Publications

21 Jun 2022
HBS Case

Free Isn’t Always Better: How Slack Holds Its Own Against Microsoft Teams

Slack could be more readily adapted to a range of office software than Teams could. Slack users seemed to like its features, Yoffie says. ‘How do you compete with free?’ Yoffie says Slack’s chief challenge is the same one that other... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Information Technology; Technology

October 2005 (Revised October 2008)
Case

Virginia Mason Medical Center

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer and Erika Ferlins

In 2000, Dr. Gary Kaplan became CEO of the Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. The hospital was facing significant challenges: It was losing money for the first time in its history, staff morale had plummeted, and area hospitals presented ardent... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Production; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Problems and Challenges; Quality; Competition; Seattle

11 Apr 2024
Blog Post

Climate Stories: Water Series - Episode #17: Leni Peterson Redondo (HBS MS/MBA 2023), Founder & CEO of Celeste

people across the supply chain to coordinate large scale climate adaptation strategies.” Leni continued, “Moreover, water is a critical resource that companies share with neighboring communities and ecosystems. If companies wish to... View Details

2009
Working Paper

Assess, Don't Assume, Part II: Negotiating Implications of Cross-Border Differences in Decision Making, Governance, and Political Economy

By: James K. Sebenius

When facing a cross-border negotiation, the standard preparatory assessments—of the parties, their interests, their no-deal options, opportunities for and barriers to creating and claiming value, the most promising sequence and process design, etc.—should be... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Corporate Governance; Negotiation Process; Organizational Culture; Business and Government Relations

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2009
Working Paper

Assess, Don't Assume, Part I: Etiquette and National Culture in Negotiation

By: James K. Sebenius

When facing a cross-border negotiation, the standard preparatory assessments -- of the parties, their interests, their no-deal options, opportunities for and barriers to creating and claiming value, the most promising sequence and process design, etc. -- should be... View Details

Keywords: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Negotiation Process; Societal Protocols; Competitive Advantage; Cooperation

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30 Nov 2016
HBS Seminar

Melissa Valentine and Michael Bernstein, Stanford University

Web

The 20th Century Zeitgeist - Leadership

each coming into play to a varying degree at different times. The best leaders can sense the winds of change and adapt with the times. Great American Business Leaders: 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s the 20 th... View Details

April 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Case

IBM: Design Thinking

By: Srikant M. Datar, Amram Migdal and Paul Hamilton

This case describes the 2012-2020 effort at IBM to implement design thinking throughout the company and hire thousands of designers to serve on every product team alongside technical engineers and developers and product managers. IBM’s design transformation is told... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Business Divisions; Business Units; Business Organization; Change; Change Management; Transformation; Competency and Skills; Talent and Talent Management; Design; Human Resources; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Innovation and Invention; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Jobs and Positions; Job Design and Levels; Leading Change; Management; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Operations; Product; Product Design; Product Development; Organizations; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Strategy; Adaptation; Adoption; Technological Innovation; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States

March–April 1979
Article

Choosing Strategies for Change

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and John P. Kotter

"From the frying pan into the fire," "let sleeping dogs lie," and "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" are all well-known sayings born of the fear of change. When people are threatened with change in organizations, similar maxims about certain people and departments... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategy; Change Management

Find at Harvard

28 Nov 2018
HBS Case

On Target: Rethinking the Retail Website

managers themselves to work with the data. That meant creating a flexible analytics system that could not only adapt to real-time business changes but one that managers felt comfortable using. “He didn’t want to be the bottleneck. It took... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail

May 2014
Case

Gunfire at Sea (multi-media case)

By: Michael Tushman and Tom Ryder

This short video illustrates the challenges of leading innovation and change. This classic case (one of the oldest in the HBS system) retains its timeliness. The case describes how Lt. Sims develops a new form of gunfire at sea—continuous aim gunfire. While 3,000% more... View Details

Keywords: Organization Behavior; Change; Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Innovation Leadership; United States

July 1998 (Revised December 2001)
Case

Jollibee Foods Corporation (A): International Expansion

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Jamie O'Connell

Noli Tingzon, newly-appointed international division VP at Jollibee, the Philippines-based hamburger chain, is faced with the challenge of expanding fast food operations in Asia in the face of stiff competition. The case describes Jollibee's six-year international... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Motivation and Incentives; Expansion; Global Range; Global Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Philippines

14 Jul 2023
Blog Post

Harvard Business School Announces Its 2023-2024 Blavatnik Fellows

(MBA 2022) and Christopher Edward Dee (MD 2021). Patrick's research focuses on utilizing real-world behavioral data from smartphones to characterize patient quality of life and to develop adaptive interventions using reinforcement... View Details

13 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

Managing the Family Business: Leadership Roles

mediate differences among family members fairly. In leadership, they lack a clear vision for the future; or they haven't accepted the need to change in order to adapt to the environment; or they are uninspired. It takes deep inspiration... View Details

Keywords: by John A. Davis

Web

Strategy Execution Online Course | HBS Online

techniques to help your business innovate and adapt to change while maintaining clear focus and retaining necessary controls. Highlights Using Control Systems Interactively Discussing Challenges in San Jose Choosing a System to Use... View Details

Research Summary

Why Do Consumers Contribute to Connected Goods? A Dynamic Game of Competition and Cooperation in Social Networks

Social network platforms and media rely on the voluntary contributions of individual users to stay relevant. Consumers (users) contribute content such as photographs, videos, tweets etc.: these are available to any of their friends or peers, but not... View Details

February 2001 (Revised February 2002)
Case

Estee Lauder and the Market for Prestige Cosmetics

By: Nancy F. Koehn

Opens with a brief history of the U.S. cosmetics market and its rapid development in the 1920s. Also recounts Lauder's initial involvement in the sector, making skin care products and selling them in Manhattan beauty parlors during the Great Depression. Pays particular... View Details

Keywords: Fluctuation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Market Entry and Exit; Entrepreneurship; Luxury; Business Strategy; Society; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; United States