Publications

25 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

Being a Team Player: Why College Athletes Succeed in Business

Persistence. Teamwork. Grit and grace in victory and defeat. Intercollegiate varsity sports may build such skills that employers prize—and that later propel former players into management roles faster than their classmates, suggests a... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

December 2020 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Responsive Working at PepsiCo UK (A): Designing a Turnaround

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Nancy Boghossian Staples

Facing a significant decline in revenues in 2016, David Gwilliam, Head of Transformation at PepsiCo UK introduced a new way of working (“Responsive Working”), which encompasses a set of work practices and some new team structures. The work practices comprise a set of 9... View Details

Keywords: SLAM Teams; Turnaround; Groups and Teams; Employees; Training; Decision Making; Planning; Performance Improvement; Consumer Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United Kingdom; Europe

September 2023
Article

The Changing Role of Managers

By: Letian Zhang

This study argues that the increase in middle management in recent decades was accompanied by a major shift in managerial roles. Increased task complexity and a new management philosophy have reduced the need for direct supervision but generated a much greater... View Details

Keywords: Managerial Roles; Leadership; Groups and Teams; Change; Organizational Structure

August 1995 (Revised September 1995)
Case

Hutton Branch Manager (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Jane Palley Katz

The manager of an E.F. Hutton branch office must decide how best to approach a colleague whose aggressive and ethically problematic cash management practices have cost the branch a major institutional client. These practices had been encouraged by top management at... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Business or Company Management; Decisions; Management Skills; Cash Flow; Financial Management; Investment; Management Teams; Financial Services Industry

Find at Harvard

November 15, 2019
Editorial

Getting Your Team to Do More Than Meet Deadlines

By: Laura M. Giurge, Charlotte Blank, Laurel Newman and A.V. Whillans

When it comes to our to-do lists, many of us prioritize checking off tasks that are easiest to complete or are due first, regardless of importance—a phenomenon that scholars describe as the “mere urgency” effect. This tendency becomes stronger the busier we are. But... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Time Management; Performance Improvement

Article

How a Fast-Growing Startup Built Its Sales Team for Long-Term Success

By: Frank V. Cespedes and David Mattson

It’s common for leaders of sales teams to focus almost exclusively on short-term tactics and current operations while failing to think and act in a way that supports the longer-term needs of their businesses—and it’s hard to fault them. The biggest problem with a... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Salesforce Management; Management Practices and Processes

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26 Apr 2024
HBS Case

Deion Sanders' Prime Lessons for Leading a Team to Victory

Leaders intent on boosting team performance could learn from the old-school, military-style approach of Deion Sanders, a former star athlete and now the unorthodox coach behind the revival of two college football teams. “When I’m teaching... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Sports

December 15, 2015
Article

Don't Turn Your Sales Team Loose Without a Strategy

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Steve Thompson

When formulating a strategy, markets and segments are typically important categories. But only customers buy. Hence, for most firms, de facto strategy and much resource allocation are the aggregate result of the deals their salespeople close. However, few firms clarify... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Salesforce Management

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30 Jan 2012
Research & Ideas

Measuring the Efficacy of the World’s Managers

seven years, large teams of affiliated WMS analysts have interviewed managers at some 10,000 organizations in 20 countries, setting out to determine how and why management... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

01 Apr 2011
Working Paper Summaries

When Power Makes Others Speechless: The Negative Impact of Leader Power on Team Performance

Keywords: by Leigh Plunkett Tost, Francesca Gino & Richard P. Larrick

24 Feb 2022
Other Presentation

The Fearless ICU

By: Amy C. Edmondson

The last 24 months have pushed ICU teams around the world to their limits. As we move forward, we need to heal and rebuild our critical care teams. Healthcare more than ever will require ICU teams to perform at the highest levels and to continuously innovate to deliver... View Details

Keywords: Psychological Safety; Teams; Critical Care; Health Care and Treatment; Groups and Teams; Performance Effectiveness

July 1977 (Revised April 1995)
Background Note

Managing a Task Force

Describes several principles for improving the effectiveness of internal task forces. Suggests a number of guidelines for starting up a task force, conducting the first meeting, managing the group's activities, and completing the project. View Details

Keywords: Management; Groups and Teams

26 Sep 2023
Book

Digital Strategy: A Handbook for Managing a Moving Target

excitement and the growing enthusiasm, at times even the frenzy, about these new phenomena, on the grounds of the pressing demands on managers to deal with the new reality and on academics to understand these phenomena. “Existing strategy... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Information Technology; Technology

July 2012
Case

Performance Management at Vitality Health Enterprises, Inc.

By: John Bingham and Michael Beer

Vitality Health Enterprises, a medium-sized firm that manufactures health and personal care products, has experienced six straight quarters of strong revenue growth. James Hoffman, the new Senior Vice President of Human Resources, fears that the chain of success is... View Details

Keywords: Performance Evaluation; Motivation and Incentives; Compensation and Benefits; Talent and Talent Management; Health Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States

March 1999 (Revised April 1999)
Case

Environmental Risk Management at Chevron Corporation

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, Monica M Mandelli and Jennifer Burns

Chevron Corp., headquartered in San Francisco, manages a worldwide, vertically integrated value chain from the oil well to the gasoline station. Mishandling of oil at any stage of production can damage the natural environment, human health, corporate profitability, or... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Environmental Sustainability; Energy Generation; Supply Chain Management; Metals and Minerals; Management Systems; Management Teams; Trade; Vertical Integration; Energy Industry; Mining Industry

December 2007 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Global Knowledge Management at Danone (A)

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Bertrand Moingeon, Vincent Marie Dessain and Ane Damgaard Jensen

This case explores French consumer goods company Danone's novel approach to knowledge management. In 2007, Human Resource Chief (Executive Vice President) Franck Mougin assesses the company's knowledge-sharing tools and considers his options going forward. Through... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Employee Relationship Management; Knowledge Management; Knowledge Sharing; Social and Collaborative Networks; Expansion; Consumer Products Industry; France

April 2012
Article

Teamwork on the Fly

By: Amy C. Edmondson

In a fast-paced and ever-changing business environment, traditional teams aren't always practical. Instead, companies increasingly employ teaming: gathering experts in temporary groups to solve problems they may be encountering for the first and only time. This... View Details

Keywords: Teaming; Cross-functional Integration; Organizational Learning; Groups and Teams; Experience and Expertise; Interpersonal Communication; Projects; Social and Collaborative Networks; Competency and Skills; Learning