What Do YOU Think?
“What Do YOU Think?” is an ongoing dialogue between Harvard Business School professor Jim Heskett and the readers of HBS Working Knowledge. Each month, Professor Heskett offers his thoughts on specific events and activities in the world of business and their impact on the way managers manage. “What Do YOU Think” invites readers to respond, and selections from these responses are made available online.
James L. Heskett is a Baker Foundation Professor at the Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University. He completed his Ph.D. at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, and has been a member of the faculty of The Ohio State University as well as President of Logistics Systems, Inc. He is currently teaching the MBA course on The Entrepreneurial Manager and in several short executive programs of the school.
He is a member of the Board of Directors of Limited Brands. He has served as a consultant to companies in North America, Latin America, and Europe.
Professor Heskett is a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Business Logistics and the International Journal of Service Industry Management. He was the 1974 recipient of the John Drury Sheahan Award of the Council of Logistics Management and the 1992 Marketing Educator of the Year Award of Sales and Marketing Executives International.
Workout vs. Bailout: Should Government Take Advantage of the Buffett Effect?
| Published: | October 2, 2008 |
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| Feature: | What Do YOU Think? |
| Forum: | open for comment until October 29 ; 18 Comments posted |
Given the unfolding financial crisis, HBS professor Jim Heskett asks: To what degree should the U.S. government take advantage of free markets to free them up when they become frozen? Can it employ the "Buffett Effect" to do so? Or is the analogy even appropriate? What do you think?
Is Case Method Instruction Due for an Overhaul?
| Published: | September 5, 2008 |
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| Feature: | What Do YOU Think? |
| Forum: | closed | 111 Comments posted |
Online forum now closed. The case method of teaching business management has come under criticism on a number of fronts as educators rethink how to incorporate new teaching tools and methods made available by technology. Responses to Professor Jim Heskett's recent column, however, suggest that the case method might even be gaining relevance over time.
Has the Time Come for "Stretch" in Management?
| Published: | August 1, 2008 |
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| Feature: | What Do YOU Think? |
| Forum: | closed | 68 Comments posted |
Summing Up HBS professor Jim Heskett sums up comments from his readers on the topic of stretch goals. Does stretch still make sense as an organizing principle? What, if anything, should be done to ensure that stretch is allowed to flourish in companies today? What do you think?
Are Followers About to Get Their Due?
| Published: | July 3, 2008 |
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| Feature: | What Do YOU Think? |
| Forum: | closed | 77 Comments posted |
Online forum now closed. Leadership may be much-discussed, but followership merits equal attention, suggests HBS professor Jim Heskett. As a follower, what advice would you give other followers who want to have an impact on their jobs and organizations? As a leader, what do you do to foster good followership?
Why Don't Managers Think Deeply?
| Published: | June 6, 2008 |
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| Feature: | What Do YOU Think? |
| Forum: | closed | 136 Comments posted |
Online forum closed. Summing Up. According to Gerald and Lindsay Zaltman, nearly all research techniques commonly used today probe humans only at their conscious level, though it is the subconscious level that really determines behavior.
What is the Future of State Capitalism?
| Published: | May 2, 2008 |
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| Feature: | What Do YOU Think? |
| Forum: | closed | 43 Comments posted |
In state capitalism, is the operative word "capitalism"? State capitalism is neither to be applauded nor feared, judging from the tone of responses to May's column. Jim Heskett sums up. Online forum now closed.
Who Owns Intellectual Property?
| Published: | April 4, 2008 |
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| Feature: | What Do YOU Think? |
| Forum: | closed | 40 Comments posted |
Online forum now closed. Is intellectual property becoming community property? While the impact of change on the valuation of IP is of concern to some respondents, others wonder whether the issues are overblown. HBS professor Jim Heskett sums up responses to this month's column.
Where Will Management Innovation Take Us?
| Published: | March 5, 2008 |
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| Feature: | What Do YOU Think? |
| Forum: | closed | 60 Comments posted |
Management could change a lot in the coming years, says HBS professor Jim Heskett. A few reasons: continued development of the Internet and the transparency and communities it has spawned, and new attitudes toward work. But will innovation in management mostly be confined to entrepreneurs? What do you think? Online forum now closed.
How Sustainable Is Sustainability in a For-Profit Organization?
| Published: | February 1, 2008 |
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| Feature: | What Do YOU Think? |
| Forum: | closed | 77 Comments posted |
Online forum now closed. For managers, sustainability can mean the integration and intersection of social, environmental, and economic responsibilities. The concept is admirable, says Jim Heskett, but does it also confuse managers entrusted with the bottom line? How should they make trade-offs? Jim sums up reader responses.
Does Judgment Trump Experience?
| Published: | January 3, 2008 |
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| Feature: | What Do YOU Think? |
| Forum: | closed | 111 Comments posted |
It's a question as relevant for business as for the U.S. presidential campaign, says HBS professor Jim Heskett. If "judgment capability" is a function of experience, what kind of experience is important? Does plenty of experience really improve judgment? Online forum now CLOSED.
Published in 2007
What Is Management's Role in Innovation?
| Published: | November 30, 2007 |
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| Feature: | What Do YOU Think? |
| Forum: | closed | 93 Comments posted |
Online forum closed. It's an open question whether management, as it is currently practiced, contributes much to creativity and innovation, says HBS professor Jim Heskett. What changes will allow managers, particularly in larger organizations, to add value to the creative process? What do you think?
Why Is Succession So Badly Managed?
| Published: | November 5, 2007 |
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| Feature: | What Do YOU Think? |
| Forum: | closed | 77 Comments posted |
Online forum now closed. CEO and other leadership talent may be best developed within a firm rather than imported, says Jim Heskett. If such people—insiders with an outsider's perspective—provide answers to the need for such things as continuity, intimate knowledge of the organization, and a fresh look at the business, why don't we see more of them?
Has Managerial Capitalism Peaked?
| Published: | October 4, 2007 |
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| Feature: | What Do YOU Think? |
| Forum: | closed | 30 Comments posted |
Summing Up. Professor Jim Heskett considers his reader's comments on the growing imbalance between what John Bogle terms managerial capitalism and owners' capitalism.
Are Elite Business Schools Fostering the Deprofessionalization of Management?
| Published: | September 7, 2007 |
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| Feature: | What Do YOU Think? |
| Forum: | closed | 70 Comments posted |
Summing Up. The founders of top business schools wanted to make management a profession similar to law, medicine, and theology. But the results look different, according to a new book, From Higher Aims to Hired Hands, by HBS professor Rakesh Khurana. Now Jim Heskett asks: How, and to what extent, are business schools themselves contributing to the situation? Forum now closed.
How Will Millennials Manage?
| Published: | August 2, 2007 |
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| Feature: | What Do YOU Think? |
| Forum: | closed | 112 Comments posted |
Gen Yers or "millennials"—those born beginning in the late 1970s—are generally bright, cheery, seemingly well-adjusted, and cooperative, says Jim Heskett. Their work styles are sometimes confounding, though. As managers, how will they shape organizations of the future? Online forum now closed.
How Much of Leadership Is About Control, Delegation, or Theater?
| Published: | July 10, 2007 |
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| Feature: | What Do YOU Think? |
| Forum: | closed | 127 Comments posted |
Forum now closed. Summing up the many responses, Jim Heskett says that the mix of control, delegation, and theater employed by successful leaders depends on timing and circumstances. "The strongest messages I received were that if leadership involves control, it is only over setting an organization's course and priorities."
How Should Pay Be Linked to Performance?
| Published: | June 1, 2007 |
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| Feature: | What Do YOU Think? |
| Forum: | closed | 98 Comments posted |
Online forum now CLOSED. Professor Jim Heskett sums up 98 reader responses from around the world. As he concludes, is there another subject as important as this one about which we assume so much and know so little?
How Do Managers Think?
| Published: | May 4, 2007 |
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| Feature: | What Do YOU Think? |
| Forum: | closed | 59 Comments posted |
"Uncertainty sometimes is essential for success" asserts a new book, How Doctors Think. The work of doctors raises intriguing questions about managing, says Jim Heskett, since diagnostics are an important part of managerial decision-making, too. Jim sums up nearly 60 responses from readers around the world, including practicing physicians.
Will Market Forces Stop Global Warming?
| Published: | April 6, 2007 |
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| Feature: | What Do YOU Think? |
| Forum: | closed | 59 Comments posted |
HBS professor Jim Heskett sums up many creative responses from readers on the role of business in combatting global climate change. Online forum now closed.
What Is the Government's Role in U.S. Healthcare?
| Published: | March 2, 2007 |
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| Feature: | What Do YOU Think? |
| Forum: | closed | 66 Comments posted |
Healthcare will grab ever more headlines in the U.S. in the coming months, says Jim Heskett. Any service that is on track to consume 40 percent of the gross national product of the world's largest economy by the year 2050 will be hard to ignore. But are we addressing healthcare cost issues with the creativity they deserve? What do you think?
