Publications

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April 1993 (Revised October 1996)
Case

ABB Deutschland (C)

By: Hugo Uyterhoeven

Addresses the results and the lessons from the German restructuring effort by focusing in detail on the relationship with the works council and the actions taken for power plants and power transformers, and the sales organization. Closes with a "second wave" of cost... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Trade; Cost Management; Leadership Style; Management Skills; Time Management; Relationships; Salesforce Management

19 Dec 2005
Research & Ideas

Public Education Goes to School

Can the art and science of management help public schools improve student performance? In the fall of 2001, faculty and staff from the Harvard Business School (HBS) and the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) began to discuss how they might work together on the... View Details

Keywords: by Mallory Stark; Education

November 2008
Article

Winning the Race for Talent in Emerging Markets

By: Douglas A. Ready, Linda A. Hill and Jay A. Conger

"This war for talent is like nothing we've ever seen before," write the authors, who have spent decades studying talent management and leadership development. Recently they interviewed executives at more than 20 global companies to identify strategies for attracting... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Development; Selection and Staffing; Talent and Talent Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Organizational Culture; Recruitment; Diversity; Developing Countries and Economies

Find at Harvard

16 Jan 2019
Research & Ideas

What Football Firings Teach Managers About Staying Relevant

Six National Football League head coaches were fired on December 31, or “Black Monday,” as it’s known in the sport. The infamous tradition begins immediately after the conclusion of each NFL regular season and represents efforts by underperforming teams to make View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Evan M.S. Hecht, and Abhijit Naik; Sports

July 2020 (Revised January 2021)
Case

Rosalind Fox at John Deere

By: Anthony Mayo and Olivia Hull

Rosalind Fox, the factory manager at John Deere’s Des Moines, Iowa plant, has improved the financial standing of the factory in the three years she’s been at its helm. But employee engagement scores—which measured employees’ satisfaction with working conditions and... View Details

03 Jul 2008
What Do You Think?

Are Followers About to Get Their Due?

Summing Up Are leadership and followership joined at the hip? It seems impossible to separate the two. They are reflective of one another. These are two of the predominant opinions expressed in one way or another by respondents to this... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

04 Aug 2003
What Do You Think?

Are We Facing an Attitude Shortage?

pointed out that "So many managers are afraid that attitude is too soft, too difficult to assess and to use as a key hiring criteria." Saurabh Dwivedy commented that "...attitude, morals, ethics, and leadership View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

February 2022
Case

Leading The UK Vaccine Task Force

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Claudia Pienica

This case describes the first six months of the UK Vaccine Taskforce, under the leadership of Kate Bingham. With a career spent in the private sector as a biotech investor, Bingham’s appointment within the government was considered unusual. The overarching brief given... View Details

October 7, 2021
Article

How to Resolve America's Hidden-Worker Problem

By: Joseph B. Fuller

Most companies rely on recruiting systems that are superficially efficient but consistently ineffective at closing their chronic skills gaps. Is there a dearth of workers or are employers looking for talent in a self-limiting way? View Details

Keywords: Talent Acquisition; HR; Talent and Talent Management; Recruitment; Leadership; Human Resources

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Research Summary

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

By: Sandra J. Sucher

In this research I develop cases and articles that provide thought-provoking, real-world examples of the ways in which social identity differences emerge and are managed in the workplace, and the skills needed to constructively engage with differences to create and... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Equity; Social Issues

December 2020 (Revised January 2022)
Supplement

Michael Ku and Global Clinical Supply at Pfizer Inc.: Bringing Hope to Patients (B)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2011, Michael Ku became Pfizer’s Vice President of Global Clinical Supply (GCS) after the company had undergone three large-scale mergers and acquisitions. As Ku and his new leadership team set out to build a proactive, end-to-end, digital and physical clinical... View Details

Keywords: Digital Technology; Customer-centricity; Innovation; Customer Focus; Talent; Talent Management; Leadership; Innovation and Invention; Transformation; Organizational Culture; Customer Focus and Relationships; Change Management; Talent and Talent Management; Supply Chain; Mission and Purpose

14 May 2009
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Managing Teams

Sharpening Your Skills dives into the HBS Working Knowledge archives to bring together articles on ways to improve your business skills. Questions To Be Answered How does a team leader win the confidence of the group? What's the best... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty

January 2025
Case

Davivienda Bank's Upskilling and Reskilling Strategy in Colombia (Abridged)

By: Jorge Tamayo, Raffaella Sadun and Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago

Set in 2022, this abridged case examines the digital transformation strategy of Davivienda—a leading player in Colombia’s commercial banking sector and one of the companies belonging to Grupo Bolívar, a major Colombian conglomerate—and the bank’s upskilling and... View Details

February 2025
Case

Luca de Meo at Renault Group (A)

By: Emily Truelove, Linda A. Hill and Lydia Begag

When Luca de Meo became CEO of Renault Group in 2020, the 122-year-old French automaker faced financial challenges and the double technological disruption of the automotive industry: the shift to electric vehicles (EVs) and the rise of software-defined vehicles (SDVs).... View Details

April 2021
Case

Codecademy: Where to Next?

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Max Mailman and Sarah Ascherman

In March 2020, Zach Sims, co-founder and CEO of online education platform Codecademy, prepared for a meeting with his Chief of Staff Kunal Ahuja to discuss the company’s goals. Codecademy billed itself as the largest online resource for computer science literacy and... View Details

Keywords: Monetization Strategy; Business Model; Change Management; Venture Capital; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Teams; Marketing Channels; Product Marketing; Network Effects; Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; United States

November 2020 (Revised March 2021)
Case

Amazon: Cult or Culture?

By: Boris Groysberg, Sarah L. Abbott and Tricia Gregg

Amazon was one of the first entrants in e-commerce. Under the leadership of founder Jeff Bezos, Amazon had expanded beyond books to manufacturing and selling a wide range of products and services globally. Bezos had built a customer-centric culture that permeated all... View Details

Keywords: Culture; Technology Companies; Retail; Human Resource Practices; Growth; Founder; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Growth Management; Information Technology; Human Resources; Talent and Talent Management; Retail Industry; Technology Industry

February 2025
Case

Luca de Meo at Renault Group (A) (Abridged)

By: Emily Truelove, Linda A. Hill and Lydia Begag

When Luca de Meo became CEO of Renault Group in 2020, the 122-year-old French automaker faced financial challenges and the double technological disruption of the automotive industry: the shift to electric vehicles (EVs) and the rise of software-defined vehicles (SDVs).... View Details