Publications

Article

Enfranchisement of Service Workers

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and James Heskett

Enfranchisement is achieved through an integration of empowerment with methods of pay for performance. Evidence from Ito Yokado Group in Japan and Nordstrom in the US demonstrates the positive effects of enfranchisement. Successful efforts to enfranchise employees: 1.... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Franchise Ownership; Employees; Compensation and Benefits; Service Industry; Japan; United States

Read Now

01 Dec 1998
News

Year 2000 Computer Problem and You: Disaster for Some, Lessons for All

outsourcing, and integration services company that he founded in 1965. First in a Wall Street Journal ranking of one thousand companies listed according to best stock performance from 1987 to 1997, Keane Inc... View Details

19 Jan 2022
Blog Post

From Retail to HBS: How I’m Building a Career Path at the Intersection of Arts, Culture, and Business

Sara Jetty (MBA 2021) grew up in Carmel, Indiana and received her B.S. from Indiana University. Prior to attending HBS, she held roles at BLK DNM, West Elm, and Bloomingdale’s. During her time at HBS, she... View Details

01 Apr 2001
News

New Ventures New Gains

with asked tough questions that made us think about the critical issues and figure out if we had a viable business.” “John Deighton was — in a very positive way — a healthy skeptic,” says ZEFER’s Tjan of his... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna and Susan Young; Martin Dubilier (MBA 1952); Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

Web

The Intersection of Public Relations and Photography | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

introducing the work of leading photographers into its feature articles. Fortune “used the intersections of fine art and mass culture . . . to position the engines of capitalism as critical to the... View Details

Article

Avenues of Attainment: Occupational Demography and Organizational Careers in the California Civil Service.

Keywords: Demographics; Jobs and Positions; Personal Development and Career; Organizations; Success; California

Find at Harvard

16 Jan 2019
Research & Ideas

What Football Firings Teach Managers About Staying Relevant

for his ability to redesign the Saints offense based on the strengths of individual players that join the team. When talented rookie Alvin Kamara joined the team in 2017, the team “altered its DNA” by putting Kamara in positions to take... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Evan M.S. Hecht, and Abhijit Naik; Sports

24 Aug 2021
News

What We Still Need to Learn about AI in Marketing — and Beyond

January 2003 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Cat is out of the Bag, The: KANA and the Layoff Gone Awry (A)

By: Leslie A. Perlow and David Ager

Vicki Amon-Higa, vice president of KANA, a publicly traded, midsize development company, was working with Bryan Kettle, KANA's CFO, to plan a layoff in which KANA would reduce the size of its workforce by nearly 40%. Despite the best of intentions, news of the layoff... View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Employees; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Problems and Challenges; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Conflict Management

December 1999
Case

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (A5): Solaris 7: Rich Green on Product Strategy and Culture Change

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Jane Roessner

Solaris, Sun Microsystems' version of the UNIX operating system, was an amorphous collection of capabilities that had accumulated over the years, a product the company vaguely wished it could market and sell better. Developing and marketing Solaris 7 would help... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Applications and Software; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Product Positioning; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Success; Change; Diversification; Technology Industry; Computer Industry

July 2021 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Allianz Customer Centricity: Is Simplicity the Way Forward?

By: Eva Ascarza and Emilie Billaud

This case explores the tradeoffs between product personalization and simplicity as companies grow. The case presents an opportunity to understand whether and how each of these approaches enables and/or limits companies’ abilities to provide customer satisfaction while... View Details

Keywords: Simplicity; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customization and Personalization; Customer Satisfaction; Performance Efficiency; Strategy; Insurance Industry; Europe; Germany

February 1991 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Ann Hopkins (A)

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Ilyse Barkan

Intended to help students understand the many barriers organizations face as their members and their management ranks grow more diverse. As a case on business ethics, it encourages students to discuss what "fairness" and "diversity" mean when an organization is also... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Employee Relationship Management; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Problems and Challenges; Groups and Teams

25 Feb 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Fostering Organizational Learning: The Impact of Work Design on Workarounds, Errors, and Speaking Up About Internal Supply Chain Problems

Keywords: by Anita L. Tucker

05 Oct 2016
What Do You Think?

Can the US Economy Regain the Growth and Prosperity of the Past?

productivity requires a large middle class that can afford to consume what is being produced. Solve the economic inequality problem, and we will solve the slow growth problem as well as a lot of other societal problems.” Gamaliel Pascual... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

03 Jan 2018
News

This is how much money it takes for millionaires to be happy

Article

Young and No Money? Never Mind: The Material Impact of Social Resources on New Venture Growth

By: Mukti Khaire

Although growth is a desirable outcome for new ventures due to the many advantages of large size, most new firms fail to grow, largely due to their limited resources and adaptability. This paper addresses the question of how new ventures grow despite their limited... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Status and Position; Advertising Industry; Chicago; New York (city, NY)