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Open Your Organization to Honest Conversations

by Dina Gerdeman

When company leaders can't hear the voices of their workers, serious strategic mistakes are likely. Michael Beer discusses ways organizations can build powerful communication channels. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

First Look at New Research and Ideas, October 10, 2017

Sean Silverthorne

Measuring sales the right way ... Does crime desensitize victims? ... Innovation in a 100-year-old medical devices giant .

Who is to Blame for 'The Great Training Robbery'?

by Roberta Holland

Companies spend billions annually training their executives, yet rarely realize all the benefit they could, argue Michael Beer and colleagues. He discusses a new research paper, The Great Training Robbery. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

The Great Training Robbery

by Michael Beer, Magnus Finnstrom, and Derek Schrader

There is a widely held assumption in corporate life that well trained, even inspired individuals can change the system. This article explains why training fails and discusses why the “great training robbery” persists. The authors offer a framework for integrating leadership and organization change and development, and discuss implications for the corporate HR function.

Higher-Ambition CEOs Need Higher-Ambition Boards

by Edward J. Ludwig, Anna Elise Walton & Michael Beer

The unconventional purpose of higher ambition (HA) companies is to create long-term economic and social value (relationships of trust and commitment) for all their stakeholders. Given quarterly earnings pressures, the researchers wanted to learn how these boards differed from traditional boards. Interviews with CEOs and two directors of 14 HA companies revealed that alignment with HA purpose and values, not just business experience and performance, is viewed as essential in CEO and board member selection just as it is in the identification and development of next generation leaders. To our surprise, in all but two companies, these board practices had evolved implicitly. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

How CEOs Sustain Higher-Ambition Goals

by Dina Gerdeman

At a recent conference, executives underscored the importance of employee engagement, contributing to the community, and creating sustainable environment strategies. Closed for comment; 6 Comment(s) posted.

High Ambition Leadership

by Martha Lagace

Higher-ambition business leaders skillfully integrate both economic and social value. Professor Emeritus Michael Beer explains what makes them special, and how you can learn what they know, in his new book, Higher Ambition: How Great Leaders Create Economic and Social Value. Q&A plus book excerpt. Closed for comment; 3 Comment(s) posted.

High Commitment, High Performance Management

by Martha Lagace

High commitment, high performance organizations such as Southwest Airlines, Johnson & Johnson, McKinsey, and Toyota effectively manage three paradoxical goals, says HBS professor Michael Beer. His new book explains what all companies can learn. Q&A Key concepts include: High commitment, high performance (HCHP) firms carry out performance alignment, psychological alignment, and the capacity for learning and change. HCHP transformations are a unit-by-unit process. HCHP firms allow employees to speak to power in honest, collective, and public conversations. Leaders must make conscious, principled choices. Leaders develop an institution that cares about people while understanding the importance of profits. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Sharpening Your Skills: Leading Change

by Staff

Nothing like a global recession to test your change-management skills. We dig deep into the Working Knowledge vault to learn about building a business in a down economy, motivating the troops, and other current topics. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Uncompromising Leadership in Tough Times

by Martha Lagace

As companies batten down the hatches, we need leaders who do not compromise on standards and values that are essential in flush times. Fortunately, such leaders do exist. Their insights can help other organizations weather the current crisis, says HBS professor Michael Beer. Q&A. Key concepts include: The CEOs in high commitment, high performance (HCHP) organizations are quite different in personality, background, and leadership style. But they are similar in what they see as the purpose of the firm. Among employees at large, there is a danger that commitment to an organization can undermine work-life balance. Successful CEOs are good role models. In addition to open and honest communication and continued investment in HCHP management practices, corporations need to develop an a priori set of policies in advance of the crisis that will minimize damage from restructuring and downsizing and maintain employee dignity and commitment. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Embracing Commitment and Performance: CEOs and Practices Used to Manage Paradox

by Tobias Fredberg, Michael Beer, Russell Eisenstat, Nathaniel Foote & Flemming Norrgren

How do chief executives establish strategic practices around their visions and intents? How do such practices make it possible to create both high commitment and high performance? The central puzzle for HBS professor emeritus Michael Beer and colleagues is not the creation of high commitment per se, but the kind of commitment that is useful for the implementation of strategy and sustainable performance. Beer et al. sought out major companies in North America and Europe that had a history of sustainable, above-average financial performance, and where there were indications of the companies being high-commitment organizations. They then conducted in-depth interviews with 26 CEOs of such companies, asking about activities and practices that help create commitment and performance. Key concepts include: The CEOs did not frame choices as "either-or" but rather "both-and." They argued that seemingly conflicting outcomes cannot be made the subject of choice, nor can they be balanced. It is the role of a CEO to embrace paradoxes and at least at the espoused level try to reconcile them. The research team found 5 groups of interrelated managerial practices that characterize this kind of strategic management. The practices engage employees emotionally and rationally, and facilitate strategic change, rather than implement it top-down. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Why Innovations Sit on the Shelf

by Michael Beer, Russell Eisenstat & Derek Schrader

Why can't your organization capitalize on great ideas? Surprise! The answer may have more to do with communication than inventiveness. From Strategy and Innovation. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Got a New Strategy? Now Make it Happen

by Michael Beer & Russell A. Eisenstat

Many strategies never take off for lack of honest discussion, say Harvard Business School's Michael Beer and co-author Russell A. Eisenstat. A Harvard Business Review excerpt. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Pay-for-Performance Doesn’t Always Pay Off

by Martha Lagace

Paying your employees more for hitting specific targets may backfire, according to HBS professor Michael Beer. As he learned in his study of thirteen pay-for-performance plans at Hewlett-Packard, the unspoken contract may make or break these programs. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Breaking the Code of Change

by Michael Beer & Nitin Nohria

How can firms maximize economic value while developing their organizational capabilities? In a corporate environment where change is constant, business leaders are continually challenged by this dilemma. In this excerpt from "Resolving the Tension between Theories E and O of Change," from Michael Beer and Nitin Nohria's Breaking the Code of Change, the authors present a framework toward "an integrative theory of change." Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

A Perfect Fit: Aligning Organization & Strategy

by Judith A. Ross

Is your company organizationally fit? HBS Professor Michael Beer believes business success is a function of the fit between key organizational variables such as strategy, values, culture, employees, systems, organizational design, and the behavior of the senior management team. Beer and colleague Russell A. Eisenstat have developed a process,termed Organizational Fitness Profiling, by which corporations can cultivate organizational capabilities that enhance their competitiveness. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.