Organizations →
- 15 Mar 2007
- Working Paper Summaries
Initiating Divergent Organizational Change: The Enabling Role of Actors’ Social Position
Does social position influence the ability to launch groundbreaking organizational projects? This study investigates that question as well as whether workers' social position in their professional field affects their ability to begin such projects. Using data based on more than ninety clinical managers in the United Kingdom's National Health Service, Battilana studied initiatives such as the development of an alternative to hospitalization for older people and another that would shift role division by transferring decision-making power from physicians to nurses. Her results indicate that social position is an important condition at the heart of organizational change. Key concepts include: A worker's social position is an important condition for their likelihood of initiating important new projects in organizations. Social position is a deciding factor in which types of changes may be made. Within the spectrum of social positions, the characteristics of people who are more likely to initiate such new projects are quite different depending on the type of change project that is considered. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 08 Feb 2007
- Working Paper Summaries
Managing Know-How
For many firms, the ability to create, organize, and disseminate know-how is a key factor in their ability to succeed. But should all companies engage in formal knowledge management? If not, which companies derive most value from a formal knowledge system? Conditional on implementing such a system, should the company focus more on learning from successes or learning from failures? Should such knowledge systems simply capture all experience, or should they be more selective? This paper develops and applies an economic framework to examine these questions. Key concepts include: Supporting firms' focus on best practice, information about successes is typically more useful than information about failures. Past successes can guide future successes, while past failures only point out certain pitfalls. Recording mediocre know-how can be counter-productive by inefficiently reducing employees' incentive to experiment. Larger firms with high turnover potentially gain the most from knowledge systems, but should also be the most selective when encoding information. The framework in this paper can be used to explore other questions on knowledge management. As knowledge management continues to grow in importance, a systematic economic perspective may shed important insights. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 31 Jan 2007
- HBS Case
When Good Teams Go Bad
Jeff Polzer and Scott Snook teach "The Army Crew Team" case and the dilemma faced by a rowing coach who has great individual parts but can't get them to synchronize. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 10 Jan 2007
- HBS Case
The Challenge of Managing National Security
What can we learn from mistakes made in managing national intelligence before 9/11? Professor Jan Rivkin discusses the difficulties of integrating a highly differentiated organization, and the dangers of overcentralizing decision making. From HBS Alumni Bulletin. Key concepts include: The issues around managing national security provide an extreme example of the challenges faced by organizations that break into specialized parts yet must get the parts to work together. While private sector organizations can roll out complex changes over time, the intelligence community must change quickly—it must be patient and impatient at the same time. In the highly turbulent field of national security, a single "intelligence czar" could be quickly overwhelmed by informational burdens, and oversight groups can bury talented individuals under bureaucracy. The Director of National Intelligence should serve as a centralized provider of leadership and infrastructure that allows both decentralized and coordinated action. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 20 Dec 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
The Demise of Cost and Profit Centers
The Balanced Scorecard has proven to be a general and powerful performance management framework for units previously treated as profit and investment centers. The management control literature, however, identifies other organizational forms for decentralized units, including standard cost centers, revenue centers, and support units treated as discretionary expense centers. Starting from the example of a classic teaching case, Empire Glass Company, Kaplan explains how strategy maps and the Balanced Scorecard transform cost, revenue, and discretionary expense centers into strategic business units in their own right. Key concepts include: The foundation of management control systems has been enhanced by applying strategy maps and Balanced Scorecards to motivate, align, and evaluate the performance of diverse organizational units. The leading paradigm of organizational structure and control of just a generation ago—based on cost, profit, investment, revenue, and discretionary expense centers—is replaced by a framework in which every organizational unit can be considered a strategic business unit. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 11 Dec 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
Three Perspectives on Team Learning: Outcome Improvement, Task Mastery, and Group Process
Organizations increasingly rely on teams to carry out critical strategies and operational tasks. How do teams learn, and what factors are most important to team learning? This paper reports on current perspectives and findings that address these questions, looking at empirical studies on team learning from three areas of research: outcome improvement, task mastery, and group process. Overall, Edmondson and coauthors characterize the nature of research to date and assemble what is known and unknown about the theoretically and practically important topic of team learning. Key concepts include: Team learning has value for organizations; learning in teams is seen as a key mechanism through which learning organizations become strategically and operationally adaptive and responsive. Research on team learning is at a crossroads. How the learning of individual work teams translates into organizational learning is not well understood, and management literature to date offers few insights. One avenue for future research is the durability and utility of team-based networks for the organization as a whole. Learning in teams almost necessarily plays a role in developing the knowledge and skills of individuals who compose the team. Another avenue for future research is how individuals benefit from their team learning experiences in terms of intellectual, career, and personal development goals. Organizations stand to benefit when ideas are cross-fertilized and diverse individuals learn to work together. "Outsiders" can introduce valuable ideas. Learning and execution are often at odds: Learning by its nature involves uncertainty, false starts, and occasional dead ends. Team learning in organizations must be recognized as a strategy for tolerating forays into the unknown. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 08 Dec 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
When Learning and Performance are at Odds: Confronting the Tension
While most people agree that learning leads to improved performance, there are several ways in which learning and performance in organizations can be at odds. First, when organizations take on a new learning challenge, performance often suffers in the short term, because new behaviors or practices are not yet highly skilled. Second, by revealing and analyzing their failures and mistakes—a critical aspect of learning—individuals or work groups may appear to be performing less well than they would otherwise. This paper reviews research that describes the challenges of learning from failure in organizations, and argues that these challenges can be at least partly addressed by leadership that creates a climate of psychological safety and that promotes inquiry. Key concepts include: In organizations, the costs of learning may at times be more visible than the benefits. Therefore, leaders must publicize this idea broadly, or else learning may not happen. Experimentation, by its nature, will inevitably result in failures; yet without these failures learning cannot occur. Leadership is essential for fostering the mindset, group behaviors, and organizational investments that promote learning now and invest in performance later. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 27 Nov 2006
- What Do You Think?
What’s to Be Done About Performance Reviews?
What can we do to make performance reviews more productive and less distasteful? Should their objectives be scaled back to just one or two? Should they be disengaged from the determination of compensation and, if so, how? Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 27 Nov 2006
- Research & Ideas
Manly Men, Oil Platforms, and Breaking Stereotypes
Men who work in dangerous places often act invulnerable to prove their merit as workers and as men—objectives that can lead to decreased safety and efficiency. Professor Robin Ely and her team helicoptered to offshore oil platforms in order to understand "manly men" and how working environments can be changed to alter men's enactments of manhood. Key concepts include: Men's masculine identity (like women's feminine identity) is a profoundly social and cultural phenomenon. In dangerous, male-dominated work settings, men's tendency to gain respect by demonstrating and defending their masculinity is costly. Efforts to appear invulnerable block precisely the kinds of actions that encourage safety and effectiveness. Offshore oil platforms, although male dominated, are also improving safety dramatically. Rather than seeking to prove how tough, proficient, and cool-headed they are, platform workers purposefully make themselves vulnerable in order to perform their jobs more safely and effectively. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 02 Nov 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
Managing Functional Biases in Organizational Forecasts: A Case Study of Consensus Forecasting in Supply Chain Planning
By their very nature, consensus forecasts contain subjective elements that can compromise forecast accuracy. In this case study of the implementation of a sales and operations planning process in a consumer electronics company, Oliva and Watson studied the organizational and political dimensions of forecast generation and improvement. Ultimately, consensus forecasting constructively managed the influence of biases (such as overconfidence) on forecasts. Key concepts include: Better and more integrated information is not sufficient for a good forecast. Design the process so that social and political dimensions of the organization are effectively managed. Create an independent group to manage the forecast process, not the forecast itself. This helps to stabilize the political dimension. Unintended incentives and blind spots can arise as a result of newly implemented processes, so managers need to control for biases and their effects on system performance. Insights from this case study can be generalized and extended to other settings that require cross-functional coordination. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 31 Oct 2006
- HBS Case
Governing Sumida Corporation
In a new Harvard Business School case, Professor Lynn Paine and her colleagues explore the nature of corporate governance systems by studying Japanese electronics components maker Sumida Corp. CEO Shigeyuki Yawata looks to create a governance structure that would be transparent to investors and stakeholders worldwide. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 18 Oct 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
Racial Diversity Initiatives in Professional Service Firms: What Factors Differentiate Successful from Unsuccessful Initiatives?
What organizational factors are needed for racial diversity initiatives to succeed? While diversity continues to grow in importance in organizations, very little research has focused on the processes that underlie diversity management. Modupe Akinola and David A. Thomas propose a study intended to explore management initiatives that focus on racial diversity in professional service firms. Given that such firms rely on the high level of skills, expertise, and diverse perspectives offered by their professional staff, these firms may be ideal laboratories for examining diversity initiatives. Key concepts include: The success of diversity initiatives in professional service firms is driven by five criteria: a well articulated and widely bought-into diversity strategy, leadership support, an engaged employee base, innovative approaches to recruiting and retaining minorities, and management practices that are integrated and aligned with the initiative. Firms that achieve sustained success in their diversity initiatives should show evidence of more of these success criteria relative to their peers in the same industries. Organizations with a strong understanding of the factors that influence the success of diversity initiatives may begin to better recruit and retain minorities. Such insights may even extend to organizational practices unrelated to diversity. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 06 Sep 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
Cross Functional Alignment in Supply Chain Planning: A Case Study of Sales & Operations Planning
Why do companies have such a hard time getting various functions to coordinate? Leitax, the pseudonym for a consumer electronics company studied by the authors, was suffering major supply-chain planning problems in 2002. The chief reason was typical to organizations: poor integration among the various functions. In response, the company introduced a system (rather than just a set of mechanisms) to better coordinate all processes and functions. The new system led to better collaboration from all participants, improved information-sharing, accurate and validated plans, and alignment in the execution of those plans. Key concepts include: Achieving true information sharing between functions is not just about creating the right information-sharing tool. True integration requires paying attention to the behavioral dynamics within operations management. Within supply chain management, coordinating systems can integrate the information requirements for planning yet also uphold the organizational differentiation that different stakeholders require. Such planning systems have great potential for capturing the advantages of simultaneous demand and supply management. A consensus forecasting system has advantages for buy-in and integration, and can respond promptly in a dynamic and challenging supply chain environment. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 01 Sep 2006
- What Do You Think?
Are We Ready for Self-Management?
On its face, self-management looks like a "win-win" answer to the scarcity of good managers and the predominance of low-involvement entry-level jobs. But are sufficient numbers of entry-level employees ready for self-management? And is management ready? Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 Jul 2006
- Research & Ideas
The Accidental Innovator
Many important innovations are the byproduct of accidents—the key is to be prepared for the unexpected. Professor Robert D. Austin discusses his research and practical implications on the concept of accidental innovation. Key concepts include: Innovation can't always be planned—accidents happen. Be prepared to recognize serendipitous opportunity. Understand the nature of breakthrough inventions in your industry and plan accordingly. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
Failing to Learn and Learning to Fail (Intelligently): How Great Organizations Put Failure to Work to Improve and Innovate
Successful companies see failure as a part of the innovative process, but there are social (organizational) and technical (skill-based) reasons why it is difficult to turn failures into learning opportunities. First, executives need to develop the skills to probe failures and analyze the root causes. Then improve management's technical skills in problem diagnosis, statistical process design, and qualitative and quantitative analysis. Organizationally, executives should create an environment where people are encouraged to identify failures, rather than encourage a "shoot the messenger" mindset. Key concepts include: Learn from failure by identifying, analyzing, and discussing it, and through deliberate experimentation and risk-taking. It is important to learn from small everyday failures rather than wait for a catastrophe to force change. Break down tasks and provide feedback and specific information on mistakes right away. Use the failure data to educate the organization. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
Learning Tradeoffs in Organizations: Measuring Multiple Dimensions of Improvement to Investigate Learning-Curve Heterogeneity
How and why experience leads to performance improvement has made the learning curve an important management topic for sites ranging from nuclear power plants to cardiac surgical units. This new research looks deeper at learning curves by focusing on learning rates in technology adoption in similar organizations along multiple, potentially competing dimensions. Using longitudinal data from sixteen hospitals that are adopting a new technology for cardiac surgery, it specifically studies two dimensions: efficiency and application innovation and the potential tradeoff between efficiency and application innovation. It also asks how such tradeoffs are influenced. Key concepts include: Organizations should explicitly decide which dimension of learning is of greatest strategic importance to them. Some organizations may learn more slowly on a particular dimension because they are investing in a different, potentially contradictory dimension of learning. Hospitals in the study that focused on increasing the technical difficulty and innovativeness of their use of a new technology were less likely to increase efficiency as quickly as those that were focused on efficiency. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
Implementing New Practices: An Empirical Study of Organizational Learning in Hospital Intensive Care Units
How do hospital units, as complex service organizations, successfully implement best practices? Practices involve people and knowledge; people must apply knowledge to particular situations, so changing practices requires changing behavior. This study is a starting point for healthcare organizations to improve work practices. The researchers drew from literature on best practice transfer, team learning, and process change and developed four hypotheses to test at highly specialized hospital units that care for premature infants and critically ill newborns. Key concepts include: Organizations must set up project teams to investigate and implement new practices. Project teams are important for creating organizational change. There is a strong positive relationship between "learn-how" and implementation success. "Learn-how" makes new practices work in a specific context, and psychological safety encourages people to participate in this disruptive process. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 29 May 2006
- Research & Ideas
Why CEOs Are Not Plug-and-Play
Company-specific skills may be valuable in a new job under the right conditions, say Harvard Business School's Boris Groysberg, Andrew N. McLean, and Nitin Nohria. They studied GE; here's an excerpt from Harvard Business Review. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
The Key to Managing Stars? Think Team
Stars don't shine alone. As Harvard Business School's Boris Groysberg and Linda-Eling Lee reveal in new research, it is imperative that top performers as well as their managers take into account the quality of colleagues. Groysberg and Lee explain the implications for star mobility and retention in this Q&A. Key concepts include: It takes a team. Despite a star's talent, knowledge, experience, and reputation, his or her colleagues make the difference for sustaining top performance. Before considering a career move, carefully evaluate the support you would receive from colleagues even in other parts of the firm. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.