting the Service Profit Chain to Work for Unbeatable Competitive Advantage

By: James L. Heskett, W. Earl Sasser Jr. and Joe Wheeler

Hundreds of large organizations worldwide have used the groundbreaking Service Profit Chain to improve business performance. Now The Ownership Quotient reveals the next generation of the chain: customer and employee "owners" of your business. Employee-owners exhibit... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Customer Ownership; Employee Ownership; Competitive Advantage; Value Creation

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January 1994
Case

ABC Sales and Service Division: A Case Study of Personal and Organizational Transformation

By: D. Quinn Mills, Brock W. Orwig, Janet M. Pumo, Todd C. Stilson and Richard C. Wei

In the midst of dramatic changes in the information systems industry and declining profits at the ABC Co., the vice president in charge of the sales and service division, Jeff, and his managers attempt to transform their division. The transformation gets off to a good... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Transformation; Motivation and Incentives; Resignation and Termination; Communication; Business or Company Management; Information Technology Industry

March 2011 (Revised June 2011)
Supplement

Arck Systems (B)

By: Ian Larkin

The Arck Systems series of cases describes the dilemmas faced by a senior sales manager in determining a sales compensation plan at an enterprise software company. The existing compensation plan is aggressive and highly rewards "star" performers. The cases track a... View Details

Keywords: Change; Framework; Compensation and Benefits; Management; Organizational Design; Outcome or Result; Performance Evaluation; Sales; Motivation and Incentives; System; Software

December 1997
Case

Intercontinental Breweries (Abridged)

By: Thomas R. Piper

A senior executive of a U.S. multinational is attempting to develop a set of financial, operating, and ownership arrangements that will be acceptable to the management and employees of a major Polish company and to the Ministry of Privatization. The arrangements must... View Details

Keywords: Agreements and Arrangements; Multinational Firms and Management; Joint Ventures; Food and Beverage Industry; Poland; United States

August 2011
Supplement

Raj Datta, Former Chief Knowledge Officer of MindTree, In-Class Comments, April 1, 2011

By: David A. Garvin

MindTree is a mid-sized Indian IT services company known for its knowledge management practices, its collaborative communities, and its strong culture and values. The CEO has set a goal of becoming a $1 billion company by 2014; to reach that goal, employees must create... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Management; Social and Collaborative Networks; Innovation and Invention; Organizational Culture; Learning; Values and Beliefs; Information Technology Industry; Service Industry; India