Publications

Research Summary

Creating Corporate Value Added

In response to dramatic changes in the business environment--hypercompetition in many traditional industries, short product life cycles, and new competitors based in emerging nations--successful companies have responded by repositioning themselves in the global markets... View Details

February 1996 (Revised November 1996)
Case

Viacom, Inc.: Carpe Diem

By: Joseph L. Bower and Thomas R. Eisenmann

Viacom has reached a powerful position in the global entertainment industry through skillful and very bold acquisitions. Now its further expansion is challenged by the moves of Rupert Murdock's News Corp. Different businesses within Viacom have contradictory positions... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Entertainment; Global Strategy; Management; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

Find at Harvard

1965
Article

Group Decision Making: A Report of an Experimental Study

When a group of people must decide on some one action, such as where shall we go out to dinner, or in an investment club which stock shall we buy, how do the individual members come to a decision that affords the best resolution of the question at hand for the group as... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Decision Making; Conflict Management

Find at Harvard

Register to Read

July 2001 (Revised February 2004)
Case

Gerdau (A)

By: Joseph L. Bower, Luiz Felipe Monteiro and Sonja Ellingson Hout

Gerdau Group is a family-controlled Brazilian manufacturer and distributor of long steel products. Describes the evolution of the company's strategy, organization, and smart management, making it the No. 2 steel producer in Brazil. The company must decide whether to... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Family Business; Decision Choices and Conditions; Developing Countries and Economies; Globalization; Competitive Strategy; Steel Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Brazil; United States

19 Apr 2011
First Look

First Look: April 19

MaterialsLeaders Who Make a Difference: Joel Klein Brings Accountability to NYC DOE: Day 1 Joseph L. Bower and Sonja Ellingson HoutHarvard Business School Case 311-032 Joel Klein took over the NYC Department... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2009
Working Paper

Taking a 'Deep Dive': What Only a Top Leader Can Do

By: Howard H. Yu and Joseph L. Bower

Unlike most historical accounts of strategic change inside large firms, empirical research on strategic management rarely uses the day-to-day behaviors of top executives as the unit of analysis. By examining the resource allocation process closely, we introduce the... View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; Management Practices and Processes; Resource Allocation; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure

SSRN

Read Now

2019
Chapter

Succession Management

Although often described as an event, if succession is managed properly it is the culmination of a development process that takes place over a number of years, led by the CEO working with the board of directors. In the ideal situation several candidates will have been... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Development; Management Succession

Find at Harvard

April 2024 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Market Dynamics and Moral Dilemmas: Novo Nordisk’s Weight-Loss Drugs

By: Joseph L. Badaracco, Tom Quinn and John Schultz

Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk was owned by a charitable foundation, and since its founding in the 1920s had focused on producing insulin to treat diabetes. In 2017, however, it released Ozempic, a diabetes treatment with the revolutionary side effect of... View Details

April 1997 (Revised July 2003)
Case

Viacom, Inc.: Video Supplement

By: Joseph L. Bower, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Sonja Ellingson Hout

Viacom reached a powerful position in the global entertainment industry through skillful and very bold acquisitions. Now its further expansion is challenged by the moves of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Different businesses within Viacom have contradictory positions on... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Entertainment; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

24 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 24, 2009

One of the partners in the firm, Joseph Shang, has created an innovative compensation system he calls the "A-B-C-D Model" which enables even the most junior associates to earn compensation for bringing in new business. This... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

2013
Chapter

The Most Successful CEOs Come from Within

The financial crisis of 2008 and the Great Recession caused a crisis of public confidence in business and American-style capitalism, with its focus on maximizing shareholder value. Corporate leaders understood that reform was needed and that they needed to commit... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Succession; Business and Community Relations; Management Teams

02 Mar 2010
First Look

First Look: March 2

of morality, ethics, and legality. Download the paper: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1552009 Deep Dive: What Leaders Do When Only They Can Drive Authors:Howard H. Yu and Joseph L. Bower... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

14 Jun 2016
First Look

June 14, 2016

forthcoming Harvard Business Review Press Managing in the Gray: Five Timeless Questions for Resolving Your Toughest Problems at Work By: Badaracco, Joseph L. Abstract—Part of a manager's job is making tough... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

07 Aug 2007
First Look

First Look: August 7, 2007

from imperfect local institutions in developing countries. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/08-003.pdf Improving Patient Outcomes: The Effects of Staff Participation and Collaboration in Healthcare Delivery Authors:Ingrid M. Nembhard, Anita View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

21 Jan 2009
First Look

First Look: January 21, 2009

and Tsinghua's School of Economics and Management over the past three years in developing its "Senior Executive Program for China." On the Goals of Successful Family Companies Authors:John A. Davis and Renato Tagiuri Publication:Chap. 17 in Family Business.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

2024
Chapter

Corporations as the Central Institutions of Society

By: Joseph L. Badaracco

Mark Twain observed that, “Prediction is very difficult—particularly when it involves the future,” and he was right. One way to reduce the risk of becoming an infamous forecaster—like the experts who told us the Internet would quickly collapse, that Apple would never... View Details

Keywords: Trends; Business and Government Relations; Organizations; Power and Influence; Society

July 1991 (Revised September 1992)
Background Note

Company's Ethical Climate

By: Joseph L. Badaracco

Explains what a company's ethical climate is, describes the forces that shape it, and ways managers can work to alter a firm's ethical climate. View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Business or Company Management; Value