Publications

2007
Working Paper

Interpersonal Authority in a Theory of the Firm

By: Eric J. Van den Steen

This paper develops a theory of the firm in which a firm's centralized asset ownership and low-powered incentives give a manager 'interpersonal authority' over employees (in a world with differing priors). The paper derives such interpersonal authority as... View Details

Keywords: Governance Controls; Employee Relationship Management; Managerial Roles; Motivation and Incentives; Boundaries; Theory

SSRN

30 Oct 2018
Working Paper Summaries

The Value Structure of Technologies, Part 2: Technical and Strategic Bottlenecks as Guides for Action

Keywords: by Carliss Y. Baldwin; Air Transportation; Transportation; Manufacturing

March 2017 (Revised April 2021)
Module Note

Responsibilities to Society

By: Nien-hê Hsieh

This module note for students outlines an approach to help managers deliver on their responsibilities in relation to society. The approach frames these responsibilities in terms of potential harms to third parties beyond investors, customers, and employees. The... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Political Activity; Corporate Social Responsibility; Human Rights; Role Of Business In Society; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Ethics; Business and Community Relations; Rights; Society

2017
Book

Extreme Teaming: Lessons in Complex, Cross-Sector Leadership

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Jean-François Harvey

Today's global enterprises increasingly involve collaborative work by teams of experts operating across different professions, organizations, and industries. Extreme Teaming provides new insights into the world of complex, cross-industry projects and the ways... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Complexity

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June 2000 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Must Zee TV

By: Bharat N. Anand and Tarun Khanna

Explores issues related to (1) the vertical boundaries of the firm in an emerging-economy context, especially the effects of lack of intellectual property rights and lack of contract enforcement on both industry structure and boundaries of the firm; and (2) the extent... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Developing Countries and Economies; Copyright; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

Research Summary

Relational Contracts

George Baker is exploring (with Robert Gibbons of MIT and Kevin Murphy of the USC) how relational contracts--contracts secured by reputation and trust, rather than by legal enforcement--affect the performance and boundaries of firms. Such relational contracts are... View Details

November 2023
Case

Axie Infinity: Video Game Meets Blockchain

By: Marco Di Maggio and Wenyao Sha

The narrative unfolds from the perspective of Sky Mavis's leadership team, facing a high-stakes, rapidly evolving digital frontier. They navigate the exhilarating yet tumultuous journey of Axie Infinity, balancing innovation with sustainability. It explores the game's... View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Business Model; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Currency; Innovation and Management; Business Strategy; Video Game Industry

2019
Working Paper

Self-Interest: The Economist's Straitjacket

By: Robert Simons

This paper examines contemporary economic theories that focus on the design and management of business organizations. In the first part of the paper, a taxonomy is presented that describes the different types of economists interested in this subject—market economists,... View Details

SSRN

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March 22, 2012
Article

Global Team Leaders Must Deliberately Create 'Moments'

By: Tsedal Neeley

Global teams face the challenge of having to operate with limited face-to-face contact and across vast distances, time zones, language backgrounds, and contexts, as well as cultural differences. In turn, these differences generate disruptions to team cohesion and top... View Details

Keywords: Global Range; Groups and Teams; Management Practices and Processes

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Article

No Team is an Island: How Leaders Shape Networked Ecosystems for Team Success

By: Inga Carboni, Robert Cross and Amy C. Edmondson

Today’s organizations rely on networks of dynamic systems of “agile” teams to get work done. Teams are distributed, transient, and loosely bounded in service of responsiveness and innovation. The key to this new way of doing work is managing the networked ecosystem in... View Details

Keywords: Cross-functional Teams; Teams; Interviews; Leadership; Groups and Teams; Networks

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2008
Working Paper

Product Development and Learning in Project Teams: The Challenges are the Benefits

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Ingrid M. Nembhard

The value of teams in new product development (NPD) is undeniable. Both the interdisciplinary nature of the work and industry trends necessitate that professionals from different functions work together on development projects to create the highest quality product in... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Learning; Management Skills; Product Development; Projects; Groups and Teams; Conflict Management; Social and Collaborative Networks

12 Dec 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Bottlenecks, Modules and Dynamic Architectural Capabilities

Keywords: by Carliss Y. Baldwin

Research Summary

Reinvention and “Frame Flexibility”

By: Ryan L. Raffaelli

Adopting a radical innovation creates pressure for leaders to reframe their mental models while they also sustain their organization's existing capabilities and product category variants. Yet at key junctures in a product class and during technological change, a... View Details

Keywords: Institutional Change; Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Diffusion Processes; Technology Adoption; Cognition and Thinking; Identity; Emotions

15 Nov 2016
First Look

November 15, 2016

increase the quality of employee-company matches (measured through employee departures of newly hired employees, store-level employee turnover, and store performance) except when store managers are inexperienced and/or overly busy. Yet,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

22 May 2012
First Look

First Look: May 22

require a grand organizational makeover or buy-in from the CEO. All it takes is collaboration between you and your team-working together and making small, doable changes. What started as an experiment with a six-person team at The Boston Consulting Group-one of the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2015
Chapter

Innovating without Information Constraints: Organization, Communities, and Innovation when Information Costs Approach Zero

By: Elizabeth J. Altman, Frank Nagle and Michael Tushman

Innovation has traditionally taken place within an organization's boundaries and/or with selected partners. This Chandlerian approach to innovation has been rooted in transaction costs, organizational boundaries, and information processing challenges associated with... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Sharing; Cost; Innovation and Management; Collaborative Innovation and Invention

Research Summary

By: Ashish Nanda

Ashish Nanda's research focuses on ethics and economics of managing professional service firms.

Nanda is working on a project that studies how management of conflict of interest influences professional identity, the role of professional associations, and the... View Details

August 2011 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Language and Globalization: 'Englishnization' at Rakuten (A)

By: Tsedal Neeley

Hiroshi Mikitani, the CEO of Rakuten, (Japan's largest online retailer), is at the helm of an organization that is rapidly expanding into global markets. In a critical stride toward becoming the world's No. 1 Internet services company, Mikitani announces... View Details

Keywords: Teaching; Human Capital; Change Management; Transformation; Social Enterprise; Communication Strategy; Internet and the Web; Disruptive Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Leadership; Global Strategy; Technology Industry; Retail Industry; Japan