Publications

25 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

The Importance of Teaming

happens: Through teaming. Products and services are provided to customers by interdependent people and processes. Crucial learning activities must take place, within those smaller, focused units of action, for organizations to View Details

Keywords: Re: Amy C. Edmondson

October 2002 (Revised February 2011)
Case

Union Corrugating Company (A)

By: Paul W. Marshall and Julia Stevens

Lauri Union graduates from Harvard Business School and takes over her family's steel-corrugated roofing and siding manufacturing firm, which her mother has most recently run. The industry is mature, entry barriers to competitors are low, and the company is over 50... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Family Business; Entrepreneurship; Organizational Culture; Family Ownership; Gender; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry

30 Jul 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Fluid Teams and Fluid Tasks: The Impact of Team Familiarity and Variation in Experience

Keywords: by Robert S. Huckman & Bradley R. Staats; Video Game; Web Services

Research Summary

Wage Policies and Incentives to Invest in Firm-Specific Human Capital (joint with George Baker and Nancy Dean Beaulieu)

The accumulation of firm-specific knowledge improves firm productivity and employee reten-tion, by creating a wedge between what the employee is worth inside and outside the firm. How does the firm create incentives for investment in firm-specific human capital when... View Details

2021
Working Paper

Time Dependency, Data Flow, and Competitive Advantage

By: Ehsan Valavi, Joel Hestness, Marco Iansiti, Newsha Ardalani, Feng Zhu and Karim R. Lakhani

Data is fundamental to machine learning-based products and services and is considered strategic due to its externalities for businesses, governments, non-profits, and more generally for society. It is renowned that the value of organizations (businesses, government... View Details

Keywords: Economics Of AI; Value Of Data; Perishability; Time Dependency; Flow Of Data; Data Strategy; Analytics and Data Science; Value; Strategy; Competitive Advantage

SSRN

Read Now

June 2017 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Becton Dickinson: Innovation and Growth (A)

By: Raffaella Sadun, Michael Beer and James Weber

In late 2015, CEO Vince Forlenza was reviewing Becton Dickinson’s transformation efforts designed to enable the company to innovate and grow in a changing environment. Becton Dickinson had been a successful medical device company for over 100 years. In recent years,... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Change Management; Innovation Leadership; Mergers and Acquisitions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Health Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States

23 Jun 2023
HBS Case

This Company Lets Employees Take Charge—Even with Life and Death Decisions

care teams after experiencing firsthand as a nurse, and then a decade as a senior leader of two large health care organizations, how the health care system managed quality and productivity in ways that required counterproductive layers of... View Details

Keywords: by Annelena Lobb; Health

July 2024 (Revised October 2024)
Case

Knowledge Transfer: Toyota, NUMMI, and GM

By: Willy Shih

New United Motors Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI) was a joint venture between Toyota and General Motors. It was an opportunity for GM to learn about the Toyota Production System, which was quite different from the mass production processes American automakers used at the... View Details

Keywords: Culture Change; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Joint Ventures; Transformation; Selection and Staffing; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Sharing; Labor Unions; Management Systems; Performance Improvement; Production; Labor and Management Relations; Auto Industry; Japan; United States

Web

Finance - Faculty & Research

acquisition. Ping’s strong fundamentals made the opportunity appealing: the company operated in a high-growth market, generated the majority of its revenues from subscription-based services, and demonstrated significant growth in its View Details

12 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

Rocket Science Retailing: A Practical Guide

reinforced? In the new normal, managers will have to learn to cope not only with mix uncertaintybut also with aggregate demand uncertainty. In addition, managers will have to redouble their effort to improve View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Retail; Auto

16 May 2023
HBS Case

How KKR Got More by Giving Ownership to the Factory Floor: ‘My Kids Are Going to College!’

their improved performance creates. “There exists tremendous low-hanging fruit in creating shared value for employees and companies,” says Rouen. “The logistics are not hard; it’s the will. Top management have to be willing to give up a... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

30 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

‘Intrinsic Joy’ Sparks Ideas Better than Cash

It seems obvious: If you want to boost innovation from a crowd writing and improving software code, just dangle a cash incentive. When GitHub began offering matching funds to open source software users who snagged outside sponsors in... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology

Web

Strategy - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

unique value and drive continuous improvement in any organization. Creating a successful strategy Strategy and Smart, Connected Products Three waves of IT-driven competition have radically reshaped... View Details

2017
Working Paper

Task Selection and Workload: A Focus on Completing Easy Tasks Hurts Long-Term Performance

By: Diwas S. KC, Bradley R. Staats, Maryam Kouchaki and Francesca Gino

How individuals manage, organize, and complete their tasks is central to operations management. Recent research in operations focuses on how under conditions of increasing workload, individuals can increase their service time, up to a point, to complete work more... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Decision Making; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Productivity

SSRN

Read Now

Web

Named Fellowship Funds - Alumni

chief product officer and executive vice president for Creative Cloud. Belsky is a venture partner with Benchmark and an early advisor and investor in companies including Pinterest, Uber, sweetgreen, and Periscope. He is also cofounder... View Details

Web

The Three Levels of CSV - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

Three Levels of CSV Reconceiving Products & Markets Redefining Productivity in the Value Chain Improving the Local & Regional Business Environment The Three Levels of CSV... View Details

26 Jul 2011
First Look

First Look: July 26

PublicationsPolicy Bundling to Overcome Loss Aversion: A Method for Improving Legislative Outcomes Authors:Katherine L. Milkman, Mary Carol Mazza, Lisa L. Shu, Chia-Jung Tsay, and Max H. Bazerman Publication:Organizational Behavior and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Web

Competitiveness & Economic Development - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

states, regions and nations. Clear economic strategies that engage all stakeholders, boost innovation and ultimately improve productivity are especially critical in times of austerity or economic distress.... View Details

March 2005 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Brocade: Launching the Multiprotocol Router

By: Elie Ofek and Mamoon Hamid

Brocade management is preparing for the launch of a new technology for data storage. The multiprotocol router improves on existing technology and has the potential to change the way firms design their data storage networks. Students must determine the target market for... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Price; Product Launch; Partners and Partnerships; Segmentation; Information Infrastructure; Technology Adoption; Information Technology Industry