The newly appointed CEO of Highstreet Properties has doubts about several members of the top team she has inherited. She's trying to drive a turnaround, the company has a complicated matrix structure, and some team members seem opposed to her strategy. She's debating replacing several of them, but she's worried about making too many changes too quickly, upsetting her board, and bringing in too many former colleagues.

The newly appointed CEO of Highstreet Properties has doubts about several members of the top team she has inherited. She's trying to drive a turnaround, the company has a complicated matrix structure, and some team members seem opposed to her strategy. She's debating replacing several of them, but she's worried about making too many changes too quickly, upsetting her board, and bringing in too many former colleagues.

The newly appointed CEO of Highstreet Properties has doubts about several members of the top team she has inherited. She's trying to drive a turnaround, the company has a complicated matrix structure, and some team members seem opposed to her strategy. She's debating replacing several of them, but she's worried about making too many changes too quickly, upsetting her board, and bringing in too many former colleagues.

When he became CEO, facing limited growth prospects, a low valuation, and therefore a stagnating share price, Menegaux and his team launched a set of initiatives to reposition Michelin. These included (1) articulating a clear purpose ("We care about giving people a better way forward"), (2) formulating a strategic vision-the "Michelin in Motion" strategy aiming to generate 20%-30% of revenue from non-tire activities by 2030, a significant leap from less than 5% in 2020, (3) introducing a new leadership model-I CARE-and reshaping the company's values around the idea of respect for all its stakeholders, and (4) introducing the dream for Michelin to be recognized by 2050 as a critical innovation leader that helped humanity conquer new frontiers. The overall plan centered on driving performance across profit, people, and the planet. Despite challenges, by 2024, these changes had begun to show results, with the company's share price rising by 23% since the beginning of his tenure, although Menegaux believes this does not fully reflect the company's potential.

Tyler Smith, the founder and CEO of the enterprise software firm Puck.io, is facing a hard decision. Just three months earlier the company laid off 20% of its employees to reduce its burn rate amid growing economic uncertainty and a suddenly unattractive funding environment. The company's lead investor and its board think more cost cuts are necessary, and they're pushing Tyler to execute a second, 10% reduction in force. Worried about employee morale if they do back-to-back layoffs, Tyler and two other members of the C-suite are looking for alternatives.

Tyler Smith, the founder and CEO of the enterprise software firm Puck.io, is facing a hard decision. Just three months earlier the company laid off 20% of its employees to reduce its burn rate amid growing economic uncertainty and a suddenly unattractive funding environment. The company's lead investor and its board think more cost cuts are necessary, and they're pushing Tyler to execute a second, 10% reduction in force. Worried about employee morale if they do back-to-back layoffs, Tyler and two other members of the C-suite are looking for alternatives.

Tyler Smith, the founder and CEO of the enterprise software firm Puck.io, is facing a hard decision. Just three months earlier the company laid off 20% of its employees to reduce its burn rate amid growing economic uncertainty and a suddenly unattractive funding environment. The company's lead investor and its board think more cost cuts are necessary, and they're pushing Tyler to execute a second, 10% reduction in force. Worried about employee morale if they do back-to-back layoffs, Tyler and two other members of the C-suite are looking for alternatives.

Excited yet apprehensive after being named CEO of P.F. Chang's beginning July 1st, 2020, Damola Adamolekun was well aware of the extraordinary challenges facing the firm. The closure of businesses deemed "nonessential" owing to the COVID-19 pandemic had devastated the restaurant industry in the United States and abroad. The shock had been particularly unwelcome to P.F. Chang's, an upscale-casual restaurant chain known for serving made-from-scratch, wok-cooked Asian cuisine in contemporary bistros. In recent years, P.F. Chang's had shown weak results in restaurant sales and financial performance. Investment management firm Paulson & Co. had joined hands with TriArtisan Capital Advisors to acquire the firm in 2019, determined to turn it around. However, the new leadership team had not anticipated the havoc a pandemic would soon wreak on the economy and the industry. Adamolekun felt that the opportunity to lead the firm at age 31 was extraordinary, but the future was extremely uncertain in this turbulent environment. He was acutely aware that the future of the company, the returns investors hoped for, and perhaps the trajectory of his own career were all riding on the strategic plan he was developing for P.F. Chang's.

When we think of human behavior, especially from a moral perspective, we often rely on explanations based on character. We think that good decisions and responsible behavior require people with integrity and strong character, and immoral behavior originates with people with little integrity and weak character. However, important research in recent decades strongly suggests that situational factors often dominate character in ethical decision-making - for leaders and for members of their organizations. This note summarizes the recent research, shows its implications for the basic steps in ethical decision-making, and provides a basis for in-depth discussion of the character-versus-situation question.

A large global study examines the factors that stock analysts consider most important when issuing buy, hold, or sell recommendations. The considerations that are deemed significant vary widely from region to region.

The dean of Harvard Business School recalls the powerful effect that reading Harvard Business Review had on him as an undergraduate studying engineering in India. It was his first exposure to management thinking, and he witnessed HBR's impact firsthand when the company where he was interning one summer reorganized its largest plant according to the ideas in one HBR article--dramatically improving its productivity. Today the magazine, its website, and its book program help fulfill the HBS mission of educating many more business leaders around the globe, not all of whom can come to the school campus.

Innovation capabilities have long been central to U.S. competitive advantage, but the rate of innovative activity is increasing sharply in other countries. Some people see this as the greatest threat to America's economic leadership. The author is unconvinced.

The clinical experience gained by fledgling doctors is an ideal example of how professional schools address the "knowing-doing gap." Harvard Business School is sending its entire first-year class abroad to developing markets to gain a similar kind of real-world experience.

When Ana Lobato was transferred from Streuvels Chemicals' Brazilian operations to the company's Brussels headquarters, she was eager to apply her considerable expertise in this foreign assignment and to expose her children to another culture. Her husband, Oswald, a doctor, seemed up for the adventure. But just over a year after their arrival in Brussels, Oswald is increasingly unhappy. He is not able to practice medicine in Belgium, and the research position that Ana's company helped him find is not all he hoped it would be. Anton Danois, the head of Streuvels's international mobility program, fears that Oswald's unhappiness will prompt Ana to consider moving back home to Brazil before the end of her assignment. In fact, Anton, who's been in HR only a few years, wonders about the logic of an international mobility program that is expensive, does not necessarily provide clear-cut returns, and poses problems not just for spouses but also for the employees who need to be reintegrated after their stints abroad. Experts John Bollman and Ann Judge comment on this fictional case study.

When Ana Lobato was transferred from Streuvels Chemicals' Brazilian operations to the company's Brussels headquarters, she was eager to apply her considerable expertise in this foreign assignment and to expose her children to another culture. Her husband, Oswald, a doctor, seemed up for the adventure. But just over a year after their arrival in Brussels, Oswald is increasingly unhappy. He is not able to practice medicine in Belgium, and the research position that Ana's company helped him find is not all he hoped it would be. Anton Danois, the head of Streuvels's international mobility program, fears that Oswald's unhappiness will prompt Ana to consider moving back home to Brazil before the end of her assignment. In fact, Anton, who's been in HR only a few years, wonders about the logic of an international mobility program that is expensive, does not necessarily provide clear-cut returns, and poses problems not just for spouses but also for the employees who need to be reintegrated after their stints abroad.

When Ana Lobato was transferred from Streuvels Chemicals' Brazilian operations to the company's Brussels headquarters, she was eager to apply her considerable expertise in this foreign assignment and to expose her children to another culture. Her husband, Oswald, a doctor, seemed up for the adventure. But just over a year after their arrival in Brussels, Oswald is increasingly unhappy. He is not able to practice medicine in Belgium, and the research position that Ana's company helped him find is not all he hoped it would be. Anton Danois, the head of Streuvels's international mobility program, fears that Oswald's unhappiness will prompt Ana to consider moving back home to Brazil before the end of her assignment. In fact, Anton, who's been in HR only a few years, wonders about the logic of an international mobility program that is expensive, does not necessarily provide clear-cut returns, and poses problems not just for spouses but also for the employees who need to be reintegrated after their stints abroad. Experts John Bollman and Ann Judge comment on this fictional case study.

Despite high unemployment, the war for talent rages on. Only 15% of companies in North America and Asia feel they have enough qualified potential successors to fill their top jobs, and the picture is only slightly better in Europe. The best weapon companies can wield are programs that develop their "high potentials"-the people they hope to develop into their future leaders. In a large-scale study of how companies assess and manage their rising stars, the authors have identified some guiding principles for developing high potentials. To begin with, all talent programs should clearly define what "high potential" means to them. Great performance is not enough; you must also envision yourself as a senior executive, have the right motives (the desire for positive impact), and possess leadership attributes such as the ability to derive insight and engage others. Firms also need to align their candidate selection to their strategy: A low-cost company will not need the same kind of talent as an enterprise bent on global expansion. This article describes emerging best practices in executing high-potential programs, including the latest thinking on how to nominate and assess participants, design effective job rotations and stretch assignments, provide thoughtful rewards and incentives, and communicate about the program with the rest of the organization.