Publications

15 Dec 2024
News

The Golden Thread

Teresa Amabile grew up near Buffalo, New York, the third of seven children. Her parents were first-generation Americans who used their childhood Italian language when they didn’t want the kids to understand what they were saying. Her father and his brothers were... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Illustration by Nigel Buchanan; retirement; careers; psychology

Web

Commencement 2013 Address | About

adapt to changes in their environment. We would all be well advised to follow their lead. At HBS, despite our storied history, we have always consistently worked to adapt to the changing world. When I... View Details

2020
Working Paper

How to Build Enduring Brands in the Digital Age

By: David J. Collis and William Collis

What makes a brand last? It’s a deceptively simple question, but its answer separates sustainable success from eventual obscurity. Almost every company devotes significant resources to defining their brand. But few ask the more important question: how to... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Adaptation; Strategy

Read Now

July 1992 (Revised June 1994)
Case

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A) and Project ICON (A), Abridged

Describes the reorganization of the Systems Development resource from Central MIS to the divisions. Whereas this had been planned for October 1990, unexpected senior management changes precipitated a request to reorganize 12 to 18 months ahead of schedule. Also... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Information Technology; London; Pennsylvania

January 1991 (Revised March 1996)
Case

Profiling at National Mutual (A)

This case series describes a company grappling with organizational change through information technology. National Mutual Life Association vies for Australian insurance industry leadership with its long-time competitor. It has purchased an expert system called Client... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Information Technology; Insurance Industry; Australia

1995
Book

Creative Destruction: A Six-Step Process for Transforming the Organization

By: R. L. Nolan and D. C. Croson

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Transformation

April 1995 (Revised September 1997)
Case

Frito-Lay, Inc.: A Strategic Transition, 1987-1992 (Abridged)

By: Lynda M. Applegate

A new CEO must take action to return the company to profitability, to clarify the vision, and then to build the infrastructure (human, capital, and information) needed to support the long-term change in strategy and organization. The case provides a rich description of... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Leading Change; Information Technology; Adaptation; Technology Adoption; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

03 Oct 2018
What Do You Think?

How Should Managers Deal with the Challenges of Building an Inclusive Workplace?

CamiloTorres What Are the Most Effective Management Approaches to Inclusion? Inclusion is important to an organization. But it is a challenge in the current day workplace climate, especially when it comes to such things as one-on-one activities between men and women.... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

February 2018
Supplement

Qualtrics (B)

By: Doug J. Chung and James M. Lattin

Qualtrics was an online survey research platform and since the beginning, the company had relied entirely on an inside sales model—sales done remotely without face-to-face contact with clients. The low-cost inside sales model, along with an emphasis on a strong sales... View Details

Keywords: Inside Sales Model; Sales; Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation

October 2017
Article

Elevating Repositioning Costs: Strategy Dynamics and Competitive Interactions

By: Anoop R. Menon and Dennis Yao

This paper proposes an approach for modeling competitive interactions that incorporates the costs to firms of changing strategy. The costs associated with strategy modifications, which we term “repositioning costs,” are particularly relevant to competitive interactions... View Details

Keywords: ＂Repositioning Costs; Strategy Dynamics; Strategic Interaction; Capabilities; Cost; Strategy; Change; Game Theory; Organizational Change and Adaptation

October 2003
Case

ABS Global

By: David E. Bell, Hal Hogan and Jose M. M. Porraz

ABS Global is considering an acquisition in Australia. Efficient production and distribution is becoming more difficult as it becomes global. Yet trade restrictions and local preferences for its product, bull semen, dictate that ABS come up with a new way to... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Production; Global Strategy; Distribution; Adaptation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Australia

January 1987 (Revised January 1988)
Case

Frito-Lay, Inc.: A Strategic Transition (A)

The setting is a food manufacturing company which has stumbled in terms of its historic growth and profit achievements. In trying to recapture its momentum, the president has used information technology as one element in his program of transition. The case focuses on... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Information Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

15 Aug 2006
First Look

First Look: August 15, 2006

Products: The Effect of Absorptive Capacity Authors:Daniel Snow Abstract In this paper, I propose and examine a specific means by which firms' R&D experience may be helping firms to improve their current-technology products: Firms that conduct future-technology... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

27 Mar 2023
News

A Sporting Chance

as a young HBS grad working for Boston Consulting Group in San Francisco, Perez de Leza was mostly looking for ways to strengthen his body and stay healthy. He took up hand-crank cycling, and then discovered adaptive skiing at a program... View Details

Keywords: Ralph Ranalli

20 Feb 2025
Blog Post

IFC India 2025: Building Resilience - Mumbai’s Journey to Sustainable Water Management

to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 while enhancing urban resilience. This forward-looking strategy underscores the city’s resolve to adapt to the changing climate while balancing the needs of its people and industries. During our trip... View Details

November 1982
Case

Conversion Training at New England Telephone (A)

By: D. Quinn Mills and E. Mary Lou Balbaky

Keywords: Training; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Telecommunications Industry; New England

1995
Book

Destruicao Criativa: Um Processo de Seis Etapas para Transformar Sua Organizacao

By: R. L. Nolan and D. C. Croson

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Transformation

April 1994 (Revised April 1995)
Case

Volkswagen de Mexico's North American Strategy (A)

In 1988, Volkswagen (VW) consolidated its North American operations in Puebla, Mexico, after shutting down its plant in Pennsylvania. Volkswagen de Mexico had been in operation since the 1960s, but produced almost exclusively for the Mexican market. In the late 1980s,... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Trade; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Canada; Germany; United States; Mexico

April 1973 (Revised April 1983)
Case

Mirassou Vineyards (A)

Examines the decision by Mirassou to test a mechanical grape harvester that requires a major change in growing methods and operations. The machine is unproven and the investor has asked this vineyard to test it for him and commit to use it. View Details

Keywords: Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Production; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry