Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(1,579)
- Faculty Publications (133)
- January 2012 (Revised September 2015)
- Case
Tough Decisions at Marks and Spencer
By: George Serafeim
In 2007, under the leadership of CEO Stuart Rose, the iconic British retailer Marks and Spencer, with great fanfare, announced its "Plan A" initiative. Based on the five essential pillars of climate change, waste, sustainable materials, fair partnership, and health,... View Details
- July 2011
- Case
Shifting the Diversity Climate: The Sodexo Solution
By: David A. Thomas and Stephanie J. Creary
This case profiles the evolution of Sodexo's diversity initiative. Diversity became a key priority for Sodexo, North America in 2001 after a class-action lawsuit was filed and certified in Washington, D.C. against Sodexo Marriot Services, Inc., the food services... View Details
- May 2011
- Article
The Power of Small Wins
By: Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer
What is the best way to motivate employees to do creative work? Help them take a step forward every day. In an analysis of knowledge workers' diaries, the authors found that nothing contributed more to a positive inner work life (the mix of emotions, motivations, and... View Details
Keywords: Creativity; Interpersonal Communication; Employee Relationship Management; Leadership; Performance Effectiveness; Emotions; Motivation and Incentives; Groups and Teams; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation Leadership; Working Conditions; Management Practices and Processes; Management Skills; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Performance Productivity; Attitudes; Behavior; Happiness; Perception; Trust; Time Management; Resource Allocation; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Managerial Roles
- December 2010 (Revised September 2014)
- Background Note
Layoffs: Effects on Key Stakeholders
By: Sandra J. Sucher, Elana Sara Green, David Alberto Rosales and Susan J. Winterberg
From 2004-2009, almost 40,000 mass layoffs occurred in the US, representing over 7 million workers. This note describes the effects of layoffs on employees, firms, and communities. View Details
- 2010
- Book
Seven Strategy Questions: A Simple Approach for Better Execution
By: Robert L. Simons
To stay ahead of the pack, you must translate your organization's competitive strategy into day-to-day actions that will enable your company to win in the marketplace. This means channeling resources into the right efforts, striking a balance between innovation and... View Details
- September 2010 (Revised July 2013)
- Case
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals: Building Value from the IP Estate
By: Willy C. Shih and Sen Chai
The learning objective of this case is to help students recognize the interplay between intellectual property (IP) rights and corporate strategy. We do this by examining what is a fairly atypical circumstance today in which a single firm is able to secure what it... View Details
- February 2010
- Article
Managing Know-How
By: Deishin Lee and Eric J. Van den Steen
We study how firms can use a knowledge management system to optimally leverage employee-generated know-how. In particular, we consider the following practical strategic questions for the manager of a knowledge-intensive firm: should her firm develop a formal knowledge... View Details
- August 2009
- Case
Meeting the Diversity Challenge at PepsiCo: The Steve Reinemund Era
By: David A. Thomas and Stephanie Creary
This case profiles PepsiCo's diversity journey under the leadership of former chairman and CEO Steve Reinemund who instituted diversity as one of the company's strategic imperatives. It demonstrates the ways in which Reinemund partnered with his leadership team and... View Details
- January 2009 (Revised April 2009)
- Case
Disaster in April: The Obligations of Kelly Construction
By: John D. Macomber, Christopher M. Gordon and Ben Creo
A construction company experiences a crane accident with multiple fatalities. The CEO, a client, and an employee must make choices to meet the company's obligations. Set in 2006, the case looks at the choices faced by board members of a museum that is an important... View Details
- 2008
- Working Paper
Cultural Notes on Chinese Negotiating Behavior
By: James K. Sebenius and Cheng (Jason) Qian
Western businesses negotiating with Chinese firms face many challenges, from initiating and smoothing communication to establishing long-lasting relationships and mutual trust, and from bargaining and drafting agreements to securing their implementation. Chinese... View Details
- September 2008
- Class Lecture
Leading Change and Organizational Renewal
By: Michael L. Tushman and Charles O'Reilley
Executives who return from campus-based executive programs ready to make changes often find employees resistant to new ideas. The Leading Change and Organizational Renewal multimedia resource was created to ease transitions and empower the teacher as leader. This... View Details
- 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
- October 2007 (Revised December 2008)
- Case
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group: The Human Capital Strategy
By: Boris Groysberg and Eliot Sherman
Describes the development and implementation of one of the world's most advanced human resource management support systems. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a global banking leader that began implementing a strategy for measuring the impact of human capital on... View Details
- September 2007
- Article
Investigative Negotiation
By: Deepak Malhotra and Max H. Bazerman
This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading. Negotiators often fail to achieve results because they channel too much effort into... View Details
- 2007
- Working Paper
Interpersonal Authority in a Theory of the Firm
This paper develops a theory of the firm in which a firm's centralized asset ownership and low-powered incentives give a manager 'interpersonal authority' over employees (in a world with differing priors). The paper derives such interpersonal authority as... View Details
- January 2007
- Article
Acquisitions and Firm Growth: Creating Unilever's Ice Cream and Tea Business
By: G. Jones and Peter Miskell
This article provides a longitudinal case study of the use of acquisitions by the Anglo-Dutch multinational Unilever to build the world's largest ice cream and tea businesses. The study supports recent resource-based theory which argues that complementary rather than... View Details
- 2006
- Working Paper
Defining the Attributes and Processes that Enhance the Effectiveness of Workforce Diversity Initiatives in Knowledge Intensive Firms
By: Modupe Akinola and David A. Thomas
Workforce diversity continues to be a key focus for organizations, driven by globalization of the U.S. economy and the desire for organizations to more accurately reflect the demographic diversity of the US population. Yet, most research on diversity in organizations... View Details
Keywords: Diversity; Globalization; Employees; Retention; Knowledge Sharing; Research; United States
- February 2006 (Revised March 2006)
- Case
Negotiating on Thin Ice: The 2004-2005 NHL Dispute (A)
By: Deepak Malhotra and Maly Hout
On September 15, 2004, the existing collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) expired. Because the two sides had failed to negotiate a new CBA by that date, NHL... View Details
- December 2003 (Revised September 2004)
- Case
Managing Segway's Early Development
By: Richard G. Hamermesh and David Kiron
Describes the early development of the Segway Human Transporter and focuses on the organizational issues that arise between the parent company and the new company that is being spun out to produce and market the Segway. Key issues are the distribution of bonuses and... View Details
- February 2003 (Revised January 2004)
- Case
International Steel Group
By: Paul W. Marshall and Todd H Thedinga
Profiles veteran investor Wilbur L. Ross, Jr.'s plan to turn around the aging steel assets of LTV, formerly America's second largest integrated steel producer. Purchasing several key assets from LTV under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, Ross is able to acquire the... View Details