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• Case | HBS Case Collection | November 2020

  Amazon: Cult or Culture?

  Boris Groysberg, Sarah L. Abbott and Tricia Gregg

  Amazon was one of the first entrants in e-commerce. Under the leadership of founder Jeff Bezos, Amazon had expanded beyond books to manufacturing and selling a wide range of products and services globally. Bezos had built a customer-centric culture that permeated all aspects of the company. As Amazon continued to grow and expand into new business areas, would it be able to maintain its culture and practices? How much of Amazon’s success depended on the cult of Bezos? As the company continued to diversify beyond Bezos’s immediate oversight, what could Amazon do to ensure that it stayed relentless?

  Keywords: culture; technology companies; retail; Human Resource Practices; Growth; founder; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Growth Management; Technology; Human Resources; Talent and Talent Management; Retail Industry; Technology Industry;

  Citation:

  Groysberg, Boris, Sarah L. Abbott, and Tricia Gregg. "Amazon: Cult or Culture?" Harvard Business School Case 421-008, November 2020.  View Details

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• Technical Note | HBS Case Collection | October 2020

  Organizational Reinvention

  Ryan Raffaelli

  This note is designed to introduce students to the fundamental concepts of leading innovation in established organizations. Reinvention is a process whereby organizations respond to changes in the environment that threaten their core business model, technologies, cultural values, and/or operational norms. Reinvention represents a managerial paradox for organizations that have experienced several years of success: leaders must preserve some elements of the business that once made it successful and simultaneously change other elements that, if left unattended, could render the organization obsolete. The Note outlines four elements associated with organizational reinvention: 1) Understanding technology lifecycles and s-curves: What are technology lifecycles and s-curves?; 2) Reinvention by extending existing capabilities: How do leaders extend existing organizational capabilities in response to new technologies?; 3) Reinvention by adopting new capabilities: How do leaders adopt new capabilities in response to new technologies?; 4) Readying your organization for reinvention: How do leaders develop the right mindset and the right team to engage in a reinvention effort? Finally, the Note includes several diagnostic tools that students and executives can use to analyze an organization’s readiness for reinvention.

  Keywords: innovation and strategy; Leadership and Change Management; Organizational ambidexterity; exploration and exploitation; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Leading Change; Technology Adoption; Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation;

  Citation:

  Raffaelli, Ryan. "Organizational Reinvention." Harvard Business School Technical Note 421-041, October 2020.  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | July 2020 (Revised October 2020)

  Valentina Tereshkova: Conquering Space

  Boris Groysberg and Annelena Lobb

  On June 13, 1963, Valentina Tereshkova of the USSR became the first woman to fly in space on Vostok 6. Soviet leaders publicly espoused gender equity, but also sent Tereshkova on her mission in order to be the first country to send a woman to space, a milestone they reached before the U.S. did. Five Soviet women were in the initial group chosen to train as cosmonauts, but of the five, only Tereshkova would make it to space. The case explores why Tereshkova was selected from the group and her mission and subsequent career. It also discusses the successes of the women cosmonauts and astronauts in the Soviet and U.S. space programs decades later. By 2020, women remained a minority of space travelers, but the inclusion of both genders had become commonplace. Had women reached gender equity in space faster than on Earth?

  Keywords: gender equity; Gender; Equality and Inequality; Personal Development and Career; Aerospace Industry; Soviet Union; United States;

  Citation:

  Groysberg, Boris, and Annelena Lobb. "Valentina Tereshkova: Conquering Space." Harvard Business School Case 421-005, July 2020. (Revised October 2020.)  View Details

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