Publications

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March 2004 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Strategic Review at Egon Zehnder International (A)

By: Ashish Nanda

The case describes the history of the executive search firm Egon Zehnder International (EZI) from its inception through 2000. Internal and environmental changes lead EZI leaders to question whether the firm might be at an inflection point in its history. The EZI... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Strategy; Service Industry

Program

Transforming Customer Experiences

approach to service design, execution, and transformation, this customer experience management program prepares you to create an exceptional service culture that supports employees, delights customers, and drives organizational... View Details

June 1996 (Revised February 1998)
Case

Repositioning Ranbaxy

A leading Indian pharmaceutical company reacts to changes in its industry by trying to reposition along several dimensions from developing markets to developed ones, from bulk drugs toward pharmaceuticals in dosage forms, and from reverse-engineering products developed... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Expansion; Industry Structures; Pharmaceutical Industry; India

October 2009 (Revised December 2010)
Case

GE Money Bank: The M-Budget Card Initiative

By: Michael L. Tushman, Sebastian Raisch and Christian Welling

The M-Budget Card case study is about mastering the challenges of an exploratory strategic initiative in a context marked by time pressure and frequent change. M-Budget was the first of a series of highly successful projects that established GE Money Bank as a leader... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Credit Cards; Leading Change; Product Launch; Product Development; Groups and Teams; Banking Industry; Switzerland

Web

VBHCD Intensive Seminars - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

VBHCD Intensive Seminars Value-Based Health Care Delivery: An Intensive Seminar May 12th - 16th, 2025 There is growing recognition that true health care reform will require major strategic and organizational View Details

December 1986 (Revised December 1993)
Case

Johnsonville Sausage Co. (A)

Describes the evolution of Johnsonville Sausage through a generation of management and from a small operation to a large concern of over 500 employees. Describes how each of the functional areas in the firm has evolved, and how its structure and systems have changed... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business or Company Management; Transformation; Growth and Development; Food and Beverage Industry

Article

Design Physical and Digital Spaces to Foster Inclusion

By: Eric Anicich, Jon M. Jachimowicz, Merrick Osborne and L. Taylor Phillips

Often, strategies around making organizations more anti-racist focus on changing hearts and minds. Sometimes this isn’t enough, however, and can result in backlash or increased self-segregation among white employees. In these situations, leaders should consider using... View Details

Keywords: Anti-racism; Inclusion; Work Environment; Organizational Culture; Diversity; Change Management

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September 1989
Background Note

Vision Thing

Describes the challenge of creating, communicating, and committing to a "vision" for an organization. Visions are characterized as a critical building block for stimulating a successful major change in an organization. Considers characteristics of a good vision, an... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mission and Purpose

Winter 2014
Article

The Art of Strategic Renewal

By: Andy Binns, J. Bruce Harreld, Charles A. O'Reilly and Michael L. Tushman

In recent years, we have seen well-established companies such as Kodak, Blockbuster, Nokia, and BlackBerry pushed to the brink by smart competitors and changes in their industries. In each case, there were opportunities to act before a crisis engulfed the organization.... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation

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07 Mar 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, March 7

of organizational features during growth; the second, their dramatic change. We juxtapose the two narratives to reveal ongoing gaps in the study of how growth can effect change along three dimensions: View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

Learning Organizations

David A. Garvin is studying how companies pursue improvement and change through efforts to stimulate organizational learning. He has found the following activities to be common in learning organizations: intelligence gathering; experimentation; learning from... View Details

March 1981 (Revised October 1998)
Case

Corning Glass Works International (A)

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Michael Y. Yoshino

Follows the impact of a change in global strategy on a diversified company's global organization structure. Traces two failed attempts at bringing a business perspective to a geographic organization, and poses the problem of what the international division president... View Details

Keywords: Disruption; Framework; Global Strategy; Organizational Structure; Perspective; Power and Influence

07 Feb 2022
Research & Ideas

Digital Transformation: A New Roadmap for Success

challenges these leaders confronted and strategies for how to address them. Organizational change is never easy, but our roundtable discussions made clear that achieving digital maturity can be an especially... View Details

Keywords: by Linda A. Hill, Ann Le Cam, Sunand Menon, and Emily Tedards

Alvin E. Roth

Al Roth is the George Gund Professor of Economics and Business Administration in the Department of Economics at Harvard University, and in the Harvard Business School. His research, teaching, and consulting interests are in game theory, experimental economics, and... View Details

Keywords: e-commerce industry; education industry; health care; information; internet; legal services

February 2016
Article

Unearned Status Gain: Evidence from a Global Language Mandate

By: Tsedal Neeley and Tracy Dumas

Theories of status rarely address unearned status gain—an unexpected and unsolicited increase in relative standing, prestige, or worth, attained not through individual effort or achievement, but from a shift in organizationally valued characteristics. We build theory... View Details

Keywords: Status and Position; Equality and Inequality; Spoken Communication; Organizations; Japan; United States

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February 2005 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Nordstrom: The Turnaround

By: Rajiv Lal and Arar Han

After a period of turbulence, the fourth generation of Nordstroms are in control of the $7.1 billion apparel retailer. They have instituted a number of changes in buying and IT that have turned the business around. What can they do to ensure future growth? View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Crisis Management; Growth Management; Organizational Structure; Information Technology; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry

September 2023
Teaching Note

Patagonia: 'Earth Is Now Our Only Shareholder'

By: Brian Trelstad, Nien-hê Hsieh, Michael Norris and Susan Pinckney

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 323-057. Patagonia’s change of ownership from a privately held company to a perpetual purpose trust and 501(c)(4) nonprofit in order to use the company’s profit to fight the environmental crisis and be a model for future businesses. View Details