Publications

May 2022
Case

Executive Decision-Making at Zola

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Michael Roberto

In April 2020, Rachel Jarrett, President and COO of wedding technology company Zola, called a meeting with the organization’s key decision-makers. The company had previously launched three business expansions: a vendor marketplace, a wedding apparel division, and a... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Voting; Decision Choices and Conditions; Management Skills; Management; Management Style; Organizations; Organizational Culture; Technology Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

15 Dec 2003
Research & Ideas

The New Global Business Manager

in the multinational company's organizational capability. And that is where the role of the global manager is shaped. We argued that companies should not define this as an offline specialist role, but neither must they try to make... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

April 2005 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Furman Selz LLC (A): A Tale of Two Acquisitions

By: Nancy D. Beaulieu, Boris Groysberg and Kyle Doherty

Profiles a firm that was reacquired by two companies with different degrees of success. Highlights integration challenges present in acquisition deals when the primary assets of the target are human capital. Focuses on Furman Selz's acquisition by Xerox in 1987; its... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Transition; Valuation; Human Capital; Compensation and Benefits; Integration; Organizational Culture; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

15 Jun 2021
News

Leading at State

Foreign Service Institute and is now the US chargé d’affaires to India. “A lot of what Harvard Business School has to offer is fundamental leadership training, change management, organizational management, and other things that are very... View Details

Keywords: leadership; international relations; politics; Executive Education

12 Jun 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, June 12, 2018

ethnic migrant inventors in cross-border transfer of knowledge previously locked within the cultural context of their home regions. Using a unique dataset of Chinese and Indian herbal patents filed in the United States, we find that an... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

August 1993 (Revised April 1997)
Case

Southwest Airlines: 1993 (A)

By: James L. Heskett and Roger H. Hallowell

Southwest Airlines, the only major U.S. airline to be profitable in 1992, makes a decision as to which of two new cities to open, or to add a new long-haul route. Provides windows into Southwest's strategy, operations, marketing, and culture. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Cost Management; Profit; Marketing; Service Operations; Organizational Culture; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Air Transportation Industry; United States

September 2013
Teaching Note

Trader Joe's

By: David L. Ager and Michael A. Roberto

Based on a variety of metrics, Trader Joe's ranked as one of the most successful grocers in the United States in 2013. Experts estimated that the company had the highest sales per square foot of any major grocery chain, even significantly higher than top performer... View Details

Keywords: Comparative Advantage; Core Competencies; Growth Strategy; Strategic Positioning; Industry Analysis; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Organizational Culture; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

12 Sep 2018
Blog Post

Optimizing the Coaching Experience for Midcareer Professionals

organizational culture, what have you learned about the places where you work and where you would like to work? "Often, you've learned the hard way that culture has an enormous impact on your job... View Details

16 May 2005
Research & Ideas

Nonprofit Networking: The New Way to Grow

always lead to the benefits the organizations had anticipated. For example, many organizations anticipated that fundraising would be easier once they were larger. In fact, fundraising did not necessarily become easier with organizational... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

Research Summary

Mastering Strategy Execution

By: Robert Simons

Professor Robert Simons’ research encompasses three areas of management accountability that are the foundation for successful strategy execution: organization design, performance measurement and control, and risk management. In addition, Simons is interested in the... View Details

November 2005
Case

Michael Ovitz and The Walt Disney Company (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Alexis Chernak

Faced with the need to hire a new president, The Walt Disney Co. pursued Michael Ovitz, a founder of the Creative Artist Agency. Although initially disinterested, Ovitz engaged in negotiations with Michael Eisner, CEO of The Walt Disney Co., in the summer of 1995... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Management Teams; Selection and Staffing; Negotiation; Organizational Culture

2019
Book

Creative Construction: The DNA of Sustained Innovation

By: Gary P. Pisano

Creative Construction tackles the myth that larger enterprises are inherently incapable of transformative innovation and are doomed to be disrupted by nimble start-ups. If larger enterprises seem incapable of transformative innovation, it is due to how we design... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Business Growth and Maturation; Innovation Strategy; Organizational Culture; Management Systems; Creativity; Leading Change

Find at Harvard

Web

Sexual Harassment - Race, Gender & Equity

experiences across their careers. We sought to understand what kinds of harassment they experienced and how it affected them, as well as what organizational features were associated with more or less sexual misconduct. This brief report... View Details

April 2023 (Revised September 2023)
Case

Levels: The Remote, Asynchronous, Deep Work Management System

By: Joseph B. Fuller and George Gonzalez

Levels is a highly innovative startup in the health care space. They intend to revolutionize health by linking behavior—eating, exercise, sleeping, etc.—to changes in metabolism. They believe metabolic health can be managed through careful monitoring of changes in... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Business Startups; Organizational Culture; Management Style; Technology Industry; United States

04 Jun 2018
What Do You Think?

Are There Conditions Under Which Directors Should Consider Hiring a CEO Fired Elsewhere for Inappropriate Behavior?

track5 How Does a Board Introduce to the Organization a CEO Fired Elsewhere for Inappropriate Behavior? The question of conditions under which a board might hire a CEO fired elsewhere for inappropriate behavior, the subject of this month’s column, produced cogent... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

25 Jul 2016
Research & Ideas

Who is to Blame for 'The Great Training Robbery'?

organization is ready both in terms of the systemic culture and pattern of management that exists.” Too often CEOs turn to HR to create a training program when faced with a problem. The CEO avoids opening a Pandora’s box of larger View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Education

January 18, 2024
Article

America's Top Talent Incubators Are Organizations Where People Want to Stay

By: Sarah Abbott and Boris Groysberg

Organizations like GE, IBM, and Procter & Gamble (P&G) have long been touted as the classic "academy companies." Academy companies produce first-rate executives who populate their own senior ranks and also go on to lead other companies. We wondered if academy companies... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Personal Development and Career; Organizational Culture

Read Now

December 2020 (Revised January 2022)
Supplement

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

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2011, Michael Ku became Pfizer’s Vice President of Global Clinical Supply (GCS) after the company had undergone three large-scale mergers and acquisitions. As Ku and his new leadership team set out to build a proactive, end-to-end, digital and physical clinical... View Details

Keywords: Digital Technology; Customer-centricity; Innovation; Customer Focus; Talent; Talent Management; Leadership; Innovation and Invention; Transformation; Organizational Culture; Customer Focus and Relationships; Change Management; Talent and Talent Management; Supply Chain; Mission and Purpose