Publications

September 2019 (Revised December 2022)
Case

Cooking Down a Storm: Changing Culture at Pasta Serafina (A)

By: Susanna Gallani, Francesca Gino and Raffaella Sadun

Plant management at Pasta Serafina, a pasta producer in the south of Italy, is struggling to contain employee absenteeism. While the misbehavior is concentrated in a minority of the workers, its effects impact not only the plant’s performance, but also the climate and... View Details

Keywords: Absenteeism; Moral Hazard; Employees; Behavior; Problems and Challenges; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Employee Relationship Management; Performance Productivity; Decision Making

July 2017 (Revised October 2017)
Supplement

Becton Dickinson: Innovation and Growth (B)

By: Raffaella Sadun, Michael Beer and James Weber

This (B) case supplements the (A) case by providing additional information and updates through early 2016. View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Change Management; Innovation Leadership; Mergers and Acquisitions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Health Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States

March 2014
Case

Managing Change at Axis Bank (A)

By: Paul Healy and Rachna Tahilyani

Axis Bank is India's third largest private sector bank. In April 2009, Shikha Sharma, an outsider, was appointed as its CEO. She took over from a person who had overseen ten years of rapid growth at the bank. The selection of an outsider as the new CEO surprised many... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Valuation; Finance; Banks and Banking; Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry; India

February 2009 (Revised March 2009)
Case

Publicis Groupe 2009: Toward a Digital Transformation

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Matthew Bird

After a series of acquisitions, Maurice Levy, the Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe, had created the fourth largest marketing and communications company in the world. His next major challenge was managing the firm's digital transformation. In December 2006, the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Transformation; Financial Crisis; Globalized Firms and Management; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Expansion; Information Technology; Advertising Industry; Communications Industry

September 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Shinsei Bank: Developing an Integrated Firm

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Masako Egawa

Tom Pedersen, newly appointed chief learning officer (CLO) of Shinsei Bank in Japan, pondered how he could facilitate development of an integrated culture and transformation of the organization. Shinsei Bank had not developed longstanding tradition or a strong... View Details

Keywords: Integration; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Talent and Talent Management; Organizational Culture; Performance Evaluation; Cooperation; Diversity; Japan

May 2004 (Revised December 2004)
Case

Slingshot Technology, Inc. (A)

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Elizabeth Collins

Slingshot Technology Inc. (STI) is a privately held software start-up founded in 1995 focused on identifying emerging spaces in the IT services industry and partnering with vendors selling promising but unproven technologies in those spaces. The vendors used STI to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Private Ownership; Opportunities; Partners and Partnerships; Entrepreneurship; Applications and Software; Intellectual Property; Business Startups; Information Technology Industry

November 2001 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Taking Charge at Dogus Holding (A)

By: Rakesh Khurana, Gina Carioggia and Simon Johnson

Describes 37-year-old Ferit Sahenk's challenges in taking over his father's traditionally managed $14 billion Turkish conglomerate in a period of economic instability. Leading the large holding company into the 21st century will require the establishment of a more... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Trade; Competitive Strategy; Decision Making; Leadership; Performance Effectiveness; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Family Business; Change Management; Turkey

25 Mar 2018
News

Modernizing Infrastructure Management

reasonable price that they can afford. And not only can you afford it, but we're there to help you, from a client success standpoint, adapt it, get through the change management.” View Details

01 Feb 1998
News

Stephen Covey's Successful Habits

businesses in this country. Without listening, the organization (and its stakeholders) can't properly adapt to customers or the marketplace. How do you motivate business leaders who are not good listeners to become so? Force of... View Details

26 Aug 2020
News

What the Climate Change Movement Can Learn from the Pandemic

beauty care routines, using fewer plastic items in our own beauty care routines or buying more from farmer's markets or local stores that don't use as much plastic. It's basically for us meant a shift in how we think about helping people View Details

1997
Chapter

The Politicization of Organizational Life

By: R. M. Kanter

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Power and Influence

Find at Harvard

November 2024
Supplement

FedEx Cyberattack (B): Reflections and Lessons

By: Hise Gibson, Frank Nagle, Alicia Dadlani and Martha Hostetter

Set in 2024, this (B) case provides an update to the (A) case (no. 625-049) about a devastating cyberattack that destroyed thousands of computers and business systems at FedEx’s European division in 2017. It describes lessons learned and changes made in the wake of the... View Details

Keywords: Cybersecurity; Disruption; Crisis Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Europe

July 10, 2024
Article

Designing a Successful Reskilling Program

By: Jorge Tamayo, Leila Doumi, Sagar Goel, Orsolya Kovács-Ondrejkovic and Raffaella Sadun

In this article, written as a follow up to the award-winning “Reskilling in the Age of AI”, the authors report the results of a reskilling survey that they conducted with chief human resource officers from approximately 1,200 organizations in the U.S., along with... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Training; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Employees

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Article

Why Sexual Harassment Persists and What Organizations Can Do to Stop It

By: Colleen Ammerman and Boris Groysberg

Long before the #MeToo movement, the insidious effects of harassment were well known to organizational researchers. Women who are harassed often leave their jobs, taking valuable relationships, and potential out the door with them and creating the costly need to hire... View Details

Keywords: Work Environment; Sexual Harassment; Harassment; Organizational Culture; Gender; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change