Performance Hacking: The Contagious Business Practice that Corrodes Corporate Culture, Undermines Core Values, and Damages Great Companies

Robert D. Austin; Richard L. Nolan

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Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2020

Performance Hacking: The Contagious Business Practice that Corrodes Corporate Culture, Undermines Core Values, and Damages Great Companies

by Robert D. Austin and Richard L. Nolan

Abstract

August 7, 1955 is an important date in commercial aviation history. You could say it began the jet airliner age, though other dates might also qualify. Jet engines had proven successful in military aircraft. But no one knew then whether members of the general public would ever want to fly in airplanes without propellers.

Keywords: Performance; Organizational Culture; Values and Beliefs;

Language: English

Format: Print

29 pages

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Citation:

Austin, Robert D., and Richard L. Nolan. "Performance Hacking: The Contagious Business Practice that Corrodes Corporate Culture, Undermines Core Values, and Damages Great Companies." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-003, July 2020.

About the Author

Richard L. Nolan

William Barclay Harding Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus

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Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2019

The Creative Consulting Company

Robert S. Kaplan, Richard Nolan and David P. Norton

During the past 50 years, several consulting companies introduced important new ideas that extended management theory and improved management practice. This paper draws upon public sources and the authors’ personal experiences to describe how three management consulting companies created and sustained several big management ideas. The consulting organizations identified companies that had introduced an innovation to address a practice gap or anomaly. It then described the innovation in articles, cases, and public conferences and proceeded to help a new set of companies implement the management innovation, which led to enhancements in the original innovation that made it more understandable, generalizable, and robust. The consulting leaders sustained their thought-leadership positions by creating an ecosystem with senior executives at pioneer corporations and academic/thought leaders. The paper also describes how other consulting companies did not sustain an initial thought-leadership position because of a failure to recognize the synergistic interplay between knowledge application and knowledge creation.

Keywords: Management; Theory; Practice; Performance Improvement; Innovation and Management; Consulting Industry;

Citation:
Kaplan, Robert S., Richard Nolan, and David P. Norton. "The Creative Consulting Company." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-001, July 2018. View Details

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Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2016

Big History, Global Corporations, Virtual Capitalism

Richard L. Nolan

Homo sapiens has mastered its environment so thoroughly that, for the first time in history, a small minority of the population is capable of creating enough food and fuels to support not only itself, but also a growing majority of the 6 billion people now living on earth. This unparalleled abundance is allowing our species to develop, distribute, and profit from innovation in nearly every corner of civilization. Now key elements of the modern world such as the speed and connectedness of digital communication, the dynamic movement of capital, and the changing nature of political boundaries are propelling capitalism into a new form that can be characterized as "virtual capitalism." And global corporations in their size and global influence are leading the embodiment of virtual capitalism into the modern world.

Keywords: Economic Systems; Internet; Innovation and Invention; United States;

Citation:
Nolan, Richard L. "Big History, Global Corporations, Virtual Capitalism." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 16-116, March 2016. (Revised October 2016.) View Details

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Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2015 (Revised February 2016)

Novell (A): When an Activist Hedge Fund Came Calling on the Board

Richard L. Nolan

No corporation and its board of directors is immune to a disruptive shareholder activist attack. The Novell (A) and (B) cases take students through a shareholder activist attack and its aftermath—a saga that spanned 5 years. The cases outline the activist playbook in conducting an attack, the board's response, and key decisions that must be made.

Keywords: Investment Activism;

Citation:
Nolan, Richard L. "Novell (A): When an Activist Hedge Fund Came Calling on the Board." Harvard Business School Case 916-404, September 2015. (Revised February 2016.) View Details

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Performance Hacking: The Contagious Business Practice that Corrodes Corporate Culture, Undermines Core Values, and Damages Great Companies

Abstract

Citation:

About the Author

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