Publications

August 2020
Case

Zoom Video Communications: Eric Yuan's Leadership During COVID-19

By: Scott Duke Kominers, Christopher Stanton, Andy Wu and George Gonzalez

In the first half of 2020, worldwide lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic brought explosive growth to the Zoom Video Communications platform, as people replaced in-person work and social events with videoconferencing. Months into the pandemic, CEO Eric Yuan... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Communication Technology; Customer Value and Value Chain; Values and Beliefs; Technological Innovation; Leadership; Crisis Management; Organizational Culture; Working Conditions; Strategy; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Technology Adoption; Health Pandemics; Technology Industry; United States; California

March 2011
Case

Terror at the Taj Bombay: Customer-Centric Leadership

By: Rohit Deshpande

On November 26, 2008, heavily armed terrorists launched a series of attacks throughout the western-Indian city of Mumbai (formerly Bombay). One of the locations attacked was the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, which was occupied by the terrorists for over three days,... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Leadership; National Security; Service Delivery; Organizational Culture; Crisis Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Brands and Branding; Accommodations Industry; Mumbai

17 Jan 2011
Research & Ideas

Being the Boss

that person is credible. Often you're dealing with the fact that the person is not only far away but might be of a different culture as well. And you've got to figure out how to interpret him or her. So what we have to explain is that... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

21 May 2024
Cold Call Podcast

The Importance of Trust for Managing through a Crisis

Keywords: Re: Sandra J. Sucher; Tourism

January–February 2023
Article

Rethink Your Employee Value Proposition: Offer Your People More Than Just Flexibility

By: Mark Mortensen and Amy C. Edmondson

A lot of leaders believe that the formula for attracting and keeping talent is simple: Just ask people what they want and give it to them. The problem is, that approach tends to address only the material aspects of jobs that are top of employees’ minds at the moment,... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Retention; Recruitment; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Satisfaction

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17 Aug 2010
First Look

First Look: August 17

discriminant validity from voice-related individual and organizational factors and their incremental predictive validity on workplace silence. Collectively, the results from the four studies indicate the prevalence of implicit voice... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

05 Aug 2015
Research & Ideas

How Hormones Foretell Whether People Will Cheat

of whether someone will behave unethically. Two, among those who do cheat, cheating reduces levels of the hormone associated with psychological stress. In other words, people may use cheating as a means of relieving stress. The good news is that corporate View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

15 Jun 2009
Research & Ideas

GM: What Went Wrong and What’s Next

was not—doing. As company leaders rolled out this daring strategy, they also created an organizational structure and culture developed to support a multi-product, vertically integrated enterprise. By the mid... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Auto

04 Oct 2021
What Do You Think?

How Do We Make Sure the Right People End Up with Power in Organizations?

in his upcoming book, Win From Within: Build Organizational Culture for Competitive Advantage, available in January 2022. References: Julie Battilana and Tiziana Casciaro, Power, for All: How It Really Works... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

28 Sep 2010
First Look

First Look: September 28, 2010

These changes did not—as often assumed—result in the decline of family businesses but instead gave rise to a different kind of competitive and internationally oriented "Mittelstand." The study integrates approaches from new institutional economics, View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

30 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Are You Supporting Your B Players?

are unique because: They battle against what DeLong called a natural gravitational pull toward alienation within organizational life. "In other words, if you ignore your employees over time, they will start to feel left out and... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

October 2009 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Ingrid Johnson and Nedbank Business Banking

By: Michael Tushman and David Kiron

This case discusses the issue of leading change at the business banking division of Nedbank, a prominent South African bank, between 2005 and 2009. (This timeframe, beginning just 11 years after Apartheid's end, covers Ingrid Johnson's leadership of this division... View Details

Keywords: Leadership And Change Management; Leadership; Leading Change; Banks and Banking; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Change Management; Leadership Style; Banking Industry; South Africa

17 Jun 2017
Research & Ideas

Amazon, Whole Foods Deal a Big Win for Consumers

Source: 400tmax Editor's Note. Online retailing behemoth Amazon announced June 16 that it would acquire upscale grocery chain Whole Foods Market in a deal valued at more than $13 billion. Though the company has dabbled with the idea of a brick-and-mortar footprint in... View Details

Keywords: by Jose Alvarez and Len Schlesinger; Retail

26 Jun 2012
First Look

First Look: June 26

expertise, is central to the way in which the risk managers in our study garner influence in their organizations. Based on our field study, we identify two dimensions that help to explain experts' organizational influence: their ability... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

18 Nov 2002
Research & Ideas

Where Morals and Profits Meet: The Corporate Value Shift

a "turn to values,"—focusing on ethics, values, and examining company culture—but for varied reasons including risk management, organizational functioning, market positioning, and civic positioning. In your view, do you expect... View Details

Keywords: by Carla Tishler

28 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

How Leaders Can Navigate Politicized Conversations and Inspire Collaboration

New research sheds light on implications of using politically correct and incorrect speech and identifies five techniques to increase persuasiveness and diffuse conflict. Insights from two recent studies in an emerging field—the psychology of conversation—are aimed at... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

March 2018 (Revised March 2019)
Case

Gender and Free Speech at Google (A)

By: Nien-hê Hsieh, Martha J. Crawford and Sarah Mehta

In August 2017, Google fired James Damore, a 28-year-old software engineer who had been employed by the company since 2013. The move came after Damore penned an internal company memo titled “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber,” which posited that innate biological... View Details

Keywords: Free Speech; Representation; Diversity; Gender; Race; Human Resources; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Labor; Employment; Lawsuits and Litigation; Organizational Culture; Technology Industry; United States; California

February 2010 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Roche's Acquisition of Genentech

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin, Bo Becker and Vincent Marie Dessain

Franz Humer, CEO of the Roche Group, must decide whether to mount a hostile tender offer for the publicly-owned shares of Roche's biotechnology subsidiary, Genentech. The case provides opportunities to analyze Roche's strategy with respect to Genentech, the pros and... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Subsidiaries; Negotiation Offer; Organizational Culture; Corporate Strategy; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Switzerland

September 2013
Teaching Note

Trader Joe's

By: David L. Ager and Michael A. Roberto

Based on a variety of metrics, Trader Joe's ranked as one of the most successful grocers in the United States in 2013. Experts estimated that the company had the highest sales per square foot of any major grocery chain, even significantly higher than top performer... View Details

Keywords: Comparative Advantage; Core Competencies; Growth Strategy; Strategic Positioning; Industry Analysis; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Organizational Culture; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States