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New research on managing change from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including corporate reinvention, disaster preparedness and recovery, and culture change.
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On Target: Rethinking the Retail Website

by Dina Gerdeman

Target is one big-brand retailer that seems to have survived and even thrived in the apocalyptic retail landscape. What's its secret? Srikant Datar discusses the company's relentless focus on online data. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Executive Education in the Digital Vortex: The Disruption of the Supply Landscape

by Mihnea Moldoveanu and Das Narayandas

The competitive landscape of executive education is feeling a tectonic shift even as demand grows for managerial skills. This study maps and analyzes the major providers of executive education programs, including business schools, consultancies, and corporate universities, to better understand and explain the industry’s present and future dynamics.

Nowcasting Gentrification: Using Yelp Data to Quantify Neighborhood Change

by Edward L. Glaeser, Hyunjin Kim, and Michael Luca

This study finds that data from digital platforms (in this case, Yelp) can help forecast which neighborhoods are gentrifying and provide new ways to measure business landscape changes that accompany demographic changes.

How to Heed BlackRock's Call for Corporate Social Responsibility

by Julie Battilana

BlackRock's Larry Fink is challenging CEOs to serve a social purpose as well as a financial one. Institutional change expert Julie Battilana discusses what it will take to create this "transformation of capitalism." Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

The Most Popular Stories and Research Papers of 2017

by Sean Silverthorne

The most visited stories on Harvard Business School Working Knowledge in 2017 included new research on gender and racial bias, personal productivity, and happiness. What do you think were the most powerful business trends of the year? Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

The Three Types of Leaders Who Create Radical Change

by Carmen Nobel

Every successful social movement requires three distinct leadership roles: the agitator, the innovator, and the orchestrator, according to institutional change expert Julie Battilana. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Reinventing the American Wine Industry: Marketing Strategies and the Construction of Wine Culture

by Ai Hisano

Since the 1960s, the United States has seen spectacular growth in wine consumption. This paper explores how businesses reinveted the image of wine. This creation of the new market, like other consumer products, had social and cultural consequences. In the US, wine became a status symbol and a renforcer of social and class divisions.

A Three-Box Solution to Managing Innovation

by Michael Blanding

In The Three-Box Solution, Vijay Govindarajan adapts an ancient Hindu philosophy to balance a company's often competing realities of past, present, and future. The more we can plan for opportunity, the better the possibility of creating a successful future. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

When CEOs Become Activists

by Carmen Nobel

More and more, CEOs are promoting social causes that lie far outside their core business interests. Research by Mike Toffel and Aaron Chatterji explores the rise of CEO activists and the effects on their companies. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Why Do Leaders Get Their Timing Wrong?

by James Heskett

SUMMING UP: Is good management timing primarily a function of strategy or culture? James Heskett's readers add their opinions. What do YOU think? Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.

Why Does Gender Diversity Improve Financial Performance?

by James Heskett

SUMMING UP Why does having more women in leadership positions make for more successful companies? James Heskett's readers offer a variety of theories. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Is the Time Right for Self-Management?

by James Heskett

SUMMING UP When and where will holacracy, also known as self-management, work best? James Heskett's readers are conflicted as they respond to Zappos.com's radical adoption of the less-is-more management structure. What do YOU think? Open for comment; 38 Comment(s) posted.

The 5 Strategy Rules of Bill Gates, Andy Grove, and Steve Jobs

by Michael Blanding

David Yoffie and Michael Cusumano find common leadership lessons from the tech titans of Microsoft, Intel, and Apple in the new book, Strategy Rules. Open for comment; 26 Comment(s) posted.

Retail Reaches a Tipping Point—Which Stores Will Survive?

by Sean Silverthorne

Part 1: The new book Retail Revolution: Will Your Brick and Mortar Store Survive? argues that ecommerce is about to deal severe blows to many familiar store-based brands—even including Walmart. Here's how retailers can fight back, according to Rajiv Lal, José Alvarez, and Dan Greenberg. Open for comment; 7 Comment(s) posted.

Learning From Japan’s Remarkable Disaster Recovery

by Sean Silverthorne

Harvard Business School students make an annual trek to businesses in the Japanese area wrecked by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Their objectives: learn all they can about human resilience and share their own management knowledge. Closed for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Starbucks Reinvented

by Julia Hanna

Nancy Koehn's new case on the rebirth of Starbucks under Howard Schultz "distills 20 years of my thinking about the most important lessons of strategy, leadership, and managing in turbulence." Closed for comment; 21 Comment(s) posted.

Innovation Is Magic. Really

by Dina Gerdeman

When Stefan Thomke teaches students how to manage innovation and creativity, he turns to an unexpected source: Magician Jason Randal. Open for comment; 12 Comment(s) posted.

John Kotter’s Plan to Accelerate Your Business

by Kim Girard

In the fast-paced modern economy, businesses can no longer rely on just one organizational design, argues John Kotter in a new book, Accelerate: Building Strategic Agility for a Faster-Moving World. Why we need two "operating systems." PLUS Book excerpt. Closed for comment; 6 Comment(s) posted.

Book Excerpt--‘Accelerate: Building Strategic Agility for a Faster-Moving World’

Re: John P. Kotter

Management and leadership are not the same thing. But which is more important to a growing, innovative organization? An excerpt from John Kotter's new book, Accelerate: Building Strategic Agility for a Faster-Moving World. Open for comment; 0 Comment(s) posted.

Technology Re-Emergence: Creating New Value for Old Innovations

by Carmen Nobel

Every once in a while, an old technology rises from the ashes and finds new life. Ryan Raffaelli explains how the Swiss watch industry saved itself by reinventing its identity. Closed for comment; 6 Comment(s) posted.