Publications

01 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

How To Make Restructuring Work for Your Company

following words with deeds, and he was not liked by the unions. (With hindsight, it is debatable whether he really intended to pursue the more radical restructuring plan; however, what matters is that the unions believed he would.) In Humana's case, the View Details

Keywords: by Stuart C. Gilson

November 2012
Case

Building a Community at Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation

By: Christopher Marquis, Zucheng Zhou, Mo Chen and Heng Fan

Over the past decade, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) had developed a unique set of benefits and cultural amenities for its employees, including a beautiful residential campus, known as the Living Quarters (LQ), and an award winning... View Details

Keywords: Culture And Community; Cost vs Benefits; Civil Society or Community; Organizational Culture; Profit; Culture; Compensation and Benefits; Semiconductor Industry

May 2020 (Revised January 2022)
Case

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

By: Linda A. Hill, Allison J. Wigen and Emily Tedards

Michael Ku joined Pfizer in 2011, after the company had undergone three large-scale mergers and acquisitions. His mission was to drive the digital transformation of the company’s clinical supply chain, but he knew he had to start with the culture. Over the next eight... View Details

June 2004
Case

Aventis SA (B): A Company is Born

By: Joshua D. Margolis and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Mergers and Acquisitions; Horizontal Integration; Organizational Design; Organizational Culture; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

April 2016 (Revised December 2016)
Case

The Container Store

By: Tatiana Sandino, Zeynep Ton and Aldo Sesia

The Container Store (TCS) is a Texas-based retailer of organization and storage solutions. The company prides itself in taking care of its employees first, and its cofounder and CEO Kip Tindell practices Conscious Capitalism. Since its beginnings in 1978, TCS grew to a... View Details

Keywords: Culture; Conscious Capitalism; Merchandising; Customer Focus and Relationships; Growth and Development Strategy; Operations; Service Delivery; Going Public; Performance Evaluation; Performance Productivity; Retail Industry; United States

13 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

Why Your Company Wants to be a 'Cognitive Referent' (Hint: SpaceX)

with them. The press wants to write about them. Cognitive referents have buzz. McDonald delves into how companies can come to epitomize a market in the working paper Becoming a Cognitive Referent: Market Creation and View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Aerospace; Food & Beverage; Retail

16 Nov 2021
HBS Case

How a Company Made Employees So Miserable, They Killed Themselves

year, a 49-year-old technician at the same company stabbed himself in front of his colleagues after learning he had been demoted. Between 2006 and 2009, at least 19 France Télécom employees took their own lives, 12 others attempted... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

21 Aug 2017
Lessons from the Classroom

Companies Love Big Data But Lack the Strategy To Use It Effectively

relied more heavily on data and analytics; this included discovering important barriers to change that require a broader understanding of the organizational culture and incentives.” Ferreira also shared results of a survey of about 350... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

08 Mar 2021
In Practice

COVID Killed the Traditional Workplace. What Should Companies Do Now?

A year ago, COVID-19 forced many companies to send employees home—often with a laptop and a prayer. Now, with COVID cases subsiding and vaccinations rising, the prospect of returning to old office routines appears more possible. But will employees want to flock back to... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

July–August 2019
Article

Where Is Your Company Most Prone to Lapses in Integrity?

By: Eugene F. Soltes

Every sizable organization has integrity gaps—areas where what’s considered appropriate behavior diverges from the norms set by its leaders. Within these pockets, things like offensive language, overly aggressive sales practices, or conflicts of interest may be... View Details

Keywords: Integrity; Organizational Culture; Ethics

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23 Jun 2023
HBS Case

This Company Lets Employees Take Charge—Even with Life and Death Decisions

example for companies struggling to re-engage “quiet quitters” while balancing rising costs and mixed economic signals. The company began in the Netherlands in 2006 as an antidote to what the founders viewed... View Details

Keywords: by Annelena Lobb; Health

24 Nov 2014
Research & Ideas

Corrupting Silence: Companies Must Speak Up Against Bribes

corporate culture— and not against the law in Germany until 1999. The competitive environment and permissive culture both played a role in the future bribery scandal. "There are three elements that lead individuals in View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Article

Agree to Disagree: Frank Discussion, Attention to Cultural Fit Can Help Avoid Recruiting Errors

Almost everyone in health care has heard this story: With great fanfare a hospital recruits an outside star to lead a clinical program, academic department, or division. Within months it is clear to almost everyone that the marriage is a failure. To better understand... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

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17 Apr 2022
Book

How to Avoid the 'Ethical Slide' That Leads Companies Astray

Company managers have likely heard the old quip: Business ethics is a contradiction in terms. That’s because too often, business is viewed as a hard-hearted enterprise, driven by getting ahead at all costs, even if that means cutting... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

Spring–Fall 2015
Article

Whither Uber? Competitive Dynamics in Transportation Networks

By: Benjamin Edelman

Transportation Network Companies offer notable service advances—but do they comply with the law? I offer evidence of some important shortfalls, then consider how the legal system might appropriately respond. Though it is tempting to forgive many violations in light of... View Details

Keywords: Transportation Network Company; Uber; Lyft; Regulation; Lawfulness; Transportation Networks; Laws and Statutes; Law Enforcement; Transportation Industry; Information Technology Industry

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11 Apr 2022
Research & Ideas

A World of Difference: What Keeps Companies from Becoming More Inclusive

Frances Frei, the UPS Foundation Professor of Service Management, is an expert in the intersection of leadership and inclusion. Francesca Gino, the Tandon Family Professor of Business Administration, studies how people can lead more productive, fulfilling lives. Last... View Details

Keywords: by Jen McFarland Flint

07 Oct 2019
Sharpening Your Skills

How Companies Can Make Up with (Very) Unhappy Customers

JetBlue employees and more than 130,000 customers whose flights were cancelled, delayed, or diverted. How did the airline make it right with customers and learn from its mistakes? The Hidden Cost of a Product Recall Product failures create managerial challenges for... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail; Air Transportation

04 Aug 2021
Research & Ideas

Worried About the Great Resignation? Be a Good Company to Come From

resignation rates are through the roof. Additionally, there are jobs which have "bad hygiene," by which we mean they are demanding, low paid, and provide few prospects for advancement. Some companies and industries are taking a hard look... View Details

Keywords: by Sandra J. Sucher and Shalene Gupta

February 2023 (Revised April 2023)
Case

Kvadrat: Focus, Execute, and Grow

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott

Kvadrat was a family-owned global textiles company. The company had enjoyed impressive top-line growth and was shifting gears to emphasize profitability via a shorter strategic agenda. Agenda items included: U.S. expansion, generating improved margins in its consumer... View Details

Keywords: Growth; Culture; International Expansion; Organization; Family Business; Leadership; Growth and Development; Strategy; Organizations; Supply Chain; Family Ownership; Profit; Organizational Culture; Denmark