Publications

October 2011
Supplement

An Interview with Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar

By: David A. Garvin

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: Decisions; Human Resources; Employees; Leadership Style; Management; Organizational Culture; Information Technology Industry; India

February 1992 (Revised October 1996)
Case

CUC International, Inc. (A)

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Paul M. Healy

The case series examines the role of financial reporting and corporate finance policies as vehicles for communication between managers and outside investors. This case describes management's concern that the company's stock is undervalued because analysts viewed the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Stocks; Financial Management; Decisions; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Management Style; Management Practices and Processes; Business and Shareholder Relations; Value; Financial Services Industry

13 Jan 2009
First Look

First Look: January 13, 2009

from initiating and smoothing communication to establishing long-lasting relationships and mutual trust, and from bargaining and drafting agreements to securing their implementation. Chinese negotiators can be at once warm hosts and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

05 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

The Middle Manager of the Future: More Coaching, Less Commanding

another employer and maybe move up in rank,” Zhang says. “The career ladder is still there, but it’s changing how you play the game.” Adapting your management style The evolution of management toward collaboration calls for developing a... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

06 Oct 2023
Book

Yes, You Can Radically Change Your Organization in One Week

communication culprits. Often, people didn't honor the past. A new leader will come in and essentially say, ‘In the past, people were dumb and lazy, but now I'm here with my new ideas, and it's going to be good.’ People who were in the... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

22 Feb 2010
Research & Ideas

Manager Visibility No Guarantee of Fixing Problems

Motions: An Empirical Test of Management Involvement in Process Improvement," HBS professor Anita L. Tucker and Harvard School of Public Health professor Sara J. Singer show that communicating with frontline workers can backfire if... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Health

04 Oct 2010
Research & Ideas

Introverts: The Best Leaders for Proactive Employees

Luther King, Jr., and Jack Welch, great leaders are extraverted: their behavior is bold, talkative, energetic, active, assertive, and adventurous. This enables them to communicate a strong, dominant vision that inspires followers to... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

September 2004 (Revised June 2005)
Case

QUALCOMM, Inc. 2004

By: David B. Yoffie, Pai-Ling Yin and Elizabeth Kind

QUALCOMM, Inc. had transitioned from a fledgling startup into a Fortune 500 wireless technology leader. Its CDMA technology was considered the preeminent technology and was the world's fastest growing wireless communications technology. CEO Irwin Jacobs had a number of... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Government and Politics; Leadership Style; Resource Allocation; Product Positioning; Problems and Challenges; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; China; India

25 Nov 2019
Research & Ideas

When Your Passion Works Against You

change the world for the better,” he said. Jobs’ passion and his ability to communicate it saved the company. Business leaders like Jobs who express passion in the workplace can reap big benefits, earning enough admiration and support... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

16 Aug 2006
Research & Ideas

Is MySpace.com Your Space?

revival band that is promoted from a MySpace site, is a case in point. The site is credited for their explosive global growth, yet the commercial exploitation of the social network is welcomed by fans. In true punk style the band claims... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Advertising; Information; Publishing

20 Sep 2017
Research & Ideas

The Three Types of Leaders Who Create Radical Change

demonstrate that the status quo is not acceptable and to mobilize others, agitators thus need to communicate in a manner that ensures grievances are shared and collective and not seen as irrelevant.” "If you do not innovate and have... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

03 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

How to Succeed With Your New Boss

she prefer to be communicated with? Face-to-face? In writing? By voice mail or e-mail? How often? What kinds of decisions does he want to be involved in and where can you make the call on your own? How do your View Details

Keywords: by Michael Watkins

April 2006
Case

Adrian Ivinson at the Harvard Center for Neurodegeneration and Repair

By: Robert Steven Kaplan and Ayesha Kanji

Adrian Ivinson is the director of Harvard Center for Neurodegeneration and Repair (HCNR), a not-for-profit research center at the Harvard Medical School (HMS). The center was started in late 2000 with a gift of $37.5 million from an anonymous donor. Its mandate was to... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Style; Power and Influence; Organizational Culture; Research and Development; Nonprofit Organizations; Motivation and Incentives; Change Management; Alignment; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Health Industry; Massachusetts

April 2025
Case

Joe Mazzulla and the Boston Celtics (A)

By: Linda A. Hill, James I. Cash and Lydia Begag

Joe Mazzulla's leadership journey with the Boston Celtics began in 2016 when he served as an assistant coach for their NBA G-League affiliate. In 2019, he was promoted to a "behind-the-bench" assistant coaching role with the Celtics, before being asked to become the... View Details

17 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

What the Stockdale Paradox Tells Us About Crisis Leadership

constantly reiterating the organizational purpose and operationalizing it as tasks. Talk of vision and ideals may seem a luxury that a crisis does not allow for, but this is a tremendous mistake. “A man must relate to a community, a commonality of View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

05 Dec 2018
Research & Ideas

Why Managers Should Reveal Their Failures

share their mistakes as a team-building exercise to improve communication and collaboration. “You can motivate your team to work harder by doing this,” Brooks says. “I know I have felt that way seeing other women who have succeeded. I... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

27 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Asian and American Leadership Styles: How Are They Unique?

Political connections and family control are more common in Asian businesses than in the United States. In addition, says HBS professor D. Quinn Mills, American CEOs tend to use one of five leadership styles: directive, participative, empowering, charismatic, or... View Details

Keywords: by D. Quinn Mills

October 2003
Case

Henry Tam and the MGI Team

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer, Ingrid Vargas and Hillary Anger Elfenbein

Within a short time frame, seven diverse team members assemble to write a business plan for a new company and struggle to define their roles, make decisions together, and resolve conflict. Henry Tam, a second-year Harvard MBA student, who joins an aspiring start-up... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Business Plan; Groups and Teams; Decision Making; Jobs and Positions; Leadership Style; Human Resources; Management Teams; Conflict and Resolution; Diversity