Publications

01 May 2020
What Do You Think?

Does Remote Work Mix with Organizational Culture?

Original Post We all have had conversations over the last few weeks with people working from home for the first time while sheltering from COVID-19. I've tried to use the opportunity to conduct an informal survey: How is it going? Do you think you'd like to View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

01 Dec 2008
News

Designing Change

Hill, who expects the case to be taught in Marketing and Organizational Behavior courses as well as in design schools. “Most of our change-management cases focus on a CEO or senior leader, not a middle manager, and few consider how to... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

2003
Chapter

Managing Across Borders: New Organizational Responses

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Sumantra Ghoshal

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Organizational Change and Adaptation

2009
Chapter

Organizational Design: Balancing Search and Stability in Strategic Decision Making

By: Jan Rivkin and Nicolaj Siggelkow

Managers often must make decisions that depend on decisions in other parts of the organization. These interactions create a network of interdependent choices and make strategizing difficult. In this chapter, the authors explore the intersection between organizing and... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Strategy; Balance and Stability

February 1991 (Revised July 1993)
Case

Cultural Change at Nissan Motors

By: John P. Kotter

Depicts the reformation of Nissan Motor Co.'s corporate culture and the company's subsequent turnaround in market share and profits. In 1985, Yutaka Kume became president of Nissan and thereafter, he continually emphasized the need for internal change throughout the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Leadership; Behavior; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Change Management; Management; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry

Video

5 Steps in the Change Management Process

Research Summary

Organizational Change: The Market for Corporate Control and the Third Industrial Revolution

Michael C. Jensen is conducting research on organizational change and the corporate control market. Specifically, he is investigating the changing role of the corporation and competing organizational forms, such as leveraged buyout organizations, that are replacing... View Details

November–December 2023
Article

Storytelling That Drives Bold Change

By: Frances X. Frei and Anne Morriss

When tackling urgent organizational problems, leaders usually work hard to identify underlying causes, tap a wide range of knowledge, and experiment with solutions. But once they’ve mapped out a plan, there’s one more crucial step they must take: crafting a story so... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Problems and Challenges; Emotions; Communication Strategy

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February 2010 (Revised March 2010)
Supplement

Leading Change at Simmons (E)

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Susan Thyne

This case updates the “Leading Change at Simmons” series by examining Simmons' increasing debt under the ownership of Thomas H. Lee, a private equity firm. Charlie Eitel, the former CEO, wonders what the company's, and his, legacy will be after declaring bankruptcy... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Private Equity; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Leading Change; Operations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Ownership; Performance Improvement; Consumer Products Industry

Teaching Interest

MBA Required Curriculum Leadership and Organizational Behavior (LEAD)

By: Rakesh Khurana

This course focuses on how managers become effective leaders by addressing the human side of enterprise.

The first modules examine teams, individuals, and networks in the context of:

The determinants of group... View Details

2001
Simulation

Negotiating Corporate Change

By: J. K. Sebenius

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Negotiation

November 2011
Case

Celeritas, Inc.: Leadership Challenges in a Fast-Growth Industry

By: Michael Beer and Ingrid Vargas

In 2011, Celeritas is a leading data communications company in the crowded, highly competitive, and ever-evolving enterprise-network optimization market. Having experienced rapid growth since its founding in 2003, Celeritas has recently seen sales decline and has begun... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Morale; Conflict; Organizational Change; Team Building; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Information Technology; Leadership; Communication; Groups and Teams; Attitudes; Conflict and Resolution; Information Technology Industry; Communications Industry

15 Mar 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Initiating Divergent Organizational Change: The Enabling Role of Actors’ Social Position

Keywords: by Julie Battilana

Research Summary

Senior Teams, Strategic Innovation, and Change

By: Michael L. Tushman

This research stream explores the relations... View Details

February 2013 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Iz-Lynn Chan at Far East Organization

By: Linda A. Hill, Anthony J. Mayo and Dana M. Teppert

Iz-Lynn Chan, assistant director of retail business group and service quality and vice president of Far East retail consultancy for Far East Organization, a private real estate developer group in Singapore, raises service standards in the company's hospitality... View Details

Keywords: Hospitality; Organizational Change And Transformation; Leadership; Leading Change; Change Management; Service Industry; Singapore

Research Summary

Team, Individual, and Organizational Learning From Experience in Two High-Hazard Industries

High-hazard industries such as nuclear power and chemical process plants must learn and improve without sole reliance on trial-and-error. Considerable attention and resources are placed on learning from operating experience, including exchange of best practices, peer... View Details

September 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Teaching Note

Leading Culture Change at SEB

By: Amy Edmondson and Cat Huang

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 621-074. The Risk organization at SEB, a leading Nordic financial services group founded in 1856, undertook a culture change program focused on psychological safety, empathic listening, and strategic framing. The program enabled risk... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Leading Change; Organizational Culture; Decision Making; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Sweden

February 2004 (Revised January 2005)
Case

Hewlett-Packard: Culture in Changing Times

By: Michael Beer, Rakesh Khurana and James Weber

HP had been a highly successful and respected company for decades. It was well known for its company culture and management practices--the HP way--which emphasized both profits and people. Changing markets, strong competitors, and the growth of its computer business,... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Decision Choices and Conditions; Human Resources; Leading Change; Managerial Roles; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Performance Effectiveness; Adoption; Competition