Publications

03 Dec 2014
What Do You Think?

Can the Brilliant Jerk Be Managed Effectively?

month's question elicited responses across the spectrum of recommended ways of managing them. At one extreme was Sherpa, who said, "Any sort of 'brilliant jerk" is simply another form of psychopath. Psychopaths have no place in... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

26 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

Manager or Mentor? Why You Must Be Both

HBS professor David A. Thomas hates the word "mentor." In his opinion, it's as empty a buzzword as "coach." In fact, when Thomas spoke to an audience of around 100 administrative managers at Harvard University... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

19 Mar 2018
Sharpening Your Skills

8 Ways To Be An Environmentally Conscious Manager

don't necessarily conflict with making a profit, business leaders today don't face such formidable challenges to their views. Still, what can managers do to ensure that their industries, their companies, their workplaces, their work,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Energy

(Revised May 2024)
Teaching Note

Lyric Dinner Theater (A) and (B)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Jim Sharpe and Noah Fisher

This teaching note is associated with HBS cases 813-043 and 813-044. View Details

Keywords: Turnarounds; Turnaround; Operations Management; Family Business; Family-owned Business; Hiring; Careers; Sales; Operations; Entrepreneurship; Negotiation; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Saint Louis

September 2012 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Martin Smith: July 2012

By: Josh Lerner and Felda Hardymon

Martin Smith, a recently hired general partner at a Brazil-based venture capital firm, must decide among three deal opportunities. Each has different strengths (management, market, and technology) but each has its own weaknesses as well. He must also consider each deal... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Deal Choice; Venture Capital; Investments; Career Management; Management Teams; Decision Choices and Conditions; Cost vs Benefits; Personal Development and Career; Financial Services Industry; Brazil

10 Sep 2007
Research & Ideas

High Note: Managing the Medici String Quartet

A: In business, preparation means thinking something through and establishing a plan. The execution phase is then managing to the plan. That's not remotely how the quartet prepared. Early in their career... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Music

July 2023
Article

The Old Boys' Club: Schmoozing and the Gender Gap

By: Zoë B. Cullen and Ricardo Perez-Truglia

Offices are social places. Employees and managers take breaks together and talk about family and hobbies. In this study, we show that employees’ social interactions with their managers can be advantageous for their careers, and that this phenomenon contributes to the... View Details

Keywords: Career; Promotions; Social Interactions; Networking; Interpersonal Communication; Familiarity; Equality and Inequality; Gender

06 Oct 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

18 Tips Managers Can Use to Lead Through COVID's Rising Waters

Since March, Harvard Business School Working Knowledge has posted more than 80 stories and research papers on the topic of COVID-19, most targeted at managers and the new challenges they face. That's a lot of information to digest. To... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

14 Aug 2006
HBS Case

On Managing with Bobby Knight and “Coach K”

discipline and intimidation, which some critics say goes too far. Knight was fired from a long career at Indiana University for grabbing a student, and prior to that he was filmed clutching one of his own players by the neck. And then... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Sports

Teaching Interest

Managing Human Capital: Keeping Hope Alive in Organizations (Not offered 2013-2014)

Managing Human Capital has been specifically designed to teach practical skills for the general manager who seeks to manage both other people and his or her own career with optimal effectiveness. Any and all students who believe they will need to effectively manage... View Details

June 2008 (Revised January 2010)
Case

Name Your Price: Compensation Negotiation at Whole Health Management (A)

By: Brian J. Hall, Deepak Malhotra and Nicole Bennett

MBA student Monroe Davies is asked by a potential employer to determine his own compensation package. This case follows Jim Hummer, President and CEO of Whole Health Management and Davies through a unique recruitment process that raises questions of compensation and... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Recruitment; Job Interviews; Negotiation Process; Personal Development and Career; Motivation and Incentives; Value

29 Oct 2007
HBS Case

Marketing Maria: Managing the Athlete Endorsement

athletes have relatively short careers compared to most other professionals, it is extremely important to strategically manage these assets and to make the right decisions at the right times. Q: What makes... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Sports

March 2009 (Revised August 2009)
Exercise

Managing Your Own Human Capital: Executive Interview Exercise (2008)

By: Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

This note contains instructions for an exercise in which students interview C-level executives on how they have managed their careers. View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Leadership Development

11 Jul 2005
Research & Ideas

The New International Style of Management

feedback logically and 'toned down' my comments to show respect, while still providing constructive ideas. Initially, he seemed to take the feedback well. But then I gradually noticed a distancing in our relationship. Eventually, I realized that he did not support my... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons

November 1994 (Revised June 1996)
Case

Dennis Hightower: Walt Disney's Transnational Manager

By: Ashish Nanda

Describes the actions taken by Dennis Hightower as president of Disney Consumer Products in Europe and the Middle East from 1988 to 1994. Focuses on how he has established a regional office and knit local operations closer together, the benefits that the process has... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Change Management; Corporate Strategy; Personal Development and Career; Consumer Products Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Europe

08 Aug 2011
Research & Ideas

The Death of the Global Manager

When Transnational Management was first published in 1992, the world was a different place. "The global economy was radically restructuring in the wake of an era of accelerating globalization in the 1980s," says Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

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

Teaching Interest

Managing the Future of Work (MBA Education—Elective Curriculum)

By: Christopher T. Stanton

The nature and scope of work is changing rapidly, creating massive business challenges in the shadow of broader political and social shifts. HBS launched a major initiative in 2017 on Managing the Future of Work to define these workplace issues and... View Details

August 2009
Exercise

Managing Your Own Human Capital: Executive Interview Exercise (2009)

By: Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

This note contains instructions for an exercise in which students interview C-level executives on how they have managed their careers. View Details

Keywords: Managerial Roles; Personal Development and Career; Strategic Planning; Personal Characteristics