Publications

October 2005 (Revised December 2006)
Case

Bennie Wiley at The Partnership, Inc.

Benaree Wiley, an African American, female HBS graduate (class of 1972), was appointed CEO and president in 1991 of The Partnership, a Boston-based nonprofit dedicated to developing leadership potential in professionals of color and in increasing their representation... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mission and Purpose; Leading Change; Nonprofit Organizations; Leadership Style; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Industry; Boston

27 Apr 2015
Blog Post

2+2: Building on Business Basics at HBS

Accepted into HBS’s 2+2 Program her senior year of college, Atima Lui spent two years working at Walmart before coming to HBS. Having majored in business as an undergraduate, Atima was eager to build upon that background and hone her View Details

11 May 2009
Research & Ideas

The IT Leader’s Hero Quest

and ultimately an excellent journey to learning effective leadership skills in The Adventures of an IT Leader (Harvard Business Press). According to the novel's creators, a fictional approach allowed them to blend real-life incidents they... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

October 1995
Case

DISC (A) (Abridged)

By: Nitin Nohria and Scott A. Snook

Follows the development and implementation of fundamental organizational change in a large government bureaucracy. The case is set in the Defense Industrial Supply Center (DISC) and follows two senior leaders as they grapple with issues of fundamental change in a... View Details

Keywords: Government Administration; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Restructuring; Transformation; Decision Choices and Conditions; National Security; Leadership Style

January 2004 (Revised June 2004)
Case

Citigroup 2003: Testing the Limits of Convergence (A)

By: Lynda M. Applegate

Examines Citigroup's strategic transition and highlights issues that its newly announced CEO Charles Prince will face as he assumes leadership of this global financial corporation upon the retirement of its charismatic CEO, Sandy Weill. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Globalized Firms and Management; Management Succession; Transformation; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry

03 May 2010
Research & Ideas

What Is the Future of MBA Education?

changed, and with it the security that used to come almost automatically with an MBA degree. [ ] High-paying jobs are no longer guaranteed to graduates, and the opportunity costs of two years of training—especially for those who still hold jobs and are not looking to... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Education

05 Dec 2017
Research & Ideas

What We've Learned from 101 Entrepreneurs in Emerging Markets

Harvard Business School’s exploration of the evolution of business leadership in Africa, Asia, and Latin America has reached an important milestone. This month the Creating Emerging Markets project will publish interviews 100 and 101... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

June 2021 (Revised October 2021)
Supplement

CFM International (B): LEAPing Into the Future

By: Ranjay Gulati, Yves Doz and Kerry Herman

By 2017, after a long and highly successful run, the joint venture CFM’s and its parent firms’ leadership faces new challenges and must once again reconsider their commitment to the JV. CFM’s engines have come to dominate the narrow body aircraft market, but technology... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Partners and Partnerships; Competitive Strategy; Decision Making; Technological Innovation; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Manufacturing Industry

18 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Looking in the Mirror: Questions Every Leader Must Ask

the executives most in need of feedback in many organizations are very senior," he says. "They may have become isolated or not realize that their direct reports have constructive advice regarding specific changes they need to... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

Web

HBS Working Knowledge – Harvard Business School Faculty Research

George 24 JAN 2024 | Op-Ed Aggressive cost cutting and rocky leadership changes have eroded the culture at Boeing, a company once admired for its engineering rigor, says Bill George. What will it take to... View Details

June 2020
Case

What IKEA Do We Want?

By: Juan Alcácer, Cynthia A. Montgomery, Emilie Billaud and Vincent Dessain

In 2018, Swedish furniture maker IKEA was undergoing a significant transformation. Challenged by the rise of online shopping and changing consumer behavior, and mourning the death of its founder, the Company's top executives knew they had to step out of their comfort... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Transformation; Leading Change; Mission and Purpose; Business Model; Emerging Markets; Customer Focus and Relationships; Organizational Culture; Disruption; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry; Europe; Netherlands; Sweden; China; India; United States

18 Mar 2014
News

The Seven Skills You Need to Thrive in the C-Suite

22 Apr 2002
Research & Ideas

Work, Family, Private Life: Why Not All Three?

How should men and women strike a balance between work and personal life in order to feel as happy and fulfilled as possible? In a packed auditorium, three speakers at the Möbius Leadership forum session titled "Walking the Tight... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

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

21 Apr 2011
Research & Ideas

Searching for Better Practices in Social Investing

executive at eBay. "We live in a world where entrepreneurship drives massive change in the private sector, and we feel that can be true in the social sector." The Leadership Challenge As is the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

November 2011 (Revised August 2012)
Case

Healthymagination at GE Healthcare Systems

By: Vineet Kumar and V. Kasturi Rangan

Jeff Immelt, the CEO of GE, introduced a new innovation strategy named "healthymagination" in 2009. With cost, quality, and access as its three pillars, healthymagination ensures a strong focus for new product introduction efforts all around GE. But will this focus... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Product Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Health Industry

April 2008
Case

Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad

By: Michael Beer and Elizabeth Collins

In May 2007, the Engstrom Auto Mirrors plant, a relatively small supplier based in Indiana, faces a crisis. The business was in the second year of a downturn. Sales had started to decline in 2005; a year later, plant manager Ron Bent had been forced to lay off more... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Human Resource Management; Incentives; Motivation; Manufacturing; Leadership; Change Management; Employees; Motivation and Incentives; Goals and Objectives; Manufacturing Industry; Indiana

August 2001 (Revised June 2002)
Case

IBM Software Solutions (A)

By: Michael L. Tushman, Charles A. O'Reilly III and Robert Chapman Wood

Executives and managers of key IBM software units struggle to make IBM a top player in the post-mainframe era. When one software unit introduces a visionary product with potential to create a new leadership position for the firm, the result is an epic conflict in the... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Managerial Roles; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Conflict Management; Information Technology Industry