Publications

March 2024
Case

Madrigal: Conducting a Customer-Base Audit

By: Eva Ascarza, Bruce Hardie, Michael Ross and Peter S. Fader

This case presents a scenario where Madrigal, a U.S. retailer with a rich 20-year history and a solid loyalty program, faces a turning point with the arrival of a new CEO. This leadership change reveals a critical gap in understanding the customer base, prompting an... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Analytics and Data Science; Growth and Development Strategy; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; United States

Article

Understanding Psychological Safety in Healthcare and Education Organizations: A Comparative Perspective

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Monica Higgins, Sara J. Singer and Jennie Weiner

Psychological safety plays a vital role in helping people overcome barriers to learning and change in interpersonally challenging work environments. This article focuses on two such contexts—health care and education. The authors theorize differences in psychological... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare Organizations; Organizations; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

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03 Aug 2016
What Do You Think?

How Can We Hold the “Leadership Industry” Accountable?

for personal enrichment at the expense of all other shareholders until there is a change in the process of selecting board (members) ” Nisha Advani cited the nature of leadership itself in saying... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Education

02 Aug 2022
Research & Ideas

6 Strategies for Building Socially Responsible—and Profitable—Companies

A dozen years ago, Harvard Business School Professor George Serafeim wondered why some companies operated with an eye toward the greater good, while most did not. Back then, he always got the same response: Corporate leaders thought social and environmental practices... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

January 2013
Case

Andrew Ryan at VC Brakes

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Sunru Yong

An aftermarket brake component manufacturer, VC Brakes, is bought out by a global automotive parts corporation after the 2008 financial crisis. Unlike its previous parent company, the new owner attempts to change VC Brakes' autocratic management style and... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Quality Management; Crisis Management; Human Resource Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Quality; Change Management; Leading Change; Restructuring; Management Practices and Processes; Problems and Challenges; Auto Industry

August 2020 (Revised December 2020)
Case

Satrix: Competing in the Passive Asset Management Industry in South Africa

By: Mark Egan, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Dilyana Karadzhova Botha

In late 2017, Satrix, one of the largest passive asset management firms in South Africa and a pioneer in the industry since 2000, had to decide its strategy going forward in a market where passive asset management had become increasingly commoditized and... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Investment Funds; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry; South Africa; Africa

October 2007 (Revised January 2008)
Case

The Transformation of Thomson

By: David J. Collis and Troy Smith

Thomson, a French multinational, went through a decade of dramatic change in the early years of the 21st century. From a state-owned enterprise earning 97% of its revenue from television sets and other analog consumer electronics, Thomson had become a publicly traded... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Technology Industry; France

Career Coach

Sarah Bua

Executive Leadership Program - China (SELP-China), Owner President Manager Program (OPM) and Leading Change through Organizational Renewal (LCOR) executive education offerings. She has worked... View Details

Keywords: Consulting; Entrepreneurship; Investment Banking; Financial Services (All); Investment Management; Financial Services (All); Private Equity; Financial Services (All); Venture Capital; Financial Services (All); Government; Health Care; Clean Technology; Energy

23 Oct 2020
Video

Entrepreneurship Opportunities in a Post-COVID World: The Future of EdTech

20 Aug 2008
Op-Ed

The Time is Right for Creative Capitalism

resources—people, innovation, traction, money, and execution—business is the most powerful force for change on the global stage right now. No other set of institutions—not religious organizations, not the nation-state, not individual... View Details

Keywords: by Nancy Koehn

Ethan S. Bernstein

Ethan Bernstein (@ethanbernstein) is an associate professor in the Organizational Behavior unit at Harvard Business School. He has spent his career researching novel talent management practices and their effect on employee behavior, collaboration, and performance.... View Details

07 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

Innovation Corrupted: How Managers Can Avoid Another Enron

building on intense lobbying to encourage further domestic deregulation and limit federal oversight of the energy industry, Skilling encouraged Enron executives to exploit to the hilt recent Securities and Exchange Commission rule changes... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Energy; Utilities

March 2009 (Revised August 2010)
Case

The Posse Foundation: Implementing a Growth Strategy

The Posse Foundation selected high-potential, non-traditional students to attend selective colleges as part of a group of 10 from the same city. The organization had developed an ambitious growth plan, but because it focused on the most selective colleges, the pool of... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Higher Education; Social Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Personal Development and Career; Partners and Partnerships; Nonprofit Organizations; Education Industry

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November 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Bayer Crop Science

By: David E. Bell, Damien McLoughlin, Natalie Kindred and James Barnett

In mid-2019, a year after German conglomerate Bayer Group closed its acquisition of U.S.-based seeds giant Monsanto, the leadership of Bayer’s Crop Science division (which absorbed Monsanto) is reflecting on the opportunities ahead. Some observers have questioned... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Research and Development; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Consolidation; Customer Value and Value Chain; Change Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Technology Industry; United States; Germany

September 2004 (Revised June 2005)
Case

Hancock Land Company and Hancock Lumber Company (A)

By: John A. Davis, Dwight B. Crane and Kelly M. Mulderry

After inheriting the leadership of their family's land and lumber companies, Matt and Kevin Hancock struggled with how to revise their internally focused governance system. View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Governance; Leadership Style; Growth Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation

September 2007
Case

Still Leading (B5): General Claudia Kennedy—In Command of Life

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Lance P. Pierce

Describes the transition issues for General Kennedy after she left the army and tried to apply her leadership to social causes. View Details

Keywords: Transition; Problems and Challenges; Social Issues; Personal Development and Career; Leadership; Public Administration Industry

November 2016
Case

Transformation at Eli Lilly & Co. (A)

By: William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell

Faced with the imminent loss of 40% of its revenues due to patent expirations, pharma giant Eli Lilly sets out on a dramatic transformation process in 2009. The case considers how Lilly restructured the organization into business areas to aid better decision-making,... View Details

Keywords: Eli Lilly; Restructuring; R＆D; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Pharmaceutical Industry; Indianapolis

22 Feb 2010
Op-Ed

Tragedy at Toyota: How Not to Lead in Crisis

but a leadership crisis. During Chrysler's 1980s crisis, CEO Lee Iacocca took charge, restoring consumer trust and prosperity. When General Motors emerged from bankruptcy last summer, Chairman Ed Whitacre became the trustworthy,... View Details

Keywords: by William George; Auto

January 2005 (Revised July 2010)
Case

Anne Mulcahy: Leading Xerox through the Perfect Storm (A)

By: William W. George and Andrew N. McLean

In 2000, Xerox faces bankruptcy amid a liquidity crisis, collapsed profitability, and an expanding SEC investigation. Traces the career and leadership development of Anne Mulcahy, a former sales executive unexpectedly named COO of the beleaguered company as a last... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Financial Liquidity; Organizational Culture; Crisis Management; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Gender; Corporate Governance