Harvard Business

NOVEMBER 24, 2017

A turnaround subsequently lowered strategic stress to a productive level by discontinuing many of their seemingly unrelated projects, re-focusing on their core business, as well as streamlining operational processes that improved coordination activities. Strategic Boredom (not enough strategic stress).

Strategy 28

Strategy Strategy Strategy& Turnaround 28

Harvard Business

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

When a private equity firm adds a new company to its portfolio, analysts rigorously size up its financial, operational, and competitive condition. Selectively developing top team members to accomplish the strategy. Being a quick study is not the same as being a deep thinker. Not seeking CEOs who value talent development.

Company 28

Company Engineering Turnaround System 28

Harvard Business

NOVEMBER 8, 2017

Throughout the research, Korn Ferry used our best-in-class CEO benchmark, which comprises typical scores for CEOs (virtually all male) who are in the 99th percentile of work engagement, as a touchstone to highlight similarities and underscore differences for the women in the study. Women could be ready for the CEO role sooner.

Interviews 28

Interviews Benchmarking Case Interview Talent 28

Harvard Business

JUNE 23, 2016

Now a global giant in the drinks business, just 25 years ago, its precursor, Brahma, was a second-tier Brazilian brewer undergoing a painful turnaround in the hands of acquirer 3G, a São Paulo–based private equity house. A key feature of the turnaround, led by CEO Marcel Telles, was avoiding a hopelessly long-term view.

Turnaround 31

Turnaround Report Company Construction 31

Harvard Business

AUGUST 5, 2016

To understand how to turn around a failing school quickly, using as few resources as possible, we studied changes made by 160 UK academies after they were put into remedial measures by the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (OFSTED) up to seven years ago. Our findings challenge some of these beliefs.

How To 28

How To Resources Education Turnaround 28

Harvard Business

FEBRUARY 2, 2017

Senior executives tend to be shielded from organizational problems and data; they are given limited and filtered information about their operations, employees, and customers. To help make his case, he assembled a brain trust of people with different opinions to help him develop positions on the challenges facing the company.

How To 28

How To Banking Turnaround Meeting 28

Harvard Business

MAY 30, 2016

When I was heading Organization and Management Development at Pepsi International, I would encourage our international executives to study local comedy shows. We all went to Uganda [one of their key operations]. “We started meeting in each other’s homes every few months. We traveled together.

Culture 28

Culture Turnaround Interviews Hotels 28

Harvard Business

MAY 20, 2016

To illustrate how this all plays out on a larger scale in real companies, here are two mini case studies from businesses we’ve worked with. The New York headquarters housed over a third of its workforce, including developers, the sales team, operations, and leadership.

Exercises 34

Exercises Meeting Real Estate Survey 34

Harvard Business

FEBRUARY 24, 2017

The CEOs in our study were adept at telling their company’s story. Great stories are credible, simple, consistent, and use both financial and nonfinancial metrics to link a long-term vision and firm values with a distinctive business strategy and focused operational priorities. Adopt a Both/And Performance Mindset.

Metrics 30

Metrics Study Financial Operations 30

Harvard Business

SEPTEMBER 14, 2017

Our study of the actions and impact of 411 leaders of UK academies found that only 62 of them managed their turnaround successfully and sustainably transformed their school. We studied them over eight years, using 64 investment and 24 performance variables to identify what they did, when they did it, and the impact they had.

Research 28

Research Study Education Recruiting 28

Harvard Business

SEPTEMBER 8, 2016

After studying and working with hundreds of companies in free fall, we’ve identified concrete steps that leadership teams can take to engineer successful turnarounds and transformations. Founded in the 1930s, Lego developed a repeatable model that allowed it to grow for decades. Other companies can do the same.

Company 28

Company How To Turnaround Engineering 28

Harvard Business

MAY 18, 2017

Garvin was a generalist more than a specialist, perhaps because he came of age at HBS during the 1980s, when the school’s primary focus was the development of skilled general managers. Beyond that, it’s a coherent way to study managerial work holistically. That quality made him (arguably) the quintessential HBR author.

Management 30

Management Turnaround Engineering Benchmarking 30

Harvard Business

DECEMBER 22, 2016

Obama nominated Robert McDonald , an Army veteran and experienced executive who had honed his leadership skills during a 33-year career at Proctor and Gamble, to attempt the difficult turnaround. A Harvard Business School case study that Robert Huckman, Sam Travers, and I wrote earlier this year documents what came next.

Culture 28

Culture Leadership Resources Healthcare 28