Publications

June 2001
Case

Cerner Corporation (A)

By: D. Quinn Mills and Matt Salloway

The CEO thinks people are not working long enough hours. He sends a memo. This series describes the backlash. View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Management Style; Leadership Style; Nonverbal Communication; Employees; Organizational Culture; Health Industry

25 Mar 2020
News

From 'Hello' To 'Can You Hear Me?': How The Coronavirus Could Change Office Culture

June 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Supplement

Eric Hawkins Leading Agile Teams @ Digitally-Born AppFolio (B)

By: Tsedal Neeley, Paul Leonardi and Michael Norris

Supplements the (A) case, HBS No. 419-066, and provides information about what happened after the (A) case ends. View Details

Keywords: Agile; Values; Vision; Corporate Culture; Leadership; Transformation; Organizational Culture; Values and Beliefs; Digital Transformation; Technology Industry; United States; California

May 2016 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Pal's Sudden Service—Scaling an Organizational Model to Drive Growth

By: Gary P. Pisano, Francesca Gino and Bradley R. Staats

Pal's Sudden Service has developed a unique operating model and organizational culture in the quick service restaurant business. With a deep emphasis on process control and improvement, zero defects, extensive training, and a high level of employee engagement, Pal's... View Details

Keywords: Growth Strategy; Corporate Culture; Operations Strategy; Motivation; Values; Motivation and Incentives; Strategy; Values and Beliefs; Service Operations; Organizational Culture; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

01 Nov 1999
Research & Ideas

Companies, Cultures and the Transformation to the Transnational

authority of running the business. Chandler described this management culture as "managerial capitalism. "Owners' delegation of responsibility to professional managers established a corporate norm... View Details

Keywords: by Christopher A. Bartlett & Sumantra Ghoshal

August 1998 (Revised February 1999)
Case

Product Development at Dell Computer Corporation

By: Stefan H. Thomke, Vish V. Krishnan and Ashok Nimgade

Describes how Dell redesigned its new product development process after experiencing a major product setback and a significant decline in firm profits in 1993. Dell's new process is challenged during the development of a new line of portable computers when the incoming... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Profit; Managerial Roles; Risk Management; Product Development; Business Processes; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Hardware; Computer Industry

2020
Article

Public Sentiment and the Price of Corporate Sustainability

By: George Serafeim

Combining corporate sustainability performance scores based on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data with big data measuring public sentiment about a company’s sustainability performance, I find that the valuation premium paid for companies with strong... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Investment Management; Investment Strategy; Big Data; Machine Learning; Environment; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Governance; Performance; Asset Pricing; Investment; Management; Strategy; Human Capital; Public Opinion; Value; Analytics and Data Science

SSRN

23 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Corporate Sustainability Reporting: It’s Effective

Noted After the data were analyzed, a clear pattern emerged: Countries requiring corporate sustainability reporting experienced a significant improvement in most categories. For social responsibility, for... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

June 2010 (Revised April 2014)
Course Overview Note

Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee Engagement

By: Christopher Marquis, Bobbi Thomason and Jennifer Tydlaska

Analyzes the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and employee engagement, including CSR effects on employee commitment and motivation, new skills and training, and motivation. Also discusses best practices in employee engagement through CSR. View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Training; Employees; Retention; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Culture; Practice; Motivation and Incentives

Research Summary

Overview

I am an ethnographer and field researcher studying how people experience and interpret their work and cultural contexts, as well as how this shapes inequality and organizational outcomes like normative control. I specialize in utilizing in-depth, inductive field... View Details

Keywords: Qualitative Research; Ethnography; Corporate Culture; Organizational Behavior; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Theory; Working Conditions; Consulting Industry

2001
Book

From Heresy to Dogma: An Institutional History of Corporate Environmentalism

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

This is a pathbreaking account of how the environmental movement has led to profound changes in the perceptions and practices of large-scale corporations, as shown here in the chemical and petroleum industries. The book traces how market, social, and political... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Environmental Sustainability; Public Opinion; Social Issues

Spring 2013
Article

America's Changing Corporate Boardrooms: The Last Twenty-Five Years

By: Jay W. Lorsch

This article outlines several significant changes in corporate boardrooms over the past twenty-five years and uses those lessons to propose a thought experiment about how boards can be shaped in the future. Professor Lorsch argues that the major problems in the last... View Details

Keywords: Boards Of Directors; BEST Practices; Stakeholder Engagement; Governing and Advisory Boards; Problems and Challenges; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Change

02 Jul 2018
Research & Ideas

Corporate Tax Cuts Don't Increase Middle Class Incomes

Halfpoint In the worlds of economic theory and conservative political orthodoxy, corporate tax cuts, such as the 2017 tax reform in the United States, should create benefits beyond businesses. As the thinking goes, middle class workers... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland

08 Mar 2022
Cold Call Podcast

France Telecom: Corporate Restructuring and Employee Well-Being

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

January 2004
Article

Corporate Venturing: The Origins of Unilever's Pregnancy Test

By: Geoffrey Jones and Alison Kraft

The relative ability of different sizes of firm and organisational designs to develop and sustain dynamic capabilities in innovation and create new businesses remains a matter of contention. While Chandler among many others has emphasised the pre-eminent role of large... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Organizational Design; Technological Innovation; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Brands and Branding; Multinational Firms and Management; Product Development; Product Launch; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Great Britain

Read Now

August 2008
Case

System on a Chip 2008: Ardentec Corporation

By: Willy C. Shih, Chen-Fu Chien, Chintay Shih and Ting-Chen Chen

Ardentec Corporation is a specialist in "wafer probing," a highly specialized niche sandwiched between the "front-end" and the "back-end" of semiconductor manufacturing. Because the semiconductor industry uses modular processes and has standard containers for the... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Industry Structures; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Manufacturing Industry; Semiconductor Industry

April 2022
Case

Marsha Simms: Trailblazer in Corporate Law

By: Robin Ely, Boris Groysberg, Colleen Ammerman and Olivia Hull

Follows the journey of lawyer Marsha Simms from her childhood in racially-segregated St. Louis to the upper echelons of the New York legal community. Describes her education, career choices, accomplishments, and setbacks. Highlights significant moments such as her... View Details

January–February 2018
Article

The Leader's Guide to Corporate Culture: How to Manage the Eight Critical Elements of Organizational Life

By: Boris Groysberg, Jeremiah Lee, Jesse Price and J. Yo-Jud Cheng

Executives are often confounded by culture, because much of it is anchored in unspoken behaviors, mindsets, and social patterns. But when properly managed, culture can help them achieve change and build organizations that will thrive in even the most trying times. In... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Performance Effectiveness; Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation