Publications

October 2016 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Essent: From a State-Owned Utility to a Commercial Company

By: Ananth Raman and Elena Corsi

Patrick Lammers, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) for the Dutch energy company Essent NV, once a state-owned company, was pleased with the progress Essent’s consumer (“B2C”) business had made: Earnings Before Income Tax (EBIT) for B2C had gone from a loss of €18 million... View Details

Keywords: Lean Management; Operation Management; Service Management; Commercialization; Operations; Management; Energy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Service Operations; Performance; Energy Industry; Europe

2014
Working Paper

Product to Platform Transitions: Organizational Identity Implications

By: Elizabeth J. Altman and Mary Tripsas

Organizations are increasingly recognizing that value they once derived from offering standalone products can be significantly enhanced if they transition to platform-based businesses that harness the innovative capabilities of complementors. While the competitive... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change; Organizational Identity; Ecosystems; Complementors; Managing Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Multi-Sided Platforms; Innovation and Management; Organizational Culture

SSRN

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2012
Dictionary Entry

Learning from Failure

By: Mark D. Cannon and Amy C. Edmondson

Failure is defined as an outcome that deviates from expected and desired results. Learning from failure describes processes and behaviors through which individuals, groups and organizations gain accurate and useful insights from failures and modify future behaviors,... View Details

Keywords: Learning From Failure; Failure; Learning; Behavior; Organizational Change and Adaptation

February 2007 (Revised August 2007)
Case

St. HOPE Academy: The Expansion Decision

St. HOPE is faced with a decision concerning whether or not to expand from Sacramento to New York City. While charter schools are its largest area of activity, founder Kevin Johnson believes that all of St. HOPE's other activities--economic development, civic... View Details

Keywords: Education; Entrepreneurship; Geographic Location; Urban Scope; Adaptation; Expansion; Sacramento; New York (city, NY)

Find at Harvard

01 Aug 2004
Conference Presentation

Achieving Flexibility in NPD: New Processes and New Ways of Organizing

By: Alan MacCormack

Keywords: Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Practices and Processes

October 1991 (Revised June 1992)
Case

Nigel Andrews and General Electric Plastics (A)

Describes some critical challenges involved in creating employee empowerment. In the context of General Electric's efforts to debureaucratise the company, employees were encouraged to become more "self-confident". This effort, called "Workout," was introduced all over... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Employees; Manufacturing Industry; United States

May 1989 (Revised September 1989)
Case

Jacobs Suchard: Reorganizing for 1992

By: Robert G. Eccles Jr.

Jacobs Suchard, the Swiss-based coffee and chocolate producer, is preparing for the common market and EEC 1992. At the time of the case, the company is still organized toward independent, local country markets, and believes it must move toward a more global... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Expansion; Organizational Structure; Markets; Global Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Switzerland

May 1994 (Revised January 1995)
Case

Warner Cable (A) and (B) (Condensed)

The new general manager of Warner Cable's Medford, Massachusetts complex faces a number of turnaround challenges in 1985, including service deficiencies, customer complaints, high turnover, and low employee morale. By 1988 he has turned the situation around, but some... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Style; Change Management; Performance Improvement; Telecommunications Industry; Massachusetts

1988
Chapter

Managing Change in Innovative Organizations

By: R. M. Kanter

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

13 Nov 2014
Blog Post

Finance Conference Recap

inevitable cycles of the industry as well as his optimism in the ability of financial institutions to adapt to the deluge of regulatory changes seen since the financial crisis. His discussion was followed by a selection of panels, which... View Details

Portrait Project

Marwan Chaar

I grew up in a region synonymous with two things: Energy and Islam. Both have recently been threatened, and both will have to adapt in order to survive. We are caretakers of the world that was gifted to us. The climate is changing and we... View Details

01 Dec 2013
News

Recognizing Potential

transformational classroom experience," observes Stevens. "I think the time is right to adapt innovative technologies to extend the School's impact and define a new standard for online management education." View Details

Keywords: Internet; distance learning; online education; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

22 Jan 2025
Blog Post

Career Risks and Professional Growth: Finding a Fulfilling Career with Paige Arnof-Fenn (MBA 1991)

Coca-Cola, where I honed my skills and learned to blend creativity with data-driven decision making. I later joined three tech startups as head of marketing. Their fast-paced environments pushed me to adapt quickly and think on my feet... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

Web

Blog | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

which highlights the insp... Leadership In Challenging Times: Joyce Wanderi-Maina (SPNM 2019) Joyce Wanderi-Maina 08 Apr 2021 This post is part of our “Leadership in Challenging Times” blog series, which highlights the insp... Harvard Business School New Venture... View Details

15 Jun 2021
News

My Pandemic Year

to unmute before making a comment or worse, forgetting to mute yourself while ordering pizza during class. But if there was one thing we were good at it was adapting and adapt we did. We quickly learned to... View Details

08 Mar 2022
Cold Call Podcast

France Telecom: Corporate Restructuring and Employee Well-Being

Keywords: Re: Cynthia A. Montgomery & Ashley V. Whillans

May 2022
Teaching Note

Volkswagen and Suzuki: A Match Made in Heaven (A)? and An Alliance Breaks Down (B1, B2)

By: Ranjay Gulati and Bradley Turner

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 420-037, 420-038, and 420-039. View Details

Keywords: Alliances; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizations; Emerging Markets; Auto Industry

December 2021 (Revised September 2022)
Case

Moleskine: Daniela Riccardi Turns the Page

By: Ryan Raffaelli and Sarah Gulick

Newly appointed CEO Daniela Riccardi needed to develop and present an action plan to the board of the company that owned Moleskine. Riccardi was hired because Moleskine had recently overextended its reach and needed more focus and discipline. Having previously served... View Details

Keywords: Rebranding; Brands and Branding; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Operations; Planning; Retail Industry; Italy

2011
Chapter

The Contribution of Teams to Organizational Learning

By: Kathryn S. Roloff, Anita W. Woolley and Amy C. Edmondson

Organizational learning theorists have proposed that teams play a critical role in organizational learning (Senge, 1990; Edmondson, 2002). Indeed, as organizations become increasingly more global, teams are formed to leverage knowledge, to increase efficiency, and to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Groups and Teams; Learning