Milwaukee (A): Making of a World Water Hub

Rosabeth Moss Kanter; Matthew  Bird

Case | HBS Case Collection | August 2012 (Revised May 2013)

Milwaukee (A): Making of a World Water Hub

by Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird

Abstract

Starting in 2007 Milwaukee leaders from different areas (large established companies, civic organizations, public sector, academia, and entrepreneurs) negotiated a path for converting the region into a global water hub to address economic and environmental concerns. The leaders with various stakes in the change managed to work together to re-arrange and support existing pieces to maximize the collective potential. Their actions exemplified "advanced leadership" in a complex social system such as a community or region. There was no central leader; instead there was a collection of coalitions and collaborative activities that contributed to the end result.

Keywords: Change Management; Growth Management; Business or Company Management; Leading Change; Wisconsin;

Language: English

Format: Print

24 pages

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Citation:

Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, and Matthew Bird. "Milwaukee (A): Making of a World Water Hub." Harvard Business School Case 313-057, August 2012. (Revised May 2013.)

Related Work

Supplement | HBS Case Collection | August 2012 (Revised May 2013)

Milwaukee (B): Civic Leaders

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Keywords: Change; Management; Wisconsin;

Citation:
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, and Matthew Bird. "Milwaukee (B): Civic Leaders." Harvard Business School Supplement 313-058, August 2012. (Revised May 2013.) View Details

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Supplement | HBS Case Collection | August 2012

Milwaukee (B2): Thomas Barrett, Mayor of City of Milwaukee

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Keywords: Management; Wisconsin;

Citation:
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, and Matthew Bird. "Milwaukee (B2): Thomas Barrett, Mayor of City of Milwaukee." Harvard Business School Supplement 313-061, August 2012. View Details

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Supplement | HBS Case Collection | August 2012 (Revised October 2012)

Milwaukee (B3): Paul Jones, CEO, A. O. Smith and Co-chair, Water Council

Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird

Keywords: Management; Change; Wisconsin;

Citation:
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, and Matthew Bird. "Milwaukee (B3): Paul Jones, CEO, A. O. Smith and Co-chair, Water Council." Harvard Business School Supplement 313-062, August 2012. (Revised October 2012.) View Details

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Case | HBS Case Collection | August 2012

Milwaukee (B4): David Garman, Dean, School of Freshwater Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird

Keywords: Management; Change; Wisconsin;

Citation:
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, and Matthew Bird. "Milwaukee (B4): David Garman, Dean, School of Freshwater Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee." Harvard Business School Case 313-063, August 2012. View Details

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Supplement | HBS Case Collection | August 2012

Milwaukee (B6): Michael Lovell, Chancellor, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird

Keywords: Management; Wisconsin;

Citation:
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, and Matthew Bird. "Milwaukee (B6): Michael Lovell, Chancellor, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee." Harvard Business School Supplement 313-065, August 2012. View Details

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Supplement | HBS Case Collection | August 2012

Milwaukee (B7): Rocky Marcoux, Commissioner of City Development, City of Milwaukee

Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird

Keywords: Management; Wisconsin;

Citation:
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, and Matthew Bird. "Milwaukee (B7): Rocky Marcoux, Commissioner of City Development, City of Milwaukee." Harvard Business School Supplement 313-066, August 2012. View Details

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Supplement | HBS Case Collection | August 2012 (Revised May 2013)

Milwaukee (B9): Julia Taylor, President, Greater Milwaukee Committee

Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird

Keywords: Management; Wisconsin;

Citation:
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, and Matthew Bird. "Milwaukee (B9): Julia Taylor, President, Greater Milwaukee Committee." Harvard Business School Supplement 313-068, August 2012. (Revised May 2013.) View Details

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Supplement | HBS Case Collection | August 2012

Milwaukee (B5): James Godsil, Co-Founder, Sweet Water Organics

Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird

Keywords: Management; Change; Wisconsin;

Citation:
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, and Matthew Bird. "Milwaukee (B5): James Godsil, Co-Founder, Sweet Water Organics." Harvard Business School Supplement 313-064, August 2012. View Details

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Supplement | HBS Case Collection | August 2012 (Revised October 2012)

Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council

Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird

Keywords: Management; Wisconsin;

Citation:
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, and Matthew Bird. "Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council." Harvard Business School Supplement 313-067, August 2012. (Revised October 2012.) View Details

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Supplement | HBS Case Collection | August 2012 (Revised October 2012)

Milwaukee (B1): Dean Amhaus, President, Water Council

Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird

Keywords: Management; Change; Wisconsin;

Citation:
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, and Matthew Bird. "Milwaukee (B1): Dean Amhaus, President, Water Council." Harvard Business School Supplement 313-060, August 2012. (Revised October 2012.) View Details

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Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | May 2013

Milwaukee: Making of a World Water Hub (A) and (B) - (B9)

Rosabeth M. Kanter and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Citation:
Kanter, Rosabeth M., and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone. "Milwaukee: Making of a World Water Hub (A) and (B) - (B9)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 313-140, May 2013. View Details

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Case | HBS Case Collection | August 2012 (Revised May 2013)

Milwaukee (A): Making of a World Water Hub

Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird

Starting in 2007 Milwaukee leaders from different areas (large established companies, civic organizations, public sector, academia, and entrepreneurs) negotiated a path for converting the region into a global water hub to address economic and environmental concerns. The leaders with various stakes in the change managed to work together to re-arrange and support existing pieces to maximize the collective potential. Their actions exemplified "advanced leadership" in a complex social system such as a community or region. There was no central leader; instead there was a collection of coalitions and collaborative activities that contributed to the end result.

Keywords: Change Management; Growth Management; Business or Company Management; Leading Change; Wisconsin;

Citation:
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, and Matthew Bird. "Milwaukee (A): Making of a World Water Hub." Harvard Business School Case 313-057, August 2012. (Revised May 2013.) View Details

Cite View Details Educators Purchase Related

Zhang Ruimin's change management efforts as CEO of Haier Group attempted to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in the digital Internet of Things age. His transformational initiatives involving micro-enterprises and platforms aimed to create an ecosystem that would help the Chinese company achieve zero distance between employees and users, making it fast, agile, and responsive. This Teaching Note helps instructors teach the Harvard Business School case, Haier: Incubating Entrepreneurs in a Chinese Giant, presenting analysis of the case and a teaching plan to guide classroom discussions.

In 2018, CEO Lowell McAdam led efforts to transform Verizon through digital innovation, media acquisitions and integration, and changes to the company culture. He sought to manage change at the company as growth in traditional areas slowed, and position it as a leader in a 5G world.

Case | HBS Case Collection | February 2018 (Revised April 2018)

Haier: Incubating Entrepreneurs in a Chinese Giant

Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Nancy Hua Dai

CEO Zhang Ruimin must plan how to accelerate the growth of self-managed micro-enterprises. Platforms were Haier’s business platforms operating in five major sectors: white goods transformation, investment and incubation, financial holdings, real estate, and cultural industry. Platform owners incubated micro-enterprises on their platforms with the resources Haier had, but they were not the supervisors of micro-enterprises. His goal was to tear down the walls between the organization, shortening the time the company took to respond to users’ needs, with the ultimate goal of “zero distance” between employees and users. Haier had engaged in a series of organizational changes since 2005, the most recent of which started in 2012. His latest experimentation was turning Haier into a platform for entrepreneurship. Employees and those outside Haier could set up micro-enterprises on Haier’s platforms. Zhang thought Haier was on the right track, but the model had to prove itself in practice. He set a timetable: the micro-enterprises must reach the tipping point by September 20, 2018, which meant the micro-enterprise would have become a platform to which all resource providers would flock and stay loyal. There was no precedent of transformation like this anywhere. Would Haier succeed? What could Haier do to push the micro-enterprises to get to the tipping point?

Keywords: China; microenterprise; entrepreneurship; appliances; platform; Change; innovation; leadership; Opportunities; Entrepreneurship; Market Platforms; Transformation; Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; China;

Citation:

Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, and Nancy Hua Dai. "Haier: Incubating Entrepreneurs in a Chinese Giant." Harvard Business School Case 318-104, February 2018. (Revised April 2018.) View Details

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