Publications

August 1993
Background Note

Six Principles of Successful Persuasion

By: Nitin Nohria

Describes some of the key principles that managers must follow in order to successfully persuade their organization of their vision for change. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Leadership; Organizational Change and Adaptation

August 1993
Case

General Motors: Smith's Dilemma

By: Nitin Nohria and Sandy Green

Discusses Roger Smith's tenure as CEO of General Motors. Describes his vision for changing General Motors, and how he went about implementing that vision. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Teams; Leadership Style; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry

November 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

CHS Inc.: Cooperative Leadership in a Global Food Economy

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Matthew Preble

CHS- the largest farm cooperative in the US- was planning its 2020 vision statement and the role the cooperative should play in the food system. View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Global Strategy; Goals and Objectives; Cooperative Ownership; Strategic Planning; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States

30 Sep 2009
Research & Ideas

Harvard and HBS: The Next 100 Years

business leaders that HBS desires to create are those with a broad vision who recognize the interconnectedness of the world. In educating future business leaders, HBS should keep in mind the types of leadership traits that are most... View Details

Keywords: Education

October 2011
Supplement

Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar: In-Class Comments, 4/7/11

By: David A. Garvin

Zensar is a rapidly growing, mid-sized Indian IT services company with a collaborative management philosophy and innovative HR policies. One of its practices, Vision Communities, is an inclusive forum for innovation and strategy formulation. As the company grows,... View Details

Keywords: Management; Service Operations; Family and Family Relationships; Behavior; Information Technology; Information Technology Industry; India

January 1988 (Revised January 2007)
Background Note

Leading Change

By: Michael Beer

Presents a conceptual framework for understanding the process of leading organizational change. Change leaders must create dissatisfaction with the status quo, develop a vision of the future state, and manage a process that sequences and orchestrates events and changes... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Leading Change

December 2011 (Revised July 2013)
Background Note

Hypothesis-Driven Entrepreneurship: The Lean Startup

By: Thomas Eisenmann, Eric Ries and Sarah Dillard

Firms that follow a hypothesis-driven approach to evaluating entrepreneurial opportunity are called "lean startups." Entrepreneurs in these startups translate their vision into falsifiable business model hypotheses, then test the hypotheses using a series of "minimum... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business Startups

2021
Book

Power, for All: How It Really Works and Why It's Everyone's Business

By: Julie Battilana and Tiziana Casciaro

We want to change how people see power: not just as a blunt tool reserved for the privileged few, or as a dirty business that one should stay away from, but as energy for everyone to harness to make our life, work, and society better. We hope that our democratizing... View Details

Keywords: Power Relationships; Power and Influence; Change; Society

September 8, 2009
Article

The New Governance Paradigm

By: Nathaniel Foote and Michael Beer

Boards members of failed banks in 2008 or of the many companies like Enron who were caught up in scandals are by and large honorable, well intentioned, and competent people. So what went wrong and what can be done about it. This article argues that the problem lies in... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Competency and Skills; Banks and Banking; Failure; Goals and Objectives; Leadership; Management Practices and Processes; Ethics; Performance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Crime and Corruption

Find at Harvard

05 Jul 2004
Research & Ideas

Radical Change, Entrepreneurial Opportunity

Mary Tripsas, Assistant Professor in the Entrepreneurial Management unit at Harvard Business School, is interested in how radical technological change transforms industries, and how such change affects established firms and creates entrepreneurial opportunities. Senior... View Details

Keywords: by Michael J. Roberts; Technology

October 2023
Case

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: A Curriculum Provider Puts Itself on the Hook for Student Outcomes

By: John J-H Kim, Derek C. M. van Bever, Michael Norris and Max Hancock

Jack Lynch, CEO of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) since 2017, was leading the company’s transformation from a legacy textbook publisher to a digital-first student outcomes provider, which earned subscription revenue from digital products and curriculum. In 2023, HMH... View Details

Keywords: Edtech; Textbook; Publishing; Leading Change; Change Management; Transformation; Digital Transformation; Expansion; Business Strategy; Publishing Industry; Education Industry; United States

March 2020 (Revised May 2020)
Case

Generation Investment Management

By: Vikram S. Gandhi and Sarah Mehta

By January 2020, sustainable investment firm Generation Investment Management (Generation), founded in London in 2004, had grown from a shared vision among seven founders to a 90-person firm managing $27 billion in public and private equity. Throughout its history,... View Details

April 2010 (Revised March 2011)
Case

Tata Nano The People's Car

By: Krishna G. Palepu, Bharat N. Anand and Rachna Tahilyani

The case explores how Tata Motors, India's largest automobile company, developed the Nano, the world's cheapest car. The case focuses on the translation of Ratan Tata's (chairman of Tata Motors) vision of a safe affordable car for the masses by Ravi Kant, managing... View Details

Keywords: Price; Globalized Firms and Management; Disruptive Innovation; Emerging Markets; Business Processes; Quality; Competition; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; India

March 2015 (Revised August 2016)
Case

Coffee Wars in India: Starbucks 2012

By: David Yoffie and Rachna Tahilyani

Starbucks entered India in late 2012. This case explores Starbucks' globalization strategy, its success in China, and its vision for India. The case asks whether Starbucks can replicate its success in China in India. View Details

Keywords: Competitive Moves; Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Competition; India; China

November 1995
Background Note

Reengineering a Business Process

By: Richard L. Nolan and Thomas H. Davenport

Describes the six steps included in most reengineering initiatives: selecting the processes for reengineering; identifying change enablers; developing a business vision of process objectives; understanding and measuring existing processes; designing and prototyping the... View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Change Management; Measurement and Metrics