Publications

October 2012 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Carolina for Kibera

By: Kathleen L. McGinn, Beth-Ann Kutchma and Cailin B. Hammer

Carolina for Kibera (CFK) is an international non-profit organization whose mission is to promote youth leadership and gender and ethnic cooperation in Kibera, the largest unstructured settlement situated in the heart of Nairobi, Kenya. CFK's programs constructively... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Power and Influence; Non-Governmental Organizations; Social Enterprise; Negotiation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Kenya; United States

29 Oct 2019
Sharpening Your Skills

Robots in the Boardroom

Learning Teaches Us about CEO Leadership StyleResearchers turn to machine-learning technology to look for links between a CEO's communications style and company performance. Use Artificial Intelligence to Set Sales Targets That... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

April 2025
Case

Setting a CEO Agenda: Ole Rosgaard at Greif

By: Krishna Palepu and Kerry Herman

Since taking over as CEO of industrial packaging giant Greif, Ole Rosgaard has focused on growing the company and improving the perception of its value by the capital markets. He and his senior leadership team have made inroads to this end, including adjusting the... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Valuation; Governing and Advisory Boards; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Industrial Products Industry; North America; Europe

04 Mar 2024
Research & Ideas

Want to Make Diversity Stick? Break the Cycle of Sameness

and people of color in leadership roles continue to remain scarce, perpetuating a pattern of sameness, with white men often replacing other white men in high-level positions, Chang says. However, the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

February 2016
Teaching Note

Akın Öngör's Journey

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

The case of Akın Öngör's Journey describes a highly successful former CEO with stellar leadership skills, who transformed a bank in Turkey into one of the world's best, steered it to contribute to his country's social agenda, influenced business practices of other... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Change Management; Social Entrepreneurship; Business and Community Relations; Turkey

03 Jul 2008
What Do You Think?

Are Followers About to Get Their Due?

Summing Up Are leadership and followership joined at the hip? It seems impossible to separate the two. They are reflective of one another. These are two of the predominant opinions expressed in one way or another by respondents to this... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

12 Oct 2017
News

What Trump could learn from polar explorer Ernest Shackleton

08 Mar 2021
News

Why Rosabeth Moss Kanter Says Leaders Must ‘Think Outside The Building’ To Address Complex Problems

14 Feb 2023
HBS Case

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

Aren’t Business Leaders More Vocal About Immigration Policy? People Trust Business, But Expect CEOs to Drive Social Change Making Diverse Leadership a Priority at Whittier College Feedback or ideas to share?... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

31 Aug 2021
Book

Feeling Powerless at Work? Time to Agitate, Innovate, and Orchestrate

should do: “agitate, innovate, and orchestrate.” Ordinary people can effect change After all, people lower down the organizational ladder, who may seem to have little influence, often have far more power than they realize to View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

Hise O. Gibson

Hise Gibson graduated from West Point, where he was a member of the Division-1A Army football team. Following graduation, he commissioned in the US Army as an Aviation Officer in the UH60 Blackhawk Helicopter. He served with distinction in various command and staff... View Details

October 1984 (Revised July 1988)
Case

Mark Twain Bancshares, Inc.

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr.

Describes the history, management, and organization of an extremely successful bank holding company. The company has had a very charismatic chairman, has made MBAs bank presidents at very early ages, and has a long record of innovation. Now deregulation and a coming... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Financial Services Industry

January 2008
Article

Where Will We Find Tomorrow's Leaders?

By: Linda A. Hill

Unless we challenge long-held assumptions about how business leaders are supposed to act and where they're supposed to come from, many people who could become effective global leaders will remain invisible, warns Harvard Business School professor Hill. Instead of... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Globalization; Innovation Leadership; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Situation or Environment; Personal Characteristics

Find at Harvard

December 2020 (Revised January 2022)
Supplement

Michael Ku and Global Clinical Supply at Pfizer Inc.: Bringing Hope to Patients (B)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2011, Michael Ku became Pfizer’s Vice President of Global Clinical Supply (GCS) after the company had undergone three large-scale mergers and acquisitions. As Ku and his new leadership team set out to build a proactive, end-to-end, digital and physical clinical... View Details

Keywords: Digital Technology; Customer-centricity; Innovation; Customer Focus; Talent; Talent Management; Leadership; Innovation and Invention; Transformation; Organizational Culture; Customer Focus and Relationships; Change Management; Talent and Talent Management; Supply Chain; Mission and Purpose

29 Nov 2021
News

What's the Role of Business in Confronting Climate Change?

February 2010
Case

Corporate Strategy at Berkshire Partners

By: Julie M. Wulf and Scott Waggoner

The managing directors of Berkshire Partners, a mid-sized private equity firm, address strategic and organizational challenges in response to turbulent market conditions, rapid firm growth, and the transition of leadership from its founding partners to the next... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Management Teams; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Boston

January 2009
Supplement

KPMG (B): Risk and Reform

By: Robert G. Eccles and Eliot Sherman

Under the leadership of Tim Flynn, Chairman and CEO of KPMG, the firm made a number of changes in compensation, governance, and culture in order to address the underlying reasons for actions that occurred prior to him becoming CEO that led to the accounting giant... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Ethics; Corporate Governance; Governance Compliance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Governing and Advisory Boards; Compensation and Benefits; Employee Relationship Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation

10 Jan 2023
Op-Ed

Time to Move On? Career Advice for Entrepreneurs Preparing for the Next Stage

it’s ending a relationship, changing a job or transitioning from a household of kids to an empty nest. When it comes to our employment, we have our last day at an old job on a Friday and start our new job on Monday, perhaps taking a week... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

June 2021
Case

CFM International (A): Building a Durable Partnership That Works

By: Ranjay Gulati, Yves Doz, Kim Wilkinson and Kerry Herman

It is spring 1995, and the CFM partnership—a joint venture between GE Aviation and France’s jet engine manufacturer Snecma—is facing difficult challenges. The parent companies must decide whether and how to renew their nascent partnership agreement, in the face of... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Partners and Partnerships; Decision Making