Publications

Register to Read

October 1991 (Revised September 1998)
Case

Maxwell Appliance Controls

By: Robert S. Kaplan

A profitable manufacturing division of a large company is looking for new ways to identify sources of productivity improvements. Led by its senior finance officer, an activity-based cost system is developed to identify activities performed for its highly varied product... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Management Teams; Quality; Performance Improvement; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Production; Manufacturing Industry

March 1996 (Revised February 1997)
Case

Change Agent Program at Siemens Nixdorf, The

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, John F. McGuire and Afroze A Mohammed

To change its culture, the German computer giant Siemens Nixdorf Information Systems launched a program to train 21 "change agents" who would lead entrepreneurial projects designed to get results and to serve as models of a new style. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Organizational Culture; Training; Leadership Development; Programs; Human Resources; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Computer Industry; Germany

02 May 2000
Research & Ideas

Leading Professional Service Firms

profession and the firm for a long period of time. They develop organizational practices that motivate these outstanding people to serve clients well. Getting this right is what we mean by alignment. Leading Professional Service Firms... View Details

Keywords: Re: Jay W. Lorsch; Service; Consulting; Accounting

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

August 2001 (Revised April 2003)
Case

International Trachoma Initiative

By: Diana Barrett, James E. Austin and Sheila McCarthy

In an effort to combat trachoma, a major eye disease, the Clark Foundation entered into a partnership with Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. After a successful pilot project, a joint initiative was established (the Trachoma initiative) that has as its goal to eradicate the... View Details

Keywords: For-Profit Firms; Joint Ventures; Globalization; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Alliances; Partners and Partnerships; Non-Governmental Organizations; Health Industry

November 1986 (Revised October 1995)
Case

Suzanne de Passe at Motown Productions (A)

By: Linda A. Hill

Illustrates: 1) the impact of a manager's leadership style on corporate culture, direction, and performance; 2) the concept of fit between leadership style and the requirements of situations in which managers find themselves; and 3) the need for managers to adapt their... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Race; Organizational Culture; Leadership Style; Gender; Management Teams; Change Management; Situation or Environment; Creativity; Relationships; Music Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

02 Sep 2014
First Look

First Look: September 2

treating both its suppliers and its blue collar workforce as homogeneous, interchangeable entities as well as its view that expertise could be partitioned so that there was minimal overlap of knowledge amongst functions or levels in the View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

18 Oct 2016
Op-Ed

Why Business Should Invest in Community Health

corporate attention than employee, consumer, and environmental health. In a survey of more than 80 companies attending the Building a Culture of Health conference at Harvard Business School in April 2016, a lower percentage of respondents... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch, Howard Koh, and Pamela Yatsko; Health

25 Feb 2002
Research & Ideas

MNCs in Asia: Investing in the Future

The unparalleled size of Asia's markets has always caught the eye of multinational corporations. More recently, as government policies and cultural attitudes in the region continue to evolve, the strategies of multinational companies have... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

29 Jun 2021
Blog Post

DIVERSIFYING OUR CASE PROTAGONISTS: HOW IS HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL DOING A YEAR LATER?

study every day in class,” said Jan Hammond, senior associate dean for culture and community. The MBA Student Association took action in June 2020, creating the “Juneteenth Case Pledge” in honor of the date that the final enslaved people... View Details

01 Dec 2015
News

Ink

column was a way to explore the link between a business leader’s workspace and the culture of his or her organization. Along the way, Raje—former chief executive of BP Ergo, her family’s office furniture business—featured the hotel... View Details

30 Jun 2021
Blog Post

Diversifying Our Case Protagonists: How is Harvard Business School Doing a Year Later?

study every day in class,” said Jan Hammond, senior associate dean for culture and community. The MBA Student Association took action in June 2020, creating the “Juneteenth Case Pledge” in honor of the date that the final enslaved people... View Details

September 2009 (Revised December 2011)
Teaching Note

IBM Values and Corporate Citizenship (TN)

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Matthew Bird

Teaching Note for [308106]. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Transformation; Fairness; Innovation and Invention; Value; Global Range; Organizational Culture; Information Technology Industry; Computer Industry

January 2023 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Adams + Beasley Associates

By: Dennis Campbell and Iuliana Mogosanu

This case illustrates how a strong culture, founder-led SME designed and used a unique performance metric—the job security index—to manage through periods of economic uncertainty. The case centers specifically on how the job security index was used in an interactive... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Measurement and Metrics; Employee Ownership; Risk and Uncertainty; Small Business; Leadership; Organizational Culture

Educators

January 2018 (Revised July 2019)
Case

Big Apple Circus: Time to Fold the Tent?

By: David G. Fubini and Matthew Wiger

By 2016, the Big Apple Circus has weathered many storms in its 38 seasons as one of the most well-known New York City nonprofits. Will Weiss, the executive director, has witnessed his share of chaos during four years at Big Apple. After a slight resurgence following... View Details

Keywords: Turnarounds; Bankruptcy; ＂Live Entertainment; Art; Crisis Management; Financial Crisis; Organizational Culture; Entertainment; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

Educators

July 2008
Course Overview Note

The Devil Wears Prada (HBS Version) (TN)

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Shirley Spence

The Devil Wears Prada is used to facilitate a discussion of the role of communities in people's lives. It is used in a second year MBA elective at HBS called Building a Business in the Context of a Life (BBCL). BBCL is primarily designed for students who plan to be... View Details

Keywords: Business Education; Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Planning; Civil Society or Community; Organizational Culture; Power and Influence

Web

Four Steps to Building the Psychological Safety That High-Performing Teams Need | Working Knowledge

Management Credits : Kara Baskin Topics: Leadership Performance Organizational Culture Share: Facebook LinkedIn Print Email Latest from HBS faculty experts Expertly curated insights, precisely tailored to... View Details

January 2016 (Revised May 2016)
Supplement

IKEA in Saudi Arabia (B)

By: Karthik Ramanna, Jerome Lenhardt and Marc Homsy

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Values; Islam; Multinationals; Globalization; Leadership; Equality and Inequality; Multinational Firms and Management; Religion; Organizational Culture; Gender; Consumer Products Industry; Saudi Arabia; Sweden