Publications

July–August 2024
Article

Case Study: Are the Right People in the Right Seats?

By: Nitin Nohria

The newly appointed CEO of Highstreet Properties has doubts about several members of the top team she has inherited. She’s trying to drive a turnaround, the company has a complicated matrix structure, and some team members seem opposed to her strategy. She’s debating... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Organizational Structure; Employees; Change Management

18 May 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Embracing Paradox

Keywords: Re: Michael L. Tushman

March 2015 (Revised May 2018)
Case

JPMorgan Chase: Tapping an Overlooked Talent Pool

By: Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly

By the spring of 2014, the pilot had come to an end for JPMorgan Chase's ReEntry Program, a program designed for women coming back to the workforce after a period of time away. Mary Callahan Erdoes, CEO of Asset Management, and her team had to evaluate whether or not... View Details

Keywords: Women; Training; Leadership; Motherhood; Talent and Talent Management; Experience and Expertise; Diversity; Gender; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Human Capital; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Programs; Financial Services Industry; United States

October 2001 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Perlegen Sciences

By: Linda A. Hill and Nicole Tempest

As a biotech start-up company involved in studying human genomes, Perlegen needed to develop an organization that fostered innovation and teamwork among a group of highly trained professionals from both the science and technology fields. Perlegen's CEO, Brad Margus,... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Leadership; Groups and Teams; Management Teams; Problems and Challenges; Business Startups; Genetics; Talent and Talent Management; Innovation Strategy; Biotechnology Industry

29 Oct 2021
News

Ask Help Desk: How Remote Workers Can Separate Work and Home Lives

Program

Program for Leadership Development

that embraces digital transformation and implement strategies that drive breakthrough innovation. Read More Master the cross-functional challenges of corporate leadership Lead organizational change and inspire high-performing global teams... View Details

June 1999 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Friendly Fenway Program, The: The Value of Experience Enhancement

By: Stephen A. Greyser

The marketing head of the Boston Red Sox is reviewing the team's "Friendly Fenway" fan satisfaction program. The program is described in the context of the team's on-the-field performance, the ballpark's character, and team marketing and fan-building in general. The... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Revenue; Framework; Management; Marketing Reference Programs; Performance; Boston

12 PM – 1 PM EDT, 28 Sep 2018
Webinars: Career

How to Drive Company Performance and Employee Sustainability

Learn how to empower your teams in a way that encourages both high performance and sustainability, from Carolyn Everson, VP of Global Marketing Solutions at Facebook. View Details

January 2022 (Revised September 2023)
Case

Simplifyy

By: Paul A. Gompers and Alicia Dadlani

Jake Lisby, co-founder and CEO of Simplifyy, a property technology startup in Kansas City, Missouri, was both exhausted and exhilarated by the flurry of activity surrounding the pivot of the business model in late 2021. Simplifyy, a venture-backed PropTech company, was... View Details

Keywords: SaaS; SaaS Business Models; Business Model; Business Startups; Small Business; Geographic Location; Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Transformation; Problems and Challenges; Real Estate Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States; Missouri

08 Jan 2020
Research & Ideas

NFL Head Coaches Are Getting Younger. What Can Organizations Learn?

We have written about how top NFL coaches try to stay relevant over time. Our empirical evidence supports the idea that most organizational leaders see a decline in performance as they get more tenured, but some are immune to this “second-half tenure penalty.” These... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Evan M.S. Hecht, and Abhijit Naik; Sports

2017
Article

Scaling: Organizing and Growth in Entrepreneurial Ventures

By: Alicia DeSantola and Ranjay Gulati

Entrepreneurial ventures face unique challenges related to growth, particularly in the management of internal organizations. Progress on understanding these dynamics has been constrained by fragmentation within relevant management research. In this paper, we clarify... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation

Find at Harvard

22 Oct 2021
Research & Ideas

Want Hybrid Work to Succeed? Trust, Don’t Track, Employees

innovation, specific collaboration needs, or team building—meeting in person may be preferable. But rather than dictate a one-size-fits-all approach, Neeley says, business leaders should allow individuals and View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

September 2020 (Revised December 2020)
Case

Hot Wheels at Mattel: Reinventing the Wheel

By: Elie Ofek, Andres Terech and Nicole Tempest Keller

In 2017, Chris Down, Global Brand General Manager for Hot Wheels, and his team from the Advanced Play Group within Mattel, Inc., were considering which innovation path to pursue in order to "future proof" the Hot Wheels franchise going forward. Hot Wheels was the... View Details

Keywords: Toys; Industry Evolution; Innovation Strategy; Product Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Technological Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Decision Making; Digital Transformation

March 2022 (Revised September 2022)
Case

Can Papaya Global Keep Scaling Fast?

By: Daniel Isenberg and William R. Kerr

Companies that employ people all around the world also need to pay those people. That can be an exceedingly complex task, though - defining terms of employment, complying with global regulations, and working with huge quantities of data, among other obstacles,... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Scaling And Growth; Job Design and Levels; Compensation and Benefits; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Global Range

September 2003 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Direvo Biotech AG

Describes the financing and growth decisions facing Direvo, a young German biotech firm with a customer/partner that wants to become an investor. Also discusses the business model for Direvo's directed evolution technology, with applications in both industrial enzymes... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Decisions; Business Exit or Shutdown; Value; Business Startups; Biotechnology Industry; Germany

October 2005 (Revised July 2009)
Case

MD Beauty, Inc.

By: William A. Sahlman and Elizabeth Kind

Describes some of the issues confronting the entrepreneurial team responsible for creating a highly successful natural beauty and skin care company. They are considering selling all or some portion of the company's stock. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Stocks; Financial Strategy; Management Teams; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

Find at Harvard

September 2013
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Laurent Adamowicz and Bon'App

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Juliane Calingo Schwetz and Patricia Bissett Higgins

After a successful career as Chairman and CEO of Paris-based luxury food company Fauchon, Laurent Adamowicz sought to reduce obesity and improve health outcomes. Adamowicz created a mobile application to provide consumers with more accessible and interpretable... View Details

March 2021 (Revised September 2021)
Case

Applied: Using Behavioral Science to Debias Hiring

By: Ashley Whillans and Jeff Polzer

The UK government’s Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) needed to hire a new associate and were trying to increase the diversity of their job candidates. This decision was based on academic research showing that recruiters and managers often fell into common traps like... View Details

Keywords: Hiring; Bias; Behavioral Science; Selection and Staffing; Diversity; Prejudice and Bias; Information Technology; Recruitment

February 2014
Article

Toward a Model of Work Redesign for Better Work and Better Life

By: Leslie A. Perlow and Erin L. Kelly

Flexible work accommodations provided by employers purport to help individuals struggling to manage work and family demands. The underlying model for change is accommodation—helping individuals accommodate their work demands with no changes in the structure of work or... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Work-Life Balance