Publications

18 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

How New Managers Become Great Managers

Linda Hill's book for the star performer-turned-new-manager, Becoming a Manager: Mastery of a New Identity appeared a decade ago to much acclaim. Much of the original book is still fresh today. But a new edition, Becoming a Manager: How... View Details

Keywords: by Linda Hill

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

September 2000 (Revised November 2000)
Case

Panda Management Company, Inc.

Panda Management Co. is the largest Chinese restaurant chain in the United States. At the time of the case, Panda is facing multiple problems in operations, mostly stemming from rapid growth, and must choose a path for expansion. View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Service Operations; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

14 Feb 2023
HBS Case

Is Sweden Still 'Sweden'? A Liberal Utopia Grapples with an Identity Crisis

same time, she says the current problems aren’t likely to dim the high regard other nations place on the Swedish model, in part because none of them have managed to replicate it. While she sees strong echoes of the model in Taiwan, and... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

9 May 2013
Conference Presentation

Weaving Sustainability into the Organization’s Fabric: A Framework for Organizational Renewal

By: Luciana Silvestri and Ranjay Gulati

Keywords: Sustainability; Sustainability Management; Organizational Identity; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mission and Purpose; Management; Strategy; Organizational Design; Alliances; Environmental Sustainability

Research Summary

Managing Processes

David A. Garvin is examining the nature and use of managerial and organizational processes—the means by which work is accomplished—including strategic processes that chart corporate direction, resource allocation processes that distribute funds,... View Details

February 2020 (Revised March 2020)
Case

Managing Blackout at Aluminum Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) (A)

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Gamze Yücaoğlu and Youssef Abdel Aal

The case opens in 2017 as Tim Murray, CEO of Aluminum Bahrain (Alba), the largest single-site aluminum smelter in the world outside China and a major contributor to the Bahraini economy, was contemplating the recovery options as the company was facing the most severe... View Details

Keywords: Aluminum; General Management; Cultural Change; Change Management; Crisis Management; Decision Making; Organizational Culture; Safety; Leadership; Emerging Markets; Bahrain; Middle East

2025
Working Paper

Dynamic Personalization with Multiple Customer Signals: Multi-Response State Representation in Reinforcement Learning

By: Liangzong Ma, Ta-Wei Huang, Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli

Reinforcement learning (RL) offers potential for optimizing sequences of customer interactions by modeling the relationships between customer states, company actions, and long-term value. However, its practical implementation often faces significant challenges.... View Details

Keywords: Dynamic Policy; Deep Reinforcement Learning; Representation Learning; Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment; Latent Variable Models; Customer Relationship Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Foreign Direct Investment; Analytics and Data Science

SSRN

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February 2020
Supplement

Managing Blackout at Aluminum Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) (B)

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Gamze Yücaoğlu and Youssef Abdel Aal

The case opens in 2017 as Tim Murray, CEO of Aluminum Bahrain (Alba), the largest single-site aluminum smelter in the world outside China and a major contributor to the Bahraini economy, was contemplating the recovery options as the company was facing the most severe... View Details

Keywords: Aluminum Industry; General Management; Cultural Change; Change Management; Crisis Management; Decision Making; Organizational Culture; Safety; Leadership; Emerging Markets; Bahrain; Middle East

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Learning Tradeoffs in Organizations: Measuring Multiple Dimensions of Improvement to Investigate Learning-Curve Heterogeneity

Keywords: by Francesca Gino, Richard M.J. Bohmer, Amy C. Edmondson, Gary P. Pisano & Ann B. Winslow; Health

2015
Article

Testing Strategy with Multiple Performance Measures: Evidence from a Balanced Scorecard at Store24

By: Dennis Campbell, Srikant M. Datar, Susan L. Kulp and V.G. Narayanan

We analyze balanced scorecard data from a convenience store chain, Store24, during the implementation of an innovative, but ultimately unsuccessful, strategy. Quarterly strategic reviews, based in part on the firm's balanced scorecard, led executives at Store24 to... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Business Strategy; Retail Industry

August 2021
Case

Mylestone: Can Multiple Pivots Preserve the Life of a Death Tech Startup?

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Marilyn Morgan Westner

Dave Balter and Jim Myers co-founded Mylestone, a death tech startup that applied technology to transform how grieving people memorialize the dead. The startup addressed a cultural problem and promised to solve a pressing need in the antiquated, multi-billion dollar... View Details

Keywords: Pivot; Startup; Business Model; Cryptocurrency; Ethical Decision Making; Emotions; Growth and Development Strategy; Ethics; Market Entry and Exit; Customer Relationship Management; Loss; Change Management; Relationships

September 2023
Case

Trilling Foods: Managing People with Data

By: Alexandra C. Feldberg and Jeffrey T. Polzer

Trilling Foods, a regional bricks-and-mortar grocery chain, has recently provided its frontline managers with new tools for using data. Allison Andersen, Trilling’s VP of Data Science, has spearheaded these efforts. Yet, as she works with Kent Wade, the general manager... View Details

Keywords: Digital Transformation; Management Practices and Processes; Training; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry

22 Jun 2011
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Motivation

Questions To Be Answered What's the best bonus program to boost sales productivity? Can companies inspire heroism in employees? Can employers promote moral behavior? Does money lead to creativity? What's The Best Bonus Program To Boost Sales Productivity? Do Bonuses... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty

September 2006
Tutorial

Management Control Process - Online Tutorial

By: David F. Hawkins

Introduces the Management Control Process by detailing its six components: 1) the management control environment, 2) organizational structure and responsibilities, 3) information and communication, 4) management control systems, 5) incentives, and 6) monitoring.... View Details

Keywords: Communication; Information; Business or Company Management; Management Practices and Processes; Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Structure; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; System

29 Sep 2011
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Leveraging Intellectual Property

Sharpening Your Skills dives into the HBS Working Knowledge archives to bring together articles on ways to improve your business skills. Questions To Be Answered What are the keys to monetizing IP? How should I think about file-sharing and copyright protection? Are... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty

September 1995 (Revised December 2018)
Case

Managing Innovation at Nypro, Inc. (A)

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Rebecca Voorheis

Nypro is the world's leading injection molder of precision plastic parts, operating a global network of 21 plants. Nypro's strategy is for each plant to offer identical capabilities, because its customers are global companies with worldwide sourcing needs. The case... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Innovation and Management; Operations; Performance Consistency; Manufacturing Industry

June 1991 (Revised April 1997)
Background Note

Managing the Multibusiness Corporation

By: David J. Collis

Lays out some ideas on how to restructure a multibusiness corporation. Identifies sixteen elements of organization design, and then applies contingency theory to argue that these elements need to be aligned with the tasks the corporation uses to create value across its... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Alignment; Corporate Strategy; Theory; Value Creation