Publications

May–June 2018
Article

Layoffs That Don't Break Your Company: Better Approaches to Workforce Transition

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Shalene Gupta

Today layoffs have become companies’ default response to the challenges created by advances in technology and global competition. Yet research shows that job cuts rarely help senior leaders achieve their goals. Too often, they’re done for short-term gain, but the cost... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Employees; Transition; Strategic Planning

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June 2003 (Revised December 2003)
Case

Cathay Pacific: Doing More with Less

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Fred Young

This case explores the various aspects of information technology that can be outsourced. Cathay Pacific outsourced a significant part of its vital operations from Hong Kong to Sydney, Australia. View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Globalization; Globalized Firms and Management; Information Technology Industry; Hong Kong; Sydney

01 Feb 2016
Research & Ideas

CEOs and Coaches: How Important is Organizational 'Fit?'

first head coaching job in 2006 with the New Orleans Saints, and won the Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year award that year; Chuck Noll, who took his first head coach job... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg & Abhijit Naik; Sports

10 Mar 2021
News

New Releases: Alumni and Faculty Books, Podcasts

or taking a job in a new company, you might not know all the unspoken rules that determine who gets ahead and who doesn’t. In Unspoken Rules, you’ll learn the basic workplace skills necessary for success.... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

October 2008
Article

Minimally Altruistic Wages and Unemployment in a Matching Model with Monopsony

By: Julio J. Rotemberg

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Economics

27 Sep 2017
News

Will a Corporate Tax Holiday Give Workers Anything to Cheer?

Article

The Emotional Tightrope of Downsizing: Hidden Challenges for Leaders and Their Organizations

By: Andrew Molinsky and Joshua D. Margolis

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Problems and Challenges; Emotions; Leadership; Organizations

08 Feb 2016
Research & Ideas

The Civic Benefits of Google Street View and Yelp

Boston-specific algorithm. More than 700 people entered the competition. The research team tested algorithms from 23 finalists; the tournament was won by a statistician from London. “Using a Boston-specific algorithm, we found that you could View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Consumer Products

16 May 2017
First Look

First Look at New Ideas and Research, May 16

platforms, 2) gravity model analyses of global outsourcing contract flows and their determinants for digital labor markets, and 3) quantification of own- View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty

07 Apr 2008
Research & Ideas

The Debate over Taxing Foreign Profits

a plan to curb foreign tax havens and end tax breaks for "companies that ship jobs overseas" in May, 2009.) One heated issue is the charge that the U.S. tax code provides incentives for companies... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

June 1995
Case

Northern Telecom and Tong Guang Electronics (A1): Getting to Know Each Other

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Pamela A. Yatsko

In its second year of operation, the joint venture between Northern Telecom (Nortel) of Canada and Tong Guang Electronics of China to manufacture telecommunications equipment in China has hit a crisis. The Chinese partner has asked Northern Telecom to replace its... View Details

Keywords: Mobile and Wireless Technology; Joint Ventures; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Crisis Management; Financial Crisis; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Leadership; Telecommunications Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Canada; China

12 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Solving COVID'S Mental Health Crisis

Prevention programs disrupted "The pandemic threatens to dismantle all the gains made in the US in the recent six-year fight against opioids and heroin,” says Jim Langford (HBS MBA 1984), Executive Director of the Georgia Prevention... View Details

Keywords: by Howard Stevenson and Shirley Spence; Health

November 2007 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Excerpts from Interview with Jim Triandiflou, Founder of Ockham Technologies

By: Noam Wasserman

Describes the issues facing a founder-CEO regarding building a board, assembling an executive team, managing tension between co-founders, and outsourcing system development work. The abridged version does not include the introduction and final sections of the full case... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Governing and Advisory Boards; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Management Teams; Managerial Roles; Conflict Management

10 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

The Surprising Winners and Losers in the Retail Revolution

if your toilet blows up, you aren't going to wait two days for delivery for a part from (competitor) Amazon Prime. You need that part right now. You need it to be in stock, and you need somebody to help you understand what to do, what... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

21 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

The Pandemic Conversations That Leaders Need to Have Now

Pandemic Worries: Uncertainty, Employees, and Kids Cut Payroll Costs with Transparency, Fairness, and Compassion Good Leadership Is an Act of Kindness Keep Your Weary Workers... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Robin Abrahams, and Katherine Connolly Baden

October 2005
Case

Wipro Technologies: The Factory Model

Based in Bangalore, Wipro Technologies is a rapidly growing software services company. Wipro is experimenting with a new software service delivery model that draws on the principles of the Toyota production system and "lean" manufacturing. Addresses the advantages and... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Service Operations; Applications and Software; Standards; Information Technology Industry; Bangalore

November 2007
Case

Ockham Technologies: Living on the Razor's Edge (Abridged)

By: Noam T. Wasserman

Describes the issues facing a Founder-CEO regarding building a board, assembling an executive team, managing tension between co-founders, and outsourcing system development work. The abridged version does not include the introduction and final sections of the full case... View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Recruitment; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Teams; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Information Technology