Virtual Organizations - Publications - Faculty & Research

07 Jul 2019
HBS Case

Walmart's Workforce of the Future

first year. “There’s so much to unpack in the choices that Walmart is making,” Kerr says, remarking that management has also introduced virtual reality goggles to train employees as well as an app, Spark City, that uses a game-type... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

03 Dec 2020
Research & Ideas

Cut Payroll Costs with Transparency, Fairness, and Compassion

ways in which organizations met the challenges of 2020. What strategies and actions worked better than others? What can we learn from these? While many companies reduced payor headcount, some pledged at the outset of the crisis to do... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Sarah Abbott

06 Oct 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

18 Tips Managers Can Use to Lead Through COVID's Rising Waters

mask on first, before attempting to assist others” is a potent metaphor. In the blink of an eye, self-care for leaders of organizations has transformed from a feel-good nostrum to a strategic first priority. Companies cannot afford to... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

07 Jul 2003
Research & Ideas

4+2 = Sustained Business Success

that whatever technology you choose to implement you execute it flawlessly. Similarly, it matters little whether you centralize or decentralize your business as long as you pay attention to simplifying the way your organization is... View Details

Keywords: by Nitin Nohria, William Joyce & Bruce Roberson

17 Jan 2011
Research & Ideas

Being the Boss

person. What challenges do they need to consider? A: When I teach executives, we talk about how you give feedback virtually to people you'll never see in person—giving performance appraisals to people you never see and understanding the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

18 Nov 2002
Research & Ideas

Where Morals and Profits Meet: The Corporate Value Shift

recognize that risk management is only part of the story and that the benefits of positive values go well beyond problem avoidance. I have seen this progression in some companies that initially turn to values as a damage control measure when confronted with a scandal... View Details

Keywords: by Carla Tishler

13 Mar 2023
Research & Ideas

The Power of Personal Connections: How Shared Experiences Boost Performance

asynchronous and virtual interactions can be influenced by peer training relationships, drawing “tangible benefits for patients many years later,” suggesting such relationships continue to pay off for a long time, the authors write.... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Health

19 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

A Brand Manager’s Guide to Losing Control

Criticism, and The Age of Parody. "We tried to extrapolate bigger themes that would be helpful to brand managers as they looked at this new culture," Avery says. The Age of the Social Collective refers to the way that social media platforms foster an easy... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Advertising

03 Jun 2022
Research & Ideas

In a Work-from-Anywhere World, How Remote Will Workers Go?

is poised for a drastic, historic change, says Harvard Business School Professor Prithwiraj Choudhury. What’s more, the normalization of virtual work that began with the COVID-19 pandemic is creating meaningful perks for local economies,... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

14 Oct 2021
In Practice

Reunited and It Feels (Not) So Good: Tips for Managing a Rocky Return

virtualization of work. While some employers have embraced remote work as part of future professional arrangements, others have been holding their breath. Companies will have to consider how best to serve all of their stakeholders with... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

28 Nov 2005
Research & Ideas

Unilever: Transformation and Tradition

direction, resulting in an excessive number of brands and factories organized nationally in a Europe undergoing economic integration, and a virtually autonomous business in the United States. There were... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Consumer Products

November 2022
Teaching Note

Proximie: Using XR Technology to Create Borderless Operating Rooms

By: Ariel D. Stern, Alpana Thapar and Menna Hassan

Founded by Nadine Hachach-Haram in 2016, Proximie was a digital medicine platform that used mixed reality and a host of digital audio and visual tools to enable clinicians, proctors, and medical device company personnel to be virtually present in operating rooms (ORs),... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Business Growth and Maturation; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Decision Making; Health Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

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28 Jan 2020
Book

Advanced Leadership Requires More Than Outside-The-Box Thinking

Sometimes, thinking outside the box isn’t ambitious enough to get real innovation flowing. In her new book, Rosabeth Moss Kanter encourages organization leaders to think much more broadly at what restricts creativity and how to overcome... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

10 Feb 2015
First Look

First Look: February 10

the economy to organize production and innovation. We study individual contestant-level data from 2,796 contestants in 774 software algorithm design contests with random assignment. Precisely conforming to theory predictions, the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

13 Aug 2021
Research & Ideas

Managers, Here’s How to Bond with New Hires Remotely

companies that offer internships to cultivate talent, including JPMorgan Chase, Deloitte, and PepsiCo, to roll out virtual programs in 2020. The study’s findings offer reassurance to the 81 percent of companies offering View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

04 Jan 2022
What Do You Think?

Firing McDonald’s Easterbrook: What Could the Board Have Done Differently?

score low on both because business success requires a working amalgamation between technological prowess and end-user delight, and not all generations within an organization will be quick to adapt or appreciate (the metaverse).”... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

01 Nov 2022
What Do You Think?

Why Aren’t Business Leaders More Vocal About Immigration Policy?

understand why it isn’t in the best interests of their organizations to weigh in on all issues facing society, but this is one that can have a direct impact on the performance of their organizations. It is controversial. But to a... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

25 Mar 2015
HBS Case

Tate’s Digital Makeover Transforms the Traditional Museum

"Shake Me," the pink triangle reads, hovering in the middle of the Magic Tate Ball—a smartphone app mimicking the popular Magic 8 Ball novelty. When shaken, the virtual prognosticator reads "Choosing Your Artwork" for... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Education

17 Nov 2016
Op-Ed

What's Behind the Unexpected Trump Support from Women

dismantling of Clinton in virtually every stump speech. Many women (and men) who supported Trump bought into the false dichotomy that a woman leader can be either competent or likeable, but not both. What came into question was Clinton’s... View Details

Keywords: by Laura Morgan Roberts and Robin Ely

08 Aug 2005
Research & Ideas

A Balanced Scorecard Approach To Measure Customer Profitability

The approach has been successfully applied in more than 100 organizations and readily scales up even to companies with hundreds of thousands of products and services, dozens of operating departments, and thousands of customers. The end... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan

Publications