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Case Author(s): Glynn, John; Spitzer, Joshua Publication Date: 09/07/2006 Revision Date: 11/09/2008 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Stanford University HBS Number: E218 Geographic Setting: Silicon Valley; China; India; Israel Subjects: Capital markets; Equity capital; Foreign investment; Entrepreneurship; International entrepreneurial finance; Venture capital; Organizational design Academic Discipline: Finance Supplementary Materials: Case Teaching Note, (E218TN), 7p, by John Glynn, Joshua Spitzer Product Description: The protagonist is Bruce Dunlevie, a co-founder of venture firm Benchmark Capital. In early 2007, Dunlevie and his partners are faced with whether to expand their firm into China and/or India, as many other well respected VC firms had been doing at the same time. Despite having two existing and successful satellite offices in the UK and Israel, the partners are not convinced that further expansion makes sense. Therefore, to follow logic, they are also considering whether to spin out the existing satelittes to be independent entities or keep them as part of the Benchmark franchise.
Taming the Elephant: How to Overcome the Forgetting Challenge Author(s): Govindarajan, Vijay; Trimble, Chris Publication Date: 10/13/2005 Product Type: HBS Press Chapter HBS Number: 1564BC Subjects: Market entry; Organizational design; Organizational structure Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: Continues the story of Corning Microarray Technologies (CMT), describes how Corning changed CMT’s organizational design, and explains how this reconstruction of a new and distinct organizational DNA accelerated progress. The authors then develop a framework that guides organizational choices to help a new company cope effectively with the forgetting challenge. May be used with: (1561BC) Why Strategic Innovators Need a Different Approach to Execution; (1562BC) Why Organizations, Like Elephants, Never Forget; (1565BC) Why Tensions Rise When NewCo Borrows from CoreCo; (1566BC) Turning Tension into a Productive Force; (1567BC) Why Learning From Experience is an Unnatural Act; (1569BC) How Being Bold, Competitive or Demanding Can Inhibit Learning; (1570BC) How Being Reasonable, Inspiring, or Diligent Can Inhibit Learning; (1572BC) Finding Gold with Theory-Focused Planning; (1573BC) The Ten Rules Explained.
Turning Tension into a Productive Force Author(s): Govindarajan, Vijay; Trimble, Chris Publication Date: 10/13/2005 Product Type: HBS Press Chapter HBS Number: 1566BC Subjects: Conflicts of interest; Cooperative strategies; Organizational design Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: New York Times Digital is profitable and continues to grow because its organizational design allows forgetting and borrowing simultaneously. This chapter suggests specific roles and responsibilities for a senior executive responsible for ensuring the effectiveness of six types of operational links between NewCo and CoreCo. May be used with: (1561BC) Why Strategic Innovators Need a Different Approach to Execution; (1562BC) Why Organizations, Like Elephants, Never Forget; (1564BC) Taming the Elephant (How to Overcome the Forgetting Challenge); (1565BC) Why Tensions Rise When NewCo Borrows from CoreCo; (1567BC) Why Learning From Experience is an Unnatural Act; (1569BC) How Being Bold, Competitive or Demanding Can Inhibit Learning; (1570BC) How Being Reasonable, Inspiring, or Diligent Can Inhibit Learning; (1572BC) Finding Gold with Theory-Focused Planning; (1573BC) The Ten Rules Explained.
Why Organizations, Like Elephants, Never Forget Author(s): Govindarajan, Vijay; Trimble, Chris Publication Date: 10/13/2005 Product Type: HBS Press Chapter HBS Number: 1562BC Subjects: Competencies; Market entry; Organizational design Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: In response to the explosive growth of the genomics field in 1998, Corning created a new division, Corning Microarray Technologies (CMT), to capitalize on this promising new market. This chapter focuses on the story of Corning Microarray Technologies and demonstrates how Corning’s initial choice to replicate its existing DNA for CMT made it difficult for CMT to overcome the forgetting challenge. May be used with: (1561BC) Why Strategic Innovators Need a Different Approach to Execution; (1564BC) Taming the Elephant (How to Overcome the Forgetting Challenge); (1565BC) Why Tensions Rise When NewCo Borrows from CoreCo; (1566BC) Turning Tension into a Productive Force; (1567BC) Why Learning From Experience is an Unnatural Act; (1569BC) How Being Bold, Competitive or Demanding Can Inhibit Learning; (1570BC) How Being Reasonable, Inspiring, or Diligent Can Inhibit Learning; (1572BC) Finding Gold with Theory-Focused Planning; (1573BC) The Ten Rules Explained.
Case Applegate, Lynda M.; Bleak, Jared Presents a fictional vision of a day in the life of a professor in 1998. Teaching Purpose: To explore the impact of the Internet on knowledge work. HBS Number: 9-399-009 Type: Case (Library) Publication Date: 7/8/98 Revision Date: 9/1/98 Geographic Setting: United States Industry Setting: academic Event Year Start: 1998 Event Year End: 1998 Subjects: Education; Information age; Internet; Knowledge management; Organizational design
Article Slater, Stanley F.;Olson, Eric M. Today’s strange, new business world needs an augme HBS Number: BH068 Type: Business Horizons Article Publication Date: 1/15/02 Subjects: Business policy, Competitive strategy, Corporate strategy, General management, Industry analysis, Organization, Organizational design.
Article Carr, Nicholas G. A team of MIT researchers has created an electronic "process repository" that enables managers to easily explore different options for performing common tasks. HBS Number: F99504 Type: Harvard Business Review Article Publication Date: 9/1/99 Subjects: Organization; Organizational design; Process analysis; Process flow
Case Author(s): Bartlett, Christopher A. Publication Date: 07/12/1993 Revision Date: 04/26/1999 Product Type: Case (Field) Product Description: Describes the development and management of the relays business area (BA) in ABB’s global matrix organization. Focuses on three levels of management—corporate, BA, and operating company--and highlights the roles and responsibilities of individuals at each level as ABB creates a unique and highly successful organization structure and management process that enables it to integrate its disparate worldwide operations while maintaining a highly entrepreneurial front-line environment. Teaching Purpose: Illustrates the sophistication of the strategy-structure linkage that is needed as companies try to capture the advantages of global coordination while maintaining the need for flexible, responsive, and entrepreneurial front-line units. May be used with: (9-192-139) Asea Brown Boveri. HBS Number: 9-394-016 Geographic Setting: Global Industry Setting: electric equipment Company Size: large Gross Revenues: $30 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1989 Event Year End: 1992 Subjects: Business policy; Europe; International business; Multinational corporations; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Strategy implementation Academic Discipline: General management Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-398-117), 11p, by Christopher A. Bartlett
Case Author(s): Bourgeois, L. J.; Watson, Dan Publication Date: 03/03/2003 Revision Date: 01/26/2007 Product Type: Case (Field) HBS Number: UV0980 Industry Setting: Building materials industries; Construction industry Gross Revenues: $2.5 billion+ in revenues Event Year Start: 2002 Event Year End: 2002 Subjects: Change management; Corporate strategy; Integration planning; Mergers; Mergers & Acquisitions; Organizational design; Roles Academic Discipline: Operations management Product Description: This case is designed to allow two integration teams, each representing one of two very different companies, to construct a joint post-acquisition-integration plan: Titan Products, Inc., a large, publicly traded, North American multinational (approximately $3 billion in annual sales); and Franz Schuler GMBH, a smaller, family-owned and -operated European company (approximately $500 million in annual sales). Some of the issues addressed by this role-play case include (1) organization of Schuler, (2) staffing of management positions, (3) joint-distribution channels, (4) resolution of culture conflicts, (5) focus of strategic and operational decisions, and (6) performance metrics for assessing the success of the acquisition. The role-play requires about 60 minutes of team preparation, 30 minutes of negotiation, and a normal class session (85 minutes) to debrief. The instructions and assignment questions for the case are self-contained.
Case Roberts, Michael J. Focuses on the young general manager of a new cable TV system and on its customer service department. Jeanne LaFrance, the general manager, has an uneasy feeling about the way in which the department is being managed. She sees symptoms of what she suspects are serious problems. It takes too long for customer service reps to answer the phones, and many customers hang up before their calls are answered. There is little in the way of performance standards, measures, or controls. Yet there is not enough data in the case for students to resolve these issues. The objective is to develop a plan for learning about these problems. What are their hypotheses about the issues? What analysis would they need to do to address these issues? How would they get the data to do this? HBS Number: 9-393-056 Type: Case (Gen Exp) Publication Date: 12/11/1992 Revision Date: 6/18/1993 Geographic Setting: New England Industry Setting: cable TV Company Size: start-up Number of Employees: 85 Event Year Start: 1992 Event Year End: 1992 Subjects: Customer service; Growth management; Operations research; Organizational design; Organizational problems; Telecommunications Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-898-256), 4p, by Michael J. Roberts
Building Organizational Context: Designing an Adaptive Enterprise Author(s): Haeckel, Stephan H. Publication Date: 06/15/1999 Product Type: HBS Press Chapter HBS Number: 7732BC Subjects: Business models; Change management; Corporate culture; Corporate vision; Information economy; Organizational design Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: Firm’s take the first step toward becoming adaptive because old models are no longer sufficient — not because making the transition from a traditional to a sense-and-respond organization is an easy one. By defining the purpose, boundaries, and structure of the adaptive system leaders are striving to create, they will establish the necessary foundation on which a sense-and-respond organization rests. This chapter looks at the three key elements of building a viable design: reason for being, governing principles, and high-level business design.
Coordination: Keeping Track of Who Owes What to Whom—Commitment Management in Adaptive Organizations Author(s): Haeckel, Stephan H. Publication Date: 06/15/1999 Product Type: HBS Press Chapter HBS Number: 7733BC Subjects: Business models; Change management; Decentralization; Information management; Information systems; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Technology management Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: Once leaders establish an adaptive organizational design, they must propagate and enforce it. Because the design may change frequently as the organization adapts, rapid and systematic dissemination of information about change is vital. This chapter describes a technology-based governance system that supports the creation and tracking of commitments among organizational capabilities, commitments to produce the outcomes required by high-level business design.
Article Author(s): Simons, Robert Publication Date: 06/16/2005 Product Type: HBS Press Chapter HBS Number: 2409BC Subjects: Accountability; Customers; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Strategy formulation; Strategy implementation; Vision Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: This chapter focuses on the important interplay of the four levers of organization design. Examples from three different organizations are used to discuss the effect of each design variable on the others. May be used with: (2404BC) Aligning Span of Attention: The Goal of Organization Design; (2403BC) The Tensions of Organization Design: Optimizing Trade-offs; (2405BC) Unit Structure: Defining a Primary Customer as a Basis for Organizational Architecture; (2406BC) Diagnostic Control Systems: Determining Critical Performance Variables to Support Strategic Goals; (2407BC) Interactive Networks: Determining the Right Degree of Creative Tension to Support Business Strategy; (2408BC) Share Responsibilities: Managing Human Behavior to Advance Organizational Strategy; (2410BC) Designing Organizations for Performance: The Alignment of Design and Strategy.
Case Lawler, William; Matsuno, Ken; Wylie, David The new president is faced with bringing the company out of the doldrums. He must choose what vertical markets to pursue, what resources will be required, what organizational changes must be made, and what operational adjustments must be made better to meet the needs of current and future customers. Teaching Purpose: To understand the linkage between distribution strategies and organizational, operational, and financial resource allocation, and between product development and marketing. HBS Number: BAB001 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 06/15/1999 Geographic Setting: Waltham, MA Industry Setting: software Number of Employees: 105 Gross Revenues: $18 million revenues Event Year Start: 1997 Event Year End: 1997 Subjects: Distribution channels; Market segmentation; Marketing strategy; Organizational design; Product development; Resource allocation; Software industry; Strategic market planning Publisher: Babson College
Case Author(s): Paine, Lynn Sharp; Mavrinac, Sarah Publication Date: 12/09/1994 Revision Date: 10/01/2009 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 395132 Geographic Setting: United States Number of Employees: 600 Gross Revenue: $400 million revenues Event Year Start: 1992 Event Year End: 1992 Subjects: Crisis management; Ethics; Organizational design Academic Discipline: Social enterprise & ethics Supplementary Materials: Supplement, (395122), 2p, by Sarah Mavrinac; Case Teaching Note, (395202), 20p, by Lynn Sharp Paine,Charles A. Nichols Product Description: Senior managers of the AES Corp., an independent power producer, must decide whether to drop the company’s emphasis on corporate values and revamp organizational controls as advised by investment analysts and outside counsel. The company is recovering from an incident of environmental fraud at one of its plants where an innovative decentralized “honeycomb” structure has been put in place. Some believe the structure is too decentralized and that lack of controls contributed to the incident.
Case Paine, Lynn Sharp; Mavrinac, Sarah Senior managers of the AES Corp., an independent power producer, must decide whether to drop the company’s emphasis on corporate values and revamp organizational controls as advised by investment analysts and outside counsel. The company is recovering from an incident of environmental fraud at one of its plants where an innovative decentralized "honeycomb" structure has been put in place. Some believe the structure is too decentralized and that lack of controls contributed to the incident. Teaching Purpose: Intended to illustrate an aspirations-driven approach to organizational integrity and to show the interdependence of values and organizational structure. Also invites discussion of the relationship of values, organizational performance, and shareholder gain. HBS Number: 9-395-132 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 12/9/1994 Revision Date: 11/16/1995 Geographic Setting: United States Industry Setting: independent power producer Number of Employees: 600 Gross Revenues: $400 million revenues Event Year Start: 1992 Event Year End: 1992 Subjects: Ethics; Management of crises; Organizational design Supplementary Materials: Supplement (Field), (9-395-122), 2p, by Lynn Sharp Paine, Sarah Mavrinac; Teaching Note, (5-395-202), 20p, by Lynn Sharp Paine, Charles A. Nichols III
Article Author(s): Simons, Robert Publication Date: 06/16/2005 Product Type: HBS Press Chapter HBS Number: 2404BC Subjects: Accountability; Attention; Control systems; Creativity; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Strategy alignment; Strategy formulation Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: This chapter presents a framework for organization design, focusing on the four key elements that organizations must address in order to ensure the successful execution of strategy: customer definition, critical performance variables, creative tension, and commitment to others. May be used with: (2403BC) The Tensions of Organization Design: Optimizing Trade-offs; (2405BC) Unit Structure: Defining a Primary Customer as a Basis for Organizational Architecture; (2406BC) Diagnostic Control Systems: Determining Critical Performance Variables to Support Strategic Goals; (2407BC) Interactive Networks: Determining the Right Degree of Creative Tension to Support Business Strategy; (2408BC) Share Responsibilities: Managing Human Behavior to Advance Organizational Strategy; (2409BC) Adjusting the Levers: Three Examples: Levers of Organization Design at Work; (2410BC) Designing Organizations for Performance: The Alignment of Design and Strategy.
Case Author(s): Beer, Michael Publication Date: 07/24/1997 Revision Date: 12/11/1997 Product Type: Case (Field) Product Description: Describes a division of Allentown Materials Corp. with financial and organizational problems. Conflict and lack of coordination exist between functional groups. Employees do not have a sense of direction and morale is low. The cause of these problems is found in a change in business environment followed by changes in organization and management. Teaching Purpose: Can be used for analysis of organization-environment relationships and action planning for change and environment. A rewritten version of an earlier case. May be used with: (9-498-024) Allentown Materials Corp.: The Electronic Products Division (B). HBS Number: 9-498-023 Geographic Setting: United States Industry Setting: glass & electronics Gross Revenues: $2 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1992 Event Year End: 1992 Subjects: Business conditions; Employee morale; Implementation; Management of change; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Organizational development; Technological change Academic Discipline: Human resources management Supplementary Materials: Supplement (Field), (9-498-025), 5p, by Michael Beer; Teaching Note, (5-498-042), 26p, by Michael Beer
Case Beer, Michael Focuses on the recommendations and implementation strategy made by the organizational development group to address the division’s problems. A rewritten version of an earlier case. May be used with: (9-498-023) Allentown Materials Corp.: The Electronic Products Division (A). HBS Number: 9-498-024 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 7/24/1997 Geographic Setting: United States Industry Setting: glass & electronics Gross Revenues: $2 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1993 Event Year End: 1993 Subjects: Business conditions; Employee morale; Implementation; Management of change; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Organizational development; Technological change Supplementary Materials: Supplement (Field), (9-498-025), 5p, by Michael Beer; Teaching Note, (5-498-042), 26p, by Michael Beer
Case Author(s): Nanda, Ashish; Yoshino, Michael Y. Publication Date: 10/11/1995 Revision Date: 05/30/2006 Product Type: Case (Field) Product Description: Vernon Ellis, managing partner of Andersen Consulting — Europe, Middle East, Africa, and India (AC — EMEAI), is considering how best to reorganize. AC — EMEAI has grown rapidly over the past five years to become Europe’s largest consulting operation. However, Ellis feels that the organization needs to be reconfigured if it has to continue on its trajectory of rapid growth. Each of the various alternatives that he is considering offers intriguing potential benefits but also carries considerable risks. HBS Number: 9-396-007 Geographic Setting: Europe Industry Setting: Consulting Company Size: large Number of Employees: 10,000 Gross Revenues: $1.2 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1994 Event Year End: 1994 Subjects: Business policy; Consulting; International business; Organizational change; Organizational design; Professionals; Services Academic Discipline: General management Supplementary Materials: Supplement (Field), (9-899-035), 4p, by Ashish Nanda; Supplement, (9-396-375), 2p, by Ashish Nanda, Michael Y. Yoshino; Case Video, (9-397-501), 6 min, by Ashish Nanda, Michael Y. Yoshino; Case Video, (9-899-510), 13 min, by Ashish Nanda
Case McGahan, Anita Presents an analytical report on the company’s competitive position and on the industry structure in 1991. Used to show how a company can generate value through steady, incremental investment over a long period in a business model tailored to the industry context. Also illustrates the challenges of market leadership. Teaching Purpose: Shows how enormous value may be created in a business that grows systematically rather than through risky investment in a few large-scale projects. HBS Number: 9-799-026 Type: Case (Library) Publication Date: 9/6/1998 Geographic Setting: United States Industry Setting: brewing Number of Employees: 20,000 Gross Revenues: $11 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1991 Event Year End: 1991 Subjects: Beverages; Competition; Family owned businesses; Growth strategy; Industry structure; Organizational design; Strategy formulation Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-799-027), 28p, by Anita McGahan; Supplement (Library), (9-700-056), 5p, by Anita McGahan
Case Author(s): Nohria, Nitin; Gladstone, Julie Publication Date: 02/14/1991 Revision Date: 02/10/1992 Product Type: Case (Field) HBS Number: 9-491-082 Geographic Setting: Waltham, MA Industry Setting: Telephone industry Company Size: small Number of Employees: 172 Event Year Start: 1991 Event Year End: 1991 Subjects: Control systems; Entrepreneurial management; High technology products; Organizational change; Organizational design; Organizational structure Academic Discipline: Human resources management Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-492-039), 13p, by Nitin Nohria Product Description: 1990 Business Week named Appex Corp. the fastest growing high-technology company in the United States. Appex provided management information systems and intercarrier network services to cellular telephone companies. During its rapid growth, the company went through several structural changes. At first, there was essentially no structure and no control systems. The atmosphere at Appex eventually became chaotic. As the new CEO, Shikhar Ghosh realized that Appex needed some structure and bureaucracy. Once control was established, he reasoned, he could begin to break down the structure. Much of the structural change he implemented had advantages and disadvantages in terms of company culture and productivity. In 1991, Appex was acquired by EDS. Appex’s challenge now was to work out its own structure in the context of its role as a division of a large, bureaucratic organization.
Case Author(s): Nohria, Nitin ; Gladstone, Julie Publication Date: 02/14/1991 Revision Date: 02/10/1992 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 491082 Geographic Setting: Massachusetts Number of Employees: 172 Event Year Start: 1991 Event Year End: 1991 Subjects: Control systems; Computers; Entrepreneurial management; Organizational structure; Organizational design; Organizational change Academic Discipline: Human resources management Supplementary Materials: Case Teaching Note, (492039), 13p, by Nitin Nohria Product Description: 1990 Business Week named Appex Corp. the fastest growing high-technology company in the United States. Appex provided management information systems and intercarrier network services to cellular telephone companies. During its rapid growth, the company went through several structural changes. At first, there was essentially no structure and no control systems. The atmosphere at Appex eventually became chaotic. As the new CEO, Shikhar Ghosh realized that Appex needed some structure and bureaucracy. Once control was established, he reasoned, he could begin to break down the structure. Much of the structural change he implemented had advantages and disadvantages in terms of company culture and productivity. In 1991, Appex was acquired by EDS. Appex’s challenge now was to work out its own structure in the context of its role as a division of a large, bureaucratic organization.
Case Author(s): Beer, Michael; Weber, James B. Publication Date: 10/09/1997 Revision Date: 05/06/1998 Product Type: Case (Field) HBS Number: 9-498-005 Geographic Setting: United Kingdom Industry Setting: Grocery stores; Retail industry Number of Employees: 70,000 Gross Revenues: $8 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1991 Event Year End: 1991 Subjects: Corporate culture; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Supermarkets Academic Discipline: Organizational behavior & leadership Supplementary Materials: Supplement (Field), (9-498-006), 3p, by Michael Beer, James B. Weber; Supplement (Field), (9-498-008), 5p, by Michael Beer, James B. Weber; Case Video, (9-499-506), 31 min, by Michael Beer, James B. Weber; Case Video, (9-499-507), 13 min, by Michael Beer, James B. Weber; Case Video, (9-400-503), 14 min, by Asda; Case Video, DVD, (9-499-508), 31 min, by Michael Beer, James B. Weber; Teaching Note, (5-498-033), 19p, by Michael Beer, James B. Weber Product Description: In the mid-1980s, Asda was one of the most successful retail companies in the United Kingdom. By 1991, the chain of 200 grocery stores had a lack of direction, a demoralized workforce, declining profits, rising debt, collapsing stock price, and was facing bankruptcy. This case describes the company’s downfall and introduces Archie Norman, a young, highly talented chief executive, hired to restore the company. May be used with: (9-498-007) Asda (B).
Case Author(s): Beer, Michael; Weber, James Publication Date: 10/09/1997 Revision Date: 01/02/2008 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 498005 Geographic Setting: United Kingdom Number of Employees: 70,000 Gross Revenue: $8 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1991 Event Year End: 1991 Subjects: Organizational behavior; Organizational culture; Organizational design Academic Discipline: Organizational Behavior & leadership Supplementary Materials: Video Supplement, (2795), 0p, by Michael Beer; Video Supplement, (400503), 0p, by Asda; Supplement, (498006), 3p, by James Weber; Supplement, (498008), 5p, by James Weber; Case Teaching Note, (498033), 19p, by James Weber; Video Supplement, (499506), 0p, by Michael Beer, James Weber; Video Supplement, (499507), 0p, by Michael Beer, James Weber; Video Supplement, (499508), 0p, by Michael Beer, James Weber Product Description: In the mid-1980s, Asda was one of the most successful retail companies in the United Kingdom. By 1991, the chain of 200 grocery stores had a lack of direction, a demoralized workforce, declining profits, rising debt, collapsing stock price, and was facing bankruptcy. This case describes the company’s downfall and introduces Archie Norman, a young, highly talented chief executive, hired to restore the company.
Case Author(s): Beer, Michael; Weber, James B. Publication Date: 10/09/1997 Revision Date: 05/01/1998 Product Type: Supplement (Field) HBS Number: 9-498-006 Geographic Setting: United Kingdom Industry Setting: Supermarkets Subjects: Corporate culture; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Supermarkets Academic Discipline: Organizational behavior & leadership Supplementary Materials: Case Video, (9-499-506), 31 min, by Michael Beer, James B. Weber; Case Video, (9-499-507), 13 min, by Michael Beer, James B. Weber; Case Video, (9-400-503), 14 min, by Asda; Teaching Note, (5-498-033), 19p, by Michael Beer, James B. Weber Product Description: Supplements the (A) case. Must be used with: (9-498-005) Asda (A).
Case Author(s): Beer, Michael; Weber, James Publication Date: 10/09/1997 Revision Date: 05/01/1998 Product Type: Supplement (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 498006 Geographic Setting: United Kingdom Subjects: Organizational behavior; Organizational culture; Organizational design Academic Discipline: Organizational Behavior & leadership Supplementary Materials: Video Supplement, (400503), 0p, by Asda; Supplement, (498007), 22p, by James Weber; Supplement, (498008), 5p, by James Weber; Case Teaching Note, (498033), 19p, by James Weber; Video Supplement, (499506), 0p, by Michael Beer, James Weber; Video Supplement, (499507), 0p, by Michael Beer, James Weber Product Description: Supplements the (A) case.
Case Author(s): Beer, Michael; Weber, James B. Publication Date: 10/09/1997 Revision Date: 05/06/1998 Product Type: Case (Field) HBS Number: 9-498-007 Geographic Setting: United Kingdom Industry Setting: Grocery stores; Retail industry Number of Employees: 70,000 Gross Revenues: $8 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1991 Event Year End: 1996 Subjects: Corporate culture; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Supermarkets Academic Discipline: Organizational behavior & leadership Supplementary Materials: Case Video, (9-499-506), 31 min, by Michael Beer, James B. Weber; Case Video, (9-499-507), 13 min, by Michael Beer, James B. Weber; Case Video, (9-400-503), 14 min, by Asda; Teaching Note, (5-498-033), 19p, by Michael Beer, James B. Weber Product Description: Describes Archie Norman’s efforts over a five-year period to turn around the company by regaining financial control, delivering management, creating experimental projects where individuals felt free to innovate, instituting a back-to-roots strategy that put customers first, and creating a culture characterized by high involvement of employees and fast innovation and implementation of new ideas. May be used with: (9-498-005) Asda (A).
Case Author(s): Beer, Michael; Weber, James Publication Date: 10/09/1997 Revision Date: 05/06/1998 Product Type: Supplement (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 498007 Geographic Setting: United Kingdom Number of Employees: 70,000 Gross Revenue: $8 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1991 Event Year End: 1996 Subjects: Organizational behavior; Organizational culture; Organizational design Academic Discipline: Organizational Behavior & leadership Supplementary Materials: Video Supplement, (400503), 0p, by Asda; Case Teaching Note, (498033), 19p, by James Weber; Video Supplement, (499506), 0p, by Michael Beer, James Weber; Video Supplement, (499507), 0p, by Michael Beer, James Weber Product Description: Describes Archie Norman’s efforts over a five-year period to turn around the company by regaining financial control, delivering management, creating experimental projects where individuals felt free to innovate, instituting a back-to-roots strategy that put customers first, and creating a culture characterized by high involvement of employees and fast innovation and implementation of new ideas.
Case Author(s): Beer, Michael; Weber, James B. Publication Date: 10/09/1997 Revision Date: 05/01/1998 Product Type: Supplement (Field) HBS Number: 9-498-008 Geographic Setting: United Kingdom Industry Setting: Supermarkets Subjects: Corporate culture; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Supermarkets Academic Discipline: Organizational behavior & leadership Supplementary Materials: Case Video, (9-499-506), 31 min, by Michael Beer, James B. Weber; Case Video, (9-499-507), 13 min, by Michael Beer, James B. Weber; Case Video, (9-400-503), 14 min, by Asda; Teaching Note, (5-498-033), 19p, by Michael Beer, James B. Weber Product Description: Supplements the (A) case. Must be used with: (9-498-005) Asda (A).
Case Author(s): Beer, Michael; Weber, James Publication Date: 10/09/1997 Revision Date: 05/01/1998 Product Type: Supplement (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 498008 Geographic Setting: United Kingdom Subjects: Organizational behavior; Organizational culture; Organizational design Academic Discipline: Organizational Behavior & leadership Supplementary Materials: Video Supplement, (400503), 0p, by Asda; Case Teaching Note, (498033), 19p, by James Weber; Video Supplement, (499506), 0p, by Michael Beer, James Weber; Video Supplement, (499507), 0p, by Michael Beer, James Weber Product Description: Supplements the (A) case.
Case Author(s): Christensen, Clayton M.; Kaufman, Stephen P. Publication Date: 09/13/2006 Product Type: Module Note HBS Number: 9-607-014 Subjects: Capabilities; Change management; Innovation; Organizational architecture; Organizational design; Performance management; Resource allocation; Teams Academic Discipline: General management Product Description: Summarizes a model that helps managers determine what sorts of initiatives an organization is capable and incapable of managing successfully. The factors that affect what an organizational unit can and cannot accomplish can be grouped as resources, processes, and the priorities embedded in the business model. Demonstrates what kinds of changes are required in an organization and team structure for each different type of innovation.
Case Author(s): Christensen, Clayton M.; Kaufman, Stephen P. Publication Date: 09/13/2006 Revision Date: 08/21/2008 Product Type: Module Note HBS Number: 607014 Subjects: Capabilities; Change management; Innovation; Organizational architecture; Organizational design; Resource allocation; Teams Academic Discipline: General management Product Description: Summarizes a model that helps managers determine what sorts of initiatives an organization is capable and incapable of managing successfully. The factors that affect what an organizational unit can and cannot accomplish can be grouped as resources, processes, and the priorities embedded in the business model. Demonstrates what kinds of changes are required in an organization and team structure for each different type of innovation.
Case Bradach, Jeffrey L.; Sackley, Nicole Resource Link is an in-house temporary firm, supplying managers and technical workers to the 26 business units of AT&T on a contract basis. The challenge facing Resource Link is to grow, since an increasing number of managers are eager to use variable workers to staff their businesses. A decision facing Resource Link is whether to bring outsiders into the pool or to continue to rely on AT&T employees who choose this way of working. Teaching Purpose: To discuss the changing social contract linking individuals and firms; to discuss strategies for staffing firms in highly competitive and changing circumstances. HBS Number: 9-497-004 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 10/7/1996 Revision Date: 1/7/1997 Geographic Setting: United States Industry Setting: telecommunications Number of Employees: 1,000 Gross Revenues: $80 million revenues Subjects: Careers & career planning; Human resources management; MIS; Organizational design; Personnel management Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-497-064), 12p, by Jeffrey L. Bradach
Case Author(s): Roberts, D. John; Li, Eric; Li, Gabriel Publication Date: 02/01/1998 Revision Date: 07/01/2007 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Stanford University HBS Number: SM30A Geographic Setting: China Industry Setting: Telecommunications industry Number of Employees: 312,000 Gross Revenues: $65 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1993 Event Year End: 1993 Subjects: International business; International trade; Organizational design; Strategy formulation; Telecommunications Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Supplementary Materials: Supplement (Field), (SM30B), 4p, by D. John Roberts, Eric Li, Gabriel Li; Supplement (Field), (SM30C), 3p, by D. John Roberts, Gabriel Li Product Description: An agreement signed in 1993 allowed AT&T to re-enter the Chinese telecommunications equipment market. Bill Warwick, the CEO of AT&T China, faces three interrelated challenges in building a business there. The first is how to compete with established, lower-cost rivals in a market with fierce price competition. Second is how to achieve coordination among AT&T’s very independent business units to serve the Chinese market. Third is what role to take in the debate about linking renewal of China‘s most-favored-nation status to its human rights record. In the background is the issue of whether AT&T ought to be in China.
Case Author(s): Roberts, D. John; Li, Eric; Li, Gabriel Publication Date: 02/01/1998 Revision Date: 07/01/2007 Product Type: Supplement (Field) Publisher: Stanford University HBS Number: SM30B Geographic Setting: China Industry Setting: Telecommunications industry Subjects: International business; International trade; Organizational design; Strategy formulation; Telecommunications Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: Supplements the (A) case. Must be used with: (SM30A) AT&T China (A).
Case Author(s): Roberts, D. John; Li, Gabriel Publication Date: 02/01/1998 Revision Date: 07/01/2007 Product Type: Supplement (Field) Publisher: Stanford University HBS Number: SM30C Geographic Setting: China Industry Setting: Telecommunications industry Subjects: International business; International trade; Organizational design; Strategy formulation; Telecommunications Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: Supplements the (A) case. Must be used with: (SM30A) AT&T China (A).
Case Author(s): Bower, Joseph L. Publication Date: 08/23/2000 Revision Date: 12/19/2002 Product Type: Case (Gen Exp) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 301020 Geographic Setting: United States Gross Revenue: $2 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1995 Event Year End: 1995 Subjects: Change management; Incentives; Organizational design; Organizational change; Profit centers Academic Discipline: General management Supplementary Materials: Supplement, (301021), 2p, by Joseph L. Bower; Supplement, (301022), 2p, by Joseph L. Bower Product Description: A new general manager uses a profit-center-based system to shake up an old line company. He then faces the task of placating a board member upset by the human consequences. A rewritten version of an earlier case.
Case Rosenzweig, Philip M. Becton Dickinson, a U.S.-based maker of medical and diagnostic devices, has been organized into a mixed structure of U.S.-based divisions and country/region organizations. In 1995, three businesses shifted to become worldwide divisions, forcing a reexamination of the relationship between product and geographic units. Teaching Purpose: To examine the organizational challenges of managing a global enterprise. HBS Number: 9-396-420 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 6/18/96 Geographic Setting: Global Industry Setting: medical devices Gross Revenues: $2.7 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1996 Event Year End: 1996 Subjects: Medical supplies; Multinational corporations; Organizational design; Organizational structure
Article Morse, John J.; Lorsch, Jay W. Douglas McGregor’s "Theory Y" fails to explain worker motivation under all circumstances. Recent studies show that there is not one best organizational approach, and that the best approach is one fitted to the nature of the work to be done. The "Contingency Theory" states that an individual‘s central need is to achieve a sense of competence. Competence is most likely to be fulfilled when there is a fit between task and organization. In this situation, competence continues after the achievement of initial goals. HBS Number: 70307 Type: Harvard Business Review Article Publication Date: 5/1/1970 Subjects: Motivation; Organizational design; Performance effectiveness
Article Author(s): Womack, James P.; Jones, Daniel T. Publication Date: 09/01/1996 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article HBS Number: 96511 Subjects: Continuous improvement; Operations management; Order processing; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Process analysis; Reengineering Academic Discipline: Operations management Product Description: Many managers have grasped the power of individual lean techniques — such as just-in-time deliveries and kaizen, or continuous improvement — pioneered by Toyota and other Japanese companies. However, they have stumbled in trying to put them all together into a coherent business system. In an effort to show managers how they can create a powerful whole, the authors studied 50 lean companies in a variety of industries around the world. The companies included Toyota, Porsche, and Pratt & Whitney. On the basis of their study, the authors identified five critical steps that they believe will be useful to all managers interested in applying lean thinking. Lantech, a small manufacturer of stretch-wrapping machines in Louisville, Kentucky, provides an example of how a company can make the leap.
Case Enright, Michael J.; Capriles, Andres Chronicles New Zealand’s participation in successive America‘s Cup regattas, culminating in its decisive 1995 victory. Allows for discussion of how an organization from a small nation can beat the world's best in a technologically, organizationally, and managerially demanding and complex undertaking. The discussion can be broadened to include what firms can learn about success in international competition from New Zealand's victory. Teaching Purpose: Explores the roles of nation-specific and organization-specific advantages in determining success in international competition. HBS Number: 9-796-187 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 6/21/1996 Geographic Setting: New Zealand Industry Setting: yacht racing Number of Employees: 50 Event Year Start: 1995 Event Year End: 1995 Subjects: Australia; Management styles; National competitiveness; Organizational design; Sports Supplementary Materials: Supplement (Library), (9-796-144), 2p, by Michael J. Enright
Case Author(s): Porter, Michael E.; Huckman, Robert S.; Friese, Jeremy L. Publication Date: 06/17/2008 Product Type: Color Case HBS Number: 9-608-175 Geographic Setting: Massachusetts; United States Industry Setting: Health services; Hospital industry Number of Employees: 12,000 Gross Revenues: $2.1 billion Event Year Start: 2007 Event Year End: 2007 Subjects: Health care policy; Integration planning; Operations management; Organizational design; Organizational management; Strategy Academic Discipline: Operations management Product Description: Considers the situation facing Gary Gottlieb, president of Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), prior to the opening of BWH‘s integrated cardiovascular center. This case allows students to develop an appreciation of the strategic, financial, organizational, clinical, and physical aspects of integrating health care delivery around specific categories of disease. It provides an opportunity to evaluate BWH's approach to integration along all of these dimensions and to identify the nature of the tradeoffs that hospitals — specifically, academic medical centers — face as they attempt to create disease-specific models of integrated care. Finally, students have the opportunity to evaluate the degree to which integrated models of care can be developed within academic medical centers.
Case Barnes, Louis B. A woman CEO believes that industry and organizational conditions require that a reengineering/restructuring job be done on her company. However, she wants to gain maximum commitment and buy-in. She does this by setting up employee task forces and teams, but these are only the beginning of new efforts that must be made. Teaching Purpose: To help students see the problems and possibilities involved in the major restructuring of an organization. HBS Number: 9-494-126 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 4/12/1994 Revision Date: 1/5/1995 Geographic Setting: Rochester, NY Industry Setting: advertising Company Size: small Number of Employees: 54 Gross Revenues: $26 million revenues Event Year Start: 1994 Event Year End: 1994 Subjects: Advertising; Employee compensation; Leadership; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Reengineering; Women
Case Barnes, Louis B. In 1993, the firm began to move from a traditional hierarchical structure to client-focused teams. The case describes the process and some consequences of this restructuring. Performance seems to be improving, but some employees preferred the structure certainty and client variety of the old days. How does management deal with these issues? Teaching Purpose: Team management has become very popular, but transitions from traditional structures to teams are not easy. The discussion will center on how to deal with these issues. HBS Number: 9-497-007 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 7/17/1996 Geographic Setting: Rochester, NY Industry Setting: advertising Company Size: small Number of Employees: 70 Gross Revenues: $26 million revenues Event Year Start: 1996 Event Year End: 1996 Subjects: Advertising; Group behavior; Organizational change; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Participatory management
Article Yoffie, David B.; Cusumano, Michael A. The Internet has created new demands on start-up companies: How do you grow an organization faster than ever before? This article draws lessons from Netscape, the fastest-growing software company in history. Netscape executives did fou HBS Number: CMR147 Type: CMR Article Publication Date: 4/1/1999 Subjects: Corporate strategy; Growth management; Internet; Organizational design; Software Publisher: California Management Review
Case Author(s): Eccles, Robert G.; Herman, Kerry Publication Date: 04/06/2009 Revision Date: 08/13/2010 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 409021 Gross Revenue: 1700 Event Year Start: 2009 Subjects: Entrepreneurship; Employee development; Organizational design; Diversification; Management skills Academic Discipline: Organizational Behavior & leadership Product Description: Padraic Kelly became Managing Director (MD) of the engineering services firm Buro Happold in 1996. One of his first initiatives was “Aim for Growth,” which was intended to help the firm grow beyond its current size where it was constrained by a structure of having each of the firm’s founding partners responsible for a group of 25-30 engineers. This initiative was very successful, but the firm then found itself with a lack of leadership skills at all levels of the organization to manage a company of a much larger size, growing by a factor of 10 over 10 years. In response, Buro Happold developed its first formal internal training programs under the name of “Archimedes Academy.” The first two programs were (1) the Job Leader Program, targeted for senior engineers and designed to help them be more effective in working with clients, and (2) the Project Leader Program, targeted for project leaders and designed to help them develop the “softer” management skills to complement their technical ones. A distinctive aspect of Archimedes Academy is that these first programs were developed and delivered by the cohors who first attended them. Rather than partner with a university to develop an accredited program, the firm decided it would be better off developing the program itself, with the help of an outside consultant who had done something similar at his previous employer, in order to make sure the programs were specific enough to Buro Happold‘s Source: Harvard
Case Author(s): Martinez-Jerez, F. Asis; De Albornoz, Rosario M. Publication Date: 11/10/2003 Revision Date: 03/24/2008 Product Type: Case (Field) HBS Number: 104044 Geographic Setting: Spain Industry Setting: Banking industry Number of Employees: 2,700 Gross Revenues: 200 million eurodollars Event Year Start: 2003 Event Year End: 2003 Subjects: Branches; Commercial banking; Incentives; Organizational design; Performance measurement; Sales management; Transfer pricing Academic Discipline: Accounting & control Supplementary Materials: Supplement (Field), (105012), 1p, by F. Asis Martinez-Jerez, Rosario M. de Albornoz ; Teaching Note, (105020), 16p, by F. Asis Martinez-Jerez Product Description: Juan Luis Rojas, commercial planning manager of a Caja de Ahorros (savings bank), faces the challenge of motivating the branches to sell more long-term mortgages and ponders whether to use transfer prices to achieve his objective.
Case Author(s): Donnellon, Anne Publication Date: 04/11/2008 Product Type: Case Publisher: Harvard Business School Publishing HBS Number: 2182 Geographic Setting: United States; Massachusetts Subjects: Organizational behavior; Fixed costs; Leadership; Change management; Group dynamics; Human resources management; Compensation; Organizational design; Matrix organization; Sales; Leading teams Academic Discipline: Organizational Behavior & leadership Supplementary Materials: Case Teaching Note, (2183), 9p, by Ann Donellon,Dun Gifford Product Description: Ken Winston, the regional sales manager at a securities brokerage firm, has reorganized his generalist salespeople into “Key Account Teams” (KAT), to increase sales of specialized, higher-margin fixed income products. Winston is also implementing a new corporate performance management system. To help improve coordination between sales and marketing, Winston must solicit feedback from marketing staff on how responsive his salespeople are to marketing’s directives. The marketing group has information on product costs that allow it to forecast product profitability, and by persuading the sales force to focus on those products the marketers can improve firm-wide margins. The KAT model, implemented six months earlier, has challenged the core internal values of the organization - such as a salesperson‘s control of his or her customer base and the appropriateness of product specialization. However, the long-term test of the new organizational structure will be its alignment with external changes in the securities industry: how securities are bought and sold and the types of new products flooding the market.
Article Author(s): Nathan Bennett; Stephen A. Miles Publication Date: 01/03/2007 Product Type: Article Ivey ID: 9B07TB04 Subjects: Organizational design; Organizational structure Major Disciplines: General Management Product Description: Most managers would admit that the COO plays a critical role in an organization and is highly visible within it. These coauthors have identified four conditions or “rights” that boards and organizations must satisfy to make the COO’s role work and add value. They describe these rights in this article and what to do and not to do to make them work.
Case Author(s): Beer, Michael; Weber, James Publication Date: 07/13/1998 Revision Date: 03/28/2000 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 499019 Geographic Setting: United States Number of Employees: 24,000 Gross Revenue: $6 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1981 Event Year End: 1997 Subjects: Change management; Teams; Organizational design; Organizational change; Manufacturing Academic Discipline: Organizational Behavior & leadership Product Description: Richard Olson, a long-tenured employee, was named CEO of Champion in 1996. Champion had been conducting an organizational transformation since the early 1980s that could be considered successful on most operational and social measures. However, due to industry dynamics, success on the financial side has been harder to achieve. The change effort has focused on the creation of a high-performance organization through the use of self-managing teams at all levels of the organization.
Case Beer, Michael; Weber, James B. Richard Olson, a long-tenured employee, was named CEO of Champion in 1996. Champion had been conducting an organizational transformation since the early 1980s that could be considered successful on most operational and social measures. However, due to industry dynamics, success on the financial side has been harder to achieve. The change effort has focused on the creation of a high-performance organization through the use of self-managing teams at all levels of the organization. Teaching Purpose: Provides the opportunity to examine an organizational transformation effort over a 15-year period and judge its success. HBS Number: 9-499-019 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 7/13/1998 Revision Date: 3/28/2000 Geographic Setting: United States Industry Setting: paper & forest products Number of Employees: 24,000 Gross Revenues: $6 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1981 Event Year End: 1997 Subjects: Forest products; Management of change; Manufacturing; Organizational change; Organizational design; Paper industry; Teams
Case Author(s): Konrad A; Mitchell J Publication Date: 1/13/2006 Product Type: Case Ivey ID: 9B06M007 Geographic Setting: United States Industry Setting: Personal Services Size: Large organization Year of Event: 2003 Level of Difficulty: Undergraduate/MBA Subjects: Corporate Structure; Organizational Change; Organizational Design; Globalization Functional Area: General Management Product Description: The chief executive officer of Western Union had just begun implementing a new organization structure. Changing the structure set out a clear message of Gold’s desire to change the company‘s mindset to a new more global culture. Already the CEO wasfinding that leaders in the United States were reluctant to give up control of product lines. At the regional level, she had keen leaders in place who wanted to push out the responsibility within their own regions and move towards a decentralizedplan. While the CEO supported this notion in principle, she wanted to ensure that the right leaders could be placed in decentralized offices in order to execute on the six strategic pillars that she had laid out for the organization. One thing wascertain - the CEO had made it clear that no revenue decreases would be forgiven amidst the change. Many considerations had arisen: What pace of change should she take? How would she deal with resistance to change? How could she ensure that the newstructure would support Western Union's global expansion?
Case Pisano, Gary P. Examines CIBA Vision’s decision of whether to launch a major new R&D initiative to develop a low cost, daily disposable contact lens, and how to organize such a project should they proceed. One group of executives favors setting up a small, autonomous project team organizationally and geographically isolated from the company‘s existing R&D operations. This approach will enable focus, but poses serious issues concerning future integration. Teaching Purpose: Can be used to explore approaches to product development and operations in a global environment as well as approaches to building new organizational capabilities. HBS Number: 9-696-100 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 3/26/1996 Revision Date: 9/3/1996 Geographic Setting: Global Industry Setting: contact lenses Gross Revenues: SFr 750 m. Event Year Start: 1992 Event Year End: 1992 Subjects: Manufacturing strategy; Medical supplies; Organizational design; Product development
Case Author(s): Christopher M. Scherpereel, Northern Arizona University Publication Date: Fall 2004 Geographic Setting: Budapest, Hungary Industry Setting: Information technology Event Year Start: 1994 Event Year End: 1995 Description: This case is set in the emerging markets of Central Europe, shortly after the fall of communism. IQSoft Ltd Hungary is a small information technology firm spun off from the government operated Computer Technology Coordination Institute (CTCI), an institute that controlled all information technology activity in Hungary during communist rule. With very little capital, IQSoft Ltd found itself competing in the same market with some of the largest, most powerful, multinational companies in the world. The directors of IQSoft Ltd. realized that their organization had evolved to meet the survival needs of the company, but the question was: would the organization meet its future needs? Was this the time to start a strategic change process? Balint Domolki (managing director), Julia Sipka (commercial director), and Tamas Langer (technical director), met to discuss whether the evolution of IQSoft Ltd would sustain the company’s future success. Courses: Management strategy; Information systems Subjects: International business; Management of change; Organizational design; Technology product management
Article Wenger, Etienne C.; Snyder, William M. A new organizational form is emerging in companies that run on knowledge: the community of practice. And for this expanding universe of companies, communities of practice promise to radically galvanize knowledge sharing, learning, and HBS Number: R00110 Type: Harvard Business Review Article Publication Date: 1/1/2000 Subjects: Organizational design; Organizational development; Organizational learning; Organizational structure; Teams; Virtual communities
Case Author(s): Roberts, Michael J.; Tushman, Michael L. Publication Date: 05/07/2001 Revision Date: 05/02/2007 Product Type: Case (Gen Exp) HBS Number: 9-401-040 Geographic Setting: Lyon Industry Setting: Transportation industry Number of Employees: 1,000 Gross Revenues: $2.4 billion revenues Event Year Start: 2000 Event Year End: 2000 Subjects: Decentralization; Interdepartmental relations; Line & staff management; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Transfer pricing; Transportation Academic Discipline: Human resources management Supplementary Materials: Supplement (Gen Exp), (9-401-041), 1p, by Michael J. Roberts, Michael L. Tushman Product Description: Describes the issues surrounding the funding of a centralized research service that supports two related divisions. The company has a very decentralized and financially driven culture, and the centralized service is used unequally, setting up a conflict. A rewritten version of an earlier case.
Case Author(s): Roberts, Michael J.; Tushman, Michael L. Publication Date: 05/07/2001 Revision Date: 05/09/2006 Product Type: Supplement (Gen Exp) Product Description: Supplements the (A) case. A rewritten version of an earlier supplement. Must be used with: (9-401-040) Compagnie Lyonnaise de Transport (A). HBS Number: 9-401-041 Geographic Setting: France Subjects: Decentralization; Interdepartmental relations; Line & staff management; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Transfer pricing; Transportation Academic Discipline: Human resources management
Case Davis, John Reviews the history of Mike Corbin’s entrepreneurial career and describes in detail the successful organization he has created. Explores his management philosophy and leadership. Explores the usefulness of continuing family involvement in this business. Teaching Purpose: For students to ponder and debate the usefulness of family ownership of a business. HBS Number: 9-800-022 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 7/16/1999 Geographic Setting: California Industry Setting: motorcycle accessories Number of Employees: 154 Gross Revenues: $15 million revenues Event Year Start: 1999 Event Year End: 1999 Subjects: Entrepreneurship; Estate planning; Family owned businesses; Leadership; Organizational design
Case Beer, Michael Describes a division of Corning Glass Works that finds itself with deep financial and organizational problems. Severe conflict and lack of coordination exist between functional groups. Employees do not have a sense of direction and morale is low. Provides sufficient data to determine that the cause of these problems is a change in business environment that had been followed by change in organization and management. Can be used for analysis of organization-environment relationships and action planning for change and environment. May be used with: (9-477-073) Corning Glass Works: The Electronic Products Division (B). HBS Number: 9-477-024 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 7/1/1976 Revision Date: 4/26/1983 Geographic Setting: Corning, NY Industry Setting: glass Company Size: Fortune 500 Event Year Start: 1968 Event Year End: 1968 Subjects: Business conditions; Employee morale; Implementation; Management of change; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Organizational development; Technological change Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-481-088), 31p, by Michael Beer
Case Author(s): Gulati, Ranjay; Marshall, Lucia Publication Date: 04/21/2009 Revision Date: 07/01/2010 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 409111 Geographic Setting: United States Number of Employees: 7000 Gross Revenue: $909,000,000 Event Year Start: 2001 Subjects: Corporate reorganization; Organizational structure; Organizational design; Matrix organization; Strategy alignment; Business units Academic Discipline: Organizational Behavior & leadership Supplementary Materials: Case Teaching Note, (409069), 36p, by Ranjay Gulati, Lucia Marshall Product Description: Peter Barge, CEO of the newly created Corporate Solutions Group of Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), is executing a restructuring of the U.S. corporate real estate services division that will enable the company to offer its clients integrated solutions. Barge has created an account management function to coordinate the activities of the three, product-based business units which, until now, have operated autonomously. As he is executing the restructuring, Bank of America, an important account of the firm, announces its intention to reduce its providers to the two or three who can offer forward-looking, integrated services. While Barge’s new organization is not yet fully in place, he is determined to win the Bank of America business, and moves quickly to hire a senior account manager and establish an organizational architecture that will encourage collaboration within his group. The case examines the many tradeoffs Barge must make in balancing the benefits of the former organization with those of the new structure to achieve the firm‘s strategic goal of becoming more customer solutions oriented.
Article Author(s): Kampschroer, Kevin; Heerwagen, Judith; Powell, Kevin Publication Date: 02/01/2007 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review HBS Number: CMR361 Subjects: Facilities; Facilities planning; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Performance measurement; Work environments; Working conditions Academic Discipline: Operations management Product Description: The growing demand for new approaches to support the changing nature of work and organizational structure has spawned innovations from both manufacturers and space designers. The result is a multitude of new concepts and designs, but little data on how well and under what circumstances these innovations are effective. New products, technologies, and concepts are frequently implemented without knowledge of their impact on work, much less their value to high level organizational goals. The measurement most commonly used is still cost, or even less sensibly, square feet. To remedy this shortcoming, the U.S. General Service Administration’s Public Buildings Service assembled an interagency research team and recognized academic and private sector leaders to identify “best practice” workplace strategies and the research tools holding the most promise for evaluating their impact. They evaluated the linkages among organizational performance (Business), the physical attributes of the workspace (Building), and the changes in work processes, perceptions, and attitudes that result from changes to this physical space (Behavior). Provides an overview of the GSA program and preliminary results from two pilot projects.
Case Author(s): Shapiro, Benson P. Publication Date: 02/25/2002 Product Type: Note Publisher: Benson P. Shapiro HBS Number: 999006 Subjects: Organizational structure; Organizational design; Sales; Marketing organization; Marketing management; Sales organization Academic Discipline: Marketing Product Description: Focuses on the coordination of marketing and sales — two functions that seem alike but are, in practice, difficult to integrate. Briefly explains the challenges to coordination and provides some solutions.
Case Author(s): Laurie L. Levesque; Denise M. Rousseau; Violet T. Ho Publication Date: Fall 2008 TCJ ID: TCJ 050105 Data Source: interviews, observation, company documents Geographic Setting: U.S., near northern City Industry Setting: medical devices Event Year Start: 1999 Event Year End: 2000 Subjects: Organizational design; Culture; Communication; Psychological contracts Case Description: Kevin McRider, the COO of a fledging research facility, needed to foster an environment where scientists explored the boundaries of the metals, chemicals, polymers and tools used to create innovating medical devices. The freshly-minted PhDs he hired were enthusiastic to design and conduct research projects that bridged their scientific disciplines, in a collaborative workplace, with time allocated to individual projects as well. Effectively managed, their research would help the parent corporation leapfrog over existing or near-future technology. The problem for McRider was how to get Lintell to realize his vision of a collaborative organizational culture that promoted revolutionary scientific discoveries. His challenges included managerial behaviors that prohibited critical interaction and information sharing, as well as disruptive organizational dynamics he himself had set in motion including pressures to focus only on certain research goals and projects at the expense of creative exploration, and the violation of the psychological contracts McRider himself had created with the scientists during recruitment.
Teaching Note Author(s): Laurie L. Levesque; Denise M. Rousseau; Violet T. Ho Publication Date: Fall 2008 TCJ ID: TCJ 050105 Data Source: interviews, observation, company documents Geographic Setting: U.S., near northern City Industry Setting: medical devices Event Year Start: 1999 Event Year End: 2000 Subjects: Organizational design; Culture; Communication; Psychological contracts Case Description: Kevin McRider, the COO of a fledging research facility, needed to foster an environment where scientists explored the boundaries of the metals, chemicals, polymers and tools used to create innovating medical devices. The freshly-minted PhDs he hired were enthusiastic to design and conduct research projects that bridged their scientific disciplines, in a collaborative workplace, with time allocated to individual projects as well. Effectively managed, their research would help the parent corporation leapfrog over existing or near-future technology. The problem for McRider was how to get Lintell to realize his vision of a collaborative organizational culture that promoted revolutionary scientific discoveries. His challenges included managerial behaviors that prohibited critical interaction and information sharing, as well as disruptive organizational dynamics he himself had set in motion including pressures to focus only on certain research goals and projects at the expense of creative exploration, and the violation of the psychological contracts McRider himself had created with the scientists during recruitment.
Case Author(s): Marshall, Paul W.; Dann, Jeremy Publication Date: 03/19/1999 Revision Date: 07/26/1999 Product Type: Case (Field) Product Description: Entrepreneur Doug Levine runs a fitness company with an incredibly powerful brand. His company leverages the brand to expand, both in terms of facilities and lines of business. But he may need to make significant organizational changes in order to continue the growth. Teaching Purpose: To illustrate the steps necessary to transition from an entrepreneurial, small company to a professionally managed, medium-sized one. HBS Number: 9-899-233 Geographic Setting: New York Industry Setting: fitness Company Size: small Gross Revenues: $20 million revenues Event Year Start: 1997 Event Year End: 1999 Subjects: Acquisitions; Brands; Business growth; Entrepreneurs; Facilities planning; Organizational design; Services Academic Discipline: Entrepreneurship Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-800-146), 15p, by Paul W. Marshall, Jeremy Dann
Case Author(s): Dewar, Robert D. Publication Date: 01/01/2006 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern Univ. HBS Number: KEL145 Geographic Setting: United States Subjects: Competitive strategy; Human resources management; Organizational culture; Organizational design; Brands; Customer service Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: Describes the winning formula at Neiman Marcus that has made it the No. 1 luxury retailer in the United States in terms of sales per square foot and profitability. Highlights Neiman Marcus’ efforts to define who its customers are and are not and to achieve superior focus on its customers by aligning location, price, service, and merchandise to fulfill these customers‘ every need. Describes ways in which Neiman Marcus prevents typical silo behavior between merchandising and selling and how it ensures that the right merchandise gets to the right customer, despite the challenge of doing this in 36 micromarkets.
Case Author(s): Hannan, Michael; Podolny, Joel; Roberts, John Publication Date: 09/01/1999 Revision Date: 06/01/2007 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Stanford University HBS Number: IB27 Industry Setting: Automotive industry Number of Employees: 416,501 Gross Revenues: $152,446 million revenues Event Year Start: 1998 Event Year End: 1998 Subjects: Globalization; Market structure; Operations management; Organizational design; Product management; Reorganization Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: On Monday, November 16, 1998, the day before Daimler-Benz would officially merge with Chrysler, Dr. Kurt Lauk, head of Daimler-Benz’ commercial vehicles division (CVD) reflected on the organizational changes he had directed over the course of the previous two years to make CVD more competitive in an era of industry-wide globalization. To unite an extremely decentralized organizational structure at Daimler, Lauk initiated a worldwide reorganization and the integration of the company‘s manufacturing operations. He encouraged individual units within CVD to look for collaborative opportunities that would enable the division to realize global scale economies. Although Lauk promoted a global perspective within CVD, he believed that the business units could compete effectively only if they were allowed considerable autonomy to respond to their own unique market conditions. Lauk was proud of the achievements resulting from these directives. However, pressing concerns overshadowed his satisfaction. Although the CVD was profitable overall, its Power Train Unit continued to lose money. In addition, Lauk was concerned about Daimler's progress in building adequate distribution channels in the Asian region. Finally, Lauk considered the impact of the merger with Chrysler on CVD and the general uncertainty concerning how a more centralized or Source: Harvard
Case Author(s): Spear, Steven J.; Kenagy, John Publication Date: 07/19/2000 Revision Date: 08/25/2005 Product Type: Case (Field) HBS Number: 9-601-022 Geographic Setting: Boston, MA Industry Setting: Health care industry Number of Employees: 200 Gross Revenues: $24 million revenues Event Year Start: 1999 Event Year End: 1999 Subjects: Health care; Health organizations management; Operations management; Organizational change; Organizational design; Service management Academic Discipline: Operations management Supplementary Materials: Supplement (Field), (9-601-023), 5p, by Steven J. Spear, John Kenagy; Supplement (Field), (9-601-025), 1p, by Steven J. Spear; Supplement (Field), (9-601-026), 5p, by Steven J. Spear; Supplement (Field), (9-601-027), 3p, by Steven J. Spear; Teaching Note, (5-602-075), 55p, by Steven J. Spear Product Description: Chronicles the initial efforts to teach a health care organization to manage itself according to the principles of the Toyota Production System (TPS). Describes the decision and dilemmas that arose from the implementation experiment. Builds on Bowen and Spear’s earlier research in industrial settings. They found that TPS is an integrated approach to designing, doing, and improving the work of individual people and of groups of people working collaboratively to produce and deliver goods, services, and information. The Deaconess-Glover Hospital project tested the efficacy of the TPS in a nonindustrial setting (i.e., health care) and also offered insight into how to convert an organization, managed by its existing management system to one managed by TPS principles. This case provides background on Deaconess-Glover Hospital and on the TPS teacher, John Kenagy. Describes how Kenagy observed the work at the hospital to understand the system. Given how Kenagy gathered data and based on what he directly observed, Source: Harvard
Case Author(s): Spear, Steven J.; Kenagy, John Publication Date: 07/20/2000 Revision Date: 08/23/2005 Product Type: Supplement (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 601023 Subjects: Operations; Organizational design; Organizational change; Service management Academic Discipline: Operations management Supplementary Materials: Case Teaching Note, (602075), 55p, by Steven J. Spear Product Description: Supplements the (A) case.
Case Author(s): Spear, Steven J.; Kenagy, John Publication Date: 07/20/2000 Revision Date: 08/23/2005 Product Type: Supplement (Field) Product Description: Supplements the (A) case. Must be used with: (9-601-022) Deaconess-Glover Hospital (A). HBS Number: 9-601-023 Industry Setting: Health care industry Subjects: Health care; Health organizations management; Operations management; Organizational change; Organizational design; Service management Academic Discipline: Operations management Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-602-075), 55p, by Steven J. Spear
Case Author(s): Spear, Steven J. Publication Date: 09/26/2001 Revision Date: 08/23/2005 Product Type: Case (Field) Product Description: For nearly three months, John Carter, a vascular surgeon by training, had been studying a variety of clinical processes at Deaconess-Glover Hospital in Needham, Mass. Carter was looking for an opportunity to test the applicability of Toyota Production System “Rules-in-Use” in the health care context. After several weeks of increasing focus, he had found a particular process — medication administration — to test his ideas. He had just suggested to John Dalton and Julie Bonenfant, the hospital’s president and vice president, that they create a learning unit or model line within one of the nursing wards to begin conducting experiments. Dalton and Bonenfant received his modest proposal negatively. They complained that his proposal seemed remarkably unambitious, yet, paradoxically, they complained that creating a dedicated learning unit within the larger nursing ward would be infeasible. Carter struggled to explain how they could react simultaneously with such seemingly contradictory sentiments. May be used with: (9-601-020) Madison Avenue: Digital Media Services (A); (9-601-022) Deaconess-Glover Hospital (A); (9-601-186) Process Improvement Template; (99509) Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System. HBS Number: 9-602-028 Geographic Setting: Needham, MA Industry Setting: Health care industry Gross Revenues: $25 million revenues Event Year Start: 2000 Event Year End: 2000 Subjects: Health care; Health organizations management; Operations management; Organizational change; Organizational design; Service management Academic Discipline: Operations management Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-602-075), 55p, by Steven J. Spear
Case Author(s): Spear, Steven J. Publication Date: 06/29/2001 Revision Date: 08/23/2005 Product Type: Supplement (Field) Product Description: Supplements the (A) case. Must be used with: (9-601-022) Deaconess-Glover Hospital (A). HBS Number: 9-601-025 Industry Setting: Health care industry Subjects: Health care; Health organizations management; Operations management; Organizational change; Organizational design; Service management Academic Discipline: Operations management Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-602-075), 55p, by Steven J. Spear
Case Author(s): Spear, Steven J. Publication Date: 06/29/2001 Revision Date: 08/23/2005 Product Type: Supplement (Field) Product Description: Supplements the (A) case. Must be used with: (9-601-022) Deaconess-Glover Hospital (A). HBS Number: 9-601-026 Industry Setting: Health care industry Subjects: Health care; Health organizations management; Operations management; Organizational change; Organizational design; Service management Academic Discipline: Operations management Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-602-075), 55p, by Steven J. Spear
Case Author(s): Spear, Steven J. Publication Date: 06/29/2001 Revision Date: 08/23/2005 Product Type: Supplement (Field) Product Description: Supplements the (A) case. Must be used with: (9-601-022) Deaconess-Glover Hospital (A). HBS Number: 9-601-027 Industry Setting: Health care industry Subjects: Health care; Health organizations management; Operations management; Organizational change; Organizational design; Service management Academic Discipline: Operations management Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-602-075), 55p, by Steven J. Spear
Case Author(s): Applegate, Lynda M. Publication Date: 08/15/1995 Revision Date: 09/26/1995 Product Type: Note Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 196005 Subjects: Technological change; Organizational design; Organizational change; Information & technology Academic Discipline: Management of Information Systems Product Description: The co-evolution of technology, work, and the workforce over the past 30 years has dramatically influenced our concept of organizations and the industries within which they compete. No longer simply a tool to support “back-office” transactions, IT has become a strategic part of most businesses, enabling the redefinition of markets and industries and the strategies and designs of firms competing within them. But to achieve these information age benefits, companies must adopt information age technology architectures. Organizations must radically transform outdated IT architectures and the IT organizations required to support them. This technological transformation is every bit as daunting as the organizational transformation. This note describes general frameworks and concepts that managers can use to analyze their existing IT architecture and to define and manage the IT architecture required to support the information processing requirements of the Information Age organization.
Case Author(s): Applegate, Lynda M. Publication Date: 08/15/1995 Revision Date: 11/02/2000 Product Type: Note Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 196003 Subjects: Technological change; Organizational design; Organizational change; Information & technology Academic Discipline: Management of Information Systems Product Description: Managers and management theorists spent the majority of this century building and perfecting the hierarchy; however, if we believe the press, they now appear to be engaged in destroying it. While many proclaim the dawning of the “Information Age” organization and the fading of the hierarchical organization as a trend of the 1990s, the roots of these changes can be traced to the 1950s. This note provides organization design frameworks and concepts for the design of the Information Age organization.
Article Author(s): Simons, Robert L. Publication Date: 07/01/2005 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article HBS Number: R0507D Industry Setting: Discount retail; Investment banking; Medical equipment & device industry; Software industry Subjects: Accountability; Control; Employee development; Employee empowerment; Failures; Influence; Job analysis; Organizational design; Performance effectiveness; Performance measurement; Resource allocation; Tradeoff analysis Academic Discipline: Organizational behavior & leadership Product Description: Tales of great strategies derailed by poor execution are all too common. That’s because some organizations are designed to fail. For a company to achieve its potential, each employee‘s supply of organizational resources should equal the demand, and the same balance must apply to every business unit and to the company as a whole. To carry out his or her job, each employee has to know the answers to four basic questions: What resources do I control to accomplish my tasks? What measures will be used to evaluate my performance? Whom do I need to interact with and influence to achieve my goals? And how much support can I expect when I reach out to others for help? The questions correspond to what the author calls the four basic spans of a job — control, accountability, influence, and support. Each span can be adjusted so that it is narrow or wide or somewhere in between. If you get the settings right, you can design a job in which a talented individual can successfully execute on your company's strategy. If you get the settings wrong, it will be difficult for an employee to be effective. The first step is to set the span of control to reflect the resources allocated to each position and unit that plays an important role in delivering customer value. This setting, like the others, is determined by how the business creates value for customers and differenti Source: Harvard
Article Author(s): Simons, Robert Publication Date: 06/16/2005 Product Type: HBS Press Chapter HBS Number: 2410BC Subjects: Accountability; Control systems; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Strategy formulation; Strategy implementation; Vision Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: In this chapter, the author brings the analysis down to the ground level — the level of individual people and business units — to test whether different designs are capable of implementing strategy successfully. May be used with: (2403BC) The Tensions of Organization Design: Optimizing Trade-offs; (2404BC) Aligning Span of Attention: The Goal of Organization Design; (2405BC) Unit Structure: Defining a Primary Customer as a Basis for Organizational Architecture; (2406BC) Diagnostic Control Systems: Determining Critical Performance Variables to Support Strategic Goals; (2407BC) Interactive Networks: Determining the Right Degree of Creative Tension to Support Business Strategy; (2408BC) Share Responsibilities: Managing Human Behavior to Advance Organizational Strategy; (2409BC) Adjusting the Levers: Three Examples: Levers of Organization Design at Work.
Article Shostack, G. Lynn The root of most service problems is a lack of systematic design and control. The use of a blueprint can help a service developer not only to identify problems ahead of time but also to see the potential for new market opportunities. A service company that relies on ad hoc management is not equipped to react quickly to market needs and opportunities. HBS Number: 84115 Type: Harvard Business Review Article Publication Date: 1/1/1984 Subjects: Customer relations; Operations management; Organizational design; Services
Case Author(s): Groysberg, Boris; Cowen, Amanda Publication Date: 11/14/2006 Revision Date: 05/24/2007 Product Type: Note HBS Number: 9-407-015 Subjects: Human resources management; Leadership development; Management training; Organizational design; Organizational structure Academic Discipline: Organizational behavior & leadership Product Description: Provides an overview of leadership development for the manager charged with developing a single individual or corporate leadership program. Introduces a framework for understanding the components of developmental experiences and then applies it to a range of experiences, including: formal and informal feedback, training, job assignments, and mentoring. Concludes with a discussion of the leadership development process — in particular, the need to factor in organizational context and individual differences when selecting and sequencing developmental experiences.
Article Author(s): Simons, Robert Publication Date: 06/16/2005 Product Type: HBS Press Chapter HBS Number: 2406BC Subjects: Accountability; Control systems; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Performance measurement; Resistance; Strategy implementation Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: This chapter introduces the second of the four Cs of organization design-critical performance variables — and examines how accountability and resistance factor in to designing an organization that creates value. May be used with: (2404BC) Aligning Span of Attention: The Goal of Organization Design; (2403BC) The Tensions of Organization Design: Optimizing Trade-offs; (2405BC) Unit Structure: Defining a Primary Customer as a Basis for Organizational Architecture; (2407BC) Interactive Networks: Determining the Right Degree of Creative Tension to Support Business Strategy; (2408BC) Share Responsibilities: Managing Human Behavior to Advance Organizational Strategy; (2409BC) Adjusting the Levers: Three Examples: Levers of Organization Design at Work; (2410BC) Designing Organizations for Performance: The Alignment of Design and Strategy.
Case Author(s): Simons, Robert L.; Reinbergs, Indra A. Publication Date: 09/07/2001 Revision Date: 11/20/2001 Product Type: Case (Field) Product Description: Requires students to draw a new organization structure diagram for a rapidly evolving business. A/S DIENA is a newspaper publisher founded during Latvia’s 1990/91 struggle for independence from the USSR with a clear social mission to support democracy. With the help of Swedish investors, over the 1990s the entrepreneurial business survives the ups and downs of the transition economy to build a leading national newspaper. In 1997, seeking new sources of growth, A/S DIENA expands outside the Latvian capital to set up the Regional Press Group, a decentralized network of community newspapers emphasizing employee ownership and a separation of roles between editors and publishers. By 2001, however, the community newspaper market is shrinking, the Regional Press Group is not yet profitable, and a Western-style profit planning system is met with some resistance by former state employees. The decision point focuses on how to redesign the Regional Press Group and its interactions with the national newspaper and the other business units of A/S DIENA. HBS Number: 9-102-001 Geographic Setting: Riga, Latvia Industry Setting: newspaper/media Number of Employees: 1,300 Gross Revenues: $24 million revenues Event Year Start: 2001 Event Year End: 2001 Subjects: Accounting & control; Business & society; Decentralization; Eastern Europe; Newspapers; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Social enterprise Academic Discipline: Accounting & control Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-103-006), 21p, by Robert L. Simons, Indra A. Reinbergs
Cases A and B Charles S. Osborn, Barbara CofskyBarbara Cofsky, the manager of DEC’s Eastern Massachusetts Financial Management Center, has worked to develop self-managed teams among her direct reports. Now, because of a sweeping reorganization, the Eastern Mass Center will be closed. Cofsky wants to encourage Digital‘s management to use teams more widely, so she reassesses her organization. Do self-managed teams improve upon hierarchies? Should she fight to help team concepts survive the reorganization? What are her options? Source: North American Case Research Association, Case Research Journal, Summer/Fall 1995, Vol. 15, Issues 3 & 4, Copyright 1995. Courses: Accounting Information Systems; Organizational Behavior; Quality Management Topics:
Case Author(s): Wong, Gilbert ; Chung, Po ; Lau, Josephine Publication Date: 09/01/2009 Product Type: Case Publisher: University of Hong Kong HBS Number: HKU855 Geographic Setting: China Subjects: Cross cultural relations; Entrepreneurship; Operations; Competitive strategy; Organizational design; Design; Brand management Academic Discipline: Entrepreneurship Supplementary Materials: Case Teaching Note, (HKU856), 12p, by Po Chung,Gilbert Wong,Josephine Lau Product Description: Georgie Yam went to Shanghai in 2001 as consultant for a German hair-care product line. Being a massage enthusiast, he quickly spotted a gap in the city’s spa market for a value-for-money relaxation product. One discussion with his colleague and soon-to-be business partner, Eve Zhou, cemented the decision to begin drafting plans for a Western-style spa with a mystical oriental touch. Dragonfly Therapeutic Retreats was launched in 2003. Within the first two years of operations, the partners had successfully opened three shops and had no plans of stopping there. By March 2009, Dragonfly operated a network of 20 local branches and three branches overseas. The question now was how to manage rapid expansion without compromising the brand and its high standards.
Article Author(s): Harreld, J. Bruce; O’Reilly, Charles A.; Tushman, Michael L. Publication Date: 08/01/2007 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review HBS Number: CMR370 Subjects: Organizational design; Corporate strategy; Organizational change Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: In the past 15 years, IBM has undergone a remarkable transformation from a struggling seller of hardware to a successful broad range solutions provider. Underlying this change is a story of foresighted strategy and disciplined execution — of connecting knowing to doing. In strategic terms, the IBM transformation illustrates the ideas behind dynamic capabilities, showing how the company has been able to sense changes in the marketplace and to seize these opportunities by reconfiguring existing assets and competencies. We review the literature on dynamic capabilities and, using IBM as an example, show how their strategy process permits them both to explore new markets and technologies (e.g., life sciences, pervasive computing) as well as to exploit mature products and markets (e.g., mainframe computers, middleware).
Case Author(s): Applegate, Lynda M.; Gogan, Janis L. Publication Date: 07/25/1995 Revision Date: 10/06/1995 Product Type: Note Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 196006 Subjects: Organizational design; Marketing strategy; Information & technology Academic Discipline: General management Product Description: In a 1966 Harvard Business Review article, Felix Kaufman implored general managers to think beyond their own organizational boundaries to the possibilities of interorganizational systems (IOS) — networked computers that enable companies to share information and information processing across organizational boundaries. His was a visionary argument that was already becoming a reality; from entrepreneurial actions at American Hospital Supply Corp. and American Airlines grew two legendary strategic IT applications that changed the face of their respective industries. In doing so, they helped change the role of IT so that it became a tool to support commerce — the organizational strategies, structures, and systems through which an organization conducts business with buyers, sellers, and other industry participants. Today, many of the most dramatic and potentially powerful uses of IT involve networks that transcend company boundaries. These IOS enable firms to incorporate buyers, suppliers, and partners in the redesign of their key business processes, thereby enhancing productivity, quality, speed, and flexibility.
Case Collis, David J.; Johnson, Elizabeth Describes, in the words of its co-founder, the history of EnClean, an industrial and environmental services company, from its origins in 1984. The company grew rapidly and diversified into new businesses and new geographies both through acquisition and internally. It went public in 1989 but then suffered major losses in 1992 and 1993. The founder must now decide how to respond to a secret board ultimatum. Teaching Purpose: Enables students to evaluate and critique the development of a corporate strategy, to analyze the requirements in growing a multi-business operation, and to develop a plan of action for restructuring the company. HBS Number: 9-794-115 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 3/23/1994 Revision Date: 4/3/1995 Geographic Setting: Texas Industry Setting: industrial & environmental services Number of Employees: 1,750 Gross Revenues: $107 million revenues Event Year Start: 1984 Event Year End: 1993 Subjects: Corporate strategy; Diversification; Environmental protection; Growth strategy; MIS; Organizational design Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-795-071), 18p, by David J. Collis; Case Video, (9-796-508), 6 min, by David J. Collis
Case Author(s): Gabarro, John J. Publication Date: 11/17/1993 Revision Date: 07/17/2007 Product Type: Case (Field) HBS Number: 9-494-005 Geographic Setting: New England Industry Setting: Telephone industry Subjects: Interpersonal relations; Leadership; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Subsidiaries; Superior & subordinate Academic Discipline: Organizational behavior & leadership Supplementary Materials: Supplement (Field), (9-494-006), 1p, by John J. Gabarro; Supplement (Field), (9-494-007), 3p, by John J. Gabarro; Supplement (Field), (9-494-008), 3p, by John J. Gabarro; Supplement (Field), (9-494-009), 1p, by John J. Gabarro; Teaching Note, (5-496-046), 10p, by John J. Gabarro, Judith Maas Product Description: Describes the problems facing a recent MBA graduate in his job as general manager of a mobile cellular company owned by a parent corporation. Raises issues of corporate divisional relationships and the difficulties facing an inexperienced manager who seems to be receiving little support. A redisguised version of an earlier case. May be used with: (9-494-113) Richard Jenkins.
Case Author(s): Gabarro, John J. Publication Date: 11/17/1993 Revision Date: 10/13/1995 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 494005 Geographic Setting: United States Subjects: Organizational behavior; Interpersonal relations; Superior & subordinate; Subsidiaries; Leadership; Organizational design Academic Discipline: Organizational Behavior & leadership Supplementary Materials: Supplement, (494006), 1p, by John J. Gabarro; Supplement, (494007), 3p, by John J. Gabarro; Supplement, (494008), 3p, by John J. Gabarro; Supplement, (494009), 1p, by John J. Gabarro; Case Teaching Note, (496046), 10p, by Judith Maas Product Description: Describes the problems facing a recent MBA graduate in his job as general manager of a mobile cellular company owned by a parent corporation. Raises issues of corporate divisional relationships and the difficulties facing an inexperienced manager who seems to be receiving little support. A redisguised version of an earlier case.
Case Author(s): Gabarro, John J. Publication Date: 11/17/1993 Product Type: Supplement (Field) Product Description: This one-paragraph case adds to the data presented in the (A) case. A redisguised version of an earlier case. Must be used with: (9-494-005) Erik Peterson (A). HBS Number: 9-494-006 Subjects: Communications industry; Entertainment industry; Interpersonal relations; Leadership; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Subsidiaries; Superior & subordinate Academic Discipline: Organizational behavior & leadership Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-496-046), 10p, by John J. Gabarro, Judith Maas
Case Author(s): Gabarro, John J. Publication Date: 11/17/1993 Product Type: Supplement (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 494007 Subjects: Organizational behavior; Interpersonal relations; Superior & subordinate; Subsidiaries; Leadership; Organizational design Academic Discipline: Organizational Behavior & leadership Supplementary Materials: Case Teaching Note, (496046), 10p, by Judith Maas Product Description: Describes the outcome of Erik Peterson’s one-day meeting with his superior and the events of the subsequent day‘s meeting with the president and vice president of operations of the parent company. Students should have read the (A) and (B) cases. The (C) case may be assigned with the (D) case. A redisguised version of an earlier case.
Case Author(s): Gabarro, John J. Publication Date: 11/17/1993 Product Type: Supplement (Field) Product Description: Describes the outcome of Erik Peterson’s one-day meeting with his superior and the events of the subsequent day‘s meeting with the president and vice president of operations of the parent company. Students should have read the (A) and (B) cases. The (C) case may be assigned with the (D) case. A redisguised version of an earlier case. Must be used with: (9-494-005) Erik Peterson (A). HBS Number: 9-494-007 Subjects: Communications industry; Entertainment industry; Interpersonal relations; Leadership; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Subsidiaries; Superior & subordinate Academic Discipline: Organizational behavior & leadership Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-496-046), 10p, by John J. Gabarro, Judith Maas
Case Author(s): Gabarro, John J. Publication Date: 10/29/1993 Revision Date: 12/18/1998 Product Type: Supplement (Field) HBS Number: 9-494-008 Industry Setting: Communications industry; Entertainment industry Subjects: Interpersonal relations; Leadership; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Subsidiaries; Superior & subordinate Academic Discipline: Organizational behavior & leadership Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-496-046), 10p, by John J. Gabarro, Judith Maas Product Description: Implicitly raises the question of what Peterson should do to extricate himself from his difficulties. Should he consider resignation, go directly to the company’s president to seek relief, or clarify the situation within the company? A redisguised version of an earlier case. Must be used with: (9-494-005) Erik Peterson (A).
Case Author(s): Gabarro, John J. Publication Date: 10/29/1993 Revision Date: 12/18/1998 Product Type: Supplement (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 494008 Subjects: Organizational behavior; Interpersonal relations; Superior & subordinate; Subsidiaries; Leadership; Organizational design Academic Discipline: Organizational Behavior & leadership Supplementary Materials: Case Teaching Note, (496046), 10p, by Judith Maas Product Description: Implicitly raises the question of what Peterson should do to extricate himself from his difficulties. Should he consider resignation, go directly to the company’s president to seek relief, or clarify the situation within the company? A redisguised version of an earlier case.
Case Author(s): Gabarro, John J. Publication Date: 11/17/1993 Revision Date: 03/07/1994 Product Type: Supplement (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 494009 Subjects: Organizational behavior; Interpersonal relations; Superior & subordinate; Subsidiaries; Leadership; Organizational design Academic Discipline: Organizational Behavior & leadership Supplementary Materials: Case Teaching Note, (496046), 10p, by Judith Maas Product Description: Presents the final outcome of the events. The William Jurgens case presents a description from the corporation president’s point of view of the series of events (as reported in the Erik Peterson (A), (B), (C), and (D) cases). The Jurgens case can be assigned with Erik Peterson (E) to give a broader perspective on Olafson‘s behavior and problems. This case can be handed out during class discussion of the (D) case. A redisguised version of an earlier case.
Case Author(s): Gabarro, John J. Publication Date: 11/17/1993 Revision Date: 03/07/1994 Product Type: Supplement (Field) Product Description: Presents the final outcome of the events. The William Jurgens case presents a description from the corporation president’s point of view of the series of events (as reported in the Erik Peterson (A), (B), (C), and (D) cases). The Jurgens case can be assigned with Erik Peterson (E) to give a broader perspective on Olafson‘s behavior and problems. This case can be handed out during class discussion of the (D) case. A redisguised version of an earlier case. Must be used with: (9-494-005) Erik Peterson (A). HBS Number: 9-494-009 Subjects: Communications industry; Entertainment industry; Interpersonal relations; Leadership; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Subsidiaries; Superior & subordinate Academic Discipline: Organizational behavior & leadership Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-496-046), 10p, by John J. Gabarro, Judith Maas
Case Author(s): Gabarro, John J.; Graff, Samantha K. Publication Date: 06/06/1995 Revision Date: 06/23/1995 Product Type: Case (Field) Product Description: Intended to be a robust example of the challenges encountered during the early stages of a large-scale organizational transformation effort in a professional service firm. Describes a massive change program initiated and led by the new managing partner along with a small group of firm leaders. The first half outlines the conceptual phase, the process of obtaining firm-wide “buy-in” to the idea of change, and the launching of 10 change initiatives. The second half explores three challenges identified by the change leaderhsip that they intended to address in the coming year. The first concerned the organization of the London office (which accounted for over half of the firm’s revenues and professionals). The second was growing dissatisfaction among the firm‘s non-partner senior managers. The third problem was the increasingly frequent feedback that many people were overwhelmed by the number of change initiatives or were confused by how the initiatives related to one another. May be used with: (9-496-010) Ernst & Young United Kingdom (B). HBS Number: 9-495-061 Geographic Setting: United Kingdom Industry Setting: accounting Number of Employees: 6,500 Gross Revenues: $500 million revenues Event Year Start: 1992 Event Year End: 1994 Subjects: Leadership; Management of change; Management of professionals; Organizational change; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Reorganization; United Kingdom Academic Discipline: Human resources management
Case Gabarro, John J.; Graff, Samantha K. Intended to be a robust example of the challenges encountered during the early stages of a large-scale organizational transformation effort in a professional service firm. Describes a massive change program initiated and led by the new HBS Number: 9-496-049 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 3/15/1996 Geographic Setting: United Kingdom Industry Setting: accounting Number of Employees: 6,000 Gross Revenues: $525 million revenues Event Year Start: 1993 Event Year End: 1995 Subjects: Leadership; Management of change; Management of professionals; Organizational change; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Reorganization; United Kingdom
Case Gabarro, John J.; Graff, Samantha K. Discusses progress made by mid-1995 on the three challenges identified by the change leadership at the end of 1993. First, it describes the decision-making process that resulted in a general consensus to reorganize the huge London office, and it highlights certain psychological, logistical, and strategic challenges of implementing this change. Second, it addresses action plans taken to increase the satisfaction of the firm’s nonpartner senior managers. Third, it explores continued efforts of the change leadership to communicate and clarify its vision. Teaching Purpose: Provides a continued opportunity to critique a large-scale organizational transformation effort. May be used with Ernst & Young United Kingdom (A). HBS Number: 9-496-010 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 11/20/1995 Geographic Setting: United Kingdom Industry Setting: accounting Number of Employees: 6,500 Gross Revenues: $500 million revenues Event Year Start: 1995 Event Year End: 1995 Subjects: Leadership; Management of change; Management of professionals; Organizational change; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Reorganization; United Kingdom
Case John Dunkelberg, R. Charles MoyerThe owner/manager of a building maintenance firm wasn’t satisfied with his market share and suspected growth would be easier in another city. A similar company was available in a nearby town, and an MBA classmate might join him as a partner. The owner/manager wondered how to value the other firm and the combined enterprise, how to finance the acquisition, and how to set up an appropriate managerial structure? 1994 Source: North American Case Research Association, Case Research Journal, Fall 1994, Vol. 14, Issue 4. Courses: Business Policy/Strategy; Finance Topics:
Case Author(s): Nanda, Ashish; Landry, Scot Publication Date: 11/17/1999 Revision Date: 02/16/2002 Product Type: Case (Library) Product Description: Traces the history and development of consulting within Andersen and the history of the schism between Arthur Andersen and Andersen Consulting. Ends with the two units seeking external arbitration of their dispute. Teaching Purpose: To study the internal tensions of management of a multidisciplinary professional services firm. May be used with: (9-800-210) Family Feud: Andersen vs. Andersen (B). HBS Number: 9-800-064 Geographic Setting: Global Industry Setting: consulting, accounting, professional services Company Size: large Number of Employees: 90,000 Gross Revenues: $14 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1989 Event Year End: 1999 Subjects: Business policy; Consulting; Corporate governance; Management of professionals; Organizational design; Professional services Academic Discipline: Service management
Case Nanda, Ashish; Landry, Scot Arbitration proceedings have been initiated between Andersen Consulting and Arthur Andersen. The case details developments during 1999 and 2000, as the arbitration nears a decision. Teaching Purpose: To study the break-up process of a multidisciplinary professional services firm. May be used with: (9-800-064) Family Feud: Andersen vs. Andersen (A). HBS Number: 9-800-210 Type: Case (Library) Publication Date: 4/10/2000 Revision Date: 7/17/2000 Geographic Setting: Global Industry Setting: consulting Company Size: large Number of Employees: 100,000 Gross Revenues: $20 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1999 Event Year End: 2000 Subjects: Business policy; Consulting; Corporate governance; Management of professionals; Organizational design; Professional services
Article Bower, Joseph L.; Hout, Thomas M. Today time is a source of competitive advantage. Through new organization practices and design, companies can take time out of operations and provide customers with better products and services and lower costs. Fast-cycle companies: 1) organize as much work as possible around small, self-managing, multifunctional teams; 2) track cycle times for individual activities and for the delivery system as a whole; and 3) build learning loops to inform everyone about customers, competitors, and the company’s operations. HBS Number: 88602 Type: Harvard Business Review Article Publication Date: 11/1/1988 Subjects: Corporate strategy; Organizational design
Case Author(s): Rivkin, Jan W.; Roberto, Michael A. Publication Date: 03/01/2010 Revision Date: 05/24/2010 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 710450 Number of Employees: 28,000 Event Year Start: 2001 Subjects: Organizational structure; Organizational design; Corporate strategy; Organizational change; Transformations Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: This is an abridged version of “Federal Bureau of Investigation (A),” HBS No. 707-500.
Case Author(s): Rivkin, Jan W.; Roberto, Michael A.; Gulati, Ranjay Publication Date: 03/09/2010 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 710451 Geographic Setting: United States; District of Columbia Number of Employees: 30,000 Event Year Start: 2007 Subjects: Organizational design; Corporate strategy; Organizational change; Government Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Robert Mueller, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), sought to transform the storied Bureau. The FBI had long served as both the chief law enforcement agency and the main domestic intelligence wing of the U.S. government. In practice, though, law enforcement had overshadowed intelligence at the FBI. The terrorist attacks made it tragically clear that the United States required a much stronger domestic intelligence service, and Mueller believed that that service should reside within the FBI. Critics, however, called for the Bureau to narrow its scope, focus on law enforcement, and cede domestic intelligence to a new, specialized agency. Should the FBI retain both the law enforcement mission and the domestic intelligence mission? If so, how should it change itself to succeed in both missions? This case, a supplement to the “Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2001 (Abridged)” case (710-450), reviews the FBI’s progress from 2001 to 2007.
Case Author(s): Rivkin, Jan W.; Roberto, Michael A.; Gulati, Ranjay Publication Date: 03/18/2010 Revision Date: 05/18/2010 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 710452 Geographic Setting: United States; District of Columbia; West Germany Number of Employees: 30,000 Event Year Start: 2007 Subjects: Organizational design; Corporate strategy; Organizational change; Government Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: This case, a supplement to the “Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2001 (Abridged)” case (710-450) and the “Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2007” case (710-451), reviews the FBI’s progress in its transformation effort from 2007 to 2009.
Case Author(s): Di Minin, Alberto; Frattini, Federico; Piccaluga, Andrea Publication Date: 05/01/2010 Product Type: Case Publisher: California Management Review HBS Number: CMR461 Subjects: Innovation; Leadership; Organizational development; Technology; Organizational structure; Management development; Organizational design; Product development; Corporate strategy Academic Discipline: Organizational Behavior & leadership Product Description: One of the key elements of Fiat’s recent resurgence is the superiority of its clean, fuel-efficient engine technologies that were mostly developed during the 1990s by Centro Ricerche Fiat (CRF), the Fiat Group company in charge of R&D and technology development. In the early 1990s, when the Italian carmaker was going through troubling times (along with many other players in the automotive industry), CEO Gian Carlo Michellone radically turned around CRF‘s organization and innovation strategy, adopting and mastering a strategic approach to innovation that resembles what would become known as the open innovation paradigm. This revolution allowed the Fiat Group to keep its “innovation engine” running, despite the heavy downturn of the industry. The CRF case demonstrates how open innovation can protect the firm's innovation capability from the risk of severe resource rationalizations during periods of crisis while proffering a starting point to replicate innovation capability once the downturn is over. The efforts to streamline the adoption of open innovation need to be targeted at several aspects of a firm's organization, i.e., the structures, organizational roles, the planning and control and performance management systems, corporate values, and individual competencies and attitudes. The role played by the senior executive leadership in promoting the successful implementation of open innovation is critical, especially during tough economic times.
Case Author(s): Brian Golden; Tom Gleave Ivey ID: 9A98C004 Publication Date: 10/8/1998 Product Type: Case (Field) Teaching Note: 8A98C04 Geographic Setting: China Industry Setting: Food and Kindred Products Year of Event: 1997 Level of Difficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA Subjects: Change Management; Pay for Performance; Organizational Design; Joint Ventures Major Disciplines: Entrepreneurship; Human Resource Management; International Product Description: The president and general manager are reviewing a "pay for performance" system. The president needs to determine whether or not these systems were properly designed to ensure that they are producing higher quality product at progressively lower costs. If not, he needs to consider how he might suggest that these and other systems be changed in order to achieve cost and quality objectives.
Case Chew, W. Bruce; Kennedy, Theresa Kay-Aba Describes the changes made to Frost, Inc. to exploit CNC technology. The focus is on the impact in each functional area. May be used with Frost, Inc. (A). HBS Number: 9-692-006 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 11/21/1991 Geographic Setting: Michigan Industry Setting: material handling components Company Size: small Gross Revenues: $12 million revenues Event Year Start: 1981 Event Year End: 1983 Subjects: Manufacturing strategy; Organizational change; Organizational design; Robots; Technological change Supplementary Materials: Supplement (Field), (9-692-007), 4p, by W. Bruce Chew, Theresa Kay-Aba Kennedy; Teaching Note, (5-693-070), 12p, by W. Bruce Chew
Case Author(s): Applegate, Lynda M.; Cash, James I., Jr. Publication Date: 01/18/1989 Revision Date: 03/21/1991 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 189138 Geographic Setting: Ontario Gross Revenue: $1.7 billion 1987 sales Event Year Start: 1985 Event Year End: 1989 Subjects: Technology; Teams; Organizational design; Information systems; Information & technology Academic Discipline: Management of Information Systems Product Description: General Electric Canada used sociotechnical design techniques to restructure its financial, administrative, facilities, and information technology service from a decentralized, hierarchical organization to a centralized organization composed of self-managing, multi-skilled work teams. The case explores the role of information technology in supporting and enabling the intensive information sharing and communication required by the new organization design.
Case Author(s): Wasserman, Noam ; Haque, Ashraf Publication Date: 07/18/2008 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 809024 Geographic Setting: Illinois Number of Employees: 20 Gross Revenue: $ 8 million Event Year Start: 1995 Event Year End: 2006 Subjects: Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Corporate governance; Incentives; Motivation; Organizational design; Private equity Academic Discipline: Entrepreneurship Supplementary Materials: Supplement, (809025), 4p, by Noam Wasserman, Ashraf Haque Product Description: Geoff Smart, founder and CEO of ghSMART & Co., wanted to build ghSMART into the #1 management-assessment firm for CEOs and investors. However, he had just received two pieces of very bad news: the demise of an existing project and the loss of a $1 million engagement he thought was already sold. The news raised difficult questions about how Geoff had structured his firm and had designed its governance and incentive systems.
Case Author(s): Wasserman, Noam ; Haque, Ashraf Publication Date: 07/18/2008 Product Type: Supplement (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 809025 Geographic Setting: Illinois Number of Employees: 20 Gross Revenue: $8 million Event Year Start: 1995 Event Year End: 2006 Subjects: Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Corporate governance; Incentives; Motivation; Organizational design; Private equity Academic Discipline: Entrepreneurship Product Description: Geoff Smart, founder and CEO of ghSMART & Co., wanted to build ghSMART into the #1 management-assessment firm for CEOs and investors. However, he had just received two pieces of very bad news: the demise of an existing project and the loss of a $1 million engagement he thought was already sold. The news raised difficult questions about how Geoff had structured his firm and had designed its governance and incentive systems.
Case Author(s): Carroll, Glenn; Chang, Victoria; Modest, David Publication Date: 02/05/2008 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Stanford University HBS Number: OD6A Geographic Setting: England; United States Industry Setting: Bank management; Investment banking; Securities & investing Subjects: Entrepreneurship; Finance; Hedging; International banking; International business; International management; Organizational design Academic Discipline: Entrepreneurship Product Description: GlobeOp, headquartered in New York and London, was an independent financial technology firm focused on providing outsourced middle- and back-office operations capabilities, and fund administration and risk reporting services to hedge funds and their investors, including fund of funds, institutional investors and family offices. The founders of GlobeOp endured typical start-up challenges that included endless hours, technical challenges, management issues, strategic disagreements, resource issues, and financial insecurity. But by December 2003, GlobeOp had grown to nearly 400 people, serving 86 clients representing $29.6 billion in assets under management (AUM). Moreover, GlobeOp had done so well that it had attracted the interest of a broad range of potential investors and competitors. Ultimately, in the Fall of 2003, GlobeOp’s initial partners decided to sell a minority portion of the company to TA Associates, a private equity and buyout firm, for $82 million. TA Associates had been attracted to GlobeOp because of its instrumental role in transforming the hedge fund industry. But despite its early successes, the GlobeOp founders did not want to rest on their laurels. They wondered how best to take advantage of the company‘s platform, as well as how to maintain GlobeOp's market leadership position going forward.
Case Author(s): Grousbeck, H. Irving; Snedeker, L.A.; Snedeker, Lee Anne; Mansour, Nick J. Publication Date: 03/26/2004 Revision Date: 03/08/2010 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Stanford University HBS Number: E2 Geographic Setting: California Subjects: Financing; Entrepreneurship; Entrepreneurial finance; Organizational design; Diversification; Expansion; Growth strategy Academic Discipline: Entrepreneurship Supplementary Materials: Case Teaching Note, (E2T), 7p, by L.A. Snedeker, Lee Anne Snedeker, Nick J. Mansour Product Description: Reviews the start-up and growth of Gordon Biersch, a brewpub chain. As the case ends, the founders want to roll out the concept nationally and are considering the issues of organizational design and financing. They are also considering selling a majority stake to one investor.
Case Author(s): Tushman, Michael L.; Radov, Daniel B. Publication Date: 07/03/2000 Product Type: Case (Field) Product Description: Hewlett-Packard’s Greeley Hard Copy Division is the market leader in the production of desktop flatbed scanners for personal computers. The division has been working to develop a portable scanner product for the past five years with mixed results. The new general manager, Phil Faraci, faces mounting pressures in the flatbed scanner markets, but is also presented with a new technology that has the potential to be a breakthrough for portable scanners. Faraci must decide whether or not to pursue the new portable technology, and if so, how to structure the organization to make product development successful where it has failed in the past. HBS Number: 9-401-003 Geographic Setting: Greeley, CO Industry Setting: computer peripherals Company Size: Fortune 500 Number of Employees: 1,000 Gross Revenues: $1 billion revenues Subjects: Ambidextrous organizations; Computer industry; Innovation; Leadership; Organizational design; Product development; Technological change Academic Discipline: Human resources management Supplementary Materials: Supplement (Field), (9-401-004), 8p, by Michael L. Tushman, Daniel B. Radov; Supplement (Field), (9-401-005), 3p, by Michael L. Tushman, Daniel B. Radov
Case Author(s): Tushman, Michael L.; Radov, Daniel B. Publication Date: 07/03/2000 Product Type: Supplement (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 401005 Subjects: Innovation; Leadership; Technological change; Organizational design; Ambidextrous organizations; Product development Academic Discipline: Human resources management Product Description: Supplements the (A) case.
Article Author(s): Hammer, Michael; Stanton, Steven Publication Date: 11/01/1999 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article Product Description: Many companies have succeeded in reengineering their core processes, combining related activities from different departments and cutting out ones that don’t add value. Few, though, have aligned their organizations with their processes. The result is a form of cognitive dissonance as the new, integrated processes pull people in one direction and the old, fragmented management structures pull them in another. That‘s not the way it has to be. In recent years, forward-thinking companies like IBM, Texas Instruments, and Duke Power have begun to make the leap from process redesign to process management. They've appointed some of their best managers to be process owners, giving them real authority over work and budgets. They've shifted the focus of their measurement and compensation systems from unit goals to process goals. They've changed the way they assign and train employees, emphasizing whole processes rather than narrow tasks. They've thought carefully about the strategic trade-offs between adopting uniform processes and allowing different units to do things their own way. And they've made subtle but fundamental cultural changes, stressing teamwork and customers over turf and hierarchy. These companies are emerging from all those changes as true process enterprises — businesses whose management structures are in harmony, rather than at war, with their core processes. And their organizations are becoming much more flexible, adaptive, and responsive as a result. HBS Number: 99607 Subjects: Business processes; Management philosophy; Organization; Organizational change; Organizational design; Organizational management; Organizational structure; Process analysis; Process flow Academic Discipline: Human resources management
Article Author(s): Simons, Robert Publication Date: 06/16/2005 Product Type: HBS Press Chapter HBS Number: 2407BC Subjects: Communication in organizations; Creativity; Influence; Networks; Organizational design; Organizational learning; Performance management; Strategy implementation Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: In this chapter, the author explains how to manage creative tension — one of the four Cs of organization design — to facilitate the required levels of interunit communication, learning, and adaptation that support the implementation and evolution of strategy. May be used with: (2404BC) Aligning Span of Attention: The Goal of Organization Design; (2403BC) The Tensions of Organization Design: Optimizing Trade-offs; (2405BC) Unit Structure: Defining a Primary Customer as a Basis for Organizational Architecture; (2406BC) Diagnostic Control Systems: Determining Critical Performance Variables to Support Strategic Goals; (2408BC) Share Responsibilities: Managing Human Behavior to Advance Organizational Strategy; (2409BC) Adjusting the Levers: Three Examples: Levers of Organization Design at Work; (2410BC) Designing Organizations for Performance: The Alignment of Design and Strategy.
Case Salmon, Walter J.; Furukawa, Kosei; Wylie, David Describes the means by which management has empowered the sales clerks and part time employees of this chain of 131 department stores. They are responsible for all sales and inventory management. This empowerment has led to fewer stockouts, higher sales, lower inventory levels, less inventory loss, higher profits, higher quality, and higher commitment levels on the part of employees. Also describes how their innovative management has overcome inefficiencies in the Japanese distribution system. HBS Number: 9-589-116 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 06/19/1989 Revision Date: 07/14/1994 Geographic Setting: Japan Industry Setting: retailing Company Size: large Gross Revenues: $16 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1989 Event Year End: 1989 Subjects: Department stores; International marketing; Japan; Marketing implementation; Marketing information systems; Merchandising; Organizational design; Retailing Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-592-001), 6p, by Walter J. Salmon, David Wylie
Case Author(s): Rod E. White; Andreas Schotter Ivey ID: 9B06M084 Publication Date: 1/9/2007 Revision Date: 9/21/2009 Product Type: Case Teaching Note: 8B06M83 Related Material: 7B06M083 Geographic Setting: Asia Industry Setting: Insurance and Pension Funds Size: Large Year of Event: 2006 Level of Difficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA Subjects: Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; International Management Major Disciplines: General Management; International Product Description: Over the past two years, ING Insurance Asia/Pacific had successfully implemented a new organizational and operational framework called Towards Performance Excellence (TPE), which was developed with inputs from functional heads, senior management and staff at the business unit level. TPE detailed and organized everything ING Asia/Pacific needed to execute its strategy effectively. TPE divided ING’s business processes into six core categories: portfolio, marketing, organizational, operational, reputation and financial. Each category included aspects of execution known as "drivers," which required managers to identify specific objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs) for each driver or sub-driver. The case includes many original exhibits and is ideally taught as the follow up case of the ING Insurance Asia/Pacific, Ivey product #9B06M083 or as a standalone case, which illustrates a real example of regional versus local organizational management.
Case Author(s): Marquis, Chris; Larson, Abby; Guthrie, Doug; Arum, Richard Publication Date: 06/29/2007 Revision Date: 01/28/2008 Product Type: Case (Field) HBS Number: 9-407-065 Geographic Setting: New York, NY Industry Setting: Public school K-12 Number of Employees: 120,000 Gross Revenues: $14 billion revenues Event Year Start: 2002 Event Year End: 2005 Subjects: Leadership development; Management training; Organizational design; Public schools; Social enterprise Academic Discipline: Organizational behavior & leadership Product Description: Reviews the work of the New York City School Chancellor Joel Klein and his attempt to create a Leadership Academy in order to better train principals to lead New York City public schools. Assesses what leadership skills and strategies are necessary for Klein to create a new cohort of effective site-based leaders for New York City Public Schools and further, what methodology Klein and the Leadership Academy establish to accomplish this task. The key question involves Klein’s attempt to assess whether an institution dedicated to training better administrators can serve as the key component of a larger effort to improve the performance of the New York City public school system; on a more micro basis is the question of whether the Leadership Academy itself and its program to train principals has been effective in the context of the larger problems the school system faces. If so, will the principals trained be able to be successfully integrated and effectively utilized as organizational elements capable of leading site efforts necessary to improve New York City public school system performance?
Case Amabile, Teresa; Tempest, Nicole Ken Hakuta had been an entrepreneur all his life. Having started a number of consumer-oriented ventures, he became well-known as "Dr. Fad," the initiator of the "Wacky Wallwalker" toy craze in the 1980s. Wishing to strike out in an exciting new direction in 1998, he capitalized on his long-standing interest in herbal medicine to found AllHerb.com, the first e-commerce company devoted solely to herbal remedy products and information. Teaching Purpose: To give students a close look at the founding of an e-commerce company, and the challenges facing an experienced entrepreneur who wants to establish an organization unlike any other he has started previously. HBS Number: 9-899-250 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 3/29/1999 Revision Date: 2/4/2000 Geographic Setting: Maryland Industry Setting: e-commerce Subjects: California Research Center; Consumer goods; Creativity; Electronic commerce; Entrepreneurship; Medical supplies; Organizational design
Case Author(s): Dewar, Robert D. Publication Date: 03/05/2010 Product Type: Case Publisher: Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern Univ. HBS Number: KEL436 Geographic Setting: United States Subjects: Organizational behavior; Nonprofit organizations; Health insurance; Organizational design; Strategy Academic Discipline: Organizational Behavior & leadership Product Description: Key State Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plan (a disguised case of an actual BCBS Plan) is the merged product of three state plans. Initially burdened with a reputation of poor customer service, Key State’s executives decided to invest heavily in service improvement, eventually achieving superior levels. Key State‘s high-quality customer service emerged as a true competitive advantage for its customers, who were primarily businesses and health benefits consultants who influenced corporate purchasers of health insurance. The Key State brand came to be synonymous with personal service, security, choice, and dependability. But the health care insurance market was changing under Key State's feet. Spiraling costs meant that high-quality service became less of a competitive advantage as employers were lured by low-cost, low-service providers. Many employers cut or dropped health care benefits entirely, swelling the ranks of the under- and uninsured, who in turn were extremely price-sensitive when shopping for health insurance on their own. Finally, the health care insurance market was being revolutionized by financial institutions willing to hold health benefit accounts and pay providers directly, thereby eliminating the need for Key State as a mediator. Key State executives were aware of these changes but were challenged by the mindset, culture, and organizational design custom-fit to their business accounts. The case asks the reader to consider whether Key State has the right number of target markets, whether it sho Source: Harvard
Case Author(s): Cooper, Robin Publication Date: 08/25/1994 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 195064 Geographic Setting: Japan Event Year Start: 1990 Event Year End: 1993 Subjects: Cost accounting; Organizational design; Transfer pricing; Profit centers Academic Discipline: Accounting & control Supplementary Materials: Case Teaching Note, (195065), 6p, by Robin Cooper,Robin Cooper Product Description: Describes Kyocera’s unusual approach to profit centers. The firm‘s basic units of operation are profit centers called “amoebas,” which are sales or manufacturing units with full responsibility for their planning, decision making, and administration. Amoebas are expected to find ways to improve production and lower costs, reflecting the belief of Kyocera's founder that profits are generated during the manufacturing process.
Case Cooper, Robin Describes Kyocera’s unusual approach to profit centers. The firm‘s basic units of operation are profit centers called "amoebas," which are sales or manufacturing units with full responsibility for their planning, decision making, and administration. Amoebas are expected to find ways to improve production and lower costs, reflecting the belief of Kyocera's founder that profits are generated during the manufacturing process. HBS Number: 9-195-064 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 8/25/1994 Geographic Setting: Japan Industry Setting: semiconductors, electronics Event Year Start: 1990 Event Year End: 1993 Subjects: Cost accounting; Japan; Organizational design; Profit centers; Transfer pricing Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-195-065), 6p, by Robin Cooper
Case Author(s): Groysberg, Boris; Snook, Scott; Lane, David Publication Date: 11/03/2005 Revision Date: 03/22/2007 Product Type: Case (Field) HBS Number: 9-406-002 Geographic Setting: New York, NY Industry Setting: Investment banking; Professional services Number of Employees: 15,000 Gross Revenues: $13 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1999 Event Year End: 1999 Subjects: Growth strategy; Human resources management; Leadership development; Management development; Management training; Organizational design; Persuasion Academic Discipline: Organizational behavior & leadership Product Description: In November 1999, 11 of Goldman Sachs’ finest gathered to put the final touches on a revolutionary leadership development plan. Following Goldman‘s explosive growth during the 1990s and its eventual IPO in 1999, a diverse group of leaders from across the firm were selected to “assess the future training and development needs of Goldman Sachs, with a particular focus on the need for a more systematic and effective approach to developing managing directors.” After six months of brainstorming, holding discussions with Goldman Sachs colleagues, interviewing experts, and benchmarking best practices, it was finally time to present their findings to the management committee. The briefing contained an integrated leader development plan with concrete recommendations on how to resolve several critical design issues, including: location, faculty, content, format, method, target audience, governance, and sponsorship. No one sitting on the management committee had relied on a formal leadership program to reach the top. How skeptical might they be? How do you convince hard-nosed bankers to leave their desks and invest precious time focusing on what many perceived as “soft” issues?
Case Author(s): Kaplan, Rob; Battilana, Julie Publication Date: 06/13/2007 Revision Date: 07/25/2007 Product Type: Case (Field) HBS Number: 9-407-089 Geographic Setting: New York, NY Industry Setting: Hedge funds industry Number of Employees: 12 Gross Revenues: $62 million revenues Event Year Start: 1994 Event Year End: 2005 Subjects: Hedge funds; Interpersonal roles; Leadership; Organizational design; Performance management; Teams Academic Discipline: Organizational behavior & leadership Product Description: Leslie Brinkman is the founder and CEO of a hedge fund, Versutia Capital. Leslie spent late 2002 and early 2003 assembling her team and launched the fund in early 2003. While the firm performed well during 2003 and 2004 (both in terms of returns and new assets), in 2005 the results began to suffer. Describes the process of designing the firm, the resulting team dynamics, the strains on the staff and the impact of Leslie’s management style on the performance of her team. In the spring of 2005, Leslie must decide whether to re-design the firm and/or change her management style in order to address the performance issues that Versutia Capital is facing.
Case Author(s): Battilana, Julie; Kaplan, Robert Steven Publication Date: 06/13/2007 Revision Date: 07/25/2007 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 407089 Geographic Setting: New York Number of Employees: 12 Gross Revenue: $62 million revenues Event Year Start: 1994 Event Year End: 2005 Subjects: Performance management; Investments; Leadership; Teams; Organizational design Academic Discipline: Organizational Behavior & leadership Supplementary Materials: Case Teaching Note, (408100), 10p, by Julie Battilana, Robert Steven Kaplan Product Description: Leslie Brinkman is the founder and CEO of a hedge fund, Versutia Capital. Leslie spent late 2002 and early 2003 assembling her team and launched the fund in early 2003. While the firm performed well during 2003 and 2004 (both in terms of returns and new assets), in 2005 the results began to suffer. Describes the process of designing the firm, the resulting team dynamics, the strains on the staff and the impact of Leslie’s management style on the performance of her team. In the spring of 2005, Leslie must decide whether to re-design the firm and/or change her management style in order to address the performance issues that Versutia Capital is facing.
Adjusting the Levers: Three Examples: Three Practical Examples of How to Do It Author(s): Simons, Robert Publication Date: 06/16/2005 Product Type: HBS Press Chapter HBS Number: 2409BC Subjects: Accountability; Customers; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Strategy formulation; Strategy implementation; Vision Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: This chapter focuses on the important interplay of the four levers of organization design. Examples from three different organizations are used to discuss the effect of each design variable on the others. May be used with: (2404BC) Aligning Span of Attention: The Goal of Organization Design; (2403BC) The Tensions of Organization Design: Optimizing Trade-offs; (2405BC) Unit Structure: Defining a Primary Customer as a Basis for Organizational Architecture; (2406BC) Diagnostic Control Systems: Determining Critical Performance Variables to Support Strategic Goals; (2407BC) Interactive Networks: Determining the Right Degree of Creative Tension to Support Business Strategy; (2408BC) Share Responsibilities: Managing Human Behavior to Advance Organizational Strategy; (2410BC) Designing Organizations for Performance: The Alignment of Design and Strategy.
Aligning Span of Attention: The Goal of Organization Design Author(s): Simons, Robert Publication Date: 06/16/2005 Product Type: HBS Press Chapter HBS Number: 2404BC Subjects: Accountability; Attention; Control systems; Creativity; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Strategy alignment; Strategy formulation Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: This chapter presents a framework for organization design, focusing on the four key elements that organizations must address in order to ensure the successful execution of strategy: customer definition, critical performance variables, creative tension, and commitment to others. May be used with: (2403BC) The Tensions of Organization Design: Optimizing Trade-offs; (2405BC) Unit Structure: Defining a Primary Customer as a Basis for Organizational Architecture; (2406BC) Diagnostic Control Systems: Determining Critical Performance Variables to Support Strategic Goals; (2407BC) Interactive Networks: Determining the Right Degree of Creative Tension to Support Business Strategy; (2408BC) Share Responsibilities: Managing Human Behavior to Advance Organizational Strategy; (2409BC) Adjusting the Levers: Three Examples: Levers of Organization Design at Work; (2410BC) Designing Organizations for Performance: The Alignment of Design and Strategy.
Designing Organizations for Performance: The Alignment of Design and Strategy Author(s): Simons, Robert Publication Date: 06/16/2005 Product Type: HBS Press Chapter HBS Number: 2410BC Subjects: Accountability; Control systems; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Strategy formulation; Strategy implementation; Vision Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: In this chapter, the author brings the analysis down to the ground level — the level of individual people and business units — to test whether different designs are capable of implementing strategy successfully. May be used with: (2403BC) The Tensions of Organization Design: Optimizing Trade-offs; (2404BC) Aligning Span of Attention: The Goal of Organization Design; (2405BC) Unit Structure: Defining a Primary Customer as a Basis for Organizational Architecture; (2406BC) Diagnostic Control Systems: Determining Critical Performance Variables to Support Strategic Goals; (2407BC) Interactive Networks: Determining the Right Degree of Creative Tension to Support Business Strategy; (2408BC) Share Responsibilities: Managing Human Behavior to Advance Organizational Strategy; (2409BC) Adjusting the Levers: Three Examples: Levers of Organization Design at Work.
Diagnostic Control Systems: Determining Critical Performance Variables to Support Strategic Goals Author(s): Simons, Robert Publication Date: 06/16/2005 Product Type: HBS Press Chapter HBS Number: 2406BC Subjects: Accountability; Control systems; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Performance measurement; Resistance; Strategy implementation Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: This chapter introduces the second of the four Cs of organization design-critical performance variables — and examines how accountability and resistance factor in to designing an organization that creates value. May be used with: (2404BC) Aligning Span of Attention: The Goal of Organization Design; (2403BC) The Tensions of Organization Design: Optimizing Trade-offs; (2405BC) Unit Structure: Defining a Primary Customer as a Basis for Organizational Architecture; (2407BC) Interactive Networks: Determining the Right Degree of Creative Tension to Support Business Strategy; (2408BC) Share Responsibilities: Managing Human Behavior to Advance Organizational Strategy; (2409BC) Adjusting the Levers: Three Examples: Levers of Organization Design at Work; (2410BC) Designing Organizations for Performance: The Alignment of Design and Strategy.
Interactive Networks: Determining the Right Degree of Creative Tension to Support Business Strategy Author(s): Simons, Robert Publication Date: 06/16/2005 Product Type: HBS Press Chapter HBS Number: 2407BC Subjects: Accountability; Control systems; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Performance measurement; Resistance; Strategy implementation Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: This chapter introduces the second of the four Cs of organization design-critical performance variables — and examines how accountability and resistance factor in to designing an organization that creates value. May be used with: (2404BC) Aligning Span of Attention: The Goal of Organization Design; (2403BC) The Tensions of Organization Design: Optimizing Trade-offs; (2405BC) Unit Structure: Defining a Primary Customer as a Basis for Organizational Architecture; (2407BC) Interactive Networks: Determining the Right Degree of Creative Tension to Support Business Strategy; (2408BC) Share Responsibilities: Managing Human Behavior to Advance Organizational Strategy; (2409BC) Adjusting the Levers: Three Examples: Levers of Organization Design at Work; (2410BC) Designing Organizations for Performance: The Alignment of Design and Strategy.
Shared Responsibilities: Managing Human Behavior to Advance Organizational Strategy Author(s): Simons, Robert Publication Date: 06/16/2005 Product Type: HBS Press Chapter HBS Number: 2408BC Subjects: Corporate culture; Leadership; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Performance management; Resistance; Strategy implementation; Vision Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: Two critical tasks of senior managers are determining how individuals should act within their organization and then creating the necessary conditions for them to act in the desired way. This chapter focuses on the last of the four Cs of organization design: analyzing the level of commitment to others that is needed to support organizational strategy. May be used with: (2404BC) Aligning Span of Attention: The Goal of Organization Design; (2403BC) The Tensions of Organization Design: Optimizing Trade-offs; (2405BC) Unit Structure: Defining a Primary Customer as a Basis for Organizational Architecture; (2406BC) Diagnostic Control Systems: Determining Critical Performance Variables to Support Strategic Goals; (2407BC) Interactive Networks: Determining the Right Degree of Creative Tension to Support Business Strategy; (2409BC) Adjusting the Levers: Three Examples: Levers of Organization Design at Work; (2410BC) Designing Organizations for Performance: The Alignment of Design and Strategy.
The Tensions of Organization Design: Optimizing Trade-Offs Author(s): Simons, Robert Publication Date: 06/16/2005 Product Type: HBS Press Chapter HBS Number: 2403BC Subjects: Accountability; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Strategy execution; Strategy formulation; Vision Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: To be fully effective, all managers must understand the implications of the organization design choices on their business units. This chapter makes the case for the development of a new theory of organization design by reviewing the tensions that today’s managers must navigate to succeed in designing or redesigning organizations for enduring performance. May be used with: (2404BC) Aligning Span of Attention: The Goal of Organization Design; (2405BC) Unit Structure: Defining a Primary Customer as a Basis for Organizational Architecture; (2406BC) Diagnostic Control Systems: Determining Critical Performance Variables to Support Strategic Goals; (2407BC) Interactive Networks: Determining the Right Degree of Creative Tension to Support Business Strategy; (2408BC) Share Responsibilities: Managing Human Behavior to Advance Organizational Strategy; (2409BC) Adjusting the Levers: Three Examples: Levers of Organization Design at Work; (2410BC) Designing Organizations for Performance: The Alignment of Design and Strategy.
Unit Structure: Defining a Primary Customer as a Basis for Organizational Architecture Author(s): Simons, Robert Publication Date: 06/16/2005 Product Type: HBS Press Chapter HBS Number: 2405BC Subjects: Accountability; Customers; Financial management; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Performance management; Strategy alignment; Strategy formulation Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: Grouping work units according to specific criteria is one of the most vexing problems of organization design. This chapter offers an approach to solve the organization structure problem by analyzing the first of the four Cs of organization design: customer definition. May be used with: (2403BC) The Tensions of Organization Design: Optimizing Trade-offs; (2404BC) Aligning Span of Attention: The Goal of Organization Design; (2406BC) Diagnostic Control Systems: Determining Critical Performance Variables to Support Strategic Goals; (2407BC) Interactive Networks: Determining the Right Degree of Creative Tension to Support Business Strategy; (2408BC) Share Responsibilities: Managing Human Behavior to Advance Organizational Strategy; (2409BC) Adjusting the Levers: Three Examples: Levers of Organization Design at Work; (2410BC) Designing Organizations for Performance: The Alignment of Design and Strategy.
Case Bradach, Jeffrey L.; Sackley, Nicole MacTemps is a provider of temporary workers skilled in computer graphics and database management. Unlike many temporary agencies that treat temps as a commodity, MacTemps has attempted to build relationships with temps through offering benefits and training. This case explores the pros and cons of this strategy by presenting data on the underlying economics of the arrangement and the characteristics of the temp force. Teaching Purpose: To discuss the economics of contingent work arrangements, strategies for building relationships with workers/temps, strategies for staffing firms in highly competitive environments, and the changing social contract between people and organizations. HBS Number: 9-497-005 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 10/7/1996 Revision Date: 1/6/1997 Geographic Setting: United States Industry Setting: staffing Number of Employees: 130 Gross Revenues: $56 million revenues Subjects: Careers & career planning; Human resources management; MIS; Organizational design; Personnel management Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-497-065), 15p, by Jeffrey L. Bradach
Case Author(s): Garvin, David A.; Levesque, Lynne C. Publication Date: 08/11/2006 Revision Date: 05/24/2007 Product Type: Case (Field) HBS Number: 9-307-037 Geographic Setting: United States Industry Setting: Office equipment; Office supplies industry Number of Employees: 68,533 Gross Revenues: $16.1 billion revenues Event Year Start: 2006 Event Year End: 2006 Subjects: Business processes; Leadership; Managerial skills; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Policy implementation; Retail stores; Strategy implementation Academic Discipline: General management Supplementary Materials: Supplement (Field), (9-307-038), 13p, by David A. Garvin, Lynne C. Levesque; Supplement (Field), (9-307-039), 13p, by David A. Garvin, Lynne C. Levesque; Supplement (Field), (9-307-040), 14p, by David A. Garvin, Lynne C. Levesque; Supplement (Field), (9-307-041), 10p, by David A. Garvin, Lynne C. Levesque; Supplement (Field), (9-307-042), 6p, by David A. Garvin, Lynne C. Levesque Product Description: One of six cases that describe the roles and responsibilities of managers at each of the hierarchical levels of management within the U.S. Stores business unit of Staples, the world’s largest office supply company. Together, the cases form a complete integrated package. Explores five distinct jobs — store manager, district manager, regional vice-president, division senior vice-president, and president of the U.S. Stories business units — and, for each level, describes the key management tasks, planning, decision-making, and leadership processes and critical choices that lead to superior execution and operational performance. Provides background information on Staples‘ organization and strategy.
Case Author(s): Garvin, David A.; Levesque, Lynne C. Publication Date: 08/11/2006 Revision Date: 05/30/2007 Product Type: Supplement (Field) HBS Number: 9-307-038 Subjects: Business processes; Leadership; Managerial skills; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Policy implementation; Retail stores; Strategy implementation Academic Discipline: General management Product Description: An abstract is not available for this product. Must be used with: (9-307-037) Management Levels at Staples (A): Company and Organization.
Case Author(s): Garvin, David A.; Levesque, Lynne C. Publication Date: 08/11/2006 Revision Date: 06/01/2007 Product Type: Supplement (Field) HBS Number: 9-307-039 Subjects: Business processes; Leadership; Managerial skills; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Policy implementation; Retail stores; Strategy implementation Academic Discipline: General management Product Description: An abstract is not available for this product. Must be used with: (9-307-037) Management Levels at Staples (A): Company and Organization.
Case Author(s): Garvin, David A.; Levesque, Lynne C. Publication Date: 08/11/2006 Revision Date: 05/30/2007 Product Type: Supplement (Field) HBS Number: 9-307-040 Subjects: Business processes; Leadership; Managerial skills; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Policy implementation; Retail stores; Strategy implementation Academic Discipline: General management Product Description: An abstract is not available for this product. Must be used with: (9-307-037) Management Levels at Staples (A): Company and Organization.
Case Author(s): Garvin, David A.; Levesque, Lynne C. Publication Date: 08/11/2006 Revision Date: 06/01/2007 Product Type: Supplement (Field) HBS Number: 9-307-041 Subjects: Business processes; Leadership; Managerial skills; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Policy implementation; Retail stores; Strategy implementation Academic Discipline: General management Product Description: An abstract is not available for this product. Must be used with: (9-307-037) Management Levels at Staples (A): Company and Organization.
Case Author(s): Garvin, David A.; Levesque, Lynne C. Publication Date: 08/11/2006 Revision Date: 05/30/2007 Product Type: Supplement (Field) HBS Number: 9-307-042 Subjects: Business processes; Leadership; Managerial skills; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Policy implementation; Retail stores; Strategy implementation Academic Discipline: General management Product Description: An abstract is not available for this product. Must be used with: (9-307-037) Management Levels at Staples (A): Company and Organization.
Case Author(s): Applegate, Lynda M. Publication Date: 08/08/1995 Product Type: Note Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 196004 Subjects: Restructuring; Technological change; Organizational design; Organizational change; Information & technology Academic Discipline: Management of Information Systems Product Description: The co-evolution of technology, work, and the workforce over the past 30 years has dramatically influenced our concept of organizations and the industries within which they compete. No longer simply a tool to support “back-office” transactions, IT has become a strategic part of most businesses, enabling the redefinition of markets and industries and the strategies and designs of firms competing within them. But to achieve these information age benefits, companies must adopt information age technology architectures. Organizations must radically transform outdated IT architectures and the IT organizations required to support them. The technological transformation is every bit as daunting as the organizational transformation. This note, along with Designing and Managing the Information Age IT Architecture, describes general frameworks and concepts that managers can use to analyze their existing IT architecture and to define and manage the IT architecture required to support the information processing requirements of the Information Age organization.
Case Author(s): Applegate, Lynda M. Publication Date: 08/15/1995 Revision Date: 09/25/1995 Product Type: Note Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 196002 Subjects: Technological change; Organizational design; Organizational change; Information & technology Academic Discipline: Management of Information Systems Product Description: Managers and management theorists spent the majority of this century building and perfecting the hierarchy; however, if we believe the press, they now appear to be engaged in destroying it. While many proclaim the dawning of the “Information Age” organization and the fading of the hierarchical organization as a trend of the 1990s, the roots of these changes can be traced to the 1950s. This note provides an overview of the organizational design challenges that firms face in the 1990s, their historical roots, and the characteristics of the emerging Information Age organization model.
Case Author(s): Rivkin, Jan W.; Roberto, Michael A.; Ferlins, Erika M. Publication Date: 04/08/2006 Revision Date: 07/12/2006 Product Type: Case (Library) HBS Number: 9-706-463 Geographic Setting: Global Industry Setting: Government & regulatory Event Year Start: 2001 Event Year End: 2001 Subjects: Ambiguity; Crisis management; Differentiation; Government agencies; Integration; Intelligence; Organizational design; Strategy; Terrorism Academic Discipline: Organizational behavior & leadership Product Description: Examines the management of national intelligence prior to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Describes the actions taken by a variety of government agencies, including the FBI, the CIA, the FAA, and the Department of Defense, to detect and deter such attacks.
Case Author(s): Hill, Linda A. Publication Date: 03/05/1994 Revision Date: 03/28/1995 Product Type: Note Product Description: Designed as an overview note for the Managing Your Team module of the MBA second year elective course Power and Influence. Identifies some criteria for evaluating team effectiveness and outlines in detail the key areas of responsibility of team managers: managing the team’s boundary, and managing the team itself (including designing the team and facilitating the team‘s process). Also contains a brief appendix on managing transnational teams as well as substantial bibliographic references for further reading. HBS Number: 9-494-081 Subjects: Corporate culture; Group behavior; Managerial skills; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Power & influence; Teams Academic Discipline: Organizational behavior & leadership
Article Author(s): Hwang, Peter; Burgers, Willem P. Publication Date: 04/01/1997 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review HBS Number: CMR084 Subjects: Game theory; Joint ventures; Organizational design; Organizational structure Academic Discipline: Negotiations Product Description: One of the most notable business trends in recent years has been the surge in alliance formation. Globalization, escalating R&D expenses, shortening product life cycles, and convergence of technologies are often cited as important factors that contribute to this phenomenon. This article develops a framework for multi-firm alliances. Multi-firm alliances can be classified on the basis of distinct payoff structures, leading to critical differences in their predicted development and final result. This article presents four multi-firm alliance game scenarios to describe the dynamics that underlie the interactions among firms and provides industry examples. It offers a number of lessons to help managers improve their ability to manage multi-firm alliance relationships.
Case Author(s): Anteby, Michel; Battilana, Julie; Pache, Anne-Claire Publication Date: 06/13/2007 Revision Date: 08/14/2007 Product Type: Case (Field) HBS Number: 9-407-106 Geographic Setting: France Number of Employees: 215 Event Year Start: 1994 Event Year End: 2005 Subjects: Alignment; Growth; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Social enterprise Academic Discipline: Organizational behavior & leadership Product Description: Marie Trellu-Kane is trying to decide how Unis-Cite should respond to French President Jacques Chirac’s announcement in 2005 of a new national voluntary civil service program. Since 1994, Trellu-Kane and her co-founders had been creating and overseeing a civil service program called Unis-Cite, in which youth, particularly from the disadvantaged immigrant population, volunteered nine months of their time to work on community projects. Based in Paris, France, Unis-Cite had begun to expand to other areas. With the announcement that the government would provide funding to mobilize thousands of youth volunteers, Trellu-Kane needed to decide how Unis-Cite would proceed.
Case Author(s): Anteby, Michel; Battilana, Julie; Pache, Anne-Claire Publication Date: 06/13/2007 Revision Date: 12/08/2008 Product Type: Case (Field) HBS Number: 407106 Geographic Setting: France Number of Employees: 215 Event Year Start: 1994 Event Year End: 2005 Subjects: Alignment; Growth; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Social enterprise Academic Discipline: Organizational behavior & leadership Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (408083), 16p, by Michel Anteby, Julie Battilana Product Description: Marie Trellu-Kane is trying to decide how Unis-Cite should respond to French President Jacques Chirac’s announcement in 2005 of a new national voluntary civil service program. Since 1994, Trellu-Kane and her co-founders had been creating and overseeing a civil service program called Unis-Cite, in which youth, particularly from the disadvantaged immigrant population, volunteered nine months of their time to work on community projects. Based in Paris, France, Unis-Cite had begun to expand to other areas. With the announcement that the government would provide funding to mobilize thousands of youth volunteers, Trellu-Kane needed to decide how Unis-Cite would proceed.
Case Author(s): Lorsch, Jay W.; Graff, Samantha K. Publication Date: 11/29/1995 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 496037 Geographic Setting: New York Number of Employees: 500 Gross Revenue: $100 million revenues Event Year Start: 1995 Event Year End: 1995 Subjects: Organizational behavior; Managing professionals; Organizational structure; Organizational design; Marketing strategy Academic Discipline: Marketing Product Description: Describes the history and unique operating principles of the most successful corporate law firm in the country. Closes with a lengthy quotation by Martin Lipton, who is one of the firm’s founding partners and who is described in an American Lawyer article as the “Elvis Presley of the M&A field.” Lipton reflects on certain activities that the firm carries out aimed at building its reputation. Whether or not these activities constitute marketing is left an open question.
Case Lorsch, Jay W.; Graff, Samantha K. Describes the history and the unique operating principles of the most successful corporate law firm in the country. Closes with a lengthy quotation by Martin Lipton, who is one of the firm’s founding partners and who is described in an American Lawyer article as the "Elvis Presley of the M&A field." Lipton reflects on certain activities that the firm carries out aimed at building its reputation. Whether or not these activities constitute marketing is left an open question. Teaching Purpose: Intended for any professional service firm audience. Provides an opportunity to explore the relationship between marketing and total firm strategy in professional service firms. HBS Number: 9-496-037 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 11/29/1995 Geographic Setting: New York Industry Setting: law Number of Employees: 500 Gross Revenues: $100 million revenues Event Year Start: 1995 Event Year End: 1995 Subjects: Marketing strategy; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Professionals
Case Author(s): Aaker, David A. Publication Date: 11/01/2008 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: California Management Review HBS Number: CMR415 Subjects: Communication; Leadership; Marketing management; Marketing strategy; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Organizational problems; Organizational structure Academic Discipline: General management Product Description: A silo is a metaphor for an organizational unit that has its own management team and lacks the motivation or desire to work with or even communicate with other organizational units. Organizations have a collection of silos that include product silos (business units defined by product or service offerings) and country silos (geographic silos defined by countries or regions). Today, communication and brand building involve a variety of fast-changing modalities that do not lend themselves to the silo world. Customers are demanding silo-spanning offerings and services. There is just too much at stake to allow silo interests to inhibit or prevent the effort toward achieving brand and marketing synergies across the organization. Recognizing that autonomous silo organizations are no longer a viable option, there are a host of firms that are developing, expanding, or energizing the corporate Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) position and creating or enhancing the supporting central marketing group. Efforts by a CMO and his or her team to gain credibility, traction, and influence represents a formidable task in the face of silo indifference or resistance. This article examines how silo barriers to the creation of great marketing and marketing organizations can be reduced or eliminated, leading to stronger offerings and brands and effective synergistic marketing strategies and programs.
Article Feitzinger, Edward; Lee, Hau In many mass markets, companies are facing a predicament: customers are demanding not only ever faster order fulfillment but also highly customized products and services. The authors show how the Hewlett-Packard Co. and others have proved that one indeed can deliver customized products quickly and at a low cost. The key to mass-customizing effectively is postponing the task of differentiating a product for a specific customer until the latest possible point in the supply network. Instead of taking a piecemeal approach, companies must rethink and integrate the designs of their products, the processes used to make and deliver those products, and the configuration of their entire supply network. By adopting such a comprehensive approach, they can operate at maximum efficiency and quickly meet customers’ orders with minimum amount of inventory. HBS Number: 97101 Type: Harvard Business Review Article Publication Date: 1/1/1997 Subjects: Cost benefit analysis; Customer service; Manufacturing strategy; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Product design
Case Cespedes, Frank V.; Goode, Laura This case series focuses on divisional marketing and sales efforts concerning Vision, a new telecommunication product intended for the small business marketplace. Vision represents both a significant opportunity, and different field ma HBS Number: 9-592-083 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 02/10/1992 Revision Date: 12/11/1992 Geographic Setting: United States Industry Setting: telecommunications Company Size: large Gross Revenues: $7 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1990 Event Year End: 1991 Subjects: Marketing implementation; Marketing management; Marketing strategy; Organizational design; Product management; Sales management; Telecommunications Supplementary Materials: Supplement (Field), (9-592-084), 3p, by Frank V. Cespedes, Laura Goode; Supplement (Field), (9-592-085), 2p, by Frank V. Cespedes, Laura Goode; Teaching Note, (5-593-066), 18p, by Frank V. Cespedes
Case Cespedes, Frank V. Concerns the development, introduction, and first-year sales performance of Vision, a telecommunications service aimed at small- and medium-sized businesses. Introduced in 1990, Vision surpassed goals in that year, but was significantly below target in the first quarter of 1991. A divisional vice president must analyze the situation and recommend appropriate actions. Teaching Purpose: Concerns core product management decisions in a changing industry context and at a company with few formal processes in place for managing product portfolio decisions or corporate-field interactions. Illustrates the costs and benefits of interproduct competition for shared development and selling resources, and also raises issues about the factors involved in moving from price-based to value-added marketing programs. HBS Number: 9-594-057 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 10/27/1993 Revision Date: 02/17/1995 Geographic Setting: United States Industry Setting: telecommunications Company Size: large Number of Employees: 22,000 Gross Revenues: $7 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1990 Event Year End: 1991 Subjects: Marketing implementation; Marketing management; Marketing strategy; Organizational design; Product management; Sales management; Telecommunications Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-593-066), 18p, by Frank V. Cespedes
Article Author(s): Garvin, David A.; Levesque, Lynne C. Publication Date: 10/01/2006 Product Type: HBR OnPoint Article HBS Number: 1462 Subjects: Entrepreneurship; Innovation; Learning; Organizational design; Organizational learning; Organizational structure; Resource allocation; Strategy formulation Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: To be competitive, companies must grow innovative new businesses. Corporate entrepreneurship, however, isn’t easy. New ventures face innumerable barriers and seldom mesh smoothly with well-established systems, processes, and cultures. Nonetheless, success requires a balance of old and new organizational traits — and unless companies keep those opposing forces in equilibrium, their new businesses will flounder. The authors describe the challenges companies face when they pursue new businesses, as well as the usual problematic responses to those challenges. Such companies, they say, must perform three balancing acts: 1) Develop strategy by trial and error, which includes narrowing potential choices, learning from small samples, using prototypes to test business models, tracking progress through nonfinancial measures, and knowing how and when to pull the plug on a new venture; 2) Find the best combination of old and new operational processes by staffing new ventures with “mature turks, ” changing veterans‘ thinking, knowing which capabilities to develop and which to acquire, and having old and new businesses share responsibility for operating decisions; 3. Strike the right balance of integration and autonomy by assigning both corporate and operating sponsors to new ventures, establishing criteria for handoffs to existing divisions, and using creative organizational structures. The authors provide a detailed look at IBM's Emerging Business Opportunity system, which manages all these balancing acts simultaneously.
Case Thomke, Stefan; Sinofsky, Steven Jay Describes a key decision-making process within Microsoft’s Office products division. At a time when the PC software business has a great deal of uncertainty, Microsoft‘s management has to make a key decision regarding the future of software suites. A strengthening of suite development as a common platform would require significant organizational, process, and strategic alignments that may weaken the individual software divisions. Focuses on: 1) software development, with an emphasis on multi-applications suites; 2) different models of product innovation (common platform versus individual elements); 3) managerial challenges in aligning processes and the organization of several independent development units. HBS Number: 9-699-046 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 11/19/1998 Revision Date: 2/10/1999 Geographic Setting: United States Industry Setting: software Gross Revenues: $4.65 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1994 Event Year End: 1994 Subjects: Organizational change; Organizational design; Product design; Product development; Software; Software industry Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-699-136), 16p, by Stefan Thomke, Ashok Nimgade
Case Author(s): Edmondson, Amy C.; Eccles, Robert G.; Srivastava, Mona Publication Date: 02/17/2009 Revision Date: 12/22/2009 Product Type: Supplement (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 609086 Geographic Setting: India; West Germany Number of Employees: 25-40 Gross Revenue: $800000 Event Year Start: 2005 Event Year End: 2009 Subjects: Entrepreneurship; Innovation; Teams; Social enterprise; Organizational design; Family-owned businesses; Sustainability Academic Discipline: Social enterprise & ethics Product Description: This case is a follow-up of “Mistry Architects: Innovating for Sustainability” (A) (Case 609-044) and (B) (Case 609-086). In Case (A) Sharukh and Renu Mistry founded and run an architectural firm dedicated to being both client-oriented and environmentally responsible. The case uses a difficult design decision in a tsunami rehabilitation project to illustrate the challenges faced by professional services firms, and the role of innovation in meeting the needs of multiple stakeholders. The specific design decision is to make a choice between thatch roofs which are environmentally friendly, versus reinforced cement concrete roofs that the villagers desire for their functionality. Case (B) reveals and explains the firm’s choice, while describing how the community rebuilds itself after the tsunami, as well as how the firms evolves. The (C) case discusses the future plans of the firm including growth and succession issues.
Case Author(s): Eccles, Robert G.; Edmondson, Amy C.; Srivastava, Mona Publication Date: 02/17/2009 Product Type: Case (Field) HBS Number: 9-609-044 Geographic Setting: India Industry Setting: Professional services Number of Employees: 25-40 Gross Revenues: $800,000 Event Year Start: 2005 Event Year End: 2009 Subjects: Entrepreneurship; Family-owned businesses; Innovation; Organizational design; Social enterprise; Sustainability; Teams Academic Discipline: Social enterprise & ethics Supplementary Materials: Supplement (Field), (9-609-064), 3p, by Robert G. Eccles, Amy C. Edmondson, Mona Srivastava; Supplement (Field), (9-609-086), 1p, by Robert G. Eccles, Amy C. Edmondson, Mona Srivastava Product Description: Describes an architecture firm founded and run by a husband and wife team, Sharukh and Renu Mistry, that emphasizes “green” building. The firm presents an unusual mix of projects — spanning the spectrum from larger corporate projects to small private homes. The mix also includes more profitable work and projects deliberately selected for social good, including the design of orphanage communities for SOS Childrens International and other non-profit organizations. The mix engages teams of young architects in different kinds of learning opportunities, and allows them to manage these projects with an unusually high level of independence. The firm’s founders are dedicated to being both very client-oriented and environmentally responsible. This can lead to some difficult choices and the case illustrates one example. The firm has been commissioned by SOS to design homes for some villages destroyed in the December 24, 2004 tsunami. The preferred design is thatch roofs which is in keeping with the local environment. However, the villagers want a more functional (and more expensive) reinforced cement concrete roof. Sharukh must decide wh Source: Harvard
Case Author(s): Edmondson, Amy C.; Eccles, Robert G.; Srivastava, Mona Publication Date: 02/17/2009 Revision Date: 04/27/2010 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 609044 Geographic Setting: India Number of Employees: 25-40 Gross Revenue: $800000 Event Year Start: 2005 Event Year End: 2009 Subjects: Entrepreneurship; Innovation; Teams; Social enterprise; Organizational design; Family-owned businesses; Sustainability Academic Discipline: Social enterprise & ethics Supplementary Materials: Supplement, (609064), 3p, by Amy C. Edmondson, Robert G. Eccles, Mona Srivastava; Supplement, (609086), 1p, by Amy C. Edmondson, Robert G. Eccles, Mona Srivastava Product Description: Describes an architecture firm founded and run by a husband and wife team, Sharukh and Renu Mistry, that emphasizes “green” building. The firm presents an unusual mix of projects - spanning the spectrum from larger corporate projects to small private homes. The mix also includes more profitable work and projects deliberately selected for social good, including the design of orphanage communities for SOS Childrens International and other non-profit organizations. The mix engages teams of young architects in different kinds of learning opportunities, and allows them to manage these projects with an unusually high level of independence. The firm’s founders are dedicated to being both very client-oriented and environmentally responsible. This can lead to some difficult choices and the case illustrates one example. The firm has been commissioned by SOS to design homes for some villages destroyed in the December 24, 2004 tsunami. The preferred design is thatch roofs which is in keeping with the local environment. However, the villagers want a more functional (and more expensive) reinforced cement concrete roof. Sharukh must decide whic Source: Harvard
Case Author(s): Eccles, Robert G.; Edmondson, Amy C.; Srivastava, Mona Publication Date: 02/17/2009 Product Type: Supplement (Field) HBS Number: 9-609-064 Subjects: Entrepreneurship; Family-owned businesses; Innovation; Organizational design; Professional services; Social enterprise; Sustainability; Teams Academic Discipline: Social enterprise & ethics Supplementary Materials: Supplement (Field), (9-609-086), 1p, by Robert G. Eccles, Amy C. Edmondson, Mona Srivastava Product Description: Supplements the (A) case. Must be used with: (9-609-044) Mistry Architects: Innovating for Sustainability (A).
Case Author(s): Edmondson, Amy C.; Eccles, Robert G.; Srivastava, Mona Publication Date: 02/17/2009 Revision Date: 12/22/2009 Product Type: Supplement (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 609064 Geographic Setting: India; West Germany Number of Employees: 25-40 Gross Revenue: $800000 Event Year Start: 200 Subjects: Entrepreneurship; Innovation; Teams; Social enterprise; Organizational design; Family-owned businesses; Sustainability Academic Discipline: Social enterprise & ethics Supplementary Materials: Supplement, (609086), 1p, by Amy C. Edmondson, Robert G. Eccles, Mona Srivastava Product Description: This case is a follow-up of Mistry Architects: Innovating for Sustainability (A) (Case 609-044). In Case (A) Sharukh and Renu Mistry found and run an architectural firm dedicated to being both client-oriented and environmentally responsible. The case uses a difficult design decision in a tsunami rehabilitation project to illustrate the challenges faced by professional services firms, and the role of innovation in meeting the needs of multiple stakeholders. The specific design decision is to make a choice between thatch roofs which are environmentally friendly, versus reinforced cement concrete roofs that the villagers desire for its functionality. Case (B) reveals and explains the firm’s choice, while describing how the community rebuilds itself after the tsunami, as well as how the firms evolves. A (C) case discusses the future plans of the firm including growth and succession issues.
Article Hansen, Morten T.; Chesbrough, Henry W.; Nohria, Nitin; Sull, Donald Business incubators such as Hotbank, CMGI, and Idealab! are a booming industry. Offering office space, funding, and basic services to start-ups, these organizations have become the hottest way to nurture and grow fledgling businesses. HBS Number: R00507 Type: Harvard Business Review Article Publication Date: 9/1/2000 Subjects: Entrepreneurial management; Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurship; Incubators; Internet; New economy; Organizational design; Organizational management; Organizational structure
Case Author(s): Roberts, John; Doornik, Katherine Publication Date: 02/28/2001 Revision Date: 07/01/2007 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Stanford University HBS Number: IB23 Geographic Setting: Espoo Industry Setting: Telecommunications industry Number of Employees: 51,177 Gross Revenues: $19,954 million revenues Event Year Start: 1992 Event Year End: 2000 Subjects: Globalization; Internet; Organizational design; Telecommunications Academic Discipline: General management Product Description: Nokia Corp. is a global telecommunications company that, in eight years, went from a near-bankrupt conglomerate to a global leader in mobile telephony, delivering almost 30% annual compound growth in revenues during 1992-2000, while shedding businesses that had accounted for almost 90% of its 1998 shares. By spring 2000, Nokia had the highest margins in the mobile phone industry, a negative debt-equity ratio, the most valuable non-U.S. brand in the world, Europe’s highest market capitalization, a presence in 140 countries, and unique corporate structures, processes, and culture that gave it the feel of “a small company soul in a big corporate body.” Along with growth in size and diversity, however, came growth in complexity. Nokia had to develop multiple businesses and technologies (while dealing with the great technological uncertainties that were inherent in the convergence of mobile telephony and the Internet). It also had to manage a growing network of alliances and a number of acquisitions, mostly in the United States. This case provides the background to the issues Nokia faces as it considers how to meet these challenges while maintaining its unique company values and way of working that made it possible to execute efficiently while continuing to innovate.
Case Author(s): Mills, D. Quinn; Friesen, Gary Bruce Publication Date: 12/13/1989 Product Type: Note Product Description: Describes four basic organizational forms—hierarchy, division, matrix, and cluster. Diagrams of each are included. Their strengths and weaknesses under different business environment conditions are detailed. There is a table comparing the forms on several key organizational dimensions and a second table that describes key management practices in each form. HBS Number: 9-490-040 Subjects: Human resources management; Organizational design; Organizational structure Academic Discipline: Human resources management
Case Author(s): Nohria, Nitin Publication Date: 02/19/1991 Revision Date: 06/30/1995 Product Type: Note Product Description: Provides the reader with a basic understanding of organization structure. The first section provides a brief history of the main ideas pertaining to organization structure. The second section outlines some of the concepts and factors that must be taken into account while designing organization structure. Some of the prototypical forms of organization structure and their strengths and weaknesses are described in the third section. Finally, some emerging trends in how organizations are structured are discussed in the last section. HBS Number: 9-491-083 Subjects: Organizational design; Organizational structure Academic Discipline: Human resources management
Article Author(s): Watson, Richard T.; Zinkhan, George M.; Pitt, Leyland Publication Date: 08/01/2004 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review HBS Number: CMR292 Subjects: Information management; Organizational design; Computer networks; Internet; Network effects Academic Discipline: Organizational Behavior & leadership Product Description: Understanding how to exploit networks and gain network effects is critical to success in the network economy. Object-orientation (OO), the commonly accepted methodology for building software, also provides a readily understood and concise set of concepts for comprehending business network structures. The underlying principles of OO serve as a guide for understanding the network economy and the structure of Internet-age organizations, provide a new tool for enterprise design, suggest new ways for entrepreneurs to conceptualize business structure, and indicate an approach for handling information overload. Four case studies illustrate key points and underscore the practical value of the OO approach to enterprise design.
Article Mintzberg, Henry; Van der Heyden, Ludo Walk into any organization and you will get a snapshot of the company in action—people and products moving every which way. But ask for a picture of the company and you will be given the org chart, with its orderly little boxes showin HBS Number: 99506 Type: Harvard Business Review Article Publication Date: 9/1/99 Subjects: Corporate strategy; Organization; Organizational design; Organizational structure
Article Mintzberg, Henry The characteristics of organizations fall into one of five natural configurations, each a combination of certain elements of structure and situation. The five configurations are the simple structure, machine bureaucracy, professional bureaucracy, divisionalized form, and adhocracy. These five configurations serve as an effective tool in diagnosing the problems of organizational design. HBS Number: 81106 Type: Harvard Business Review Article Publication Date: 1/1/1981 Subjects: Organizational design; Organizational problems
Case Author(s): Bradach, Jeffrey L. Publication Date: 11/12/1996 Revision Date: 11/19/1996 Product Type: Note Product Description: Presents the 7-S framework. This framework offers managers a tool for diagnosing problems in their organizations and for proposing corrective courses of action. May be used with cases that deal with organizational alignment. May be used with: (9-303-007) The Nature Conservancy. HBS Number: 9-497-045 Subjects: Organizational design; Organizational structure Academic Discipline: Human resources management
Article Author(s): Bartlett, Christopher A.; Ghoshal, Sumantra Publication Date: 10/01/1988 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review HBS Number: CMR019 Subjects: International business; International operations; Organization; Organizational design; Organizational management Academic Discipline: Business & government Product Description: To be competitive in an increasingly complex international environment, companies with worldwide operations must achieve global coordination and national flexibility simultaneously. Traditional organizational forms, however, have tended to provide one or the other attribute. The authors illustrate this point through the experience of two major competitors in consumer electronics: Philips, a classic “multinational ” company whose decentralized federation structure is well-suited to facilitating national flexibility, and Matsushita, a “global ” company with a centralized hub configuration that provides it with great efficiency. The authors then describe an emerging model — the “transnational ” organization whose structure is based on an integrated network of worldwide operations. The transnational firm requires both effective corporate management that does not impede national flexibility and efficient country management that does not prevent global coordination.
Case A Author(s): Claus Rerup; John Lafkas Publication Date: 4/11/2006 Revision Date: 8/21/2006 Product Type: Case Ivey ID: 9B06C006 Geographic Setting: Denmark Industry Setting: Educational Services Size: Small Year of Event: 2004 Level of Difficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA Subjects: Leadership; Visioning; Organizational Design; Entrepreneurial Business Growth Major Disciplines: Human Resource Management; Entrepreneurship; International Product Description: Learning Lab Denmark, a research and development institute, encountered many of the difficulties typically experienced by start-ups, especially obstacles that involve developing a set of routines for getting things done. In other respe
Case B Author(s): Claus Rerup; John Lafkas Publication Date: 4/11/2006 Revision Date: 8/16/2006 Product Type: Case Ivey ID: 9B06C007 Geographic Setting: Denmark Industry Setting: Educational Services Size: Small Year of Event: 2004 Level of Difficulty: 4 - Undergraduate/MBA Subjects: Leadership; Visioning; Organizational Design; Entrepreneurial Business Growth Major Disciplines: Human Resource Management; Entrepreneurship; International Product Description: This supplement to Organizing From Scratch: The Learning Lab Denmark Experience (A), product 9B06C006, identifies several of the consortia’s achievements, notes some findings from LLD‘s self-evaluation report and discusses significant
Article Author(s): Brown, John Seely; Duguid, Paul Publication Date: 04/01/1998 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review HBS Number: CMR110 Subjects: Communication strategy; Knowledge management; Organizational design; Organizational structure Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: Countering claims that cyberspace will bring the end of organizations in general and of the firm in particular, this article points to the role organizations play in fostering the production and synergistic development of knowledge. Formal organizations help turn the partial, situated insights of individuals and communities into robust, organizational knowledge. To organize knowledge in this way requires acknowledging the boundaries inevitably erected within organizations through the division of labor and the division of knowledge. Infrastructure for organizing knowledge must overcome these boundaries. Assuming that knowledge is a frictionless commodity possessed by individuals makes communications technologies and social organization curious antagonists. This article argues instead for compatible organizational and technological architectures that respond to and enhance the social production of knowledge.
Case Author(s): Yoshino, Michael Y.; Malnight, Thomas W. Publication Date: 08/28/1992 Product Type: Case (Field) Product Description: Describes the elevator market and Otis’s competitive position in four markets: Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, and Japan. The student is asked to evaluate the strategic and competitive challenges in each market, especially in light of strong Japanese competition across the region. Designed to give students appreciation of operating in the heterogeneous Asian environment in highly competitive markets. HBS Number: 9-393-009 Geographic Setting: Asia Industry Setting: elevators Company Size: Fortune 500 Gross Revenues: $2 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1992 Event Year End: 1992 Subjects: Asia; International business; Management of change; Organizational design; Strategy formulation; Strategy implementation Academic Discipline: General management
Case Author(s): Yoshino, Michael Y.; Malnight, Thomas W. Publication Date: 08/28/1992 Revision Date: 02/14/1995 Product Type: Case (Field) Product Description: Describes Otis’s effort to build a regional organization linking its previously autonomous opportunities across the Pacific Asia region. Describes changes being made in several key functions, including manufacturing, marketing, engineering, and finance. Presents major challenges being faced as the company tries to move toward a coordinated regional organization. Designed to examine issues associated with building an integrated organization in a highly competitive environment. HBS Number: 9-393-010 Geographic Setting: Asia Industry Setting: elevators Company Size: Fortune 500 Gross Revenues: $2 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1992 Event Year End: 1992 Subjects: Asia; International business; Management of change; Organizational design; Strategy formulation; Strategy implementation Academic Discipline: General management
Case Author(s): Nanda, Ashish; Prusiner, Lauren Publication Date: 10/02/2004 Revision Date: 07/10/2006 Product Type: Note HBS Number: 9-905-038 Industry Setting: Professional services Subjects: Acquisitions; Capital structure; Leadership; Organizational design; Partnerships; Professionals Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: This case reviews the relative merits of partnership and public ownership structures in professional services firms. It also evaluates the various rationales for converting partnership professional services firms to publicly owned firms. Finally, the case highlights the leadership challenges associated with making conversions from partnership to public structure successful.
Article Eisenhardt, Kathleen M.; Brown, Shona L. In turbulent markets, businesses and opportunities are constantly falling out of alignment. New technologies and emerging markets create fresh opportunities. Converging markets produce more. And of course, some markets fade. In this la HBS Number: 99303 Type: Harvard Business Review Article Publication Date: 5/1/1999 Subjects: Corporate strategy; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Reorganization; Strategy formulation; Strategy implementation
Case Author(s): Schlesinger, Leonard A.; Whitestone, Debr Publication Date: 04/18/1983 Revision Date: 10/25/2000 Product Type: Case (Field) Product Description: Describes the start up, strategy, organizational design, and operations over the first eighteen months of the airline. Focuses on the creative use of human resources as an integral part of the business strategy. HBS Number: 9-483-103 Geographic Setting: New Jersey Industry Setting: airline Company Size: start-up Gross Revenues: $100 million assets Event Year Start: 1982 Event Year End: 1983 Subjects: Airlines; Development stage enterprises; Human resources management; Organizational design; Services Academic Discipline: Human resources management Supplementary Materials: Supplement (Library), (9-487-043), 3p, by D. Quinn Mills, Gary Bruce Friesen; Supplement (Library), (9-487-044), 2p, by D. Quinn Mills, Gary Bruce Friesen; Supplement (Library), (9-487-054), 6p, by Charles C. Heckscher; Supplement (Library), (9-489-022), 6p, by D. Quinn Mills, Gary Bruce Friesen; Teaching Note, (5-485-112), 8p, by Leonard A. Schlesinger, Debra Whitestone; Teaching Note, (5-486-004), 5p, by Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld, Cynthia A. Ingols; Case Video, (9-885-515), 15 min, by Leonard A. Schlesinger; Case Video, (9-885-516), 35 min, by Leonard A. Schlesinger
Case Author(s): Beer, Michael Publication Date: 03/01/1990 Revision Date: 09/14/1993 Product Type: Case (Field) Product Description: Describes the innovative approach to organizing and managing employees by People Express and describes the company’s eventual demise. This material can be used to inform about leading edge human resource management practices and to raise questions about what went wrong. Why did People Express succeed in its early years and why did it ultimately fail? HBS Number: 9-490-012 Geographic Setting: Unspecified Industry Setting: airline Subjects: Airlines; Corporate culture; Human resources management; Leadership; Organizational design; Organizational development; Strategy implementation Academic Discipline: Human resources management Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-491-080), 5p, by Michael Beer, Gary Loveman; Case Video, (9-890-507), 15 min, by Michael Beer, Philip Holland; Case Video, (9-890-508), 20 min, by Michael Beer, Philip Holland
Case Author(s): Heckscher, Charles C. Publication Date: 11/21/1986 Revision Date: 12/18/1986 Product Type: Supplement (Library) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 487054 Subjects: Human resources management; Organizational design; Development stage enterprises Academic Discipline: Human resources management Product Description: Brings the history of People Express up to the summer of 1986. Raises the question of whether its innovative human resource policies were successful pr problematic.
Case Author(s): Applegate, Lynda M.; Osborn, Charles Publication Date: 07/21/1988 Revision Date: 10/07/1995 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 189006 Geographic Setting: United States Gross Revenue: $10.7 billion 1987 sales Event Year Start: 1985 Event Year End: 1988 Subjects: Control systems; Restructuring; Organizational design; Information systems; Information & technology Academic Discipline: Management of Information Systems Product Description: The downstream operations subsidiary of a major U.S. petroleum company is faced with major restructuring decisions and responds by developing an Executive Information System (EIS) which allows for increased responsiveness, wider span of control, and higher levels of effective communication among senior managers. The case examines how the EIS was developed, what business needs it serves, how it is currently used, and how its developers are approaching managing its growth.
Case Author(s): Groysberg, Boris; Snook, Scott; Lane, David Publication Date: 11/14/2006 Product Type: Case (Field) HBS Number: 9-407-053 Geographic Setting: New York, NY Industry Setting: Investment banking; Professional services Number of Employees: 21,000 Gross Revenues: $20 billion revenues Event Year Start: 2005 Event Year End: 2005 Subjects: Growth strategy; Human resources management; Leadership development; Management development; Management training; Organizational design Academic Discipline: Organizational behavior & leadership Product Description: Almost five years had passed since Goldman Sachs launched its innovative leadership development initiative called Pine Street. Focused primarily on developing Goldman’s most senior managers, Pine Street had evolved significantly since its inception in November of 1999. Looking forward, there were a number of challenges. How would Pine Street remain valued in a culture where what you did yesterday doesn‘t matter much? The question every day is “What will you do for me today?” Early in May 2005, members of the Pine Street Board of Directors gathered for their quarterly meeting to address the dimensions of this challenge: First, its curriculum had to maintain the interest of an increasingly demanding internal clientele. Second, program content had to keep pace with the constantly changing requirements of a rapidly shifting competitive and regulator landscape. Third, Pine Street itself had to pursue creative ways of renewing its structure and people without compromising either its mission or its unique culture. Fourth, Pine Street had to retain the continued support of Goldman Sachs' senior leadership. Finally, as program offerings grew, so did fundamental questions of identity: After five years of evolutionary growth, what did the Pine Street brand mean to Goldman Sachs?
Article Mills, D. Quinn Many American companies have begun to plan for their professional, managerial, and technical personnel. The most critical element is management’s appreciation for the ways in which its human resource decisions affect the company‘s ability to achieve its business plans—and vice versa. Designing and strengthening work programs, assessing the corporate culture, and modifying or reinforcing it from the top are among the ways human resource planners target performance objectives. HBS Number: 85414 Type: Harvard Business Review Article Publication Date: 7/1/1985 Subjects: Corporate culture; Human resources management; Organizational design; Planning
Article Davis, Stanley M.; Lawrence, Paul R. A study of a number of companies employing some form of matrix reveals nine pathologies to which the matrix design is particularly vulnerable, along with prevention and treatment methods. Often there is a mistaken belief that matrix management is the same as group decision making, and there are tendencies toward anarchy and power struggles. The layering of a matrix can frequently result from the dynamics of power rather than from the logic of design, and there is a tendency for matrixes to sink to group and division levels. HBS Number: 78303 Type: Harvard Business Review Article Publication Date: 5/1/1978 Subjects: Matrix organization; Organizational design
Case Author(s): McKenney, James L.; Clark, Theodore H. Publication Date: 03/31/1995 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 195126 Geographic Setting: Ohio Gross Revenue: $30 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1993 Event Year End: 1993 Subjects: Vertical integration; Organizational design; Logistics; Information & technology; Process analysis Academic Discipline: Management of Information Systems Supplementary Materials: Case Teaching Note, (396083), 3p, by F. Warren McFarlan Product Description: The evolution of Proctor & Gamble’s development of efficient consumer response (ECR) involved a series of trials, a resolve to distribute diapers on the basis of product movement, a conscious effort to move to a new means of distribution across all lines, a first cut at a new system, and finally, the development of the existing mix of integrated IT systems linking the value chain from factory to shelf.
Case Author(s): Piskorski, Mikolaj Jan; Spadini, Alessandro L. Publication Date: 11/20/2006 Product Type: Case (Field) HBS Number: 9-707-401 Industry Setting: Consumer products Number of Employees: 100,000 Gross Revenues: $40 billion revenues Event Year Start: 2000 Event Year End: 2000 Subjects: Corporate strategy; Decentralization; Diversified companies; Matrix organization; Organizational change; Organizational design; Strategy implementation Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Supplementary Materials: Supplement (Field), (9-707-402), 11p, by Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, Alessandro L. Spadini Product Description: In response to a huge crisis in 2000, the new CEO of Procter & Gamble has to decide whether to continue with an unusual organizational design or to revert to the old matrix organization. Describes all the organizational designs used by Procter & Gamble from the 1920s onward, including geographic, product, and matrix architectures. Market development organizations, global business units, and global business services unit, each of which is heavily interdependent with the others and none of which has a clear decision-making advantage, comprise the unusual organizational design. Examination of the different organizational designs, trade-offs associated with each organizational architecture as well as the accompanying implementation problems.
Case Author(s): Piskorski, Mikolaj Jan; Spadini, Alessandro L. Publication Date: 01/23/2007 Revision Date: 10/04/2007 Product Type: Case (Field) HBS Number: 9-707-519 Industry Setting: Consumer products Number of Employees: 100,000 Gross Revenues: $40 billion revenues Event Year Start: 2000 Event Year End: 2000 Subjects: Corporate strategy; Decentralization; Diversified companies; Matrix organization; Organizational change; Organizational design; Strategy implementation Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Supplementary Materials: Supplement (Field), (9-707-402), 11p, by Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, Alessandro L. Spadini; Teaching Note, (5-708-450), 40p, by Mikolaj Jan Piskorski Product Description: In response to a huge crisis in 2000, the new CEO of Procter & Gamble has to decide whether to continue with an unusual organizational design or to revert to the old matrix organization. Describes all the organizational designs used by Procter & Gamble from the 1920s onward, including geographic, product, and matrix architectures. Market development organizations, global business units, and global business services unit, each of which is heavily interdependent with the others and none of which has a clear decision-making advantage, comprise the unusual organizational design. Examination of the different organizational designs, trade-offs associated with each organizational architecture as well as the accompanying implementation problems.
Case White RE; Mark K Procter & Gamble reorganized its operations and created Global Business Units with Market Development Organizations (MDO) to augment the brand strategy work. This reorganization supported changes in culture that included reasonable risk taking. Themarketing director of Procter & Gamble Canada was evaluating the potential success of launching a new product, Febreze, by using volume analysis resources available to her. The results indicated that Febreze would be a relatively small businessopportunity, but the model could not take into account the various new MDO marketing tools that were not yet available. To justify the cost of launching the product, revenues would have to be significantly more than the volume model predicted.While trying to adjust to the new culture, she had to evaluate the risks associated with launching the product not knowing if the new tools would generate the additional volumes needed, and the risk of losing the competitive edge if she postponed thelaunch. A 30-minute video, product 7B00M005, is also available. The second case in this series, Procter & Gamble Canada (B): The Canadian MDO (product 9B00M006) discusses the strategy behind the changes and the implications to the Canadian group. Ivey Number: 9B00M005 Publication Date: 25/01/2001 Geographic Setting: Canada Industry Setting: Miscellaneous Manufacturing Industries Company Size: Large organization Event Year Start: 1999 Subjects: Reorganization, Organizational Design, Strategic Planning, Strategy Development Functional Area: General Management
Case White RE; Mark K Organization 2005, the latest initiative by Procter & Gamble (P&G) worldwide, was put in place to help double revenue growth between 2000 and 2005. The reorganization aligned the company so that planning and managing the lines of business were doneon a global basis. The company’s culture, its structure and how work would be done were three key items that would be impacted by the changes. The newly appointed president of P&G Canada reflected on the strategy behind the changes, theimplications of the organizational change, and the message he wanted to deliver as he prepared to address the Canadian employees. A 30-minute video is also available. The first case in this series, Procter & Gamble Canada (A): The Febreze Decision (product 9B00M005) discusses the challenges faced by the marketing director of P&G Canada while launching a new product during these changes. Ivey Number: 9B00M006 Publication Date: 25/01/2001 Geographic Setting: Canada Industry Setting: Miscellaneous Manufacturing Industries Company Size: Large organization Event Year Start: 1999 Subjects: Reorganization, Organizational Design, Strategic Planning, Strategy Development Functional Area: General Management
Case Author(s): McKenney, James L.; Clark, Theodore H. Publication Date: 03/31/1995 Product Type: Case (Field) Product Description: Traces the evolution of P&G’s development of ECR: A series of trials; a conscious effort to distribute diapers on the basis of product movement; a conscious effort to move to a new means of distribution across all lines; a first cut at a new system; and finally, the development of the existing mix of integrated IT systems linking the value chain from factory to shelf. Teaching Purpose: Explores: 1) Issues in creating dramatically new means of doing business with IT. 2) The importance of organizational change and taking a system-wide point of view. HBS Number: 9-195-126 Geographic Setting: Cincinnati, OH Industry Setting: grocery products Company Size: Fortune 500 Gross Revenues: $30 billion revenues Event Year Start: 1993 Event Year End: 1993 Subjects: Information technology; Logistics; Organizational design; Process analysis; Vertical integration Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-396-083), 3p, by F. Warren McFarlan
Article Author(s): Sull, Donald N.; Spinosa, Charles Publication Date: 04/01/2007 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article HBS Number: R0704E Subjects: Customer satisfaction; Management communication; Managerial behavior; Organizational design; Organizational structure; Stakeholders; Strategy implementation Academic Discipline: Organizational behavior & leadership Product Description: Critical initiatives stall for a variety of reasons — employee disengagement, a lack of coordination between functions, complex organizational structures that obscure accountability, and so on. To overcome such obstacles, managers must fundamentally rethink how work gets done. Most of the challenges stem from broken or poorly crafted commitments. That’s because every company is, at its heart, a dynamic network of promises made between employees and colleagues, customers, outsourcing partners, or other stakeholders. Executives can overcome many problems in the short term and foster productive, reliable workforces for the long term by practicing what the authors call “promise-based management,” which involves cultivating and coordinating commitments in a systematic way. Good promises share five qualities: They are public, active, voluntary, explicit, and mission based. To develop and execute an effective promise, the “provider” and the “customer” in the deal should go through three phases of conversation. The first, achieving a meeting of minds, entails exploring the fundamental questions of coordinated effort: What do you mean? Do you understand what I mean? What should I do? What will you do? Who else should we talk to? In the next phase, making it happen, the provider executes on the promise. In the final phase, closing the loop, the customer publicly declares that the provider has either delivered the goods or failed to do so. Leaders must weave and manage their webs of promise Source: Harvard
Case Author(s): Cohen, Randolph B.; Cohen, Randolph B.; Delacey, Brian J. Publication Date: 04/12/2005 Revision Date: 01/31/2006 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 205100 Geographic Setting: New York Number of Employees: 17 Gross Revenue: $1 billion assets Event Year Start: 2005 Event Year End: 2005 Subjects: Entrepreneurial management; Organizational design; Business models; Capacity planning; Capacity analysis Academic Discipline: Finance Product Description: In February 2005, Jeffrey Tarrant (HBS ’85) and Ted Seides (HBS ‘99) considered their strategy for Protege Partners, founded in July 2002 as a fund of hedge funds (FOHF) specializing in small hedge funds. Protege's assets under management had grown to $1.1 billion, and Protege's development almost exactly mirrored the founders' expectations from 2001. Although the founders saw benefits to growth, they remained committed to the integrity of managing a small fund and wanted to continue generating superior performance for their clients. Should they close the Protege FOHF to new investors and focus on managing the existing assets as they originally intended? Could they continue to increase assets under management without taking on more top-level professionals? Should they hire additional analytical staff to help them grow Protege? Should they leverage Protege's special relationships with seeded managers to create a multistrategy hedge fund? Perhaps most important, how would their valued clients react to change?
Article Author(s): West, Alfred P., Jr.; Wind, Yoram (Jerry) Publication Date: 02/01/2007 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review HBS Number: CMR362 Subjects: Creativity; Facilities; Facilities planning; Innovation; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Work environments; Working conditions Academic Discipline: Operations management Product Description: To create an environment to embody a culture of flexibility, egalitarianism, teamwork, and entrepreneurship, SEI Investments built a distinctive headquarters. The offices are open and desks are on wheels, making it easy for teams to interact and quickly reorganize. The walls are lined with an extensive collection of contemporary art to invite creativity and debate. Building an environment that embodies its culture has helped SEI achieve rapid financial growth and facilitated business model innovation. Examines some of the lessons from this bold experiment in how physical structure can follow strategy.
Article Author(s): Chatterjee, Debabroto; Segars, Albert H.; Watson, Richard T. Publication Date: 08/01/2006 Product Type: CMR Article Publisher: California Management Review HBS Number: CMR345 Industry Setting: E-commerce; IT industry Subjects: Business to business; Electronic commerce; Internet; Organizational design; Partnerships; Supply chain Academic Discipline: Management of information systems Product Description: The advent of superior connectivity and integration technologies is paving the way for flexible electronic partnering options. Such flexibility is essential if a company wants to attract a large number of partners (with varying connectivity needs and preferences) to its supply chain network. This article conceptualizes 12 electronic partnering options. It then discusses the various types of sensemaking and conversion challenges that companies encounter in developing this critical electronic business (e-business) capability and proposes a multi-pronged approach to effectively deal with them. This approach involves four distinct but synergistic campaigns of digitization — strategic congruency, organizational design, technology infrastructure, and relational campaigns. The utility of this approach is illustrated by examples of successful business-to-business (B2B) digitization initiatives.
Article Author(s): Iyer, Bala; Davenport, Thomas H. Publication Date: 04/01/2008 Product Type: Harvard Business Review Article HBS Number: R0804C Industry Setting: Internet & online services industries Subjects: Corporate culture; Creativity; Data management; Experimentation; Innovation; Organizational design; Process innovation Academic Discipline: General management Product Description: Even among internet companies, Google stands out as an enterprise designed with the explicit goal of succeeding at rapid, profuse innovation. Much of what the company does is rooted in its legendary IT infrastructure, but technology and strategy at Google are inseparable and mutually permeable — making it hard to say whether technology is the DNA of its strategy or the other way around. Whichever it is, Iyer and Davenport, of Babson College, believe Google may well be the internet-era heir to such companies as General Electric and IBM as an exemplar of management practice. Google has spent billions of dollars creating its internet-based operating platform and developing proprietary technology that allows the company to rapidly develop and roll out new services of its own or its partners’ devising. As owner and operator of its innovation “ecosystem,” Google can control the platform‘s evolution and claim a disproportionate percentage of the value created within it. Because every transaction is performed through the platform, the company has perfect, continuous awareness of, and access to, the by-product information and is the hub of all germinal revenue streams. In addition to technology explicitly designed and built for innovation, Google has a well-considered organizational and cultural strategy that helps the company attract the most talented people in the land — and keep them working hard. For instance, Google budgets innovation into job descriptions, eliminates friction from development pr Source: Harvard
Case Author(s): Gabarro, John J.; Burtis, Andrew Publication Date: 02/28/1994 Revision Date: 07/17/2007 Product Type: Case (Field) HBS Number: 9-494-113 Geographic Setting: New England Industry Setting: Telephone industry Company Size: small Number of Employees: 51 Subjects: Interpersonal relations; Leadership; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Subsidiaries; Superior & subordinate Academic Discipline: Organizational behavior & leadership Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-496-046), 10p, by John J. Gabarro, Judith Maas Product Description: Written from the point of view of Richard Jenkins, the president of CelluComm. Presents his reflections on the series of events leading to the firing of one of CelluComm’s general managers, Erik Peterson. A rewritten version of an earlier case. May be used with: (9-494-005) Erik Peterson (A).
Case Author(s): MacCormack, Alan ; MacCormack, Alan ; Herman, Kerry Publication Date: 12/06/2000 Revision Date: 11/28/2001 Product Type: Case (Library) Publisher: Harvard Business School HBS Number: 601040 Geographic Setting: United States Event Year Start: 1989 Event Year End: 2000 Subjects: Licensing; Forecasting; International management; Technology; Organizational design; Spinoffs; Systems design Academic Discipline: Operations management Supplementary Materials: Case Teaching Note, (602106), 24p, by Alan MacCormack Product Description: Examines the history of Iridium Communications, a provider of mobile satellite services. Discusses the genesis of Iridium’s technical design, then follows the venture through various stages of development. Describes Iridium‘s attempts to build a subscriber base after the launch of commercial service, ending with the company's filing for Chapter 11 in 1999.
Case Author(s): Chatterji, Aaron; Bloom, Paul N. Publication Date: 05/01/2009 Product Type: Case (Field) Publisher: California Management Review HBS Number: CMR430 Subjects: Entrepreneurship; Organizational design; Organizational development; Social issues Academic Discipline: Organizational behavior & leadership Product Description: Successful scaling of social impact by a social entrepreneurial organization is driven by its capabilities in seven areas, identified in this article by using the acronym SCALERS: Staffing, Communicating, Alliance-building, Lobbying, Earnings-generation, Replicating, and Stimulating market forces. The relative importance of each of these capabilities in driving scaling will depend on several situational contingencies, such as the labor needs of the organization or the public support attracted by its causes or programs. The article presents the logic, theory, and prior research that support the SCALERS model and cites examples of case experiences that are consistent with the model.
Case Burton, M. Diane; Bradach, Jeffrey L.; Atkins, Naomi Describes the start-up, strategy, organizational design, and operations of SCORE! Educational Centers, an after-school tutoring enterprise. Alan Tripp, founder and CEO, is faced with growing organizational stresses and a looming venture capital deadline. Examines Tripp’s leadership, management style, and strategy. Focuses on the steps Tripp takes to build the company into a viable organization. Teaching Purpose: Allows for discussion of organizational alignment. May be used with: (9-499-059) SCORE! Educational Centers (D). HBS Number: 9-499-056 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 3/18/1999 Revision Date: 8/2/1999 Geographic Setting: United States Industry Setting: supplemental education/learning center Number of Employees: 200 Event Year Start: 1992 Event Year End: 1995 Subjects: California Research Center; Education; Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Management styles; Managerial skills; Organizational behavior; Organizational design Supplementary Materials: Supplement (Field), (9-499-057), 1p, by M. Diane Burton, Jeffrey L. Bradach, Naomi Atkins; Supplement (Field), (9-499-058), 1p, by M. Diane Burton, Jeffrey L. Bradach, Naomi Atkins; Supplement (Field), (9-499-060), 3p, by M. Diane Burton, Naomi Atkins; Teaching Note, (5-400-009), 26p, by M. Diane Burton, Stephanie Woerner; Case Video, (9-400-504), 21 min, by M. Diane Burton
Case Burton, M. Diane; Bradach, Jeffrey L.; Atkins, Naomi Describes Rob Waldron’s actions upon assuming leadership of SCORE! Educational Centers, an after-school tutoring enterprise. Examines the issue of acquiring and growing a small, self-owned company into a professional organization. Focuses on the steps Waldron takes to address a growing employee morale problem. Concludes as Waldron must decide whether or not to alter the company‘s recruiting strategy. May be used with: (9-499-056) SCORE! Educational Centers (A). HBS Number: 9-499-059 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 3/18/1999 Revision Date: 8/2/1999 Geographic Setting: United States Industry Setting: supplemental education/learning center Number of Employees: 200 Event Year Start: 1996 Event Year End: 1998 Subjects: California Research Center; Education; Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Management styles; Managerial skills; Organizational behavior; Organizational design Supplementary Materials: Case Video, (9-400-504), 21 min, by M. Diane Burton; Supplement (Field), (9-499-060), 3p, by M. Diane Burton, Naomi Atkins; Teaching Note, (5-400-009), 26p, by M. Diane Burton, Stephanie Woerner
Case Beer, Michael; Spector, Bert A. The new plant manager must deal with the problems and potentials contained in this highly participatory management style plant. HBS Number: 9-481-148 Type: Case (Field) Publication Date: 3/1/1981 Revision Date: 4/27/1993 Geographic Setting: Sedalia, MN Industry Setting: diesel engine production Number of Employees: 900 Event Year Start: 1974 Event Year End: 1979 Subjects: Employee empowerment; Human resources management; Industrial goods; Job satisfaction; Labor relations; Machinery; Organizational design; Participatory management; Plant management Supplementary Materials: Teaching Note, (5-485-020), 18p, by Michael Beer, Bert A. Spector; Teaching Note, (5-683-034), 6p, by Kim B. Clark; Case Video, (9-884-522), 20 min, by Michael Beer, Bert A. Spector
Article Author(s): Simons, Robert Publication Date: 06/16/2005 Product Type: HBS Press Chapter HBS Number: 2408BC Subjects: Corporate culture; Leadership; Organizational behavior; Organizational design; Performance management; Resistance; Strategy implementation; Vision Academic Discipline: Competitive strategy Product Description: Two critical tasks of senior managers are determining how individuals should act within their organization and then creating the necessary conditions for them to act in the desired way. This chapter focuses on the last of the four Cs of organization design: analyzing the level of commitment to others that is needed to support organizational strategy. May be used with: (2404BC) Aligning Span of Attention: The Goal of Organization Design; (2403BC) The Tensions of Organization Design: Optimizing Trade-offs; (2405BC) Unit Structure: Defining a Primary C
