Publications

October 1999
Case

Overhead Reduction Task Force, The

By: J. Richard Hackman, Ruth Wageman and John J. Gabarro

A middle manager is about to meet with his boss to discuss her request that he head up a task force to determine how overhead can be reduced by 20%. He must decide what to address in that meeting and how the task force should be launched and led. The focus is on team... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Leadership Style; Management Teams; Management Style; Groups and Teams

Research Summary

Team, Individual, and Organizational Learning From Experience in Two High-Hazard Industries

High-hazard industries such as nuclear power and chemical process plants must learn and improve without sole reliance on trial-and-error. Considerable attention and resources are placed on learning from operating experience, including exchange of best practices, peer... View Details

March 2005 (Revised May 2009)
Case

Columbia's Final Mission

By: Michael Roberto, Amy C. Edmondson, Richard M.J. Bohmer, Laura Feldman and Erika Ferlins

On February 1, 2003, the Shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, and the seven astronauts onboard lost their lives. Explores Columbia's final mission from the perspective of six key managers and engineers associated with NASA's Space... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Leadership; Crisis Management; Management Teams; Organizational Culture; Aerospace Industry

19 Jul 2019
News

How To Innovate Inside Large Organizations

05 Feb 2025
Blog Post

Leadership with Purpose: Redefining Success and Impact with Satpal Singh (SELP—India 4, 2019)

found leadership is not just achieving results but inspiring teams and creating meaningful impact. One of the most transformative parts of the program was the dynamic interaction with my peers. Our group sessions were not just about... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

13 Mar 2023
Research & Ideas

The Power of Personal Connections: How Shared Experiences Boost Performance

formed a relationship. The authors chose to focus on patient ratings of specialists instead of specific medical outcomes because they assess an “important dimension of quality” that transcends the clinical boundaries of medical... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Health

August 2015 (Revised May 2017)
Case

TSG Hoffenheim: Football in the Age of Analytics

By: Feng Zhu, Karim R. Lakhani, Sascha L. Schmidt and Kerry Herman

In 2015, Dietmar Hopp, owner of Germany's Bundesliga football team TSG Hoffenheim and co-founder of the global enterprise software company SAP, was considering how to ensure long-term sustainability and competitiveness for TSG Hoffenheim. While historically a small... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Measurement and Metrics; Sports; Sports Industry

04 Feb 2025
Blog Post

Leadership with Purpose: Redefining Success and Impact with Satpal Singh (SELP—India 4, 2019)

for something more—a vision for the kind of leader I wanted to become. My time at HBS gave me clarity: I found leadership is not just achieving results but inspiring teams and creating meaningful impact. One of the most transformative... View Details

December 2011 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Brasil Foods

By: David E. Bell and Natalie Kindred

In mid-2011, the management of Brasil Foods, a leading Brazilian branded foods producer and protein exporter, is evaluating strategies for international and domestic growth. The team has just received approval from Brazil's antitrust authorities to complete the merger... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Brazil

August, 2024
Article

Absenteeism, Productivity, and Relational Contracts Inside the Firm

By: Achyuta Adhvaryu, Jean-François Gauthier, Anant Nyshadham and Jorge Tamayo

We study relational contracts among managers using a unique dataset that tracks transfers of workers across teams in Indian ready-made garment factories. We focus on how relational contracts help managers cope with worker absenteeism shocks, which are frequent, often... View Details

Keywords: Implicit Contracts; Productivity; Misallocation; Absenteeism; Supervisors; Readymade Garments; Performance Productivity; Employees; Relationships; Fashion Industry; India

03 Mar 2023
Research & Ideas

When Showing Know-How Backfires for Women Managers

skills, might spend more time checking the accuracy of their teams’ work instead of devising budgets. Women scientists might focus more on interacting with students and staff instead of writing grants or working with donors. In essence,... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin; Retail; Consumer Products

06 Jul 2015
News

Introducing HuffPost Quiet Revolution

June 2017
Case

Magellan Boatworks

By: John A. Quelch and James T. Kindley

Magellan Boatworks is a midsize manufacturer of customized, power "cruising yachts." In the face of economic and political uncertainty in late 2016, Magellan's VP of sales and marketing, Walt Robinson, wonders whether he should request a budget increase for 2017.... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Marketing Communications; Advertising; Strategy; Salesforce Management

28 Nov 2018
HBS Case

On Target: Rethinking the Retail Website

jimkruger In the mid-1990s, Target was a discount superstore behemoth. The retailer had set itself apart from chief rival Walmart with a focus on more upscale but wallet-friendly fashion and lifestyle lines, spurring double-digit growth... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail

May 2020 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Michael Ku and Global Clinical Supply at Pfizer Inc.: Bringing Hope to Patients (A)

By: Linda A. Hill, Allison J. Wigen and Emily Tedards

Michael Ku joined Pfizer in 2011, after the company had undergone three large-scale mergers and acquisitions. His mission was to drive the digital transformation of the company’s clinical supply chain, but he knew he had to start with the culture. Over the next eight... View Details

December 2009 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Curt Schilling's Next Pitch

By: Noam T. Wasserman, Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Rachel Gordon

As his major-league pitching career was starting to wind down in 2006, baseball all-star Curt Schilling decided to become an entrepreneur. Looking to focus his tenacity and his passion for online role-playing games on a new challenge, he founded an online gaming... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Leadership; Personal Development and Career; Groups and Teams; Video Game Industry

Research Summary

Overview

My research focuses on cross-boundary teaming within and between organizations and on how leaders enable the complex collaborations through which execution and innovation are accomplished in a dynamic environment. In one stream of my research, I study collaboration... View Details

13 Nov 2014
News

Network Admins Wanted: New Ideas for Filling 'Middle-Skill' Jobs

March 2024
Case

Ava DuVernay's Array: Disrupting the Hollywood Film Industry

By: Anita Elberse and Morgan Brewton-Johnson

In February 2023 acclaimed filmmaker Ava DuVernay is filming her latest movie, Origin, a daring adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson’s book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. With Origin, DuVernay is pioneering a method to finance the endeavor—through a combination of... View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Intellectual Property; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Disruption; Motion Pictures and Video Industry