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Is Your Company’s Strategy Aligned with Your Ownership Model?
Organizational restructuring Digital ArticleWhen the two work in concert, they can create a powerful advantage. -
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 […] -
Manage Beyond Portfolio Analysis
Organizational restructuring Magazine ArticleThe approach is as old as borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. If one of your divisions is not growing as quickly as it ought to, you take cash from a healthy, stable unit to fund the growth. Often this strategy works, but many times it doesn’t. The reason it may not work, the authors […] -
Where Does the Customer Fit in a Service Operation?
Organizational restructuring Magazine ArticleWhile management skills can improve service systems, a manager is better off if he or she first has a clear understanding of the operating characteristics that set one service system apart from another. This author offers one view of services, which, if followed, results in a “rational approach to the rationalization” of services. His view, […] -
Accelerating Corporate Transformations (Don't Lose Your Nerve!)
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleAsk any CEO who has overseen a corporate transformation what should have been handled differently, and you are likely to get this answer: "We should have... -
Inside Microsoft: Balancing Creativity and Discipline
Finance and investing Magazine ArticleWhen you encourage individual initiative, you often sacrifice managerial rigor. Microsoft’s former COO found a way to clean up the company’s operational mess while preserving its freewheeling culture. -
Designing Services That Deliver
Operations strategy Magazine ArticleConsidering the extent to which the service industry contributes to our GNP, very little has been said or written about the application of rational management techniques to the development of new services. Many believe that good service results from the style of an individual entrepreneur or company and is therefore highly idiosyncratic. As a result […] -
Strategy and the New Economics of Information
Economics Magazine ArticleA fundamental shift in the economics of information is under way—a shift that is less about any specific new technology than about the fact that a new behavior is reaching critical mass. Millions of people at home and at work are communicating electronically using universal, open standards. This explosion in connectivity is the latest—and, for […] -
The Superefficient Company
Operations strategy Magazine ArticleYou’ve cut the waste out of your own operations. Now, you face an even tougher challenge: streamlining the processes you share with other companies. -
Privacy and Cybersecurity Are Converging. Here's Why That Matters for People and for Companies.
Technology & Operations Digital ArticleA look at what's changing and what it means. -
The Emancipated Organization
Leadership Magazine ArticleInsights on gender, leadership, and power formed over 25 years on the front lines. -
Why Is Micromanagement So Infectious?
Leadership & Managing People Digital ArticleStop it before it spreads. -
Disruptive Change: When Trying Harder Is Part of the Problem
Innovation Magazine ArticleWhen a breakthrough technology shakes up your industry, should you push your people to see it as a threat or as an opportunity? The surprising answer: You need to do both. -
The Logic of Global Business: An Interview with ABB’s Percy Barnevik
International business Magazine ArticlePercy Barnevik, president and CEO of ABB Asea Brown Boveri, is a corporate pioneer. He is moving more aggressively than any CEO in Europe, perhaps in the world, to build the new model of competitive enterprise—an organization that combines global scale and world-class technology with deep roots in local markets. He is working to give […] -
When to Change Your Company's P&L Responsibilities
Organizational Development Digital ArticleExecutives must carefully consider the timing and pacing of these changes. -
The Gentleman's "Three" (Commentary for HBR Case Study)
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleHow do you reduce headcount when almost everyone gets the same scores on performance reviews? HR vice president Nils Ekdahl confronts that question at... -
Through the Organizational Looking Glass
Economics Magazine ArticleIt’s hard to imagine what our industrial society would be like if, for instance, there were no factories. How would things get produced, how would business survive? But are we, in fact, an industrial society? Are factories going to be the prime production place for a society that is conserving energy and doesn’t need to […] -
Thinking Ahead: Power Tactics
Managing people Magazine ArticleBeneath the general principles, attitudes, and ideals of “human relations” lie the actual tactics and day-to-day techniques by which executives achieve, maintain, and exercise power. In the current enthusiasm for “democratizing” business procedures, these hard, practical devices tend to be overlooked. Yet they exist just the same—and, in many ways, do not depart substantially from […] -
Why My Former Employees Still Work for Me
Motivating people Magazine ArticleRather than just cut jobs, Ricardo Semler set up workers as private entrepreneurs—in his own factories. -
Balancing Corporate Power: A New Federalist Paper
Leadership Magazine ArticleOne of the world’s oldest political philosophies is its newest subject of interest. The European Community, the new Commonwealth of Independent States, Canada, Czechoslovakia, and many more are all reexamining what federalism really means. Businesses and other organizations are beginning to do the same. Everywhere companies are restructuring, creating integrated organizations, global networks, and “leaner, […]
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David Dunwood
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details The protagonist,David Dunwood, is a second-time search fund entrepreneur who in mid-2004 purchased Mountain Auto, a leading auto parts retailer in the... -
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... -
Cheniere's LNG Liquefaction Strategy: Pushing the Boundaries of the Project Finance Debt Market
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details After the collapse of world oil prices during the late 1990s, Cheniere began shifting its business focus away from upstream exploration and toward LNG... -
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... -
Empresas CAP--1994
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details Empresas CAP began as a private-sector steel company in 1946. Over the next 40 years, CAP's ownership structure moved from nationalization to reprivatization.... -
Redesigning Nissan (A): Carlos Ghosn Takes Charge
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details This is the first of a two-case series. When Renault sent Carlos Ghosn to turnaround its alliance partner Nissan, observers were skeptical of his chances.... -
HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing in a Downturn, Expanded Edition (Paperback + Ebook)
Leadership & Managing People Special Offer34.95View Details How do the most resilient companies survive--and even thrive--during a slowdown? If you read nothing else on surviving a tough economy and coming back... -
HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing in a Downturn (with bonus article "Reigniting Growth" By Chris Zook and James Allen)
24.95View Details How do the most resilient companies survive--and even thrive--during a slowdown? If you read nothing else on preparing for a tough economy and coming... -
Starlite: Confidential Instructions for M. Slee, VP of HR Digital and Applied Imaging Division
Strategy & Execution Case Study5.00View Details Supplements Starlite Corp.: General Information. -
Korea Stock Exchange--1998
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details Following a major financial crisis, the South Korean government attempted to revive the Korea Stock Exchange to spur equity investment in Korean companies.... -
Retail Financial Services in 1998: Charles Schwab
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details Provides an overview of Charles Schwab's current strategy for retail financial services. Retail Financial Services in 1998 should be given to all students... -
Sun Hydraulics Corp. (B)
Organizational Development Case Study5.00View Details Fifteen years later, the company has achieved widespread recognition in the industry for its innovative designs, its quality products, and its highly... -
Transforming a Successful Organization: Societal Changes Challenge the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan
Management Case Study11.95View Details This case is about the transformation of the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan (AAUM), one of the major organizations in its field. It... -
Emery Tech: Clif Jumping
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details Melinda Ellis Evers, a Bay Area native and Stanford GSB alumna, founded Ellis Partners (Ellis), a commercial real estate investment and development firm... -
Transformation at Citizens Bank
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details -
Prochnik: Privatization of a Polish Clothing Manufacturer
Global Business Case Study11.95View Details Prochnik was a large state-owned clothing manufacturer located in the textile-production-intensive region of Lodz, Poland. In the early months of economic... -
AT&T, Retraining, and the Workforce of Tomorrow
Organizational Development Case Study11.95View Details By the late 2000s, rapid changes in the telecommunications industry forced AT&T's management team to take on a task that CEO Randall Stephenson called... -
Philip Morris Companies and Kraft, Inc.
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details Gives students the opportunity to explore the effect of substantial free cash flow on corporate acquisition and operating strategies. Students are also... -
The RECS Project (B)
Technology & Operations Case Study5.00View Details TransInsurance Inc. is an individual insurance company, covering all of Canada. In the midst of an industry amalgamation, the RECS project came to be... -
FAG Kugelfischer - A German Restructuring
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details A large German manufacturer of ball bearings and precision machinery experiences severe financial difficulty brought on by poor management practices,...
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David Dunwood
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details The protagonist,David Dunwood, is a second-time search fund entrepreneur who in mid-2004 purchased Mountain Auto, a leading auto parts retailer in the... -
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... -
Is Your Company’s Strategy Aligned with Your Ownership Model?
Organizational restructuring Digital ArticleWhen the two work in concert, they can create a powerful advantage. -
Cheniere's LNG Liquefaction Strategy: Pushing the Boundaries of the Project Finance Debt Market
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details After the collapse of world oil prices during the late 1990s, Cheniere began shifting its business focus away from upstream exploration and toward LNG... -
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 […] -
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... -
Empresas CAP--1994
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details Empresas CAP began as a private-sector steel company in 1946. Over the next 40 years, CAP's ownership structure moved from nationalization to reprivatization.... -
Manage Beyond Portfolio Analysis
Organizational restructuring Magazine ArticleThe approach is as old as borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. If one of your divisions is not growing as quickly as it ought to, you take cash from a healthy, stable unit to fund the growth. Often this strategy works, but many times it doesn’t. The reason it may not work, the authors […] -
Where Does the Customer Fit in a Service Operation?
Organizational restructuring Magazine ArticleWhile management skills can improve service systems, a manager is better off if he or she first has a clear understanding of the operating characteristics that set one service system apart from another. This author offers one view of services, which, if followed, results in a “rational approach to the rationalization” of services. His view, […] -
Accelerating Corporate Transformations (Don't Lose Your Nerve!)
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleAsk any CEO who has overseen a corporate transformation what should have been handled differently, and you are likely to get this answer: "We should have...