Publications

September 2016 (Revised May 2018)
Case

Zurich Insurance: Fostering People Management Practices

By: Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly

Zurich Insurance was undergoing organizational change after implementing five new people practices focused on manager development, diversity and inclusion, job model and data analytics, recruitment, and talent pipeline. The case provides background for the company, as... View Details

Keywords: Managing Change; Organizational Behavior; Diversity Management; Organizational Architecture; Recruiting; Succession Planning; Management; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Human Capital; Human Resources; Insurance; Leadership; Diversity; Organizational Structure; Recruitment; Management Succession; Insurance Industry

July 2020
Case

PeopleAnswers (A): People Analytics

By: Daniel P. Gross and Christian Godwin

In the fall of 2009, founder and CEO Gab Goncalves has turned PeopleAnswers, Inc. from a fledgling startup to a steadily growing company of nearly 50 employees and $10 million recurring revenue. PeopleAnswers provides people analytics software which its clients use to... View Details

Keywords: People Analytics; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Growth and Development; Human Resources; Selection and Staffing

November 2013
Exercise

People Management (Abridged)

By: Boris Groysberg

Highlights critical gaps between research and practice in the field of strategic human resources management. Also, aims to debunk some myths and preconceptions that general managers bring to their HR decisions. Before class, participants fill out a true-or-false... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Management; Compensation and Benefits; Retention; Performance Evaluation

August 2020
Teaching Note

People Analytics at McKinsey

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer and Olivia Hull

Teaching note to accompany "People Analytics at McKinsey," HBS No. 418-023. View Details

Keywords: People Analytics; Analytics; Human Resource Management; Business Analytics

06 Aug 2018
Blog Post

Parks Management is People Management

I began my MBA with the goal of utilizing business practices for land management issues. Scouring for applicable insights, I attempted filtering my coursework through the lens of a natural resource specialist. However, even with that... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit / Government

August 2006 (Revised May 2007)
Teaching Note

People Management (TN)

By: Boris Groysberg, David Lane and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Keywords: Human Resources

1992
Book

Managing People and Organizations

By: J. J. Gabarro

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes

Find at Harvard

26 Nov 2013
News

Managing People on a Sinking Ship

June 2001 (Revised May 2002)
Case

Spir-It, Inc. (B): Managing People

When Jack Sindler founded Spir-it, Inc. in 1934, he was the company's sole employee. By 1999, Sindler's firm more than survived its first 55 years. Employment was up to nearly 200, with facilities in two states and work done in three shifts. The product line--which had... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Production; Business Growth and Maturation; Interpersonal Communication; Logistics; Human Resources; Diversity Characteristics; Manufacturing Industry

September 2023
Case

Trilling Foods: Managing People with Data

By: Alexandra C. Feldberg and Jeffrey T. Polzer

Trilling Foods, a regional bricks-and-mortar grocery chain, has recently provided its frontline managers with new tools for using data. Allison Andersen, Trilling’s VP of Data Science, has spearheaded these efforts. Yet, as she works with Kent Wade, the general manager... View Details

Keywords: Digital Transformation; Management Practices and Processes; Training; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry

2003
Class Lecture

Managing People for Competitive Advantage

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Management Style

May 1996
Background Note

The GM's Operational Challenge: Managing Through People

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Ashish Nanda

Highlights and explores how a general manager adds value to the firm at the operational level by managing through people. Discusses how assumptions about human motivation influence the employment contract that the general manager implicitly enters into with the workers... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Selection and Staffing; Contracts; Managerial Roles; Operations; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Motivation and Incentives; Value