Publications

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May 2017 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Webasto Roof Systems Americas: Leadership Through Change (A)

By: Francesca Gino and Paul Green

Webasto Roof Systems, Americas, the North American subsidiary of Germany-based Webasto Group, limped into 2014 in poor financial and operational shape. The company's early optimism emerging from the financial downturn had proven naive, and now, five years later, the... View Details

Keywords: Culture Change; Change Management; Leading Change; Crisis Management; Organizational Culture; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; North and Central America

October 2014 (Revised December 2018)
Background Note

Leading and Managing Change

By: Ryan Raffaelli

Managing change is consistently ranked as one of the most critical and difficult tasks that leaders face. This note outlines the key choices that leaders must make when engineering change. It is organized into four sections, offering guidance on how to 1) diagnose the... View Details

Keywords: Change Leadership; Leading Change; Change Management

June 2010
Article

Leadership Competencies for Implementing Planned Organizational Change

By: Julie Battilana, Mattia Gilmartin, Anne-Claire Pache, Metin Sengul and Jeffrey A. Alexander

This paper bridges the leadership and organizational change literatures by exploring the relationship between managers' leadership competencies (namely, their effectiveness at person-oriented and task-oriented behaviors) and the likelihood that they will emphasize the... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Competency and Skills; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Planning; Relationships; Business Processes; Projects; Theory; Change; Behavior; Health Industry; United Kingdom

Article

Quality Leadership and Change

By: R. M. Kanter

Keywords: Quality; Leadership; Change

Article

Look 'Outside the Building' for the Future of Leadership

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

The author discusses what she terms “outside the building” issues, such as climate change, pandemics, and racial/gender justice. These complex issues are “beyond the boundaries of single organizations.” As she writes, “I call this new leadership for the future... View Details

Keywords: Change Leadership; Advanced Leadership; Innovation; Complex Systems; Impact; Leadership; Change; Leading Change; Innovation Leadership

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October 2014 (Revised January 2015)
Background Note

Advanced Leadership in Public Education: Tools for Tackling Change from Outside the Building In

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Pamela Yatsko

If you want to create change in public education but are not a school principal or other traditional public education leader, what do you need to do? This long, integrated background note examines the inspiring models and stories of individuals who are improving... View Details

Keywords: Education Reform; Advanced Leadership Initiative; Social Issues; Social Entrepreneurship; Education; Leadership; Education Industry; United States

Research Summary

Workforce Change

By: Sandra J. Sucher

This research encompasses layoffs, furloughs and restructuring, global practices that affect millions of employees and thousands of companies every year. In this work I aim to replace bad practice that damages trust with good (or at least better) practice through... View Details

Keywords: Layoffs; Leadership And Change Management; Global Innovation; Strategic Decision Making; Multinational Corporations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; United States; France; Germany; Hungary; Finland; United Kingdom; Netherlands; China; Japan; Brazil

2020
Book

Think Outside the Building: How Advanced Leaders Can Change the World One Smart Innovation at a Time

Over a decade ago, renowned innovation expert Rosabeth Moss Kanter co-founded and then directed Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative. Her breakthrough work with hundreds of successful professionals and executives, as well as aspiring young entrepreneurs, identifies... View Details

Keywords: Leaders; Advanced Leadership; Advanced Leadership Initiative; Community; Change Leadership; Innovation; Problem Solving; Cross-sector Collaboration; Institutional Change; Leadership; Change; Leading Change; Communication; Innovation Leadership; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business and Community Relations; Civil Society or Community

February 2013 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Monique Leroux: Leading Change at Desjardins

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Monique Leroux led a major transformation, overcoming resistance, at a large Canadian financial cooperative based in Quebec that competed with top Canadian banks. Leroux was elected in 2008 as Chairman, President, and CEO of Desjardins Group. In order to compete... View Details

Keywords: Change Barriers; Leadership; Women And Leadership; Cooperatives; Social Enterprise; Financial Firms; Communication Strategy; Change Management; Transformation; Communication; Financial Services Industry; Canada

August 2002 (Revised February 2005)
Case

Gillette Company (B): Leadership for Change

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and James Weber

Describes the actions and behavior of a new CEO in his first days and weeks as he sets expectations for his top management team and introduces processes and disciplines to begin the turnaround of a global consumer products company. View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Policy; Change Management; Leading Change; Motivation and Incentives; Strategic Planning; Retail Industry

November 2017 (Revised September 2020)
Supplement

Miami's Tech Future (D): Developing New Leadership

Traditional establishment leadership of Miami is increasingly challenged by a rising millennial generation that is more diverse and brings more innovative and entrepreneurial “outside-the-building” approaches, including impatience for change. Leadership succession is... View Details

Keywords: Leaders; Civic Innovation; Change; Change Leadership; Startup; Scaling And Growth; Jurisdictional Disputes; Communication; Community Impact; Community Relations; Leading Change; Leadership; Diversity; Demographics; Entrepreneurship; Business and Community Relations; Miami; Florida

June 3, 2020
Article

Business Leaders Have to Create the Change Needed to End Racism

Keywords: Leaders; Change; Racism; Change Leadership; Change Barriers

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February 2016
Teaching Note

Advanced Leadership Pathways: David Weinstein and Write the World

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Tessa Natanay Hamilton and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Following a successful career as a lawyer, Chief Administrative Officer of Fidelity Investments, and law school instructor, David Weinstein became a 2011 Advanced Leadership Fellow at Harvard University. During his Advanced Leadership Fellowship he conceived an idea to... View Details

Keywords: Student Evaluation; Feedback; Online; Leadership; Change Management; Social Enterprise; Entrepreneurship; Education; Leadership Development; Knowledge Sharing; Performance Evaluation; Secondary Education; Middle School Education

October 2017 (Revised October 2022)
Case

JetBlue: Relevant Sustainability Leadership

By: George Serafeim

In 2017, JetBlue, the airline founded on the mission to “bring humanity back to air travel,” was considering becoming one of the first companies to report its sustainability performance according to the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards. SASB... View Details

September 2020
Teaching Note

Miami's Tech Future (D): Developing New Leadership

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Joyce J. Kim

Traditional establishment leadership of Miami is increasingly challenged by a rising millennial generation that is more diverse and brings more innovative and entrepreneurial “outside-the-building” approaches, including impatience for change. Leadership succession is... View Details

Keywords: Leaders; Civic Innovation; Change; Change Leadership; Startup; Scaling And Growth; Jurisdictional Disputes; Communication; Community Impact; Community Relations; Leading Change; Leadership; Diversity; Demographics; Entrepreneurship; Business and Community Relations; Miami; Florida

July 2020
Background Note

Leadership for Change: Seven Enduring Skills for Experienced and Aspiring Change Leaders

Leaders use seven leadership skills in conceiving and managing change projects, whether innovations in established organizations, culture and process changes, or entrepreneurial ventures for industry or social change. The skills leaders need are different at various... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Leading Change; Management Skills

October 2018
Supplement

JetBlue: Relevant Sustainability Leadership (B)

By: George Serafeim and David Freiberg

The case outlines JetBlue's decision to disclose according to the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards and the ESG metrics they began reporting. Data on resulting changes in institutional ownership are also provided. View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Metrics; Leadership And Change Management; Airlines; Innovation; Purpose; ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Sustainability Reporting; Change Management; Leadership; Mission and Purpose; Financial Reporting