Publications

04 Feb 2020
News

How to Set Up — and Learn — from Experiments

October 2010 (Revised August 2016)
Case

On Weldon's Watch: Recalls at Johnson & Johnson from 2009 to 2010

By: Clayton S. Rose, Sandra J. Sucher, Rachel Gordon and Matthew Preble

In October of 2010, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) was unable to extricate itself from a year long recall crisis that had subjected the firm to criticism from Congress and regulators, resulted in the resignation of one of the firm's most senior officers, and cost hundreds of... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Values and Beliefs; Leadership; Crisis Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Quality; Pharmaceutical Industry

December 2008 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Hema Hattangady and Conzerv (A)

By: Michael L. Tushman and David Kiron

This case describes the evolution of a fast-growing Indian energy firm. It illustrates both leadership change as Hema is evolving as a leader, as well as how organization architecture (culture, systems, incentives, and human resources) is evolving. The case highlights... View Details

Keywords: Change; Decision Choices and Conditions; Leadership Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Energy Industry; India

09 Jul 2024
Research & Ideas

Chance Encounters: What's at Stake in Return-to-Office Decisions

requiring folks to come back. I’ve been talking to the largest technology firms about this: They’ve created task forces to think about how they want to bring people back to the office, when, and why. Based on my own research, especially in knowledge work, I’m not... View Details

Keywords: by Jen McFarland Flint, HBS Alumni Bulletin

12 Nov 2019
News

Hate your open office?

22 Jan 2019
News

Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace

25 Feb 2016
News

What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team

April 2017 (Revised November 2017)
Case

BlackRock (C): Integrating BGI (with video links)

By: Ranjay Gulati, Jan W. Rivkin and Aldo Sesia

On June 11, 2009, BlackRock, Inc., the world’s fourth-largest asset manager announced it was acquiring Barclays Global Investors (BGI) for $13.5 billion in stock and cash. The deal would more than double BlackRock’s assets under management (AUM), making it the world’s... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Integration; Organizational Culture; Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Information Technology; Asset Management; Financial Services Industry; United States

27 Feb 2006
Research & Ideas

Corporate Values and Employee Cynicism

aims are driving a leader's behavior, and they can test these hypotheses by asking questions and sharing their concerns. But we think that the opportunity for fixing such problems lies mostly with a company's CEO and leadership. Q: As more companies attempt to base... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

February 2006 (Revised November 2006)
Case

GE's Growth Strategy: The Immelt Initiative

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Follows the actions of GE CEO, Jeff Immelt, as he implements a growth strategy for the $150 billion company in a tough business environment. In four years, he reinvigorates GE's technology, expands its services, develops a commercial focus, pushes developing countries,... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Judgments; Global Strategy; Leadership Style; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Structure

01 Nov 2012
Research & Ideas

Book Excerpt: Judgment Calls

Editor's note. Organizations are living, growing, learning things, but this depth of experience and knowledge can be difficult to tap into. The secret, according to the authors of Judgment Calls: Twelve Stories of Big Decisions and the... View Details

Keywords: by Thomas H. Davenport & Brook Manville; Consumer Products

01 Mar 2021
Blog Post

Best Practices for Creating a Successful Virtual Internship

In the wake of COVID-19, organizations around the world quickly made changes to how they got work done, including managing summer internships. For many organizations, that meant creating remote internship programs in 2020 that will stay... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

December 2011 (Revised April 2012)
Case

Transforming Verizon: A Platform for Change

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird

A new CEO steps into the shoes of his long-time predecessor who had created the U.S. telecommunications giant via a series of acquisitions and, before departing, had initiated the company's strategic repositioning. The new CEO reflected on Verizon's recent successes,... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Globalized Firms and Management; Groups and Teams; Telecommunications Industry

April 2024
Article

Speaking up and Taking Action: Psychological Safety and Joint Problem-solving Orientation in Safety Improvement

By: Hassina Bahadurzada, Michaela J. Kerrissey and Amy C. Edmondson

Healthcare organizations face stubborn challenges in ensuring patient safety and mitigating clinician turnover. This paper aims to advance theory and research on patient safety by elucidating how the role of psychological safety in patient safety can be enhanced with... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare Operations; Psychological Safety; Teams; Retention; Safety; Customer Satisfaction; Organizational Culture; Performance Evaluation; Health Industry

Read Now

06 Oct 2003
What Do You Think?

Is “the Innovator’s Solution” to Sustained Corporate Growth an Unnatural Act?

be managed effectively on a continuing basis. As Richard Eckel put it, "'Disruptive' is the clue for why the proposed method of sustained growth will fail in most organizations ... B-schools graduate and laud those who are risk... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

10 Jan 2019
News

Companies will perform better if employees are not cowed into silence

25 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Chasing Stars: Why the Mighty Red Sox Struck Out

But most admired organizations are admired for a reason. They usually have processes and cultures in place that make their people better. You take someone from one of those View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Sports; Banking

10 Jul 2023
In Practice

The Harvard Business School Faculty Summer Reader 2023

my research on leading complex organizations and scaling businesses, I've chosen Unleash Your Transformation by Marco Van Kalleveen and Peter Koijen. This book offers valuable insights and practical strategies for leaders who are driving... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

March 2022 (Revised May 2022)
Case

Winning Business at Russell Reynolds (A)

By: Ethan Bernstein and Cara Mazzucco

In an effort to make compensation drive collaboration, Russell Reynolds Associates’ (RRA) CEO Clarke Murphy sought to re-engineer the bonus system for his executive search consultants in 2016. As his HR analytics guru, Kelly Smith, points out, that risks upsetting–and... View Details