Publications

26 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

The Office of Strategy Management

and think in strategic terms are critical. They need good interpersonal skills since they must interact effectively and authoritatively with senior business units and functional heads. Project management... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

05 Mar 2008
What Do You Think?

Where Will Management Innovation Take Us?

"realization that functional management is an artifact of the 20th Century," that it will decline as organizations are reformed around "processes (that) cut across many functions...." The... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

08 Aug 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Managing Governments: Unilever in India and Turkey, 1950–1980

Keywords: by Geoffrey G. Jones

July 1991 (Revised September 1995)
Case

Eastman Kodak Co.: Managing Information Systems Through Strategic Alliances

By: Lynda M. Applegate

In January 1988, Colby Chandler, Kodak CEO, created the Corporate Information Systems (CIS) and appointed Katherine Hudson head. She at once became the first head of IT and first woman corporate vice president in the company. Throughout 1989, Hudson inaugurated a... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Information Technology; Partners and Partnerships; Organizational Structure; Success; Trends; Information Management; Service Operations; Manufacturing Industry

27 Sep 2018
Research & Ideas

Religion in the Workplace: What Managers Need to Know

considered one of the last taboos,” says Senior Lecturer Derek van Bever. “Our students have been asking for it because they see very clearly that they will be in positions of global leadership where they will have to deal with it.” To fill that need, van Bever wrote... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage; Apparel & Accessories

November 1990 (Revised November 1991)
Case

Apple Computer (B): Managing Morale and Corporate Culture

Explores how the human resource function at Apple Computer can best support the company's strategy. Analyzes the culture and morale at Apple. Apple has a very unique culture. Moreover, morale within the company is at a low. The culture is powerful in aiding the company... View Details

Keywords: Attitudes; Organizational Culture; Employees; Business Strategy; Computer Industry; United States

21 Nov 2023
Research & Ideas

Employee Negativity Is Like Wildfire. Manage It Before It Spreads.

a function of the wind, and whether its overall intensity is increasing or decreasing.” Thinking about managing collective emotions is like thinking about controlling a fire. You care less about the... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

25 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

Rapport: The Hidden Advantage That Women Managers Bring to Teams

communication and rapport between managers and employees. In this case, the manager may not have scheduled the fast-food stations properly, forcing an overtaxed employee to juggle both packaging meals and... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin; Food & Beverage

August 2013
Background Note

A Note on Knowledge Management in Professional Services Firms

By: Robert G. Eccles, Ana Kreacic and Penelope Rossano

Knowledge management is a subject of broad interest, especially in "knowledge industries" and "knowledge economies." It is also a topic filled with frustration on the part of practitioners and the level of resource commitment to this function waxes and wanes. This note... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Management

30 Apr 2024
Book

When Managers Set Unrealistic Expectations, Employees Cut Ethical Corners

organization, says Paine, a Baker Foundation Professor. In fact, the fault often lies with managers who set unrealistic deadlines, production targets, or other objectives that lead decent people to take shortcuts to achieve the goal... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

27 Jun 2016
Research & Ideas

These Management Practices, Like Certain Technologies, Boost Company Performance

higher than newer companies, perhaps a function of the fact that they were good enough to survive longer. Finally, firms with higher management scores also had more highly skilled workers. “Stronger... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

10 Jan 2007
HBS Case

The Challenge of Managing National Security

Associate Professor Jan Rivkin joined the HBS faculty in 1997 as a member of the Strategy Unit. His special area of interest is examining the interactions that occur between and across the various functional and product boundaries of the... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons; Service

13 Oct 2003
Research & Ideas

How to Pick Managers for Disruptive Growth

We suspect that the mistakes happen when firms choose managers at any level—from CEO to business unit head to project manager—based on what we call "right stuff" thinking, borrowing the term from Tom Wolfe's famous book and the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Raynor

July 2014
Case

Venture Capital at the Harvard Management Company in Historical Perspective

By: Felda Hardymon, Tom Nicholas and Vasiliki Fouka

The compromise between capital preservation and growth has always been central to the performance of the Harvard endowment. Setting an institutional structure for effectively governing this compromise became especially important when the Harvard Management Company... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Financial Management; Asset Management; Higher Education; Investment; Financial Services Industry; Education Industry; Cambridge

05 Dec 2007
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Managing Marketing

direct sales? Should I break out individual costs on a price tag? How Can Marketing Better Align With Corporate Strategy? Fixing the Marketing—CEO Disconnect In many companies, the marketing function has wandered far from the firms'... View Details

2021
Working Paper

T-Shaped Managers—One Size Does Not Fit All: Exploratory Study from the Military

By: Hise O. Gibson

People are an organization’s most important resource. Managers who are collaborative and innovative ensure that organizations remain competitive. This type of manager has been referred to as a T-shaped manager. “T” given that the vertical portion represents the depth... View Details

Keywords: T-shaped Management; Leader Development; Talent Management; Leadership Style; Leadership Development; Management Skills; Talent and Talent Management

Read Now

July 2009 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Risk Management at Wellfleet Bank: All That Glitters Is Not Gold

By: Anette Mikes

This case motivates a debate on the role of staff functions, such as risk management: what does it mean for them to be independent, and at the same time, to partner the business lines? The case describes the risk assessment process in the corporate banking arm of... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Judgments; Credit; Banks and Banking; Governance Controls; Risk Management; Mathematical Methods

November 2009
Supplement

Managing a Global Team: Greg James at Sun Microsystems, Inc. (B)

By: Tsedal Neeley

This case updates students on the steps Greg James took to solve the problems that instigated the crisis documented in “Managing a Global Team: Greg James at Sun Microsystems, Inc. (A).” We find out how James solves the process problems involved in his team's breakdown... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Globalized Firms and Management; Crisis Management; Service Delivery; Business Processes; Performance Productivity; Groups and Teams; Technology Industry