Exhibit to Merging American Airlines and US Airways (A) case. In February 2013, US Airways announced that it would merge with American Airlines to create the world's largest airline. Doug Parker, the CEO of US Airways, would become CEO of the new American Airlines Group (AAL). The case describes a number of critical decisions Parker made and actions that he took in the course of the acquisition integration process. All focused on how best to combine the two airlines' core systems and operating processes as well as the appropriate scope and speed of strategic changes. Now, Parker must decide on the composition of AAL's senior executive team. Should Parker select a team dominated by US Airways executives with whom he has successfully worked for decades? Or should he establish a new team with roughly equal representation from both airlines? Parker's choice will send important signals to employees about the extent to which the transaction will be viewed as a merger of equals or as a takeover by US Airways.
In February 2013, US Airways announced that it would merge with American Airlines to create the world's largest airline. Doug Parker, the CEO of US Airways, would become CEO of the new American Airlines Group (AAL).The case describes a number of critical decisions Parker made and actions that he took in the course of the acquisition integration process. All focused on how best to combine the two airlines' core systems and operating processes as well as the appropriate scope and speed of strategic changes. Now, Parker must decide on the composition of AAL's senior executive team. Should Parker select a team dominated by US Airways executives with whom he has successfully worked for decades? Or should he establish a new team with roughly equal representation from both airlines? Parker's choice will send important signals to employees about the extent to which the transaction will be viewed as a merger of equals or as a takeover by US Airways.
This case follows Jenica Fletcher as she rebuilds her company's guitar strings division from the ground up. Convinced that she could turn the division around if given complete independence from corporate headquarters, Fletcher relocated the group, rebranded it as Malenti Strings, repositioned the guitar strings as high-performance products, and transformed Malenti into a fast-growing, profitable business. The case traces Fletcher's key steps in rebuilding the organization, including the development of a team of committed, interdependent employees. Students learn about Fletcher's values and unique management philosophy, as well as her managerial practices and daily activities. The case also discusses the role and development of the partnerships that helped solidify and grow the business. Coming off its high-end success, Malenti must now decide whether to move into the mid-priced market with a new line of electric guitar strings called True.
N12 Technologies was a startup founded in 2010 that employed nanotechnology to manufacture a patented material to improve the performance of carbon fiber composites, which were used in a wide variety of products, ranging from bicycles to automobiles to aircraft parts. By 2016, the company had grown to 27 employees and was able to produce its product in small volumes. While much had been achieved, the company's success hinged on its leadership's ability to scale both the organization and production capabilities exponentially. The case describes the company's evolution from a newly created startup to a young "loosely structured" company as well as the challenges ahead.
This case was written as an update to the case "The National Geographic Society," HBS No. 311-002, published in 2011. The (B) case describes the 2015 creation of National Geographic Partners, a for-profit joint venture between the National Geographic Society and 21st Century Fox. It describes the basic structure and terms of the deal as well as diverse reactions to it.
Seeking and giving advice are central to effective leadership and decision making, and they require emotional intelligence, self-awareness, restraint, diplomacy, and patience on both sides. But managers tend to view these competencies as "gifts" that one either has or lacks. The authors argue instead that they're practical skills you can learn and apply to great effect. They draw on a large body of research to identify the most common obstacles to effectively seeking and giving advice--such as thinking one already has the answers, defining the problem poorly, and overstepping boundaries--and offer practical guidelines for getting past them. The authors define the five stages of advising: (1) finding the right fit; (2) developing a shared understanding; (3) crafting alternatives; (4) converging on a decision; and (5) putting advice into action. Each stage includes suggestions for seekers and for advisers. Example: At stage 4, when it's time to narrow down the options, a seeker might review discarded or briefly considered ideas, and his adviser might play devil's advocate--to check for confirmation bias. Overall, the authors' guidelines amount to a fundamental shift in approach: a creative, collaborative way of understanding problems and crafting promising paths forward--which often requires an ongoing conversation.
This note examines the processes of seeking, receiving, and giving advice by drawing on both academic research and the lessons of skilled practitioners. It begins with a discussion of the potential benefits and costs of advice-seeking and advice-giving. The note then defines and distinguishes four related activities: advising, counseling, coaching and mentoring. Next, it describes the primary stages or steps in the advising process; each stage is examined from the perspective of both advice-seekers and advice-givers. The note concludes with recommendations for practice, listing a number of pitfalls to avoid when seeking, receiving, and giving advice as well as several guidelines and best practices.
Parivar, an IT services firm with a long history of attracting talented people with its family-like culture suddenly faces a spate of resignations among rank-and-file employees. As the vice president of HR tries to figure out what's behind the exodus, the CEO wants to create a brand-new function charged with reinforcing the company's culture. As Parivar prepares for global expansion, is emphasizing the family-like atmosphere the key to retaining employees, or has the company's approach started to become a liability? David A. Garvin, of Harvard Business School, lays out the fictionalized case. Expert commentary comes from Ganesh Natarajan, the vice chairman and CEO of Zensar Technologies (on which the case is loosely based), and from Daisy Dowling, the head of talent development at Blackstone Group.
Parivar, an IT services firm with a long history of attracting talented people with its family-like culture suddenly faces a spate of resignations among rank-and-file employees. As the vice president of HR tries to figure out what's behind the exodus, the CEO wants to create a brand-new function charged with reinforcing the company's culture. As Parivar prepares for global expansion, is emphasizing the family-like atmosphere the key to retaining employees, or has the company's approach started to become a liability? David A. Garvin, of Harvard Business School, lays out the fictionalized case. Expert commentary comes from Ganesh Natarajan, the vice chairman and CEO of Zensar Technologies (on which the case is loosely based), and from Daisy Dowling, the head of talent development at Blackstone Group.
Parivar, an IT services firm with a long history of attracting talented people with its family-like culture suddenly faces a spate of resignations among rank-and-file employees. As the vice president of HR tries to figure out what's behind the exodus, the CEO wants to create a brand-new function charged with reinforcing the company's culture. As Parivar prepares for global expansion, is emphasizing the family-like atmosphere the key to retaining employees, or has the company's approach started to become a liability? David A. Garvin, of Harvard Business School, lays out the fictionalized case. Expert commentary comes from Ganesh Natarajan, the vice chairman and CEO of Zensar Technologies (on which the case is loosely based), and from Daisy Dowling, the head of talent development at Blackstone Group.
High-performing knowledge workers often question whether managers actually contribute much, especially in a technical environment. Until recently, that was the case at Google, a company filled with self-starters who viewed management as more destructive than beneficial and as a distraction from "real work." But when Google's people analytics team examined the value of managers, applying the same rigorous research methods the company uses in its operations, it proved the skeptics wrong. Mining data from employee surveys, performance reviews, and double-blind interviews, the team verified that managers indeed had a positive impact. It also pinpointed exactly how, identifying the eight key behaviors of great Google managers. In this article, Harvard Business School professor Garvin describes how Google has incorporated the detailed findings from the research into highly specific, concrete guidelines; classes; and feedback reports that help managers hone their essential skills. Because these tools were built from the ground up, using the staff's own input, they've been embraced by Google employees. Managers say that they've found their training to be invaluable, and managers' ratings from direct reports have steadily risen across the company.
The Gaylord Division of Americhem, a large chemical company, is in the midst of the first use of a new zero-base budgeting system. The general manager of the division leading the process is experiencing disagreement and conflict among the members of the senior management team. This case describes a difficult meeting. A rewritten version of an earlier case.
Describes a senior management team's strategic decision-making process. The division president faces three options for redesigning the process to address several key concerns. The president has extensive quantitative and qualitative data about the process to guide him as he and the senior team attempt to make improvements.
Abridged version of 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.
Google's Project Oxygen started with a fundamental question raised by executives in the early 2000s: do managers matter? The topic generated a multi-year research project that ultimately led to a comprehensive program, built around eight key management attributes, designed to help Google employees become better managers. By November 2012, the program had been in place for several years, and the company could point to statistically significant improvements in managerial effectiveness and performance. Now executives were wondering: how could Google build on the success of this project, extending it to senior leaders, teams, and other constituencies while striving to create truly amazing managers?
In late spring 2009, Stroz Friedberg co-presidents Edward Stroz and Eric Friedberg had to set growth targets for 2010. The leading global consulting firm they had built specialized in managing digital risk and uncovering digital evidence and had grown very rapidly. With the firm's CFO, they believed that the firm could grow from $58 million to $72 million, a growth rate of 27% over the preceding year. However, the firm's 11 offices had submitted first draft FY 2010 plans that together added up to firm-wide revenues of only $53 million, a growth rate of negative 10.2%. The preceding years of rapid growth had been successful but challenging, and a thorough review of the firm's culture, systems, structure, and processes in late 2008 had resulted in a significant set of changes to which the organization was still adjusting. Stroz and Friedberg wondered whether to push for continued, aggressive growth.
In January 2010, John Fahey, president, CEO, and chairman of the board of trustees' executive committee of the Washington, D.C.-based National Geographic Society (NGS), must decide how best to organize the 121-year old mission-driven organization for a world of accelerating digital convergence and decreasing magazine sales. Historically a proponent of evolutionary change, he is considering a radical move: creating a senior management position responsible for e-commerce to coordinate web-based offerings and outreach across the Society's various departments, transition NGS from its many disparate and independent direct mail efforts to a more integrated and strategic e-commerce strategy, and leverage the NGS relationship with its members-currently defined as magazine subscribers, since a subscription comes with Society membership. Putting the final touches on the position and its reporting arrangements has led to significant debate within the organization, and Fahey is torn about how to proceed.
Ctrip is a $437 million Chinese on-line travel services company with a scientific, data driven approach to management. The case explores Ctrip's founding and early growth, its expansion into multiple market segments including hotel reservations, air ticketing, leisure travel, and corporate travel, and the sources of its competitive advantage. The firm's culture, organization and call center operations are described in detail, as are its decision-making and business processes. At the end of the case, executives are considering whether Ctrip should actively pursue either the budget or luxury travel segments, which would mean shifting attention from the company's core customer base of Frequent Independent Travelers.