Publications

January 1988 (Revised January 2007)
Background Note

Leading Change

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

12 Aug 2019
Research & Ideas

How Scale Changes a Manager's Responsibilities

them if the work they do is uninspiring, if they don’t live up to the expectations of the unearned new role, or the people they work with are not enjoyable. These quick fixes are temporary. Similarly, beer on Fridays or a foosball table... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

24 Jul 2017
Research & Ideas

People Have an Irrational Need to Complete 'Sets' of Things

the idea of completing a set, even if it means working harder or spending more money—with no additional reward other than the satisfaction of completion and the relief of avoiding an incomplete set. Imagine arriving at your boss’s summer BBQ and presenting her with... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

20 Jan 2023
News

Free Spirits

January 2022, Tilden stepped into an increasingly popular party. The rise of non-alcoholic (NA) beverages has been one of the big headlines in the industry, where sales of beer grew almost 70 percent from 2016 to 2021, according to... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Food Services and Drinking Places; Hospitality

May 2012
Case

BoldFlash: Cross-Functional Challenges in the Mobile Division

By: Michael Beer and Rachel Shelton

Roger Cahill has spent less than a year as head of the Mobile Division of BoldFlash, a flash memory component maker. On the corporate level, BoldFlash has adapted to an evolving and difficult marketplace, but the Mobile Division is struggling. The four groups within... View Details

Keywords: United States; Massachusetts; Morale; Human Resource Management; Technology; Leadership; Opportunities; Organizational Design; Conflict and Resolution; Product Development; Change Management; Information Infrastructure; Business Processes; Manufacturing Industry; Electronics Industry; Massachusetts

2013
Article

The Strategic Fitness Process: A Collaborative Action Research Method for Developing Organizational Prototypes and Dynamic Capabilities

Organizations underperform and sometimes fail because their leaders are unable to learn the unvarnished truth from relevant stakeholders about how the design and behavior of the organization is misaligned with its goals and strategy. The Strategic Fitness Process (SFP)... View Details

Keywords: Organization Alignment; Dynamic Capabilities; Organization Design; Organizational Prototyping; Organizational Silence; Organizational Learning; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Organizational Design

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August 2012
Case

ARISE: A Destination-for-a-Day Spa

By: Michael Beer and Lynda St. Clair

A new Dallas-based health and beauty spa aims to use a highly distinctive human resource system as the foundation of its competitive strategy. By encouraging employees to act as "personal wellness coaches" (PWCs) with high commitment and broad responsibilities, the... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Organizational Design; Organizational Culture; Service Delivery; Competitive Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Health Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Service Industry; Texas

May 2014
Case

WeaveTech: High Performance Change

By: Michael Beer and Paul Swiercz

WeaveTech, formerly Johnson-Ware, is a clothing company that produces jackets, coats, overalls, coveralls, and fire-resistant clothing for the military. A private equity firm renamed the company after it acquired Johnson-Ware several years ago. WeaveTech now faces a... View Details

May–June 2000
Article

Cracking the Code of Change

By: Michael Beer and Nitin Nohria

Keywords: Change

Find at Harvard

01 Mar 2024
News

Alumni and Faculty Books and Podcasts

Edited by Margie Kelley Alumni Books You Got This! A Straightforward, No-Nonsense Playbook for Crushing 130+ Workplace Challenges By Heidi Abelli (MBA 1993) Palmetto Publishing Stepping into the corporate world can feel like navigating a labyrinth, especially when... View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

April 2008
Teaching Note

Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad (Brief Case)

By: Michael Beer and Elizabeth Collins

Teaching note for case # 2175 View Details

Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Human Resource Management; Incentives; Motivation; Manufacturing; Motivation and Incentives; Leadership; Change Management; Production; Organizations; Human Resources; Manufacturing Industry

31 Jul 2017
HBS Case

It’s Hard to Fix the Family Business Without Offending the Family

alcohol, so they didn’t bring the wine and beer list to them. Often, this behavior extended to non-Vietnamese clientele as well, with servers rarely if ever asking for drink orders. The solution seemed obvious: Ask servers to offer the... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Food & Beverage

06 Feb 2019
Blog Post

7 Tips for a Successful Technology Venture Immersion

hours—ranging from designing a Bluetooth-enabled remote control for a motor to constructing a wooden beer case. For many of us, those first two days were an opportunity to dust off some old skills we hadn’t put to work since we left our... View Details

January 1997
Background Note

Conducting a Performance Appraisal Interview

Discusses typical problems experienced by managers in conducting performance appraisal interviews. The underlying causes of these problems are analyzed and ideas are presented that might help managers overcome these problems. A rewritten version of an earlier note. View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Managerial Roles; Performance Evaluation; Problems and Challenges

Web

Drug & Alcohol Policy | About

immediately adjacent outdoor gathering areas—may be used by their respective residents and invited guests for small, informal social gatherings that include responsible alcohol consumption. Alcohol consumption must be in adherence with the laws of the Commonwealth of... View Details

2022
Working Paper

Developing a Sustainable High Commitment, High Performance System of Organizing, Managing, and Leading: An Actionable Systems Theory of Change and Development

This paper presents a theory for developing an adaptive high commitment, high performance system of organizing, managing, and leading. It is a synthesis of my 50 years of action and field research presented in my books and articles. It operationalized and makes... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Learning; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Management Practices and Processes

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November 2011
Case

Celeritas, Inc.: Leadership Challenges in a Fast-Growth Industry

By: Michael Beer and Ingrid Vargas

In 2011, Celeritas is a leading data communications company in the crowded, highly competitive, and ever-evolving enterprise-network optimization market. Having experienced rapid growth since its founding in 2003, Celeritas has recently seen sales decline and has begun... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Morale; Conflict; Organizational Change; Team Building; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Information Technology; Leadership; Communication; Groups and Teams; Attitudes; Conflict and Resolution; Information Technology Industry; Communications Industry