Organizational Management
Current Month's Articles
When Goal Setting Goes Bad . by Max H. Bazerman. If you ever wondered about the real value of goal setting in your organization, join the club. Despite the mantra that goals are good, the process of setting beneficial goals is harder than it looks. New research by HBS professor Max H. Bazerman and colleagues explores the hidden cost when stretch goals are misguided. Read more at HBS Working Knowledge .
The First 100 Days on the Job . By Tom Pettibone A recent study says 35 percent of new managers either quit or are fired within 18 months. The reason is probably because they bypass critical steps at the beginning of their tenure�steps that will set them up for long-term success. Read more at Baseline: .
Why Big IT Projects Fail . By Jay Bahel There is a high correlation between lack of execution and dissatisfied shareholders. Read more at CIO Insight: .
Articles From Prior Months
Creative Entrepreneurship in a Downturn. Many successful products, services, and pivotal ideas have been launched during an economic lull, according to Bhaskar Chakravorti, a senior lecturer of business administration at Harvard Business School�. When people are laid off from jobs, they need re-training. Read more at HBS Working Knowledge.
Marketing Your Way Through a Recession. In a recession, consumers become value oriented, distributors are concerned about cash, and employees worry about their jobs. But a downturn is no time to stop spending on marketing. The key, says professor John Quelch, is to understand how the needs of your customers and partners change, and adapt your strategies to the new reality. Read more at HBS Working Knowledge.
Managing Projects: The Right Level of Specificity By John McCormick Baseline. Where are projects going wrong? Seven Steps for Better Software Requirements.
Sharpening Your Skills: Career & Life Balance Achieving a life that balances the pleasures and demands of work and life has never been easy. Here are four HBS Working Knowledge stories from the archives that address everything from spirituality in leadership to understanding when "just enough" is truly enough. Read more at HBS Working Knowledge
Office Politics: The Ten Demandments by Dr. William Moskal Baseline. Political skills in the workplace can determine one�s ability to perform at a high level, foster camaraderie and ultimately, be the difference-maker between a successful company and failing one. The following are common-sense management principles that can harness political energy between IT and business groups to foster highly-effective teams. Read more at Baseline.
Assessing the Business Value of Technology. by Faisal Hoque. Using the right metrics to assess the business value derived from technology is critical in demonstrating the effectiveness of business-technology investments. Read more at Baseline.
How CIOs Stays Relevant with a CFO Boss, CFOs are increasingly overseeing IT. Here's how CIOs must respond. Read more at CIO Insight.
Social Media Leads the Future of Technology. From Facebook to smartphones, advances in technology are changing the way we work and communicate. Professor David Yoffie led three experts in a recent panel discussion on "The Technology Revolution and its Implications for the Future" at the HBS Centennial Business Summit. Read more at HBS Working Knowledge
SMBs, [Small & Medium businesses], Enterprises Share Common Communication Ailments, By Charlene O'Hanlon A study commissioned by Siemens finds that communication and collaboration problems are virtually the same among SMB organizations as they are in enterprise environments. But those problems are more expensive to SMBs, as inefficiencies cost them as much as $500,000 annually. Read more at Channel Insider
Secret to Success: Go for "Just Enough" "Success has always been an American preoccupation, but the definition of success takes on a new urgency today, when every conventional measure of success seems to have a faster burn rate than ever before," say Laura Nash and Howard Stevenson. The HBS faculty members decode the moving target of success in their new book Just Enough: Tools for Creating Success in Your Work and Life (Wiley, 2004). After conducting hundreds of interviews with high achievers, they developed a framework for thinking about integrating four spheres of life: happiness, achievement, significance, and legacy. Here is an excerpt from the chapter, "The Dangers of Going for the Max." Read more at HBS Working Knowledge.
10 Reasons to Design a Better Corporate Culture. A book excerpt from The Ownership Quotient: Putting the Service Profit Chain to Work for Unbeatable Competitive Advantage by HBS professors Jim Heskett and W. Earl Sasser and coauthor Joe Wheeler. Organizations with strong, adaptive cultures enjoy labor cost advantages, great employee and customer loyalty, and a smoother on-ramp in leadership succession. Read more at HBS Working Knowledge
Decoding the Artful Sidestep. Do you notice when someone changes the subject after you ask them a question? If you don't always notice or even mind such conversational transformations, you're not alone. New research by Todd Rogers and Harvard Business School professor Michael I. Norton explores the common occurrence of "conversational blindness." Read more at HBS Working Knowledge