Publications

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

17 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

What the Stockdale Paradox Tells Us About Crisis Leadership

[This is the fourth installment in a monthly series on management issues in the time of COVID-19.] “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

07 Apr 2003
Research & Ideas

Three Steps for Crisis Prevention

merger would sail through the antitrust review. But while it did pass easily through the U.S. review—no doubt further reinforcing his confidence—it smashed on the rocks in Europe. Had Welch recognized the potential for a negative decision ahead of time, he almost... View Details

Keywords: by Michael D. Watkins & Max H. Bazerman

June 1992 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Responding to the crisis in chemicals in the early 1980's, Allied Chemical (U.S.) and ICI (U.K.) appoint new chairmen to revitalize each company's strategy, culture, and organization. Hennessy, an outsider with a background in managing conglomerates, has strong ideas... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Leading Change; Crisis Management; Management Style; Managerial Roles; Organizational Culture; Corporate Strategy

January 2013
Case

Andrew Ryan at VC Brakes

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Sunru Yong

An aftermarket brake component manufacturer, VC Brakes, is bought out by a global automotive parts corporation after the 2008 financial crisis. Unlike its previous parent company, the new owner attempts to change VC Brakes' autocratic management style and... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Quality Management; Crisis Management; Human Resource Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Quality; Change Management; Leading Change; Restructuring; Management Practices and Processes; Problems and Challenges; Auto Industry

12 Jul 2021
News

Alumni Confront the COVID-19 Crisis

a free, four-week webinar series on crisis management for African business leaders. With sessions led by HBS faculty members Linda Hill, Andy Zelleke, and Hakeem Belo-Osagie, the offering aims to help the... View Details

April 2011 (Revised June 2014)
Case

Securities Lending After the Financial Crisis

By: Robert C. Pozen and Gayle Hameister

In April 2009, Wendy Jefferson had just returned to her office following a whirlwind day of meetings with her newest client, Star Advisor. Jefferson, a financial services consultant, was eager to dig into the information provided to her and her team about the Star... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Debt Securities; Financing and Loans; Investment Funds; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Information

July 1987 (Revised October 1995)
Case

Phillips 66: Controlling a Company Through Crisis

By: Lynda M. Applegate

The downstream operations subsidiary of a major U.S. petroleum company is faced with major restructuring decisions and responds by developing an Executive Information System (EIS) which allows for increased responsiveness, wider span of control, and higher levels of... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Information Management; Governance Controls; Organizational Design; Crisis Management; Communication; Management Teams; Growth Management; Mining Industry; Energy Industry; United States

June 2010 (Revised July 2012)
Supplement

Dubai: Debt, Development, and Crisis (B)

By: Aldo Musacchio, Andrew Christopher Goodman and Claire K. Qureshi

On November 25, 2009, the city state of Dubai stunned markets by announcing that Dubai World, its flagship state holding company, would seek a six month "standstill" on at least $4 billion U.S. dollars of its $26 billion in debt obligations. This case describes Dubai's... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Development Economics; Crisis Management; Dubai

February 24, 2009
Article

Seven Lessons for Leading in Crisis

By: Bill George

Keywords: Leadership; Crisis Management

December 2015 (Revised January 2016)
Case

Woolf Farming and the California Water Crisis

By: Forest Reinhardt, David Bell, Natalie Kindred, Mary Shelman and Laura Winig

This case highlights the tough choices, competing interests, and decision-making mechanisms involved in California's management of its severe drought, entering its fifth year in 2015. Stuart Woolf, CEO of Woolf Farming, a grower and processor of almonds, tomatoes, and... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Natural Disasters; Climate Change; Resource Allocation; Environmental Sustainability; Government and Politics; Economics; Weather; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; California

April 2000 (Revised July 2001)
Case

Oxford Health Plans (B): Crisis Strikes

By: Robert S. Huckman and Jody H. Gittell

Supplements the (A) case. A rewritten version of an earlier supplement. View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; United States

June 2025
Case

TfL Pension Fund and the 2022 Gilt Market Crisis

By: Emil N. Siriwardane, Vincent Dessain, Emer Moloney and Carlota Moniz

On September 27, 2022, Padmesh Shukla, CIO of the Transport for London (TfL) Pension Fund, was keeping a careful eye on the turmoil in the U.K. sovereign bond (or gilt) market. When the new government announced the largest tax cuts the U.K. had seen in half a century,... View Details

May 2008
Teaching Note

Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics, and a Career in Crisis (Brief Case)

By: W. Earl Sasser Jr. and Heather Beckham

Teaching Note for 2095. View Details

Keywords: Superior ＆ Subordinate; Performance Management; Personal Strategy ＆ Style; Conflict Management; Communication; Personal Development and Career; Rank and Position; Performance; Power and Influence

03 Oct 2020
News

Facing Forward: Leading Courageously in Crisis

Oct 2020
Other Presentation

How to Lead in a Crisis

By: Amy C. Edmondson

Humility, transparency and urgency are the keys to successfully steering an organization—big or small—through the challenges that come your way. Leadership expert Amy C. Edmondson provides clear advice and examples to help any leader rise to the occasion. View Details

Keywords: Psychological Safety; COVID-19; Leadership; Crisis Management

01 Mar 2017
News

The Realities of the Refugee Crisis

seen this scale of refugee crisis since the aftermath of World War II. Second, from the late 1990s, the EU has been putting in place common border policies and a common asylum system, but this new institutional infrastructure has not been... View Details

Keywords: April White

2006
Case

Strategies for Preventing a Knowledge-Loss Crisis

When employees leave an organization, they depart with more than what they know; they also leave with critical knowledge about who they know. Thus, the departure of key people can significantly affect the relationship structure and consequent functioning of an... View Details

Keywords: Analytics; Networks; Knowledge Management; Resignation and Termination