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(335)
- News (33)
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- Faculty Publications (127)
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(335)
- News (33)
- Research (269)
- Events (2)
- Multimedia (3)
- Faculty Publications (127)
- July 1995 (Revised September 1995)
- Background Note
Technology for Teams
By: Lynda M. Applegate and Geoffrey Bock
The importance of groups in organizations has long been recognized but, until recently, groups were always "tacked onto" organizations that were designed around individuals. It was not just the logic of classical organizational theory that perpetuated this focus on the... View Details
Applegate, Lynda M., and Geoffrey Bock. "Technology for Teams." Harvard Business School Background Note 196-008, July 1995. (Revised September 1995.)
- May 2001 (Revised May 2015)
- Case
Compagnie Lyonnaise de Transport (A)
By: Michael Tushman and Michael J. Roberts
Describes the issues surrounding the funding of a centralized research service that supports two related divisions. The company has a very decentralized and financially driven culture, and the centralized service is used unequally, setting up a conflict. View Details
Keywords: Business Divisions; Organizational Culture; Relationships; Conflict Management; Balance and Stability; Transportation Industry; France
Tushman, Michael, and Michael J. Roberts. "Compagnie Lyonnaise de Transport (A)." Harvard Business School Case 401-040, May 2001. (Revised May 2015.)
- September 2002
- Case
Seattle Public Schools, 1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda
Describes efforts in Seattle Public Schools, under the leadership of Superintendent Joseph Olchefske, to replace the district's centralized budgeting process with school-level budgets. Olchefske's decentralization effort, referred to locally as the Freedom Agenda,... View Details
Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Practices and Processes; Operations; Education; Education Industry; Seattle
Leschly, Stig. "Seattle Public Schools, 1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda." Harvard Business School Case 803-037, September 2002.
- November 1994 (Revised May 2002)
- Case
K-III: A Leveraged Build-Up
By: George P. Baker III, Nicola Bamford and Nicolas Greenspan
Explores the strategy, financing, and governance of a new type of organizational form, dubbed the Leveraged Build-Up by its inventor, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. The company makes leveraged acquisitions of small publishing companies, managing them in a very... View Details
Keywords: Debt Securities; Financial Management; Leveraged Buyouts; Cash Flow; Organizational Structure; Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Governance; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance; Publishing Industry
Baker, George P., III, Nicola Bamford, and Nicolas Greenspan. "K-III: A Leveraged Build-Up." Harvard Business School Case 295-067, November 1994. (Revised May 2002.)
- 23 Jun 2023
- HBS Case
This Company Lets Employees Take Charge—Even with Life and Death Decisions
can be difficult in a decentralized organization. When the business environment shifts, traditional organizations use their management layers to provide enterprise-wide direction. This is something Buurtzorg... View Details
- 28 Jan 2010
- Working Paper Summaries
Does Product Market Competition Lead Firms To Decentralize?
- April 1984
- Supplement
Johnson & Johnson (B): Hospital Services, James Burke, Video
By: Francis Aguilar
James Burke, chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson, discusses the decision to establish a hospital services company. The problem is that this new unit, created to serve 14 Johnson & Johnson companies, runs counter to the corporate culture where autonomy and... View Details
Keywords: Business Startups; Decision Making; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Health Industry
Aguilar, Francis. "Johnson & Johnson (B): Hospital Services, James Burke, Video." Harvard Business School Video Supplement 884-527, April 1984.
- 11 Sep 2014
- Working Paper Summaries
Chief Sustainability Officers: Who Are They and What Do They Do?
Keywords: by Kathleen Miller & George Serafeim
- May 1994 (Revised October 1994)
- Case
Motorola Corp.: The View from the CEO Office
By: Shoshana Zuboff and Janis Lee Gogan
Motorola, a leader in semiconductors and telecommunications, embarked on an ambitious program of renewal beginning in the early 1980s, leading to dramatic improvements in the company's quality, cycle time, and growth. Much of this progress was attributed to a major... View Details
Keywords: Competency and Skills; Leading Change; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Managerial Roles; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Corporate Strategy; Telecommunications Industry
Zuboff, Shoshana, and Janis Lee Gogan. "Motorola Corp.: The View from the CEO Office." Harvard Business School Case 494-140, May 1994. (Revised October 1994.)
- 12 May 2020
- News
The New-Market Conundrum
- January 2009 (Revised June 2010)
- Case
Cisco Systems (2001): Building and Sustaining a Customer-Centric Culture
By: Ranjay Gulati
Customer centricity has been an important part of the culture at Cisco Systems since its inception. While part of this is attributable to values put in place by the founders and retained by subsequent management, it is also closely interwoven with its organizational... View Details
Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Research and Development; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Employees; Brands and Branding; Customer Relationship Management; Business Units
Gulati, Ranjay. "Cisco Systems (2001): Building and Sustaining a Customer-Centric Culture." Harvard Business School Case 409-061, January 2009. (Revised June 2010.)
- October 1997 (Revised July 1998)
- Case
Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton
By: Clayton M. Christensen and Bret J. Baird
Describes the efforts of the president of Booz.Allen, a major consulting firm, to understand and improve the way that products, services, and processes are developed and deployed throughout the firm. Proactive management of these processes proves very difficult because... View Details
Keywords: Change Management; Innovation and Management; Management Teams; Service Operations; Organizational Culture; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decision Making; Consulting Industry
Christensen, Clayton M., and Bret J. Baird. "Cultivating Capabilities to Innovate: Booz.Allen & Hamilton." Harvard Business School Case 698-027, October 1997. (Revised July 1998.)
- June 1992 (Revised March 2006)
- Case
Concordia Casting Company
Describes five years of development in a centralized data processing activity serving a highly decentralized corporation. Data processing manager discovers that a major software system conversion is a full year behind schedule, and subsequently makes several managerial... View Details
Keywords: Analytics and Data Science; Applications and Software; System; Information Technology; Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Human Resources; Conflict and Resolution; Supply Chain Management; Accounting; Auto Industry
McFarlan, F. Warren. "Concordia Casting Company." Harvard Business School Case 192-151, June 1992. (Revised March 2006.)
- 07 Oct 2009
- Working Paper Summaries
Specific Knowledge and Divisional Performance Measurement
- January 1973 (Revised March 2006)
- Case
Tyler Abrasives, Inc.
Involves multinational pricing policy. Should a multinational industrial products supplier, with plants on several continents, grant a single worldwide price on given products to multinational customers who purchase on several continents? If so, what should the... View Details
Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Marketing Strategy; Price; Multinational Firms and Management; Sales; Industrial Products Industry
Sorenson, Ralph Z. "Tyler Abrasives, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 573-039, January 1973. (Revised March 2006.)
- June 1995
- Case
Polaroid Corporation: European Distribution System
By: Janice H. Hammond and Afroze A Mohammed
Describes distribution operations in Polaroid Europe. In the late 1980s, Polaroid senior management in the United States proposed moving from a system of 12 decentralized warehouses to a centralized distribution system in which all inventory for European retailers... View Details
Keywords: Distribution; Operations; Risk Management; Distribution Channels; Logistics; Transition; Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Industry Structures; Consumer Products Industry; Europe; European Union; United States
Hammond, Janice H., and Afroze A Mohammed. "Polaroid Corporation: European Distribution System." Harvard Business School Case 695-038, June 1995.
- August 2015 (Revised June 2021)
- Case
Amazon.com, 2021
By: John R. Wells, Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth and Galen Danskin
In February 2021, Amazon announced 2020 operating profits of $22,899 million, up from $2,233 million in 2015, on sales of $386 billion, up from $107 billion five years earlier (see Exhibit 1). The shareholders expressed their satisfaction (see Exhibit 2), but not all... View Details
Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Internet; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Digital Platforms; Competition; Internet and the Web; Corporate Strategy; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Price; Applications and Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle
Wells, John R., Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth, and Galen Danskin. "Amazon.com, 2021." Harvard Business School Case 716-402, August 2015. (Revised June 2021.)
- April 2005
- Case
FBI: Mission Extended
Following the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, there was consensus that the FBI needed to make organizational changes. The FBI had long distinguished itself as the world's pre-eminent organization for conducting after-the-fact investigations that laid the... View Details
Beaulieu, Nancy D., and Aaron Zimmerman. "FBI: Mission Extended." Harvard Business School Case 905-061, April 2005.
- September 2004 (Revised August 2007)
- Case
Enterprise IT at Cisco (2004)
By: Andrew P. McAfee, F. Warren McFarlan and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld
Illustrates the challenges associated with centralizing IT decisions at Cisco after a decade of decentralized planning and project funding. When Brad Boston became Cisco's new CIO in 2001, he found that managers were starting to get frustrated with the results of their... View Details
Keywords: Management; Resource Allocation; Information Technology; Problems and Challenges; Business Ventures; Change Management; Entrepreneurship; Projects; Planning; Corporate Finance; Information Technology Industry
McAfee, Andrew P., F. Warren McFarlan, and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld. "Enterprise IT at Cisco (2004)." Harvard Business School Case 605-015, September 2004. (Revised August 2007.)
- October 2011
- Case
Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service
By: Robert Simons and Michael Mahoney
In January 2010, U.S. luxury goods retailer Raleigh & Rosse is being sued by its employees for encouraging "off the clock" hours. At the center of the class action lawsuit is the famous Raleigh & Rosse performance measurement system previously thought to be the core of... View Details
Keywords: Control Systems; Performance Measurement; Goal Setting; Compensation; Incentives; Motivation; Sales Compensation; Motivation and Incentives; Goals and Objectives; Growth Management; Lawsuits and Litigation; Organizational Culture; Management Systems; Customer Focus and Relationships; Employees; Performance Evaluation; Compensation and Benefits; Retail Industry; United States
Simons, Robert, and Michael Mahoney. "Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service." Harvard Business School Brief Case 114-353, October 2011.