Publications

01 Oct 1999
News

Eight Among Many: Nancy J. Karch

several areas. Working with a few retailers as a young principal at the firm in the early 1980s, she realized that retailing, which represents one-third of the American economy, could benefit from McKinsey's management expertise. "The timing was terrific, because the... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

February 2005 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Nordstrom: The Turnaround

By: Rajiv Lal and Arar Han

After a period of turbulence, the fourth generation of Nordstroms are in control of the $7.1 billion apparel retailer. They have instituted a number of changes in buying and IT that have turned the business around. What can they do to ensure future growth? View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Crisis Management; Growth Management; Organizational Structure; Information Technology; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry

06 Nov 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, November 6, 2018

neither find any markers of significant NPE pass-through to end innovators nor of a positive impact of NPEs on innovation in the industries in which they are most prevalent. Publisher's link:... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

11 Feb 2014
First Look

First Look: February 11

structurally constrained context. Structural positions influence the resources available to actors and color the motivations that shape their actions. Resources equip actors to exert agency, while... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

25 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

Book Excerpt: ‘Can China Lead?’

nurtured in different educational and institutional settings. The question, then, is this: does China have a good institutional framework for innovation? Our answer at present is no: the governance structures of Chinese state-owned... View Details

Keywords: Re: William C. Kirby & F. Warren McFarlan; Education; Technology

January 2010 (Revised March 2010)
Case

Transforming ASUSTeK: Breaking from the Past

By: Willy C. Shih, Ho Howard Yu and Hung-Chang Chiu

What happens when an original design manufacturer (ODM) firm tries to transform itself into a branded goods seller? The case traces the evolution of ASUSTeK from a motherboard supplier, to an ODM of desktop and notebook PCs, through its split into three companies that... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Disruptive Innovation; Brands and Branding; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Competitive Strategy; Computer Industry; Computer Industry; Taiwan

December 1999
Case

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (A4): Sun Peak: Helen Yang and Mark Walden on "Running Sun on Sun"

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Jane Roessner

SunPeak was the largest project Sun Microsystems, Inc. had ever undertaken: shifting Sun's entire business transaction system from a mainframe-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to a Sun-based system. Making the shift would be complicated and financially... View Details

Keywords: Projects; Transformation; Organizational Structure; Business Strategy; Complexity; Risk and Uncertainty; Success; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Technology Industry; Technology Industry

15 Mar 2016
First Look

March 15, 2016

transparency and weak governance in resource rich countries. However, we document that industry self-regulation has generated information to substitute for the gap in voluntary company disclosure. We also find some evidence that these... View Details

06 Dec 2016
First Look

December 6, 2016

originating catalyst for the Industrial Revolution and modern capitalism casts new light on American credit markets, practices of offshore investment, and understandings of human capital. Rather than seeing slavery as outside the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 1979 (Revised January 1983)
Background Note

IBM Corp., Background Note

Describes some aspects of how the senior managers of IBM conducted its affairs. Much of this note is a factual description of the design of the organization and of the formal process by which members of the organization worked together. Also contains excerpts from... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Management Teams; Computer Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

March 2010 (Revised March 2012)
Teaching Note

PNC Financial: Grow Up Great (TN) (A) and (B)

By: Christopher Marquis, V. Kasturi Rangan and Bobbi Thomason

Teaching Note for [409108]. View Details

Keywords: Investment; Problems and Challenges; Opportunities; Leadership; Early Childhood Education; Brands and Branding; Organizational Structure; Success; Financial Services Industry

21 Nov 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, November 21, 2017

platforms. We explore this "rating aggregation problem" and offer a structural approach to solving it, allowing for (1) reviewers to vary in stringency and accuracy, (2) reviewers to be influenced by existing reviews, and (3)... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

30 Jun 2015
First Look

First Look: June 30, 2015

underlying the ratings. Our tests examine whether these forms of disclosure reflect firms' real efforts to combat corruption or are cheap talk. We find that the ratings are related to enforcement and monitoring, country and industry... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

August 1993
Case

Nestle S.A.: International Marketing (B)

By: John A. Quelch

Describes organization changes announced by Nestle's chariman in 1991 and updates the description of Nestle's marketing organization. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Marketing Strategy; Organizational Structure; Globalization; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Switzerland