Publications

05 Feb 2013
First Look

First Look: Feb. 5

perhaps extremely severe, that are routine because they can be anticipated and prepared for) and "true crises" (which, because of significant novelty, cannot be dealt with exclusively by pre-determined emergency plans and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Web

Placement - Doctoral

studies, are uniquely individualized. Factors like departmental fit, location preferences, dual career choices, and family needs shape these decisions. We celebrate when students secure a position that brings them joy! Students are supported throughout their job search... View Details

November 2011 (Revised October 2014)
Case

The 2010 Chilean Mining Rescue (A)

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Faaiza Rashid and Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard

On August 5, 2010, 700,000 tons of some of the hardest rock in the world caved in Chile's century-old San José mine. The collapse buried 33 miners at a depth almost twice the height of the Empire State Building-over 600 meters (2000 feet) below ground. Never had a... View Details

Keywords: Mining; Chile

spring 1991
Article

Breaking the Cycle of Failure in Services

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and James Heskett

Most managers recognize that good service is a direct result of having effective, productive people in customer contact positions. However, most service companies perpetuate a cycle of failure by tolerating high turnover and expecting employee dissatisfaction. This... View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Service Delivery; Success; Failure; Management Skills; Service Industry

Find at Harvard

September 2016 (Revised July 2017)
Supplement

Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (B)

By: Dorothy Leonard and Christopher Myers

At the conclusion of the (A) case, Jennifer Trosper needed to decide whether or not to throw her support behind the training and outreach represented by the ROV-E program to build small rovers like the ones used on the surface of Mars by NASA JPL. The (B) case... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Management; Employees; Experience and Expertise; Decision Making; Aerospace Industry; United States

Web

Faculty & Research - Business & Environment

that when firms compete via supply functions, transferring high-cost capacity to the largest, most efficient firm—thereby diversifying its production technologies while increasing concentration—can lower prices by prompting the leader to... View Details

October 2002 (Revised December 2003)
Case

Collabrys, Inc. (A)-The Evolution of a Startup

By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Brian DeLacey

The CEO of a two-year-old start-up must now decide whether to become a technology provider or a service agency. In a time of enormous uncertainty about the viability of various business models for Internet-delivered services and products, Collabrys has survived the... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Internet and the Web; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Strategy; Technological Innovation; Cost vs Benefits; Partners and Partnerships; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Corporate Finance; United States

Web

Questioning, Listening & Responding - Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning

C. Roland Christensen 1991 With Open Ears: Listening and the Art of Discussion Leading by Herman B. Leonard 2003 Socrates' Legacy:The Primacy of Asking by Robert F. Bruner 1993... View Details

Web

Business History - Faculty & Research

Business History Business History 2014 Book Business History By: Walter A. Friedman and Geoffrey Jones This volume contains a selection of 42 foundational articles on the discipline of business history written between 1934 and the present day View Details

Web

General Management - Faculty & Research

A New Model in Kansas City. In late 2016, Bridj was expanding its digital platform to help address urban mobility problems faced by cities across the country and the world. Its founder and CEO, Matt George, weighed up several possible... View Details

18 Jul 2023
News

The First Five Years: Brooke Biederman (MBA 2019)

What inspired you to launch Forby Entertainment Partners? I started working on film and TV shoots in New York City during college. My first boss, an executive producer, recommended Edward Jay Epstein’s book, The Hollywood Economist: The Hidden Financial Reality Behind... View Details

Keywords: Robert Bochnak

Web

Alumni - Global

Xydi (MBA 2022); Kyriakos Mitsotakis (MBA 1995); Andreas Stavropoulos (MBA 1997); Antonis Samaras (MBA 1976); By: Jen McFarland Flint; illustration by Pete Ryan 11 Mar 2024 Skydeck In Harmony Born in Korea, Michael Kim spent his formative... View Details

Web

Faculty & Research - Leadership

focused on growing the company and improving the perception of its value by the capital markets. He and his senior leadership team have made inroads to this end, including adjusting the... April 2025 Case Pouring Oil on Troubled Waters:... View Details

Web

Cold Calling - Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning

Barbara Gross Davis 1991 The Discussion Teacher in Action: Questioning, Listening, and Response by C. Roland Christensen 1991 With Open Ears: Listening and the Art of Discussion Leading by Herman B. View Details

April 2012
Case

Bella Healthcare India

By: Dorothy Leonard and Sunru Yong

Bella Healthcare India was originally established in Bangalore as a low-cost manufacturing facility for a U.S.-based cardiology equipment developer. Under country manager Joseph Cherian it evolved considerably, developing its own research and development capabilities.... View Details

Web

Social Enterprise - Faculty & Research

better stakeholder engagement and transparency around CSR performance, are important in reducing capital constraints. The results are further confirmed using an instrumental variables and a simultaneous equations approach. Finally, we show that the relation is driven... View Details

October 1989 (Revised May 1996)
Case

Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (A)

By: Todd D. Jick and Leonard A. Schlesinger

Describes the "Leadership Through Quality" effort undertaken by Xerox in the 1980s. Includes the history of Xerox in the 1970s and its need to make major changes in quality by the 1980s. Most of the remainder of the case details the step-by-step process by which Xerox... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Quality; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Service Industry; Electronics Industry

2008
Working Paper

Can the Virtuous Mouse and the Wealthy Elephant Live Happily Ever After?

By: James E. Austin and Herman B. Leonard

What happens when small iconic socially-oriented businesses are acquired by large corporations? Such mergers create significant opportunities for creating both business value and substantially expanded social value, but also pose unusually difficult challenges because... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Management Style; Agreements and Arrangements; Social Enterprise; Social Issues