Publications

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September 2021 (Revised February 2023)
Case

Harambe: Mobilizing Capital in Africa

By: Anywhere (Siko) Sikochi, Dilyana Karadzhova Botha and Francesco Tronci

Harambe was a non-profit organization whose mission was to build an ecosystem to identify promising young African entrepreneurs and provide them access to training, markets, capital, and support networks. From 2007 to 2021, Harambe had grown to a network of 367... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Nonprofit Organizations; Business Model; Strategy; Organizational Structure; Business Startups; Capital; Venture Capital; Social and Collaborative Networks; Networks; Developing Countries and Economies; Emerging Markets; Africa; South Africa

July–August 2024
Article

Case Study: Are the Right People in the Right Seats?

By: Nitin Nohria

The newly appointed CEO of Highstreet Properties has doubts about several members of the top team she has inherited. She’s trying to drive a turnaround, the company has a complicated matrix structure, and some team members seem opposed to her strategy. She’s debating... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Organizational Structure; Employees; Change Management

February 1996 (Revised April 1997)
Case

Partners HealthCare System, Inc. (A)

By: Gary P. Pisano and Maryam Golnaraghi

Focuses on the decision confronting senior administrators at the Brigham and Women's Hospital: whether to enter into an affiliation with the Massachusetts General Hospital. Requires students to analyze the complex institutional changes in the health environment and to... View Details

Keywords: Consolidation; Health Care and Treatment; Mergers and Acquisitions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Management Teams; Health Industry; Massachusetts

12 Sep 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, September 12, 2017

for work, entertainment, and shopping. As hubs proliferate and expand their reach, the danger is that they will exacerbate economic inequality and threaten social stability. It is thus incumbent on all stakeholders—traditional companies, start-ups, institutions, and... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

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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03 Oct 2023
HBS Case

Layoffs Can Be Bad Business: 5 Strategies to Consider Before Cutting Staff

organization long term, says Sucher, who collaborated with research associate Marilyn Morgan Westner on the case study and with both Westner and research associate Christopher Diak on the background note. Sucher outlines five strategies for companies that want to get... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Telecommunications; Technology; Financial Services; Manufacturing

27 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

How the FBI Reinvented Itself After 9/11

including Rivkin, who had spent their academic careers studying organizational design and organizational identity. A comprehensive study of the FBI’s transformation resulted in the paper "Does 'What We Do'... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

17 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

What the Stockdale Paradox Tells Us About Crisis Leadership

we asked 600 global CEOs across a variety of industries what concerns were keeping them awake at night. Their topics ranged widely, but a handful of overarching mental tasks emerged: Comprehend complex, rapidly changing circumstances... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

Program

Driving Nonprofit Performance and Innovation—Virtual

sessions on innovation and organizational learning; generating evidence about an intervention's effectiveness; building a culture of performance measurement; and managing for collective impact amid the challenges of today's rapidly View Details

August 2000
Case

Manila Water Company (B)

By: Michael Beer and Elizabeth Weldon

On August 1, 1997 the Manila Water Co. took control of the east zone of the newly privatized Manila Metropolitan Water and Sewerage System (MWSS). At the time of privatization, MWSS was an inefficient, ineffective, and corrupt government agency. MWC must develop the... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Horizontal Integration; Privatization; Problems and Challenges; Utilities Industry

October 1987 (Revised March 1989)
Case

United Parcel Service (B)

With expansion into other countries (Germany), new areas of service (air express), and new ventures (two small acquisitions), UPS had to decide how to adjust its human resource policies to businesses and people which were substantially different from its traditional... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Expansion; Organizational Culture; Human Resources; Service Industry; Germany; United States