Publications
Publications
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(11,303)
- Faculty Publications (1,978)
- November 1994
- Background Note
Why Bad Things Happen to Good Companies
By: Benson P. Shapiro, Adrian J. Slywotsky and Richard S. Tedlow
Describes the Darwinian internal and external processes that lead to poor performance from a previously well performing company. Demonstrates why any business design eventually fails and the role of organizational calcification and poor leadership in the failure. Also... View Details
- 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
- November 1994 (Revised May 1996)
- Case
Walt Disney's Dennis Hightower-- Taking Charge
By: Ashish Nanda
In 1987, Dennis Hightower, was recruited from outside for a newly created position as head of Disney Consumer Products European operations. Hightower has to win initial acceptance of entrenched country managers, integrate the company's diverse subsidiaries closer... View Details
- October 1994 (Revised March 1999)
- Case
Ritz-Carlton: Using Information Systems to Better Serve the Customer
By: W. Earl Sasser, Thomas O. Jones and Norman Klein
Explores the interface of an information system that keeps track of guests and their preferences, and the people systems that deliver multiple services at Ritz-Carlton hotels. The luxury hotel chain's unique service credo and commitment to quality principles are... View Details
- September 1994
- Case
Bob Fifer
By: David A. Thomas and Doug Cohen
Explores the life and concerns of Bob Fifer, HBS class of 1979 and CEO of Kaiser Associates. Explores the many influences on Bob's development and his subsequent career choices. It is written as a biography with extensive quotes from interviews with Bob. He describes... View Details
- July 1994 (Revised July 1995)
- Case
VeriFone: The Transaction Automation Company (A)
By: Richard L. Nolan, Donna B. Stoddard and Hossam Galal
Describes VeriFone's new organizational model and its role in catapulting VeriFone to a market leadership position. Examines the impact of information technology and information access on the ability to leverage global resources, market responsiveness, and... View Details
- May 1994 (Revised October 1994)
- Case
Motorola Corp.: The View from the CEO Office
By: Shoshana Zuboff and Janis Lee Gogan
Motorola, a leader in semiconductors and telecommunications, embarked on an ambitious program of renewal beginning in the early 1980s, leading to dramatic improvements in the company's quality, cycle time, and growth. Much of this progress was attributed to a major... View Details
- May 1994 (Revised August 1994)
- Case
Motorola-Elma
By: Shoshana Zuboff and Janis Lee Gogan
Motorola's old automative electronics plant in Arcade, outside Buffalo, New York, faced the prospect of closure in the mid-1980s, but leading customers persuaded Motorola to give the plant a second chance. The new plant manager, Dennis Fiehn, recognized that existing... View Details
- May 1994 (Revised August 1994)
- Case
Motorola-Penang
By: Shoshana Zuboff and Janis Lee Gogan
S.K. Ko managed Motorola's Penang, Malaysia factory, producing telecommunications components and equipment. As a female manager of a multi-ethnic and labor-intensive plant in Asia, Ko faced a number of challenges. She had already promoted quality circles and quality... View Details
- May 1994 (Revised October 1994)
- Case
Motorola: Institutionalizing Corporate Initiatives
By: Shoshana Zuboff and Janis Lee Gogan
Motorola became a recognized quality leader in large part by becoming a leader in employee education and by encouraging "participative management." Through the Motorola Training and Education Center, later Motorola University, the company invested substantial resources... View Details
- April 1994 (Revised May 1995)
- Case
Laura Ashley (A): A New CEO Takes Charge
By: Richard L. Nolan
In a turnaround situation, a new CEO must take actions in the short term to gain control and exercise executive leadership and lay groundwork to formulate a long-term strategy to rebuild a viable business. View Details
- April 1994 (Revised August 1996)
- Case
American Express (A)
By: Jay W. Lorsch
In January 1993, the American Express board met to decide who would succeed James D. Robinson, III as chairman and CEO. The board needed to act in the spotlight of intense media and investor scrutiny, and after leaks had revealed that there was a conflict among the... View Details
- April 1994 (Revised October 2001)
- Case
Mrs. Fields, Inc. (1977 - 1987)
By: Lynda M. Applegate and Keri O. Pearlson
Describes a small company selling freshly baked goods through privately owned specialty stores (each store sells only Mrs. Fields products). The company has about 8,000 employees worldwide and less than 150 information systems people for a unique leverage of MIS... View Details
- March 1994
- Case
Intel Corp.: Leveraging Capabilities for Strategic Renewal
By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Ashish Nanda
Traces the history of Intel from its earliest days as a technology-driven memory company to its emergence as an increasingly market-focused microprocessor company with emerging systems capabilities. The focus is on the strategic, organizational, and management... View Details
- January 1994 (Revised May 1995)
- Case
Xerox: Design for the Environment
In 1990, Xerox undertook an "Environmental Leadership Program" designed to make Xerox an industry leader in non-polluting operations, recycling, and products actually designed for the environment. This effort flowed naturally out of the system of total quality... View Details
- November 1993 (Revised April 1995)
- Background Note
Orientation to the Subarctic Survival Situation
By: Linda A. Hill
An orientation to the "Subarctic Survival Situation" (designed by and available from Human Synergistics, Inc., Plymouth, MI, tel. 313-459-1030), an experiental exercise that gives students an opportunity to learn about their personal influence style and their... View Details
- November 1993 (Revised September 2018)
- Case
Rudi Gassner and the Executive Committee of BMG International (A)
By: Linda Hill and Katherine Seger Weber
Explores the roles of CEO Rudi Gassner and the 9-person executive committee in leading BMG International. BMG International is the international music subsidiary of Bertlesmann, a German company that is the second-largest media conglomerate in the world. Describes a... View Details
Keywords: Managerial Roles; Management Teams; Decision Making; Business Plan; Growth and Development Strategy; Global Strategy; Leadership Style; Organizational Culture; Business Subsidiaries; Business Conglomerates; Cost Management; Change Management; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Germany
- November 1993 (Revised June 2007)
- Case
Jack Thomas
By: John P. Kotter and Andrew P. Burtis
This redisguised version of an earlier case, Tom Levick, provides an updated setting but does not change the teaching objectives. Chronicles the first six weeks of experience on the job for a recent business school graduate. Emphasis is on managing... View Details
- October 1993 (Revised April 1994)
- Case
Jack Welch: General Electric's Revolutionary
By: Joseph L. Bower and Jay Dial
Describes the work of Jack Welch as CEO of General Electric from 1981 to 1992, focusing particularly on his transformation of the company's portfolio through extensive dispositions and acquisitions and the company's culture through a mandated process called "work out."... View Details
- October 1993 (Revised September 1996)
- Case
BANC ONE - 1993
By: Hugo Uyterhoeven and Myra M. Hart
From a small local bank, Banc One has grown to one of the largest and most profitable banks in the United States under the leadership of its CEO, John B. McCoy. It has an impressive track record of improving the performance of its acquisitions while retaining the... View Details