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• Case | HBS Case Collection | June 2018

  Verona Group

  Robert L. Simons and Sarah Abbott

  Are a salesperson's struggles her own fault or the result of a problematic job design? Anna George works as a salesperson at Verona Group, a company that designs and wholesales high-end women's apparel. She had spent nearly 20 years in sales with another fashion label and was well regarded in the industry. Verona Group hired her to bolster its small but growing presence in the western United States. In her first two years with the company, however, George has missed her sales targets and received mixed scores from customers in Verona Group's annual customer service survey. When Emilio Chao, the head of Verona's sales force, looks at George's performance review and discusses George's situation with Catherine Edwards, Verona Group's head of human resources, he wonders whether the company should give George additional support that would help her be more successful. Or is George not a good fit for the company?

  Keywords: Jobs and Positions; Design; Analysis; Performance; Measurement and Metrics; Salesforce Management; Organizational Design;

  Citation:

  Simons, Robert L., and Sarah Abbott. "Verona Group." Harvard Business School Brief Case 918-531, June 2018.  View Details

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• Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | June 2018

  Verona Group (Brief Case)

  Robert L. Simons and Sarah Abbott

  Teaching Note for HBS No. 918-531.

  Citation:

  Simons, Robert L., and Sarah Abbott. "Verona Group (Brief Case)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 918-532, June 2018.  View Details

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• Module Note | August 2016 (Revised May 2018)

  Strategy Execution Module 1: Managing Organizational Tensions

  Robert Simons

  This module reading lays the foundation for executing strategy using performance measurement and control systems. Properly applied, these systems can overcome the organizational blocks that impede the potential of all people who work in modern organizations. This module explains why managers rely on profit plans and performance measurement systems to implement their strategy and explores the five organizational tensions that managers must resolve to ensure success: (1) balancing profit, growth, and control, (2) balancing short-term results with long-term sustainability, (3) balancing the expectations of different constituents, (4) balancing opportunities and attention, and (5) balancing the motives of human behavior. While this module is designed to be used alone, it is part of the Strategy Execution series. Taken together, the series forms a complete course that teaches the latest techniques for using performance measurement and control systems to implement strategy. Modules 1 - 4 set out the foundations for strategy implementation. Modules 5 - 10 teach quantitative tools for performance measurement and control. Modules 11 - 15 illustrate the use of these techniques by managers to achieve profit goals and strategies.

  Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing strategy; strategy execution; performance measurement; profit planning; organization design; profitable growth; management attention; organizational conflict; Human behavior; Strategy; Ethics; Goals and Objectives; Organizational Design; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Performance; Measurement and Metrics;

  Citation:

  Simons, Robert. "Strategy Execution Module 1: Managing Organizational Tensions." Harvard Business School Module Note 117-101, August 2016. (Revised May 2018.)  View Details

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