Publications

2005
Chapter

Beyond 'Fun and Games': Outdoor Activities for Meaningful Leadership Development

Many managers and academics today view outdoor exercises as simply "fun and games." However, framed correctly, outdoor leadership activities provide a uniquely effective method for leadership development. They allow participants to access and explore the deeper... View Details

Keywords: Learning; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Leadership Development; Personal Development and Career; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Groups and Teams; Behavior; Emotions; Personal Characteristics; Alignment

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02 Oct 2013
What Do You Think?

Is Leadership an Increasingly Difficult Balancing Act?

management of tensions caused by the simultaneous need for such things as short-term and long-term performance, the exploitation of existing ideas and the search for new ones, and the staffing and motivation of leadership View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

April 2003 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance

By: Nancy F. Koehn, Erica Helms and Philip Mead

Provides an opportunity to examine leadership and entrepreneurship in the context of Ernest Shackleton's 1914 Antarctic expedition, a compelling story of crisis, survival, and triumph. Summarizes Shackleton's career as an officer in the British Merchant Marine, his... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; History; Leadership; Crisis Management; Management Practices and Processes; Groups and Teams; Behavior; Antarctica

22 Jun 2021
Research & Ideas

The COVID-19 Mutiny: When Teams Leave and Take Their Clients

"The biggest transition? Establishing a new Zoom account." Leadership integration—ensuring a fit between the acquiring firm’s top management and the team leader—has become part of the courtship phase. And... View Details

Keywords: by Robin Abrahams, Boris Groysberg, and Steven L. Manchel

Research Summary

The Evolution of Corporate Structure, Internal Governance, and Leadership

My research documents the evolution of the internal governance of senior management in large US firms over a 20-year period and explores, via multiple methods, the causes and consequences of these changes. My findings suggest that... View Details

July 2010
Case

Mekong Capital: Building a Culture of Leadership in Vietnam

By: Christopher Marquis, Vinay Ganti, Kevin Smith and Doug Guthrie

Mekong Capital, a private equity firm specializing in investing in Vietnam, had grown dramatically since its inception in 2002 and faced numerous organizational issues in 2007. There was a shortage of qualified middle managers, an overall lack of leadership, and a... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Performance Improvement; Groups and Teams; Alignment; Financial Services Industry

2010 - 2010
Conference Presentation

Teams at the Top: Revisiting the Structure and Effects of Strategic Work in Top Management

By: James R. Dillon

This paper examines the usage and effects of small work groups by top management in the course of guiding an organization's strategy process. Reviewing evidence from research literatures on strategy process, strategic leadership, and small groups, I propose that a... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Strategy; Leadership; Practice; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques

1998
Book

Navigating Change: How CEO's, Top Teams and Boards Steer Transformation

By: D. Hambrick, D. Nadler and Michael Tushman

Keywords: Leading Change; Innovation and Management; Transformation

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January 2016
Case

Open Innovation at Fujitsu (A)

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Jean-François Harvey

This case study examines the open innovation journey at Fujitsu, a global information and communication technology company. The case ends with the location decision between Tokyo, Japan, downtown San Francisco or Sunnyvale, California, regarding establishing a small... View Details

05 Dec 2022
What Do You Think?

How Would Jack Welch’s Leadership Style Fare in Today’s World?

(iStockphoto/josefkubes) Jack Welch’s leadership practices and accomplishments as CEO of General Electric for 20 years have once again come under scrutiny. He is the subject of two recent books. Their titles—David Gelles’ The Man Who... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Industrial Products; Media & Broadcasting; Medical Devices & Supplies; Manufacturing

1988
Chapter

Executive Leadership and Organizational Outcomes: An Evolutionary Perspective

By: M. Tushman

Keywords: Management Teams; Leadership; Outcome or Result; Organizational Design; Organizational Change and Adaptation

2009
Chapter

Creating Common Ground: Propositions about Effective Intergroup Leadership

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Leadership; Organizational Design

Article

Strong Leadership and Teamwork Drive Culture and Performance Change: Ohio State University Medical Center 2000–2006

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger, Fred Sanfilippo, Neeli Bendapudi and Anthony Rucci

Several characteristics of academic health centers have the potential to create high levels of internal conflict and misalignment that can pose significant leadership challenges.

In September 2000, the positions of Ohio State University (OSU) senior vice... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Organizational Structure; Performance Improvement; Customer Satisfaction; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Service Delivery; Satisfaction; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Ohio

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July 1996
Background Note

The GM's Leadership Challenge: Building a Self-Renewing Institution

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Ashish Nanda

Highlights the general manager's role in building a self-renewing organization. View Details

Keywords: Management Skills; Leadership Development; Managerial Roles; Management Teams; Organizational Structure

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June 2018 (Revised June 2018)
Teaching Note

Blake Sports Apparel and Switch Activewear: Bringing the Executive Team Together

By: Boris Groysberg, Tricia Gregg and Katherine Connolly Baden

Teaching Note for HBS No. 417-048. View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Groups and Teams; Performance Effectiveness; Problems and Challenges; Behavior; Communication; Cooperation; Decision Making; Leadership

26 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

7 Leadership Principles for Managing in the Time of Coronavirus

uncertain situation. Confidence. You have to be calm, but not still-water calm. You have to project confidence that you’re going to be able to see this through successfully, with a minimum amount of hurt to the company, but also to all of the stakeholders who are... View Details

Keywords: by John A. Quelch; Health

24 Apr 2018
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: What Mark Zuckerberg Can Learn About Crisis Leadership from Starbucks

Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson (left) meets with employees and community members in this file photo. (Photo courtesy Starbucks.) Johnson & Johnson CEO Jim Burke’s leadership during the 1982 Tylenol crisis is what we at Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Technology; Food & Beverage

April 2017
Case

Global Leadership in a Dynamic and Evolving Region: Molinas @ The Coca-Cola Company (A)

By: Tsedal Neeley and Esel Çekin

Galya Frayman Molinas, President of Coca-Cola's Turkish business and a 20-year company veteran, is unexpectedly asked to take the helm of a newly expanded territory with operations across eight additional countries in Central Asia: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia,... View Details

Keywords: Functions; Structure; Centralization; Decentralization; Diversity; Country Of Origin Effects; Global Contextual Intelligence; Leading Change; Crisis Management; Organizational Structure; Experience and Expertise; Situation or Environment; Central Asia; Turkey

2011
Working Paper

Risky Trust: How Multi-entity Teams Develop Trust in a High Risk Endeavor

By: Faaiza Rashid and Amy C. Edmondson

This paper explicates the challenge of risky trust, which we define as trust that exists between parties vulnerable to high economic, legal, or reputational risks at individual or organizational levels. Drawing from analyses of data collected in a grounded case study... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Leadership; Business Processes; Groups and Teams; Risk and Uncertainty; Trust; Construction Industry; United States