Publications

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

Find at Harvard

May 2002
Case

Aspen Financial

By: Arthur I Segel and Melissa Yin-Yin Lam

Jack and Bruce Aspen must decide how they want to grow their commercial real estate finance company during a time of tremendous change in the industry. View Details

Keywords: History; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Growth and Development; Real Estate Industry

01 Oct 2003
Conference Presentation

Flexibility in New Product Development: Evidence, Insights and Obstacles from the Field

By: Alan MacCormack

Keywords: Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Problems and Challenges

1988
Chapter

Executive Leadership and Organization Evolution: Managing Incremental and Discontinuous Change

By: M. Tushman

Keywords: Management Teams; Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Fluctuation

November 2008 (Revised March 2018)
Case

Transformation of COFCO in a Changing Environment

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Kefei Yang

China's COFCO, the country's leading edible oil and food importer and exporter and its largest food manufacturer, had in its 50-plus years of operation undergone four stages of transformation and was about to embark on a fifth. The global agriculture system was... View Details

Keywords: Food; Leadership; Change Management; Transformation; Globalization; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Food and Beverage Industry; China

May 2005
Supplement

Otis Elevator: An Interview with Ari Bousbib (video)

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Brian DeLacey

CEO Ari Bousbib talks about how IT is transforming Otis and the practical challenges they are overcoming. Visibly demonstrates what appropriate CEO involvement is in an IT-enabled business transformation. View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Information Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Construction Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry

July 2001 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Lehman Brothers (C): Decline of the Equity Research Department

By: Ashish Nanda and Boris Groysberg

This case tracks the rapid decline of Lehman Brothers' equity research department from August 1992, when, beset by declining ranking, low morale, and high turnover, firm management decides to clean house and reinvest in building the department. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business or Company Management; Leadership; Human Resources; Financial Services Industry

April 2000 (Revised June 2000)
Case

Teach for America

On the eve of Teach For America's tenth reunion, Wendy Kopp, the 32-year-old founder and leader of the national teacher corps, is considering how to increase the impact of the organization. To date, the organization has placed 5,000 teachers in under-resourced public... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Social Entrepreneurship; Teaching; Leadership Style; Education Industry; United States

January 1974 (Revised January 1987)
Case

Gillette Safety Razor Division: Blank Cassette Project

Gillette is trying to decide whether to enter the fast-growing blank recording cassette business. The vice president of new business development is charged with developing a marketing plan to be used as the basis for a go/no go decision. In part, the issue is whether... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Marketing Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Consumer Products Industry

17 Oct 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, October 17, 2017

2017 Boston: Harvard Business Review Press Entering StartUpLand: An Essential Guide to Finding the Right Job By: Bussgang, Jeffrey J. Abstract—Many professionals aspire to work for startups. Executives from large companies view them as models to help them View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 1994 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Mrs. Fields, Inc. (1988-1992)

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Keri O. Pearlson and Randi Wade Purchia

Continues the story of Mrs. Fields Cookies. Explores the new challenges the company faced managing its geographic growth and its expansion of products and markets through combination stores. Details the decision of Debbi and Randy Fields to delegate management... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Expansion; Growth Management; Organizational Structure; Globalization; Information Management; Food and Beverage Industry

06 Jul 2009
What Do You Think?

Are You Ready to Manage in an Irrational World?

Summing Up What's rational in the world of management? Judging from replies to the question, "Are you ready to manage in an irrational world?," respondents to this column are ready. But they also conclude that the question is much more complex and subtle than... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

2015
Conference Presentation

Identity Liminality And Identity Work In A Reorganization

By: Luciana Silvestri

Keywords: Identity Work; Reorganization; Cognition; Emotion; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Restructuring; Organizational Structure; Identity; Emotions; Cognition and Thinking

07 Aug 2007
First Look

First Look: August 7, 2007

This relationship between the tax preferences of institutional shareholders and firm payout policy could reflect dividend-averse institutions gravitating to low-dividend paying-firms or managers adapting their payout policies to the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

2022
Case

Charting a Course for Boston: Organizing for Change

By: Lisa C. Cox, Mitchell B. Weiss and Jorrit De Jong

Michelle Wu had been elected on the promise of systemic change, but four days after her November 2021 election and just eleven days before taking office as mayor of Boston, she was still considering how best to staff and manage a range of over-arching priorities.... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Selection and Staffing; City; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Boston

Read Now

December 1985 (Revised October 1986)
Case

J.C. Penney (A)

An assistant treasurer at J.C. Penney is looking at various alternatives for financing the company's $2.5 billion store expansion and modernization program. The case provides a listing of different ways/capital markets issues to obtain this financing. Designed to be... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Expansion; Capital Markets; Financing and Loans; Retail Industry; United States

July 2019
Case

LaCroix Sparkling Water

By: Tomomichi Amano, Das Narayandas and Kerry Herman

Launched in 1981 as an “all occasion” sparkling water brand, LaCroix Sparkling Water has had a number of ups and downs as a brand. After being purchased by National Beverage in 1996, the brand was re-positioned as a new, colorful, fun alternative to the other sparkling... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Industry Structures; Food and Beverage Industry

January 2004 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial (RJF) currently sells financial services through two channels. It is considering adding a third in the "middle" of the other two. The current strategy has one channel with employees and another with independent contractors. These attract very... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Salesforce Management; Marketing; Distribution Channels; Human Resources; Financial Services Industry; Service Industry

December 1986 (Revised December 1993)
Case

Johnsonville Sausage Co. (A)

Describes the evolution of Johnsonville Sausage through a generation of management and from a small operation to a large concern of over 500 employees. Describes how each of the functional areas in the firm has evolved, and how its structure and systems have changed... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business or Company Management; Transformation; Growth and Development; Food and Beverage Industry