Publications

10 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: January 10

Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen Abstract For the last decade we have been using double-blind survey techniques and randomized sampling to construct management data on over 10,000 organizations across 20 countries. On average, we find... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 May 2000
Research & Ideas

Minding the Muse: The Impact of Downsizing on Corporate Creativity

pharmaceutical firms that rely on creativity," she says. "Today's fast-changing global markets place increased pressure on companies of every kind to continuously create new products, services, and competitive strategies if they... View Details

Keywords: by Peter K. Jacobs

Program

Senior Executive Leadership Program—China

including: Large, established companies, either private or state-owned Entrepreneurial ventures—either new companies or new ventures within established companies Growing family businesses Multinational firms with an increased presence in... View Details

September 2004 (Revised June 2005)
Case

Otis Elevator: Accelerating Business Transformation with IT

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Brian DeLacey

Focuses on a major transformation of Otis Elevator's infrastructure. Led by the CEO, this transformation represents a remarkable long-term reengineering of all the processes of the firm to drive its operating costs down and service image up. The transformation is the... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Cost Management; Infrastructure; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Information Technology

February 2015
Case

BlackRock: Diversity as a Driver for Success

By: Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly

In July 2014, the Global Executive Committee (GEC) for BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, held a two-day offsite to discuss the state of talent within the firm. A year prior, in 2013, Chairman and CEO Laurence (Larry) Fink had asked Global Head of HR Jeff... View Details

Keywords: Women And Leadership; Diversity; General Management; Leadership; Change Management; Human Capital; Leading Change; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Financial Services Industry; United States

26 Apr 2016
News

How Companies Escape the Traps of the Past

April 2008 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc.

By: Robert G. Eccles and David Lane

As CEO of leading executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles for the past 18 months, Kevin Kelly was pleased with his accomplishments so far but concerned about threats he perceived to Heidrick's position at the highest levels of the executive search business. In... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Recruitment; Disruptive Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Employment Industry; Service Industry

October 2010
Article

Culture Clash: The Costs and Benefits of Homogeneity

By: Eric Van den Steen

This paper develops an economic theory of the costs and benefits of corporate culture-in the sense of shared beliefs and values in order to study the effects of "culture clash" in mergers and acquisitions. I first use a simple analytical framework to show that shared... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Organizational Culture; Economics; Information Management; Forecasting and Prediction; Values and Beliefs; Mergers and Acquisitions; Framework; Satisfaction; Motivation and Incentives; Power and Influence; Communication

Find at Harvard

08 Sep 2020
News

Maintaining Organizational Soul While Onboarding In A Remote World

01 Jul 2016
News

Why IBM Will Soar While Apple Stumbles

February 2009 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Big Spaceship: Ready to Go Big?

By: Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind

Big Spaceship, a digital marketing agency, faced a rather big challenge: How to scale the distinctive culture that was essential to its competitive strategy? Renowned for the cutting-edge websites that it developed to market major Hollywood movies and leading consumer... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Management; Human Capital; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Groups and Teams; Competitive Strategy; Value Creation

05 Jun 2019
Working Paper Summaries

How Transparency into Internal and External Responsibility Initiatives Influences Consumer Choice

Keywords: by Ryan W. Buell and Basak Kalkanci

July 1996
Case

Buck & Pulleyn's Team Management

In 1993, the firm began to move from a traditional hierarchical structure to client-focused teams. The case describes the process and some consequences of this restructuring. Performance seems to be improving, but some employees preferred the structure certainty and... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Change Management; Organizational Structure; Groups and Teams

03 Feb 2015
First Look

First Look: February 3

Dennis A. Yao Abstract—This article examines how antitrust law and policy can benefit from ideas developed in the academic strategy field. Because accurate assessment and prediction of the effects of firm conduct depend in part on... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

09 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Unilever—A Case Study

This article considers key issues relating to the organization and performance of large multinational firms in the post-Second World War period. Although foreign direct investment is defined by ownership and... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Consumer Products; Entertainment & Recreation; Food & Beverage; Manufacturing; Retail

29 Apr 2021
News

Why Virtual Away Days May Be Here to Stay

04 Dec 2007
First Look

First Look: December 4, 2007

Periodical:Organization Science (forthcoming) Abstract Research has long shown that organizations shape members' identities. However, the possibility that these identities might also be desired and that members might benefit from this... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

April 2003 (Revised December 2006)
Case

ZARA: Fast Fashion

By: Pankaj Ghemawat and Jose Luis Nueno

Focuses on Inditex, an apparel retailer from Spain, which has set up an extremely quick response system for its ZARA chain. Instead of predicting months before a season starts what women will want to wear, ZARA observes what's selling and what's not and continuously... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Multinational Firms and Management; Competitive Advantage; Manufacturing Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry; Spain

August 2003 (Revised August 2006)
Case

New Sector Alliance (A): An Entry into Health Care?

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Stacy Smollin Schwartz and Jeffrey Cronin

Describes the structure of the U.S. health care system and presents a study of a nonprofit consulting firm that hopes to enter the health care system. Includes descriptions of hospitals, doctors, insurers, medical technology providers, medical devices, pharmaceuticals,... View Details

Keywords: Health; Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Nonprofit Organizations; Health Industry; United States