Publications

November 2005
Case

Marilyn Carlson Nelson and the Carlson Companies Renaissance

By: William W. George and Andrew N. McLean

In 2005, Marilyn Carlson Nelson, CEO and chairman of the Carlson Companies, must decide whether to outsource jobs at the risk of destroying the culture centered on the values of integrity, trustworthiness, and caring that she had painstakingly created since becoming... View Details

Keywords: History; Leadership Development; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Business or Company Management; Organizational Culture; Personal Development and Career; Family Ownership; Leadership Style; Management Teams

18 Dec 2018
News

SurveyMonkey’s CEO on Creating a Culture of Curiosity

August 2002 (Revised February 2005)
Case

Gillette Company (D): Implementing Change

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

How a strategic change agenda is implemented depends on leaders below the top in every function and geographic region translating the agenda into actions. But those actions do not always unfold as planned. This case examines the first 16 months of a turnaround from the... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Competitive Strategy; Strategic Planning; Change Management; Organizational Design; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Behavior; Leading Change; Retail Industry

November 1987 (Revised January 1988)
Case

Groen: A Dover Industries Company

By: Francis Aguilar

Describes the challenges facing the president of an old-line foodservice and food processing equipment manufacturing company as it attempted to accelerate sales and profit growth through the introduction of innovative products. The introduction of a "revolutionary"... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Labor and Management Relations; Machinery and Machining; Management Style; Management Teams; Performance Efficiency; Technological Innovation; Product Development; Organizational Culture

November 2012 (Revised September 2013)
Case

Learning Resources: A Hands-On Toy Company Deals with New Challenges and Opportunities

By: Boris Groysberg and Anahita Hashemi

Learning Resources is a family-owned educational toy company that, by late 2011, was facing a myriad of challenges, including increased competition, entry into new markets, new distribution methods, rising costs of production in China, and changing customer behavior.... View Details

Keywords: Leading Teams; Strategy Formulation; Strategy And Execution; Innovation; Corporate Culture; Industry Analysis; Organizational Alignment; Entrepreneurs; Sales Channels; Leadership; Strategy; Change Management; Innovation Leadership; Family Business; Entrepreneurship; Product Design; Sales; Retail Industry; United States

2016
Book

Building a Culture of Health: A New Imperative for Business

By: John A. Quelch and Emily C. Boudreau

This ambitious volume sets out to understand how every company impacts public health and introduces a robust model, rooted in organizational and scientific knowledge, for companies committed to making positive contributions to health and wellness. Focusing on four... View Details

Keywords: Social Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Health

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07 Feb 2019
Book

How Big Companies Can Outrun Disruption

project fails, you probably go out of business and lose your job. Just putting people into small teams, cool spaces, and allowing them to dress any way they want does not recreate a startup environment. The other mistake companies make... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

March 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Noodles & Company

Aaron Kennedy has successfully grown Noodles & Co. from a single global noodle shop to a chain of 58 restaurants spanning six states in seven years. In the face of increasing competition, Kennedy has plans to roll out 240 new stores in the next four years. He must... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Expansion; Business Growth and Maturation; Organizational Culture; Franchise Ownership; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

11 Aug 2014
Blog Post

Create a Personalized Approach to Recruiting through Company Appointments

Company Appointments allow you to connect with students on an individual or small group basis. Students get to know you and your recruiting structure through a less formal setting which can be a great avenue to evaluate how a student will... View Details

2021
Book

The Power of Trust: How Companies Build It, Lose It, Regain It

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Shalene Gupta

Trust is the most powerful force underlying the success of every business. Yet it can be shattered in an instant, with a devastating impact on a company’s market cap and reputation. How to build and sustain trust requires fresh insight into why customers, employees,... View Details

December 1999
Case

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (A5): Solaris 7: Rich Green on Product Strategy and Culture Change

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Jane Roessner

Solaris, Sun Microsystems' version of the UNIX operating system, was an amorphous collection of capabilities that had accumulated over the years, a product the company vaguely wished it could market and sell better. Developing and marketing Solaris 7 would help... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Applications and Software; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Product Positioning; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Success; Change; Diversification; Technology Industry; Computer Industry

January 1995
Case

3M: Profile of an Innovating Company

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Afroze A Mohammed

Traces the birth and development of 3M Corp., focusing in particular on the origins of its entrepreneurially-based ability to innovate. In particular, it highlights the role of CEO William L. McKnight in creating a unique set of values, policies, and structures to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Advantage; Organizational Culture

March 1999
Case

Merck & Co., Inc.: Corporate Strategy, Organization and Culture (A)

By: Michael Beer and Perry Fagan

In the early 1990s, Merck faced a series of challenges because of significant changes in its competitive and regulatory environment (e.g., growth in power of pharmaceutical buyers like managed care organizations led to price pressures and President Clinton's review of... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business or Company Management; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Management Practices and Processes; Competitive Strategy; Management Teams; Health Care and Treatment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Situation or Environment; Alignment; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

December 8, 2023
Article

What Makes a Company Great at Producing Leaders?

By: Sarah Abbott, Robin Abrahams and Boris Groysberg

GE is well known as an “academy company”—a talent incubator that exports effective leaders to other organizations and even industries. To better understand which companies are top talent incubators today, the authors worked with the Official Board, a firm that provides... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Talent and Talent Management; Training; Organizational Culture

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June 18, 2021
Article

Research: What Inclusive Companies Have in Common

By: J. Yo-Jud Cheng and Boris Groysberg

A survey of more than 19,000 HBR readers found that one particular culture style differentiated the diverse and inclusive organizations from those that were not: a learning-oriented culture that emphasizes flexibility, open-mindedness, and exploration, and can equip... View Details

Keywords: Inclusion; Diversity; Organizational Culture; Learning; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change