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The Toxic Handler: Organizational Hero—and Casualty
Organizational culture Magazine ArticleWhen companies cause emotional pain through nasty bosses, layoffs, and change, a certain breed of “healing” manager steps in to keep the gears moving. They are toxic handlers—unsung corporate heroes who save the day, but often pay a high price. -
How to Have an Honest Conversation About Your Business Strategy (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition)
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleToo many organizations descend into underperformance because they can't confront the painful gap between their strategy and the reality of their capabilities,... -
Companyism and Do More Better
Competitive strategy Magazine ArticleImagine yourself solving an arithmetic problem with the top managers of a leading Japanese automobile company. As a group, Japanese producers already export 2.3 million passenger vehicles a year to the United States. They are also building capacity for an additional 2.5 million vehicles in North America. You remind your friends across the table that […] -
Leading Change When Business Is Good: The HBR Interview--Samuel J. Palmisano
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleLou Gerstner's was a hard act to follow. As CEO in what were arguably IBM's darkest hours, Gerstner brought the company back from the brink. After nearly... -
Gender Initiatives Are Culture Change Initiatives
Gender Digital ArticleAt least, the successful ones are. -
Why Process Is U.S. Health Care's Biggest Problem
Technology & Operations Digital ArticleWithout it, technology can't live up to its potential. -
The Missing Ingredient in Kraft Heinz’s Restructuring
Mergers and acquisitions Digital ArticleAs the company cut costs, its ability to innovate suffered. -
What Happened When Linkin Park Asked Harvard for Help with Its Business Model
Strategy & Execution Digital ArticleA look inside an unlikely partnership. -
The Case of the Machinists’ Mutiny
Change management Magazine Article“You can’t be serious!” Mike Trail, the president and fourth-generation owner of Trail Manufacturing, stared at five older men standing uncomfortably in his small office. “I’m afraid we are, Mike.” Sandy Mulder, the most senior of the five, was polite but firm. “We won’t switch over to the new equipment. We want to continue to […] -
Research: Which Firms Are Allowed to Be Disruptors?
Change management Digital ArticleNewcomers may have the will, but industry insiders have the way. -
How Midsize Companies Can Make the Most of Disruption
Organizational Development Digital ArticleNew research shows three ways these smaller companies can drive change rather than react to it. -
Getting Employees Excited About a New Direction
Change management Digital ArticleThe story of Royal Bank of Canada. -
The Two Big Reasons That Digital Transformations Fail
Leadership & Managing People ResearchResults from a study of 1,350 companies. -
A Better Way to Cope With Change
Change management Digital ArticleBlame it on advances in technology and communication, globalization, the rise of the middle class, population explosion, global warming, or mismanagement of massive financial institutions. Whatever the cause, for a lot of us, things are very different than they were six months ago, not to mention ten years ago. We have been catapulted toward a […] -
The Case of the Downsizing Decision
Decision making and problem solving Magazine ArticleAndrew Jordan sat at his desk, absentmindedly watching a barge chug slowly upstream on the Thames. The dinner meeting he had scheduled with a select group of senior managers at Universal Products Company, Ltd. would begin in an hour. For three years, it had seemed enough to focus on the business problems of UPC’s Connectors […] -
The Change-Dazed Manager
Collaboration and teams Magazine ArticleGeorge Stanton thought a new job would solve his problems. But now he’s facing similar workplace conflicts. -
4 Steps to Sustaining Improvement in Health Care
Operations strategy ResearchHow to get new standardized work processes to stick. -
Innovating Around a Bureaucracy
Innovation Digital ArticleHow to make change happen in an organization that is set in its ways. -
Why Good Companies Go Bad
Organizational culture Magazine ArticleWhen business conditions change, the most successful companies are often the slowest to adapt. To avoid being left behind, executives must understand the true sources of corporate inertia. -
Communicating Change as Business as Usual
Change management Digital ArticleMany organizations spent the last two decades learning not to see change as a danger or challenge, but as an opportunity to manage it to their competitive advantage. Despite this positive spin, results from change management initiatives continue to be less than stellar, causing many senior management teams to view them with apprehension. Considering the […]
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Thomson Financial: Building the Customer-Centric Firm
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details In December 1999 Thomson Financial (TF) began a radical transformation from forty-one divisions toward a more integrated firm organized around customer... -
We've Got Rhythm! Medtronic Corp.'s Cardiac Pacemaker Business
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details Illustrates how a new management team at Medtronic's Cardiac Pacemaker business reversed a steep decline in market share by adopting certain management... -
Taco Bell--1994
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details Taco Bell CEO, John Martin, boldly proclaims a growth goal of 200,000 points of access by the year 2000 (the company had approximately 3,600 in 1991).... -
Indian Overseas Bank: Triggering Change
Organizational Development Case Study11.95View Details Several experts had drawn attention to a peculiar problem existing in public-sector banks in India. There seemed to be two distinct generations: experienced... -
Copeland Corp.: Evolution of a Manufacturing Strategy--1975-82 (C)
Technology & Operations Case Study5.00View Details In the preceding case, Copeland had to choose between two alternative plant layouts for organizing its Sidney plant. Now it must get work force approval... -
Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework
Leadership & Managing People Case Study8.95View Details This note presents the Nonprofit Coherence Framework. It helps nonprofit leaders identify the key elements that support an organizational strategy focused... -
Note on Transformational Change: A Play in Four Acts
Organizational Development Case Study8.95View Details It can also be read on its own to gain a greater understanding of how organizational change unfolds over time. This note can also be used as a companion... -
Maple Leaf Foods: Changing the System
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details The Maple Leaf Foods (MLF): Changing the System case explores how a major food processor pivoted its vision and operations in an attempt to become the... -
Ford vs. GM: The Evolution of Mass Production (A)
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details This case explores the very different paths taken by the Ford Motor Company and the General Motors Corporation in the first three decades of the twentieth... -
Climate Change and the Napa Valley Wine Industry
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details Jon-Mark Chappellet, Director of Operations at Clos Du Val Winery in Napa Valley, is developing a 50-year plan. The effects of climate change are forcing... -
Sustainable Investing at J.P. Morgan Private Bank
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details This case features Monica Issar, then Global Head of J.P. Morgan Endowments & Foundations Group in the Private Bank. In just five years, she and J.P.... -
Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement?
Strategy & Execution Case Study5.00View Details "Being a Change Agent"is a three-part case series set in a rural district of Assam in India. It describes the efforts made by Kuladhar Saikia, Deputy... -
Analyzing Low Patient Satisfaction at Herzog Memorial Hospital
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details In late 2012 Adeline Herzog Memorial Hospital in Castle Rock, Colorado, was facing a problem with patient satisfaction. The Press-Ganey scores for the... -
School of Rock: Tuning into Structured Empowerment (A)
Management Case Study11.95View Details In summer 2021, School of Rock was a youth-oriented music education company with 291 franchise- and company-owned schools globally. Before CEO Rob Price's... -
Organizational Reinvention
Leadership & Managing People Case Study8.95View Details This note is designed to introduce students to the fundamental concepts of leading innovation in established organizations. Reinvention is a process whereby... -
Ron Johnson: A Career in Retail
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details In April 2013, Ron Johnson (HBS '84) stepped down after just 18 months as CEO of J.C. Penney. In his brief tenure, Johnson, an acclaimed retailer respected... -
Turkish Economy Bank and Fortis Bank: Managing a Complex Merger
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details Following the announcement of the merger of the Turkish Economic Bank (TEB) and Fortis Bank AS, Varol Civil, TEB's CEO, is faced with the task of executing... -
Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (A): The First Month
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details Dr. Hans Fritz is 37 years old when he arrives in Bangkok on March 1, 1998 to assume his position as general manager of Novartis Thailand. Novartis is... -
Polyphonic HMI: Mixing Music and Math
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details In 2003, Mike McCready, CEO of Barcelona-based Polyphonic HMI, was preparing to launch an artificial intelligence tool that could create significant value... -
Wawa: Building a New Business Within an Established Firm
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details Wawa, a $4 billion privately held firm, is arguably the most successful convenience store operator in the United States. Explores how senior management...
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Thomson Financial: Building the Customer-Centric Firm
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details In December 1999 Thomson Financial (TF) began a radical transformation from forty-one divisions toward a more integrated firm organized around customer... -
The Toxic Handler: Organizational Hero—and Casualty
Organizational culture Magazine ArticleWhen companies cause emotional pain through nasty bosses, layoffs, and change, a certain breed of “healing” manager steps in to keep the gears moving. They are toxic handlers—unsung corporate heroes who save the day, but often pay a high price. -
We've Got Rhythm! Medtronic Corp.'s Cardiac Pacemaker Business
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details Illustrates how a new management team at Medtronic's Cardiac Pacemaker business reversed a steep decline in market share by adopting certain management... -
How to Have an Honest Conversation About Your Business Strategy (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition)
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleToo many organizations descend into underperformance because they can't confront the painful gap between their strategy and the reality of their capabilities,... -
Companyism and Do More Better
Competitive strategy Magazine ArticleImagine yourself solving an arithmetic problem with the top managers of a leading Japanese automobile company. As a group, Japanese producers already export 2.3 million passenger vehicles a year to the United States. They are also building capacity for an additional 2.5 million vehicles in North America. You remind your friends across the table that […] -
Taco Bell--1994
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details Taco Bell CEO, John Martin, boldly proclaims a growth goal of 200,000 points of access by the year 2000 (the company had approximately 3,600 in 1991).... -
How to Build Your Digital Intelligence (HBR Special Issue)
Leadership & Managing People Magazine Issue19.95View Details Harvard Business Review Special Issues are timely, single-theme collections of HBR articles written by some of the world's leading management scholars... -
Leading Change When Business Is Good: The HBR Interview--Samuel J. Palmisano
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleLou Gerstner's was a hard act to follow. As CEO in what were arguably IBM's darkest hours, Gerstner brought the company back from the brink. After nearly... -
Indian Overseas Bank: Triggering Change
Organizational Development Case Study11.95View Details Several experts had drawn attention to a peculiar problem existing in public-sector banks in India. There seemed to be two distinct generations: experienced... -
Gender Initiatives Are Culture Change Initiatives
Gender Digital ArticleAt least, the successful ones are.