Publications

01 Mar 2009
Conference Presentation

Networks and Change Implementation

By: Julie Battilana and Tiziana Casciaro

Keywords: Networks; Change

November 2019 (Revised April 2020)
Case

Danone: Changing the Food System

By: David E. Bell, Federica Gabrieli and Daniela Beyersdorfer

Emmanuel Faber, Chairman and CEO of the food and beverage company Danone, believed that humankind had only ten years to bend the curve on climate change and restore the biodiversity that the global food and agricultural ecosystem was critically dependent on. Upon... View Details

Keywords: Animal-Based Agribusiness; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Food; Nutrition; Quality; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Business Model; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; France

July 2021 (Revised July 2024)
Course Overview Note

Social Entrepreneurship and Systems Change

By: Brian Trelstad and Preeti Varma

Systems thinking is a discipline that emerged in the 20th century as a way to understand the complex interrelationships among various players and dynamics within an industry or field that resist simple, reductionist thinking. The big challenges we face play out in... View Details

Keywords: Systems Thinking; Social Entrepreneurship; System; Change

14 Dec 2021
News

The Four Principles Of Change Management

10 Nov 2015
Blog Post

Using an MBA for a Career Change

I applied to MBA programs because I wanted to change careers. I went from spending six years at one company to trying out a number of industries and function areas in two years. During that time I learned two important things: 1. Maybe... View Details

Program

Leading Change and Organizational Renewal

experimentation with financial stability. You will return to your company prepared to build change strategies that inspire organizational change and drive corporate success. This program is eligible for the... View Details

21 Sep 2016
Blog Post

How HBS Changed My Life

world. Then I met Harvard Business School. Today I want to talk about how the institution has changed my life in three tangible ways. 1. Confidence – While at HBS, I went through hundreds of case studies where I had to put myself in the... View Details

05 Nov 2019
Blog Post

Environmental Change and Ground-level Impact

policy, so obviously I believe in that route as a pathway to change. But change can happen even more quickly when businesses make it economically attractive to do the “right” thing. For example, if we can help make electric cars more... View Details

24 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

Why the Internet Doesn’t Change Everything

to be the future. Technology challenged the Church, forcing it to change in some ways, but it certainly did not kill it. —Debora L. Spar This is a book that tries to yank the Internet out of the spotlight of the twenty-first century and... View Details

Keywords: by Debora L. Spar

January 2018 (Revised May 2018)
Case

AT&T Managing Technological Change and the Future of Telephone Operators in the 20th Century

By: Daniel P. Gross and William R. Kerr

By the 1930s, AT&T dominated the American phone industry, serving 10 million telephones and employing over 100,000 switchboard operators. But beginning in the mid-1910s, the company began changing from manually operated switchboards to mechanical switching systems that... View Details

Keywords: AT＆T; Bell Telephone; Phone Lines; Phone Operators; Mechanical Switching; Layoffs; Technological Change; Transition; History; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Disruption; Change Management; Communications Industry; Telecommunications Industry; United States

November 2022 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Northvolt: Building Batteries to Fight Climate Change

By: George Serafeim, Debora L. Spar, P. Tufano and Julia M. Comeau

In 2016, Swedish entrepreneurs Carl-Erik Lagercrantz and Peter Carlsson founded an electric battery company called Northvolt with the dual goals of creating a company to address climate change and bringing battery manufacture to Europe. Northvolt, which succeeded in... View Details

Keywords: Batteries; Climate Change; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Green Technology; Mission and Purpose; Goals and Objectives; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Green Technology Industry; Battery Industry; Sweden; Europe

04 Sep 2019
News

A Climate Change Optimist

If climate change feels like an impossibly knotty threat to unravel, consider the outlook of Alisa Gravitz (MBA 1980), who sees being carbon negative worldwide by 2050 as entirely possible. As president and CEO of the Washington,... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; photo by Seth Lowe

June 2011 (Revised June 2013)
Case

Sino-Ocean Land: Responding to Change

By: Nicolas P. Retsinas, Jeffrey Hu and Runjiao Xu

In 2010, Sino-Ocean Land Holdings Limited was a highly successful, large real estate developer based in Beijing, China. Sino-Ocean Land had three main business segments—property development, property investment/management, and other real estate related businesses. From... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Diversification; Property; Policy; State Ownership; Business Strategy; Business and Government Relations; Real Estate Industry; Beijing

April 2022
Teaching Note

Publicis Groupe 2021: Changing Nearly Everything

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Tonia Labruyere, Vincent Dessain and Catarina Martinez

After a leadership change at the French advertising company Publicis, new CEO Arthur Sadoun has to navigate changes due to digitalization and a pandemic. Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 322-050. View Details

Keywords: Digital; Digitalization; Advertising; Marketing; Creative Industry; Succession; Leadership; Transition; Transformation; Change Management; Advertising Industry; United States; France; Europe

February 2020
Case

Leading Change in Talent at L'Oréal

By: Lakshmi Ramarajan, Vincent Dessain and Emer Moloney

Jean-Claude Le Grand just stepped into a new role as Executive Vice-President for Human Resources at the global cosmetics company, L’Oréal. He is now responsible for the hiring, development, promotion, and retention of 83,000 employees worldwide. The highly successful... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Business Headquarters; Business Divisions; Business Organization; Change; Change Management; Transformation; Competency and Skills; Experience and Expertise; Talent and Talent Management; Demographics; Diversity; Gender; Nationality; Multinational Firms and Management; Human Resources; Employees; Recruitment; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Innovation and Management; Jobs and Positions; Employment; Human Capital; Leadership; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Management Practices and Processes; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Product Marketing; Organizations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Personal Development and Career; Planning; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Networks; Social Psychology; Attitudes; Power and Influence; Social and Collaborative Networks; Business Strategy; Advertising Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Consumer Products Industry; France; Paris

13 Feb 2006
Research & Ideas

When Gender Changes the Negotiation

The last few months have been trying for Maureen Park, the managing director of a small portfolio management firm. The firm's parent company, a large financial services concern, was performing below forecasts, and morale among Park's understaffed, overworked team of... View Details

Keywords: by Dina W. Pradel, Hannah Riley Bowles & Kathleen L. McGinn

November 2010 (Revised August 2016)
Case

The Changing Face of Angel Investing

By: William A. Sahlman and Evan Richardson

Angel investors Ram Shriram, Mike Maples, Eric Paley, James Geshweiler, and Jim Southern discuss their investment philosophies and the changing landscape of angel investing. Questions include: • How has angel investing changed in the last few years? • How do you... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Venture Capital; Investment Funds