by Mark Mortensen - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 May 2013
What Do You Think?

Why Isn’t ‘Servant Leadership’ More Prevalent?

Summing Up Is the Term "Servant Leadership" an Oxymoron? Servant leadership (SL) is a concept that triggers a great deal of interest, judging by my e-mail inbox and the number of responses to this month's column. Many comments... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

15 Feb 2022
Book

When Working Harder Doesn’t Work, Time to Reinvent Your Career

fluid intelligence wanes, crystallized intelligence—a different kind of thinking marked by synthesizing and sharing knowledge—grows, writes Brooks, a professor of Management Practice at HBS. He points to... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

October 1997 (Revised June 1998)
Case

Woolworths South Africa

By: David B. Yoffie and Anthony St. George

Woolworths South Africa is one of the most successful retail chains in the country, modeled on Marks and Spencer of the United Kingdom. This case focuses on the sources of Woolworth's competitive advantage within South Africa and the challenges of growth in the wake of... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Growth Management; Global Strategy; Industry Structures; Marketing Strategy; Strategy; Business or Company Management; Retail Industry; South Africa

Citation

Find at Harvard

13 Apr 2009
Research & Ideas

Kind of Blue: Pushing Boundaries with Miles Davis

only two short sessions in 1959. At the age of 32, Davis coaxed innovative ideas out of his players—among them greats including John Coltrane and Bill Evans—that took everyone by surprise. He also remade the industry, introducing longer,... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Music

06 Jun 2011
Research & Ideas

Why Leaders Lose Their Way

forced to resign for trading in Lubrizol stock prior to recommending that Berkshire Hathaway purchase the company. Examples abound of other recent failures: Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd resigned for submitting false expense reports... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

24 Oct 2016
Research & Ideas

Bernie Madoff Explains Himself

service of buying shares; now Madoff had turned the practice upside down and was paying them to trade. That innovation diverted trading away from the New York Stock Exchange floor, and by the early 1990s, Madoff’s firm was handling... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

31 Aug 2015
Research & Ideas

How Ben Franklin’s ‘Way to Wealth’ Introduced American Capitalism to the World

of wisdom and many others were made famous by Benjamin Franklin in his 1758 essay known as The Way to Wealth, first published as a sermon delivered by “Father Abraham” in Poor Richard’s Almanack. “I’m... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

13 Sep 2010
Research & Ideas

The Consumer Appeal of Underdog Branding

curse of success. "As brands grow and become successful, they are often marked by the negative stigma associated with size and power, which elicits anticorporate sentiment from consumers. As Starbucks... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

08 Sep 2022
Book

Gen Xers and Millennials, It’s Time To Lead. Are You Ready?

leaders with business celebrities he says never found their True North. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, for instance, has deflected blame for his company’s many scandals, even pushing back against a whistleblower’s accusation that profits... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

05 Jul 2022
What Do You Think?

Have We Seen the Peak of Just-in-Time Inventory Management?

supply of “safety stock” was the order of the day for those using slower forms of transportation. "The result, of course, was what came to be known as 'just-in-time' inventory management, as championed by firms such as Toyota." One of my... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Manufacturing; Shipping; Transportation

19 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

Birth of the American Salesman

Scott. The book looks at the changing image of the salesman, represented by the likes of George Babbitt and Willy Loman. In the end, says Friedman, salesmen not only fed America's thirst for consumerism, they also shaped it. Laura Linard:... View Details

Keywords: by Laura Linard

10 Jan 2018
Research & Ideas

Working for a Shamed Company Can Hurt Your Future Compensation

you may find some people getting a [compensation] discount they don’t deserve.” Don’t try to hide the past The researchers have also produced several business cases examining what executives who have found themselves nicked by a black... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

19 Apr 2010
Research & Ideas

The History of Beauty

you have a major industry that still has lots to reveal. We asked Jones to discuss his research and his new book. Sean Silverthorne: What inspired your interest in the beauty business and its history? Geoffrey Jones: My initial interest in the beauty industry was... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Beauty & Cosmetics

31 Jul 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Learning from Double-Digit Growth Experiences

Keywords: by Eric D. Werker

15 Aug 2022
Book

University of the Future: Finding the Next World Leaders in Higher Ed

T.M. Chang Professor of China Studies at Harvard University and the Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration at HBS—explores the many ways the three countries have made their mark in higher education over the past two... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Education

03 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

How to Succeed With Your New Boss

to shape your boss's perceptions of what can and should be achieved. Aim for good marks from those whose opinions your boss respects. This is an aspect of building supportive internal coalitions. Your boss may have pre-existing... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Watkins

20 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Activist CEOs Are Rising Up—and Their Customers Are Listening

the Washington Post headlined, If Howard Schultz runs for president, Starbucks will be on the ballot, too. Schultz’s political ambitions mark a growing wave of business leaders speaking out on social issues—termed “CEO activism” View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

10 Sep 2024
Research & Ideas

What Happens When Business Owners Turn to ChatBots for Advice

some become more successful—but led others down the wrong path, says Rembrand Koning, the Mary V. and Mark A. Stevens Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. How much strategic insight and profit boost... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

06 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Consumers Blame Business for Global Health Problems. Can Business Become the Solution?

Every public health crisis—whether it’s the availability of highly addictive opioids or junk food marketing to children—prompts consumers to question how far companies will go for profit. It’s not an unwarranted concern. After all, cigarette makers once used... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Health

27 Jan 2023
Op-Ed

Have We Lost Sight of Integrity?

Easterbrook, and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg. Rife with bravado, New York Congressman Santos campaigned on being the “full embodiment of the American dream.” The only problem was that many of his personal claims—including tentpoles punctuating... View Details