Publications

October 1995 (Revised October 1996)
Case

Disney Consumer Products in Lebanon

By: John A. Quelch

The managing director of Disney Consumer Products for Europe and the Middle East is reviewing recent market research in Lebanon regarding the sales potential of Disney licensed products and assessing the pros and cons of several distribution options. View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Multinational Firms and Management; Market Entry and Exit; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; Lebanon

March 1995 (Revised March 1995)
Case

Smashing the Cube: Corporate Transformation at CIBA-GEIGY Ltd.

By: David J. Collis and Elizabeth Wynne Johnson

CIBA-GEIGY is a large, diversified multinational corporation that transforms itself in the 1990s through a massive structural and cultural change. The case describes the changes implemented and the processes used to effect change in portfolio, people, and structures.... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Change Management; Transformation; Investment Portfolio; Multinational Firms and Management; Organizational Culture; Corporate Strategy

November 1994 (Revised June 1996)
Case

Dennis Hightower: Walt Disney's Transnational Manager

By: Ashish Nanda

Describes the actions taken by Dennis Hightower as president of Disney Consumer Products in Europe and the Middle East from 1988 to 1994. Focuses on how he has established a regional office and knit local operations closer together, the benefits that the process has... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Change Management; Corporate Strategy; Personal Development and Career; Consumer Products Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Europe

May 1992 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Jan Carlzon: CEO at SAS (A)

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Describes Jan Carlzon's actions on assuming the CEO's responsibility at SAS in a time of financial and organizational difficulty. After tracing Carlzon's development as a manager, it focuses on the way in which he developed, then communicated a clear and motivating... View Details

Keywords: Communication; Financial Crisis; Employee Relationship Management; Knowledge; Leadership Development; Crisis Management; Motivation and Incentives; Business Strategy; Aerospace Industry

Article

Enfranchisement of Service Workers

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and James Heskett

Enfranchisement is achieved through an integration of empowerment with methods of pay for performance. Evidence from Ito Yokado Group in Japan and Nordstrom in the US demonstrates the positive effects of enfranchisement. Successful efforts to enfranchise employees: 1.... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Franchise Ownership; Employees; Compensation and Benefits; Service Industry; Japan; United States

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1984
Book

The Middle Manager as Innovator

By: R. M. Kanter

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Management

Find at Harvard

1982
Chapter

Power and Enterprise in Action: Corporate Middle Managers as Entrepreneurs

By: R. M. Kanter

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Power and Influence; Business or Company Management

Article

The Middle Manager as Innovator

By: R. M. Kanter

Keywords: Management; Innovation and Invention

Find at Harvard

November 1981
Case

Assessing Managerial Talent at AT&T (A)

By: Michael Beer

Provides background on the assessment center used by AT&T to assess managerial potential for upper middle management. Contains assessment reports for two candidates. Raises questions about manpower training and development. Students may be asked which of the candidates... View Details

Keywords: Managerial Roles; Performance Evaluation; Management Teams; Executive Education; Management Skills

March 1974 (Revised June 1995)
Case

First National City Bank Operating Group (B)

By: Jay W. Lorsch

Growth in demands on the bank's "back office" required a totally new approach to management. New stress on systems orientation, objectives, measurement, process design and control has resulted in lower costs, fewer people, and higher quality. Also resulted in fear,... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transition; Banks and Banking; Management Practices and Processes; Managerial Roles; Production; Outcome or Result; Banking Industry

March 1968 (Revised July 2010)
Case

Basic Industries

By: Joseph L. Bower and John W. Rosenblum

Policy problems, mainly organizational issues, face a young middle manager in the context of capital budgeting in a highly technological conglomerate firm with high market uncertainty. View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Capital Budgeting; Policy; Managerial Roles; Risk and Uncertainty

Website

Creating Emerging Markets

By: Geoffrey Jones

Harvard Business School has an on-going program to conduct in-depth interviews with top business leaders who have created and managed businesses in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America over the last four decades. These interviews, many lasting several... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Emerging Market

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Teaching Interest

Managing Human Capital

By: Ethan S. Bernstein

The Managing Human Capital course has been specifically designed to teach practical skills for the future general manager (not just the human resource practitioner) who seeks to manage both other people and her or his own career with optimal... View Details

Teaching Interest

Overview

By: Lynda M. Applegate

I currently teach a module in the HBS Owner President Management (OPM) program that is entitled Innovation @Work. The module is designed to provide a general manager perspective on how to lead innovation and transform organizations, industries, and society. The role... View Details

Research Summary

Overview

By: Lynda M. Applegate

My current research builds on past research on the role of information, analytics and technology in transforming business and society. Over the past two years, this research focuses on how organizations partner to build innovation ecosystems that accelerate the... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Ecosystems; Leadership And Change Management; Organizational Adaptation; Innovation and Invention; Energy; Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Organizations; Technology; Strategy; Technology Industry; Web Services Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Industry; Africa; North and Central America; Middle East

Research Summary

Overview

By: Shikhar Ghosh

I am focused on exploring the human side of developing early stage entrepreneurial ventures. These enterprises are characterized by the pursuit of opportunity, shortage of resources to pursue their goals and uncertainty at every step of the journey. Some of the... View Details

Keywords: Scale; Exit; Founders' Agreements; Success Measures; Entrepreneurial Risk; Founding Teams; Entrepreneurship; Failure; Europe; Middle East; Asia

2012
Case

Robert Whelan and the Student Loan Crisis (A)

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Olivia Leskinen

Robert Whelan and the Student Loan Crisis (A) 2009 AL Fellow Bob Whelan developed an idea with partners that was a seed before his fellowship year and seemed to address a significant national challenge - college financing - with a creative concept and experience from... View Details