Publications

2011
Book

What to Ask the Person in the Mirror: Critical Questions for Becoming a More Effective Leader and Reaching Your Potential

By: Robert Steven Kaplan

Successful leaders know that leadership is less often about having all the answers-and more often about asking the right questions. The challenge lies in being able to step back, reflect, and ask the key questions that are critical to your performance and your... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Development; Organizational Development; Reaching Your Potential; Career Planning; Management Styles; Interpersonal Communication; Leadership; Performance Effectiveness; Personal Development and Career

03 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 3, 2018

emerging economies. However, microlevel product development processes in these economies are relatively unexplored, and the mechanisms by which the emerging economy context might affect such processes are... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

Overcrowded – Designing Meaningful Products in a World Awash with Ideas

We live in a world awash with ideas. Thanks to the web and to powerful ideation approaches such as open innovation, design thinking, or crowdsourcing, organizations have today easy access to an unprecedented amount of novel concepts. In this context, what... View Details

A Sense of Urgency

Most organizational change initiatives fail spectacularly (at worst) or deliver lukewarm results (at best). In his... View Details

14 Sep 2021
Blog Post

How to Support Your Employees’ Career Development

say ‘I’ve noticed that you tend to enjoy really creative work when a project is not defined and you’re able to come up with something on your own.’ Or on the flip side, ‘I’ve noticed you really love following a process and having View Details

Keywords: All Industries

14 Sep 2021
Blog Post

How to Support Your Employees' Career Development

say ‘I’ve noticed that you tend to enjoy really creative work when a project is not defined and you’re able to come up with something on your own.’ Or on the flip side, ‘I’ve noticed you really love following a process and having View Details

May 2011
Article

The Power of Small Wins

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer

What is the best way to motivate employees to do creative work? Help them take a step forward every day. In an analysis of knowledge workers' diaries, the authors found that nothing contributed more to a positive inner work life (the mix of emotions, motivations, and... View Details

October 2014 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Integrated Reporting at Aegon

By: Robert G. Eccles, George Serafeim, Sydney Ribot and Michael Krzus

In 2011, Aegon adopted integrated reporting—a corporate reporting approach that sought to present company performance in a holistic light by considering medium- to long-term issues, stakeholder opinions, and the relationship between material financial and nonfinancial... View Details

Educators

27 Aug 2007
Op-Ed

Mattel: Getting a Toy Recall Right

design flaws in the toys with the magnets that could come loose. But Mattel deserves praise for now stepping up to its responsibilities as the leading brand in the toy industry. What has Mattel done right? The CEO has taken personal... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Consumer Products

Article

A Head Start on Succession

By: Joseph L. Bower

Our studies of CEO succession over the past several years have shown some improvements in the trends in CEO turnover, often resulting from outside pressures for improved oversight and better corporate governance. The next step in improving CEO succession—and ultimately... View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Leadership Development; Management Practices and Processes; Management Succession; Management Teams; Business and Shareholder Relations

15 Jan 2018
Research & Ideas

A Better Business Model for Fighting Cancer

need for genetic testing. Business techniques employed include developing an emotive brand to draw people in; using more social media; employing jargon-free language; and “making everything simple and straightforward, from our registration View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Health; Pharmaceutical

30 Aug 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Incentivizing Calculated Risk-Taking: Evidence from an Experiment with Commercial Bank Loan Officers

Keywords: by Shawn Cole, Martin Kanz & Leora Klapper

2014
Teaching Note

Meizhou Dongpo Restaurant Group (TN)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Weiku Wu and Jia Guo

Since the establishment of the first Meizhou Dongpo Restaurant in Beijing in 1996, Wang Gang and his wife Liang Di have opened more than 100 chain restaurants in China and foreign countries, and set up the group headquarters, logistics center, R&D center and central... View Details

Keywords: Internationalization; Management; Standardization; Strategy; China; Restaurants; China

07 Oct 2020
Blog Post

7 Coming Out Stories from the HBS PRIDE Club

their LGBTQ+ status private. We accept everyone in any stage of their coming out process and hope that you will be inspired by the stories of these students as they continue to grapple with a world that is not always accepting of who they... View Details

2014
Case

Meizhou Dongpo Restaurant Group

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Weiku Wu and Jia Guo

Since the establishment of the first Meizhou Dongpo Restaurant in Beijing in 1996, Wang Gang and his wife Liang Di have opened more than 100 chain restaurants in China and foreign countries, and set up the group headquarters, logistics center, R&D center and central... View Details

Keywords: Internationalization; Management; Standardization; Strategy; Restaurants; China; China

24 May 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Improving Store Liquidation

Keywords: by Nathan Craig & Ananth Raman; Retail

November 15, 2021
Article

Putting Your Corporate Purpose to Work

By: Hubert Joly

Making a company purpose come to life is an arduous journey that requires a multi-pronged and sustained approach. Yet as hard as it is, the journey is well worth it and will yield positive transformation not only for the company, but also for the people who work there.... View Details

Keywords: Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Corporate Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Business and Stakeholder Relations

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2014
Book

Own Your Future: How to Think Like an Entrepreneur and Thrive in an Unpredictable Economy

By: Paul B. Brown, Charles F. Kiefer and Leonard A. Schlesinger

It used to be that if you studied and worked hard, you could be assured of an extremely satisfying career. But in a world of constant layoffs and dying industries, it has become increasingly difficult to "plan" your way to success. So what is the solution? Well, when... View Details