Ranjay Gulati

Ranjay Gulati is the Paul R. Lawrence MBA Class of 1942 Professor of Business Administration and the former Unit Head of the Organizational Behavior Unit at Harvard Business School. He is an expert on leadership, strategy, and organizational issues in firms. His recent work explores leadership and strategic challenges for building high growth organizations in turbulent markets. Some of his prior work has focused on the enablers and implications of within-firm and inter-firm collaboration. He has looked at both when and how firms should leverage greater connectivity within and across their boundaries to enhance performance.
 
Professor Gulati is the former Chair of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. He has directed several executive education programs on such topics as Building and Leading Customer Centric Organizations, Leadership in Turbulent Markets, Managing Strategic Alliances, and Sustaining Competitive Advantage.  He is also active in custom executive education. He has received a number of awards for his teaching including the Best Professor Award for his teaching in the MBA and executive MBA programs at the Kellogg School where he was on the faculty prior to coming to Harvard.

His most recent book, Principles of Management (Cengage, 2013), is a primer on the fundamentals of management that provides a new overview of the field using contemporary examples and cases. In his book, Reorganize for Resilience: Putting Customers at the Center of Your Organization (Harvard Business Press, 2009), which was a finalist for the George Terry Best Book in Management Award, Professor Gulati explores how "resilient" companies—those that prosper both in good times and bad—drive growth and increase profitability by immersing themselves in the lives of their customers. Based on more than a decade of research in a range of industries including manufacturing, retail, professional services, media, information technology, and healthcare, the book uncovers the path to resilience by showing companies how to break down internal barriers that impede action, build bridges across divisions, and create a network of collaborators. His previous book, Managing Network Resources: Alliances, Affiliations, and other Relational Assets (Oxford University Press, 2007), examines the implications of firms’ growing portfolio of inter-firm connections. He demonstrates how firms increasingly are scaling back what they consider to be their core activities, and at the same time expanding their array of offerings to customers by entering into a web of collaborations. He has also co-edited a book on leading sustainable change that looks at how organizations overcome internal barriers to change in embracing sustainability programs and also co-edited two books that focus on the dynamics of competition in emerging technology-intensive industries.
 
Professor Gulati is the past-President of the Business Policy and Strategy Division at the Academy of Management and an elected fellow of the Strategic Management Society. He was ranked as one of the top ten most cited scholars in Economics and Business over a decade by ISI-Incite. The Economist, Financial Times, and the Economist Intelligence Unit have listed him as among the top handful of business school scholars whose work is most relevant to management practice. He has been a Harvard MacArthur Fellow and a Sloan Foundation Fellow. His research has been published in leading journals such as Administrative Science Quarterly, Harvard Business Review, American Journal of Sociology, Strategic Management Journal, Sloan Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, and Organization Science. He has also written for the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, strategy+business, and the Financial Times. Professor Gulati sits on the editorial board of several leading journals and was a co-editor of a special issue of the Strategic Management Journal on Alliances and Strategic Networks in 2000 and another special issue on Organizational Architecture that appeared in 2012. He also guest-edited a special issue of the Academy of Management Journal on Relational Pluralism in 2014.

Professor Gulati advises and speaks to corporations large and small around the globe. Some of his representative speaking and consulting clients include: Abbott Laboratories, Aetna, Allergan, American Tower, Bank of America, Bank of China, Baxter, Berkshire Partners, Boston Scientific, Caterpillar, Clifford Chance, Credit Suisse, Ford, Future Brands, GE, General Mills, Henkel, Hitachi, Honda, Hospira, IBM, Levi Strauss, LaFarge, Lockheed Martin, McGraw-Hill, Merck, Metlife, Microsoft, Novartis, Ochsner, Qualcomm, Rockwell Collins, Sanofi Aventis, SAP, Seyfarth Shaw, St Jude, Target, Unilever, and White and Case. He has served on the advisory boards of several companies and has appeared as an expert witness in business litigations.
 
He has been a frequent guest on CNBC as well as a panelist on several of their series on topics that include: the Business of Innovation, Collaboration, and Leadership Vision.  Professor Gulati holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University, a Master's Degree in Management from M.I.T.'s Sloan School of Management, and two Bachelor's Degrees, in Computer Science and Economics, from Washington State University and St. Stephens College, New Delhi, respectively.  He lives in Newton, Massachusetts.

Featured Work

Deep Purpose

The Heart and Soul of High-Performance Companies

Deep Purpose argues that a revolutionary approach to business does exist, one that delivers game-changing results for both companies and society alike: the serious and deep pursuit of purpose. In this practical book, Gulati argues that companies must embed purpose much more deeply than they currently do, treating it as a radically new operating system for the enterprise. When companies practice deep purpose, furthering their organization’s “reason for being” it can revolutionize how they do business and deliver impressive performance benefits that reward customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, and communities.

The Soul of a Start-Up

There’s an essential, intangible something in start-ups—an energy, a soul. Company founders sense its presence. So do early employees and customers. It inspires people to contribute their talent, money, and enthusiasm and fosters a sense of deep connection and mutual purpose. As long as this spirit persists, engagement is high and start-ups remain agile and innovative, spurring growth. But when it vanishes, ventures can falter, and everyone perceives the loss—something special is gone.

Structure That's Not Stifling

How to give your people essential direction—without shutting them down

Leaders know they need to give people room to be their best, to pursue unconventional ideas, and to make smart decisions in the moment. It’s been said so often that it’s a cliché. But here’s the problem: Executives have trouble resolving the tension between employee empowerment and operational discipline. This challenge is so difficult that it ties companies up in knots. Indeed, it has led to decades’ worth of management experiments, from matrix structures to self-managed teams. None of them has offered a clear answer.

Start-Ups That Last

How to Scale Your Business

Why do so many start-ups that seem to have it all—customers, cash, a promising outlook—run off the rails? Ask a venture capitalist, and you’ll probably hear that they have trouble “scaling.”

Management

Today's managers are confronted with more dynamic challenges and opportunities than every before—through the need to harness technological advances, lead a dispersed and diverse workforce, anticipate and react to constant competitive and geopolitical change on a global scale, and operate in a socially responsible and accountable manner. In response to the changing business landscape, this textbook proposes a shift from traditional Principles of Management textbooks in that it takes a more holistic and integrated approach.

Recent Publications

• Gulati, Ranjay. Deep Purpose: The Heart and Soul of High-Performance Companies. New York: Harper Business, 2022. View Details
• DeSantola, Alicia, Ranjay Gulati, and Pavel Zhelyazkov. "External Interfaces and Internal Processes: Market Positioning and Divergent Professionalization Paths in Young Ventures." Organization Science (forthcoming). View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "To See the Way Forward, Look Back." Harvard Business Review (November–December 2022): 53–57. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "The Messy but Essential Pursuit of Purpose." Harvard Business Review 100, no. 2 (March–April 2022): 45–55. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Bart S. Vanneste. "Generalized Trust, External Sourcing, and Firm Performance in Economic Downturns." Organization Science 33, no. 4 (July–August 2022): 1599–1619. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Eppa Rixey. "Transforming BlackBerry: From Smartphones to Software." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 422-086, April 2022. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Bradley Turner. "Volkswagen and Suzuki: A Match Made in Heaven (A)? and An Alliance Breaks Down (B1, B2)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 422-087, May 2022. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "John Chen's Decision to Join BlackBerry." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 423-701, July 2022. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Building the Team at BlackBerry." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 423-702, July 2022. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Key Learnings about Turnarounds." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 423-703, July 2022. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Matt Higgins. "Netflix: A Creative Approach to Culture and Agility (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 423-026, July 2022. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Matt Higgins, and Allison Ciechanover. "Netflix: A Creative Approach to Culture and Agility." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 423-027, July 2022. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Adina Wong, Dawn H. Lau, and Joseph Mesfin. "DBS: Purpose-Driven Transformation." Harvard Business School Case 423-022, September 2022. (Revised January 2023.) View Details

Books

• Gulati, Ranjay. Deep Purpose: The Heart and Soul of High-Performance Companies. New York: Harper Business, 2022. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Anthony Mayo, and Nitin Nohria. Management: An Integrated Approach. 2nd ed. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2016. View Details
• Henderson, Rebecca, Ranjay Gulati, and Michael Tushman, eds. Leading Sustainable Change: An Organizational Perspective. Oxford University Press, 2015. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. Reorganize for Resilience: Putting Customers at the Center of Your Organization. Harvard Business Press, 2009. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. Managing Network Resources: Alliances, Affiliations, and Other Relational Assets. Oxford University Press, 2007. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Mohanbir S. Sawhney and Anthony Paoni, eds. Kellogg on Technology and Innovation. John Wiley & Sons, 2002. View Details
• Sawhney, Mohanbir S., Ranjay Gulati and Anthony Paoni, eds. TechVenture: New Rules on Value and Profit from Silicon Valley. John Wiley & Sons, 2001. View Details
• Sawhney, Mohanbir S. and Ranjay Gulati, eds. Kellogg TechVenture. Nminds Publications, 2000. Electronic. View Details

Journal Articles

• DeSantola, Alicia, Ranjay Gulati, and Pavel Zhelyazkov. "External Interfaces and Internal Processes: Market Positioning and Divergent Professionalization Paths in Young Ventures." Organization Science (forthcoming). View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "To See the Way Forward, Look Back." Harvard Business Review (November–December 2022): 53–57. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "The Messy but Essential Pursuit of Purpose." Harvard Business Review 100, no. 2 (March–April 2022): 45–55. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Bart S. Vanneste. "Generalized Trust, External Sourcing, and Firm Performance in Economic Downturns." Organization Science 33, no. 4 (July–August 2022): 1599–1619. View Details
• Edmondson, Amy C., and Ranjay Gulati. "Agility Hacks." Harvard Business Review 99, no. 6 (November–December 2021). View Details
• Cooper, Frank, III, and Ranjay Gulati. "What Do Black Executives Really Want?" Harvard Business Review (website) (November 15, 2021). View Details
• Ozmel, Umit, M. Deniz Yavuz, Timothy E. Trombley, and Ranjay Gulati. "Interfirm Ties Between Ventures and Limited Partners of Venture Capital Funds: Performance Effects in Financial Markets." Organization Science 31, no. 3 (May–June 2020): 698–719. View Details
• Cooper, Frank, and Ranjay Gulati. "Companies Must Go Beyond Random Acts of Humanitarianism." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (August 6, 2020). View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Mark Wiedman. "What Really Prevents Companies from Thriving in a Recession." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (September 2, 2020). View Details
• Raveendran (formerly Goetting), Marlo, Luciana Silvestri, and Ranjay Gulati. "The Role of Interdependence in the Microfoundations of Organization Design: Task, Goal, and Knowledge Interdependence." Academy of Management Annals 14, no. 2 (July 2020): 828–868. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Finding (and Keeping) Your Company's Soul." HBR IdeaCast (July 30, 2019). View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "The Soul of a Startup." Harvard Business Review 97, no. 4 (July–August 2019): 85–91. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Vasundhara Sawhney. "Why Your Startup Won't Last." HBR Ascend (December 16, 2019). View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Structure That's Not Stifling: How to Give Your People Essential Direction—Without Shutting Them Down." Harvard Business Review 96, no. 3 (May–June 2018): 68–79. View Details
• DeSantola, Alicia, and Ranjay Gulati. "Scaling: Organizing and Growth in Entrepreneurial Ventures." Academy of Management Annals 11, no. 2 (2017): 640–668. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "GE's Global Growth Experiment: The Company Pushed Cross-Business Collaboration." Harvard Business Review 95, no. 5 (September–October 2017): 52–53. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Alicia DeSantola. "Startups Can't Revolve Around Their Founders If They Want to Succeed." Harvard Business Review (website) (March 4, 2016). View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Alicia DeSantola. "Start-Ups That Last: How to Scale Your Business." Harvard Business Review 94, no. 3 (March 2016): 54–61. (Reprinted in the Harvard Business Review OnPoint Winter 2016 "Launch a Start-Up That Lasts" Edition.) View Details
• Tatarynowicz, Adam, Maxim Sytch, and Ranjay Gulati. "Environmental Demands and the Emergence of Social Structure: Technological Dynamism and Interorganizational Network Forms." Administrative Science Quarterly 61, no. 1 (March 2016): 52–86. View Details
• Zhelyazkov, Pavel, and Ranjay Gulati. "After The Break-Up: The Relational and Reputational Consequences of Withdrawals from Venture Capital Syndicates." Academy of Management Journal 59, no. 1 (February 2016): 277–301. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Charles Casto, and Charlotte Krontiris. "How the Other Fukushima Plant Survived." Harvard Business Review 92, nos. 7/8 (July–August 2014): 111–115. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Blend Offence and Defence." Business Today (January 19, 2014). (As told to Vivek Kaul, originally titled "Is Cost Cutting By Companies of Any Help During Recession?") View Details
• Shipilov, Andrew, Ranjay Gulati, Martin Kilduff, Stan Li, and Wenpin Tsai. "Relational Pluralism Within and Between Organizations." Academy of Management Journal 57, no. 2 (April 2014): 449–459. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "How to Do Away with the Dangers of Outsourcing." Harvard Business School Working Knowledge (June 6, 2013). View Details
• Ozmel, Umit, Jeffrey J. Reuer, and Ranjay Gulati. "Signals across Multiple Networks: How Venture Capital and Alliance Networks Affect Interorganizational Collaboration." Academy of Management Journal 56, no. 3 (June 2013): 852–866. View Details
• Puranam, Phanish, Ranjay Gulati, and Sourav Bhattacharya. "How Much to Make and How Much to Buy? An Analysis of Optimal Plural Sourcing Strategies." Strategic Management Journal 34, no. 10 (October 2013): 1145–1161. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Franz Wohlgezogen, and Pavel Zhelyazkov. "The Two Facets of Collaboration: Cooperation and Coordination in Strategic Alliances." Academy of Management Annals 6 (2012): 531–583. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Maxim Sytch, and Adam Tatarynowicz. "The Rise and Fall of Small Worlds: Exploring the Dynamics of Social Structure." Organization Science 23, no. 2 (March–April 2012): 449–471. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Phanish Puranam, and Michael Tushman. "Meta-Organizational Design: Rethinking Design in Inter-Organizational and Community Contexts." Special Issue on Strategy and the Design of Organizational Architecture edited by R. Gulati, P. Puranam, M. Tushman. Strategic Management Journal 33, no. 6 (June 2012): 571–586. View Details
• Sytch, Maxim, Adam Tatarynowicz, and Ranjay Gulati. "Toward a Theory of Extended Contact: The Incentives and Opportunities for Bridging Across Network Communities." Organization Science 23, no. 6 (November–December 2012): 1658–1681. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, D. Lavie, and Ravi Madhavin. "How Do Networks Matter? The Performance Effects of Interorganizational Networks." Research in Organizational Behavior 31 (2011): 207–224. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Inside Best Buy's Customer-Centric Strategy." Harvard Business Review Blogs (April 12, 2010). View Details
• Oldroyd, James, and Ranjay Gulati. "A Learning Perspective on Intraorganizational Knowledge Spill-Ins." Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal 4, no. 4 (December 2010): 356–372. View Details
• Comstock, Beth, Ranjay Gulati, and Stephen A Liguori. "Unleashing the Power of Marketing." Harvard Business Review 88, no. 10 (October 2010): 90–98. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Wanted: A New Approach to Inventiveness." Financial Times (July 26, 2010). View Details
• Vermeulen, Freek, Phanish Puranam, and Ranjay Gulati. "Change for Change's Sake." Harvard Business Review 88, no. 6 (June 2010). View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Nitin Nohria, and Franz Wohlgezogen. "Roaring Out of Recession." Harvard Business Review 88, no. 3 (March 2010): 62–69. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Is Your Company a Pusher or a Partner?" Chief Executive (March–April 2010). View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "A New Business Strategy: Give Up The Core." Harvard Business Review Blogs (May 7, 2009). View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, D. Lavie, and H. Singh. "The Nature of Partnering Experience and the Gains from Alliances." Strategic Management Journal 30, no. 11 (November 2009): 1213–1233. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Nitin Nohria. "Tasting the Fruits of Effective Innovation." Financial Times (February 5, 2009). View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Czar Power." Forbes.com (January 7, 2009). (Commentary.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and P. Puranam. "Renewal Through Reorganization: The Value of Inconsistencies between Formal and Informal Organization." Organization Science 20, no. 2 (March–April 2009): 422–440. View Details
• Polzer, Jeffrey, Ranjay Gulati, Rakesh Khurana, and Michael Tushman. "Crossing Boundaries to Increase Relevance in Organizational Research." Journal of Management Inquiry 18, no. 4 (December 2009): 280–286. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, James Oldroyd, and Phanish Puranam. "Staring You in the Face." Wall Street Journal (September 22, 2008). View Details
• Sytch, Maxim, and Ranjay Gulati. "Creating Value Together." Business Intelligence. MIT Sloan Management Review 50, no. 1 (Fall 2008): 12–13. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Parth Mehrotra, and Maxim Sytch. "Breaking up Is Never Easy: Planning for Exit in a Strategic Alliance." California Management Review 50, no. 4 (Summer 2008): 147–163. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Jackson Nickerson. "Interorganizational Trust, Governance Choice, and Exchange Performance." Organization Science 19, no. 2 (March–April 2008): 1–21. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Maxim Sytch. "Does Familiarity Breed Trust? Revisiting the Antecedents of Trust." Managerial and Decision Economics 29 (March–April 2008): 165–190. View Details
• Pollock, Tim, and Ranjay Gulati. "Standing Out from the Crowd: The Visibility-Enhancing Effects of IPO-related Signals on Alliance Formation by Entrepreneurial Firms." Strategic Organization 5, no. 4 (November 2007). (A shorter version of this paper appeared in Academy of Management Best Papers Proceedings, pp. 11-16, 2002.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Maxim Sytch. "Dependence Asymmetry and Joint Dependence in Interorganizational Relationships: Effects of Embeddedness on a Manufacturer's Performance in Procurement Relationships." Administrative Science Quarterly 52, no. 3 (September 2007): 32–69. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Tent-Poles, Tribalism, and Boundary Spanning: The Rigor-Relevance Debate in Management Research." Academy of Management Journal 50, no. 4 (August 2007): 775–782. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Silo Busting: Transcending Barriers to Build High Growth Organizations." Harvard Business Review 85, no. 5 (May 2007): 98–108. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Maxim Sytch, and Parth Mehrotra. "Preparing for the Exit." Wall Street Journal (March 3, 2007). View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Monica Higgins. "Stacking the Deck: The Effect of Upper Echelon Affiliations for Entrepreneurial Firms." Strategic Management Journal 27, no. 1 (January 2006): 1–26. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, P. Lawrence, and P. Puranam. "Adaptation in Vertical Relationships: Beyond Incentive Conflict." Strategic Management Journal 26, no. 12 (December 2005): 415–440. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and James Oldroyd. "The Quest for Customer Focus." Harvard Business Review 83, no. 4 (April 2005): 2004–2005. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and D. Kletter. "Shrinking Core-Expanding Periphery: The Relational Architecture of High Performing Organizations." California Management Review 47, no. 1 (Fall 2004): 77–104. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "How CEOs Manage Growth Agendas: A Commentary." Harvard Business Review 82, nos. 7-8 (July–August 2004): 124–126. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and M. Higgins. "Which Ties Matter When? The Contingent Effects of Interorganizational Partnerships on IPO Success." Strategic Management Journal 24, no. 2 (February 2003): 127–144. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Alex Panas. "The Brave New World of Wireless Web." Smart Manager (July–September 2003). View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Monica Higgins. "Getting Off to a Good Start: The Effects of Upper Echelon Affiliations on Interorganizational Endorsements." Organization Science 14, no. 3 (May–June 2003): 244–263. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Lihua Wang. "Size of the Pie and Share of the Pie: Implications of Structural Embeddedness for Value Creation and Value Appropriation in Joint Ventures." Research in the Sociology of Organizations 20 (2003): 209–242. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, S. Huffman, and G. Neilson. "The Barista Principle: Starbucks and the Rise of Relational Capital." Strategy + Business, no. 28 (Third Quarter 2002): 1–12. View Details
• Khanna, Tarun, Ranjay Gulati, and Nitin Nohria. "The Economic Modeling of Strategy Process: 'Clean Models' and 'Dirty Hands'." Strategic Management Journal 21, no. 7 (July 2000): 781–790. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Jason Garino. "Get the Right Mix of Bricks and Clicks." Harvard Business Review 78, no. 3 (May–June 2000): 107–114. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Nitin Nohria, and Akbar Zaheer. "Strategic Networks." Strategic Management Journal 21, no. 3 (March 2000): 203–215. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and James Westphal. "Cooperative or Controlling? The Effects of CEO-board Relations and the Contents of Interlocks on the Formation of Joint Ventures." Administrative Science Quarterly 44, no. 3 (September 1999): 473–506. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Network Location and Learning: The Influence of Network Resources and Firm Capabilities on Alliance Formation." Strategic Management Journal 20, no. 5 (May 1999): 397–420. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Martin Gargiulo. "Where Do Interorganizational Networks Come From?" American Journal of Sociology 104, no. 5 (March 1999): 473–506. (Reprinted in The Management of Durable Relations, edited by Jeroen Weesie and Werner Raub, 2000.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Harbir Singh. "The Architecture of Cooperation: Managing Coordination Costs and Appropriation Concerns in Strategic Alliances." Administrative Science Quarterly 43, no. 4 (December 1998): 781–814. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Alliances and Networks." Strategic Management Journal 19, no. 4 (April 1998): 293–317. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Tarun Khanna, and Nitin Nohria. "The Dynamics of Learning Alliances: Competition, Cooperation, and Relative Scope." Strategic Management Journal 19, no. 3 (March 1998). (A shorter version of this paper appeared in Academy of Management Best Papers Proceedings, 1994.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Nitin Nohria. "What is the Optimum Amount of Organizational Slack? A Study of the Relationship Between Slack and Innovation in Multinational Firms." European Management Journal 15, no. 6 (December 1997): 603–611. (This is a longer version of the paper we jointly published in Academy Management Journal in 1996.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, James Westphal, and Steve Shortell. "Customization or Conformity? An Institutional and Network Perspective on the Content and Consequences of TQM Adoption." Administrative Science Quarterly 42, no. 2 (June 1997): 366–394. (Winner of Academy of Management. Organization and Management Theory Division. Best Paper Award For the empirical or conceptual paper submitted to the Academy of Management annual meeting that offers a significant contribution to the field of organization and management theory presented by Academy of Management. Also appeared in the Academy of Management Best Papers Proceedings.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Nitin Nohria. "Is Slack Good or Bad for Innovation?" Academy of Management Journal 39, no. 5 (October 1996): 1245–1264. (A shorter version of this paper appeared in Academy of Management Best Papers Proceedings, 1995.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Social Structure and Alliance Formation Patterns: A Longitudinal Analysis." Administrative Science Quarterly 40, no. 4 (December 1995): 619–652. (This paper was part of my dissertation, which received the Free Press Best Dissertation Award at the Academy of Management in 1994.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Does Familiarity Breed Trust? The Implications of Repeated Ties on Contractual Choice in Alliances." Academy of Management Journal 38, no. 1 (February 1995): 85–112. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Tarun Khanna, and Nitin Nohria. "Unilateral Commitments and the Importance of Process in Alliances." MIT Sloan Management Review 35, no. 3 (spring 1994): 61–69. View Details

Book Chapters

• Gulati, Ranjay, and Maxim Sytch. "Markets as Networks: The Dynamics and Implications of Interorganizational Network Structures." In The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management. Continuously updated edition, edited by Mie Augier and David J. Teece. Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. Electronic. (Pre-published, October 2013 and updated in 2014.) View Details
• Silvestri, Luciana, and Ranjay Gulati. "From Periphery to Core: A Process Model for Embracing Sustainability." In Leading Sustainable Change: An Organizational Perspective, edited by Rebecca Henderson, Ranjay Gulati, and Michael Tushman. Oxford University Press, 2015. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Sameer Srivastava. "Bringing Agency Back Into Network Research: Constrained Agency and Network Action." In Contemporary Perspectives on Organizational Social Networks. Vol. 40, edited by Dan Brass, Giuseppe Labianca, Ajay Mehra, Daniel S. Halgin, and Stephen P. Borgatti, 73–94. Research in the Sociology of Organizations. Emerald Group Publishing, 2014. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Creating Superior Customer Value in a Connected World." In Business Network Transformation: Strategies to Reconfigure Your Business Relationships for Competitive Advantage, edited by Jeffrey Word. Jossey-Bass, 2009. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Dania Dialdin, and Lihua Wang. "Organizational Networks." In Blackwell Companion to Organizations, edited by J.A.C. Baum, 281–303. Boston: Blackwell Publishers, 2002. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and James Gillespie. "Alliances and Joint Ventures." In International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, edited by Neil J. Smelser and Paul B. Baltes, 392–397. Elsevier Science, 2001. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Ed Zajac. "Reflections on the Study of Strategic Alliances." In Cooperative Strategy, edited by D. Faulkner and M. De Rond, 365–374. Oxford University Press, 2000. View Details
• Nohria, Nitin, and Ranjay Gulati. "Firms and Their Environments." In Handbook of Economic Sociology, edited by N. Smelser and R. Swedberg, 529–555. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994. View Details

Working Papers

• Gulati, Ranjay, Alicia DeSantola, and Pavel Zhelyazkov. "The Young Venture Lifecycle Revisited: Stage-Contingent Benefits of Technical, Commercial and Process Activities." Working Paper, December 2019. View Details
• Silvestri, Luciana, Marlo Goetting, and Ranjay Gulati. "Collaborative Structuring: Designer and Worker Agency in Organizational Design." Working Paper, 2013. View Details

Cases and Teaching Materials

• Gulati, Ranjay, Adina Wong, Dawn H. Lau, and Joseph Mesfin. "DBS: Purpose-Driven Transformation." Harvard Business School Case 423-022, September 2022. (Revised January 2023.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Matt Higgins, and Allison Ciechanover. "Netflix: A Creative Approach to Culture and Agility." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 423-027, July 2022. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Matt Higgins. "Netflix: A Creative Approach to Culture and Agility (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 423-026, July 2022. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Key Learnings about Turnarounds." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 423-703, July 2022. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Building the Team at BlackBerry." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 423-702, July 2022. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "John Chen's Decision to Join BlackBerry." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 423-701, July 2022. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Bradley Turner. "Volkswagen and Suzuki: A Match Made in Heaven (A)? and An Alliance Breaks Down (B1, B2)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 422-087, May 2022. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Eppa Rixey. "Transforming BlackBerry: From Smartphones to Software." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 422-086, April 2022. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Franz Wohlgezogen, and Malini Sen. "Bühler: Mobilizing Industry Around a Common Purpose." Harvard Business School Case 822-001, September 2021. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Bradley Turner. "Etsy: Crafting a Turnaround to Save the Business and Its Soul." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 822-027, August 2021. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Aseem Shukla, and Reva Nohria. "Livongo: Scaling a Purpose-Driven Organization in Healthcare." Harvard Business School Case 422-017, August 2021. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Kairavi Dey, and Rachna Tahilyani. "Fynd." Harvard Business School Case 822-006, July 2021. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Yves Doz, and Kerry Herman. "CFM International (B): LEAPing Into the Future." Harvard Business School Supplement 421-067, June 2021. (Revised October 2021.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Yves Doz, Kim Wilkinson, and Kerry Herman. "CFM International (A): Building a Durable Partnership That Works." Harvard Business School Case 421-066, June 2021. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Rachna Tahilyani. "The Mahindra Group: Leading with Purpose." Harvard Business School Case 421-091, April 2021. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Nicole Tempest Keller. "Transforming BlackBerry: From Smartphones to Software." Harvard Business School Case 421-052, April 2021. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Luciana Silvestri, and Monte Burke. "Etsy: Crafting a Turnaround to Save the Business and Its Soul." Harvard Business School Case 821-092, April 2021. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Saloni Chaturvedi. "Volkswagen: An Alliance Breaks Down (B1)." Harvard Business School Supplement 420-038, August 2019. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Saloni Chaturvedi. "Volkswagen and Suzuki (A): A Match Made in Heaven?" Harvard Business School Case 420-037, August 2019. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Paul S. Myers. "Barber Cardiosystems." Harvard Business School Brief Case 919-505, April 2019. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Alaska Airlines Video Supplement (B)." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 419-709, February 2019. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Alaska Airlines Video Supplement (A)." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 419-708, February 2019. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Allison Ciechanover, and Jeff Huizinga. "Netflix: A Creative Approach to Culture and Agility." Harvard Business School Case 420-055, September 2019. View Details
• Edmondson, Amy, Ranjay Gulati, and Rachna Tahilyani. "Teaming Up to Win the Rail Deal at GE (A)." Harvard Business School Case 420-058, September 2019. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Paul S. Myers. "Barber Cardiosystems (Brief Case)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 919-506, April 2019. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "The Impact of GGO." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 420-705, September 2019. View Details
• Edmondson, Amy, Ranjay Gulati, and Rachna Tahilyani. "Teaming Up to Win the Rail Deal at GE (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 420-059, September 2019. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Saloni Chaturvedi. "Suzuki: An Alliance Breaks Down (B2)." Harvard Business School Supplement 420-039, August 2019. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Setting Future Priorities for GGO." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 420-706, September 2019. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Measuring the Impact of GGO and its Regional Teams." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 420-707, September 2019. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Building a Flexible GGO Model for Different Regions." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 420-708, September 2019. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Strategic Logic for GGO." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 420-709, September 2019. View Details
• Edmondson, Amy C., Ranjay Gulati, Patrick J. Healy, and Kerry Herman. "The Genesis Lab at Novartis." Harvard Business School Case 620-007, November 2019. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Stuart C. Gilson, and Aldo Sesia. "BlackRock (B): Acquire MLIM?" Harvard Business School Teaching Note 719-431, October 2018. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Rachna Tahilyani. "The Future of GE's Global Growth Organization." Harvard Business School Case 418-079, April 2018. (Revised August 2020.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Andrew O'Connell, and Caroline de Lacvivier. "Alaska Airlines: Empowering Frontline Workers to Make It Right." Harvard Business School Case 418-063, March 2018. (Revised August 2020.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Jan W. Rivkin, and Kelly McNamara. "BlackRock (A): Selling the Systems? (with video links)." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Case 717-484, March 2017. (Revised November 2017.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, David Tannenwald, and Caroline de Lacvivier. "Rebuilding a Community: Father Vien The Nguyen." Harvard Business School Case 417-066, May 2017. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Rachna Tahilyani, and Alicia DeSantola. "Micromax: Scaling the Largest Indian Mobile Handset Company." Harvard Business School Case 415-034, November 2014. (Revised January 2017.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Maxim Sytch, and Rachna Tahilyani. "Indus Towers: From Infancy to Maturity." Harvard Business School Case 415-005, October 2014. (Revised July 2015.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Luciana Silvestri. "Jones Lang LaSalle 2001–2012 Video Supplement." Harvard Business School Video Supplement 413-704, April 2013. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Luciana Silvestri. "Corporate Solutions at Jones Lang LaSalle (2001) (A)." Harvard Business School Case 113-114, March 2013. (Revised October 2013.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Luciana Silvestri. "Integrated Services at Jones Lang LaSalle (2005) (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 113-115, March 2013. (Revised October 2013.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Luciana Silvestri. "Growing Integrated Services at Jones Lang LaSalle (2008) (C)." Harvard Business School Supplement 113-116, March 2013. (Revised October 2013.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Luciana Silvestri. "Jones Lang LaSalle (2012): Integrated Services and the Architecture of Complexity (D)." Harvard Business School Supplement 113-117, March 2013. (Revised October 2013.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Alison Berkley Wagonfeld, and Luciana Silvestri. "Cisco in 2012: Reorganizing for Efficiency and Flexibility." Harvard Business School Case 413-069, November 2012. (Revised August 2014.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Jones Lang LaSalle 2011 Corporate Profile." Harvard Business School Video Supplement 412-702, October 2011. View Details
• Rivkin, Jan W., Michael Roberto, and Ranjay Gulati. "Federal Bureau of Investigation, TN - 2001, 2007, and 2009." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 711-487, January 2011. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Lucia Menzer Marshall, and Patrick Cullen. "Cisco Systems (2001): Building and Sustaining a Customer-Centric Culture (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 410-127, June 2010. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Marlo Goetting. "Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 410-126, June 2010. View Details
• Rivkin, Jan W., Michael Roberto, and Ranjay Gulati. "Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2009." Harvard Business School Case 710-452, March 2010. (Revised May 2010.) View Details
• Rivkin, Jan W., Michael Roberto, and Ranjay Gulati. "Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2007." Harvard Business School Case 710-451, March 2010. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Rajiv Lal, and Cathy Ross. "Target: Responding to the Recession." Harvard Business School Case 510-016, March 2010. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez, V.G. Narayanan, and Rachna Tahilyani. "Indus Towers: Collaborating with Competitors on Infrastructure." Harvard Business School Case 110-057, February 2010. (Revised November 2012.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Lucia Menzer Marshall. "Corporate Solutions at Jones Lang LaSalle (2001)." Harvard Business School Case 409-111, April 2009. (Revised July 2010.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Lucia Menzer Marshall. "Corporate Solutions at Jones Lang LaSalle (2001) (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 409-069, April 2009. (Revised July 2010.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Lucia Menzer Marshall. "Jones Lang LaSalle: Reorganizing around the Customer (2005)." Harvard Business School Case 410-007, August 2009. (Revised July 2010.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Lucia Menzer Marshall, and Patrick Cullen. "Jones Lang LaSalle: Reorganizing around the Customer (2005) (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 410-069, December 2009. (Revised July 2010.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Cisco Systems (2001): Building and Sustaining a Customer-Centric Culture." Harvard Business School Case 409-061, January 2009. (Revised June 2010.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System." Harvard Business School Case 409-062, January 2009. (Revised June 2010.) View Details

Presentations

• Gulati, Ranjay. "Trust between Individuals and Organizations." Academy of Management Annual Meeting, August 2019. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Dynamics of Young Venture Development." Paper presented at the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business Seminar, 2017. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Dynamics of Young Venture Development." Lecture at the New Directions Lectures, Stanford University, Management Science and Engineering Dept., Stanford, CA, 2017. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Martina Luetkewitte, and Thomas Mellewigt. "Familiar vs. Trusted Partners: Relationship Length and Strength In Interfirm Contract Design." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC, Canada, August 2015. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "A New Look at Corporate Parenting: Linking Structure and Cognition in the Multibusiness Firm." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, August 2014. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Pavel Zhelyazkov. "After the Break-Up: The Relational and Reputational Consequences of Withdrawals from VC Syndicates." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, August 2014. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Rethinking the Architecture of Global Corporations." Paper presented at the Strategic Management Society Annual International Conference, Madrid, September 2014. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Dynamics of Social Structure: Implications for Collaboration and Innovation." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Lake Buena Vista, FL, August 2013. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "How Compliance and Networks Shape Status." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Lake Buena Vista, FL, August 9–13, 2013. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Going into the Field: How Experiential Methods Complement Case-Based Teaching." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, August 2013. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Unleashing the Marketing Potential of Your Organization." Paper presented at the Marketing Science Institute Conference, Boston, April 2012. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, Franz Wohlgezogen, and Pavel Zhelyazkov. "Willing and Able? Cooperation and Coordination in Strategic Alliances." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, San Antonio, August 2011. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay, and Luciana Silvestri. "Compensatory Fit in Integrated Architectures: The Upside of Structural Ambiguity." Paper presented at the Trans-Atlantic Doctoral Conference, London Business School, London, UK, 2010. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Reorganize for Resilience: Putting Customers at the Center of Your Organization to Realize Profitable Growth." Paper presented at the Midwest ACG Capital Connection, Association for Corporate Growth, Chicago, IL, October 19, 2010. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "The Micro-Foundations of Performance in Vertical Relationships." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Montreal, August 2010. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Trust Within and Between Firms." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Montréal, Canada, August 2010. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Service Supremacy: The New Economic Elixir." Paper presented at the TieCon (The Indus Entrepreneurs Annual Conference), Outer Realm Series, San Francisco, May 14, 2010. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Reorganize for Resilience: Putting Customers at the Center of Your Organization to Realize Profitable Growth." , May 13, 2010. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Growth Strategies in Turbulent Markets." Confederation of Indian Industry, New Delhi, India, February 11, 2010. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Interorganizational Trust." 5th Workshop on Trust Within and Between Organizations, European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management, Madrid, Spain, January 28–29, 2010. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "The Rise and Fall of Small Worlds." John M. Olin School of Business, May 1, 2009. (Olin School of Business, Washington University, St. Louis.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Network Interdependencies: Relationships Between Venture Capital and Strategic." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, August 7–11, 2009. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "The Evolution of Collaborative Networks: The Dynamics of Social Structure and Knowledge Diffusion." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Chicago, 2009. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Network Evolution and Dynamics." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Anaheim, CA, August 8–13, 2008. (Co-organizer of PDW at Academy of Management Annual Meeting.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Using M&A as a Context to Study Knowledge Transfer, Learning, and Coordination in Organizations." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Anaheim, CA, August 8–13, 2008. (Speaker at PDW.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "New Insights into Theories of Entrepreneurship Through New Questions to Ask." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Anaheim, CA, August 8, 2008–August 13, 2013. (Speaker at PDW.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Where Do Brokers Come From?" Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Anaheim, CA, August 8–13, 2008. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "'Charting' to Their Full Potential? Exploring Physician's Adoption of Electronic Health Records." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Anaheim, CA, August 8–13, 2008. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "The Management of Alliance Portfolios and Their Performance Implications." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, 2007. (Member of PDW.) View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Flocking Together: Examining the Role of Homophily in Economic Exchange Relationships." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, 2007. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Bridging Rigor and Relevance in Management Research." Paper presented at the Sumantra Ghoshal Conference, London Business School, London, May 2007. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Renewal Through Reorganization: The Value of Inconsistencies Between Formal and Informal Organization." Paper presented at the Organization Science Special Issue Conference, Chicago, 2007. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "On the Interface Between Research and Practice: Experiences in Executing Engaged Research." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, 2006. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Coordinating Centralized Information and Decentralized Decision Making." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, 2006. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Dependence Asymmetry and Joint Dependence in Interorganizational Relationships." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, 2006. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Interorganizational Embeddedness and the Reach, Richness, and Receptivity of Network Resources." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Honolulu, HI, 2005. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Learning from Samples of Millions or More: Overcoming Organizational Barriers to Inferential Learning." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Honolulu, HI, 2005. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "The Architecture of Organizational Dualities." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, 2004. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Multifirm Strategic Alliance Formation: Configural and Geometric Perspectives." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, 2004. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "The Duality of Network Capability: Reach Versus Richness." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, 2004. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Interorganizational Trust." Workshop on Trust Within and Between Organizations, European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management, Amsterdam, Holland, 2003. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Stacking the Deck: The Effects of Upper Echelon Affiliations for Entrepreneurial Firms." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, 2003. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "The Contingency of Partnering Experience and the Gains From Alliances." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, 2003. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Learning in Alliances: New Methodologies, New Directions." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, 2003. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Getting Off to a Good Start: The Effects of Upper Echelon Affiliations on Interorganizational Endorsements and IPO Success." Paper presented at the Brigham Young University-University of Utah Winter Strategy Conference, 2003. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "The 21st Century Corporation: How Digital Technologies Affect Corporate Transformation and Performance." Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, 2002. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Relational and Market-Based Legitimation of Internet IPOs." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, 2002. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Strategy and Entrepreneurship: What Changes in the Digital Economy? Interorganizational Partnerships in the Digital Economy." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Showcase Symposium, Washington, DC, 2001. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Trust in Business-to-Business Relationships: Combining Social and Electronic Networks." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, 2001. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Size of the Pie and Share of the Pie: Implications of Structural Embeddedness for Value Creation and Value Appropriation in Joint Ventures." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, 2001. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "The Brave New World of Wireless Web." Paper presented at the Netcentricity Conference, University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business, 2001. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "The Effect of IPO Team Ties on Investment Bank Affiliation and IPO Success." Paper presented at the Harvard Conference on Entrepreneurship, Cambridge, MA, 2000. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Obstacles and Issues in Getting the Right Mix Between Bricks and Clicks in the New Economy." Paper presented at the Joint Kellogg-Wharton Conference on E-business, Philadelphia, 2000. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "The Effect of IPO Team Ties on Investment Bank Affiliation and IPO Success." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Toronto, 2000. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Is the Network an Appropriate Unit of Analysis?" Paper presented at the Brigham Young University-University of Utah Winter Strategy Conference, 2000. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Organizing Vertical Networks: A Design Perspective." Paper presented at the Strategy Research Forum, Boston, MA, 1999. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Networks and Firm Capabilities." Paper presented at the Strategic Management Society Annual International Conference, Orlando, 1998. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "The Dynamic Evolution of Interorganizational Networks." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, 1998. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "The Dark Side of Embeddedness: An Examination of the Influence of Direct and Indirect Board Interlocks and CEO/Board Relationships on Interfirm Alliances." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, 1998. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Network Location and Learning: The Influence of Network Resources and Firm Capabilities on Alliance Formation." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, 1998. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Different Strokes for Different Folks: Towards a Contingent Theory of Network Effects." Paper presented at the INFORMS Annual Meeting, Dallas, October 26–29, 1997. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Organizing Vertical Networks: A Design Perspective." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, 1997. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "The Architecture of Cooperation: Managing Coordination Uncertainty and Interdependence in Strategic Alliances." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Boston, 1997. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Where do Interorganizational Networks Come From?" Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, 1997. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Where do Interorganizational Networks Come From?" Paper presented at the Conference on the Management of Durable Relations, Utrecht, Holland, 1997. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Trust and Opportunism in Interorganizational Collaboration." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Showcase Symposium, Cincinnati, 1996. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "The Institutionalization of Total Quality Management: The Emergence of Normative TQM Adoption and the Consequences for Organizational Legitimacy and Performance." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Cincinnati, OH, 1996. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "A Network Structuration Theory of Interorganizational Ties." Conference on Sociology and Strategy, INSEAD, 1996. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Social Structure and Alliance Formation Patterns: A Longitudinal Analysis." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC, 1995. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "What Is the Optimum Amount of Organizational Slack? A Study of the Relationship Between Slack and Innovation in Multinational Firms." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Vancouver, 1995. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Alliances as Learning Races." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Dallas, TX, 1994. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Transaction Costs and Contractual Choice in Alliances: Implications of Repeated Ties." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, 1993. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "The Dynamics of Alliance Formation: Which Firms Enter into Alliances with Each Other?" Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, 1993. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Managing Cooperative Alliances." Paper presented at the Strategic Management Society Annual International Conference, London, 1992. View Details
• Gulati, Ranjay. "Mutually Assured Alliances." Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, NV, 1992. View Details

Research Summary

Research Summary

My research has focused on interorganizational relationships, with an emphasis on interfirm strategic alliances, which include voluntary exchange or co-development of products, technologies, or services between firms.  I examine the factors that influence the critical decisions firms face -- the number of alliances they enter, their choice of partners, and the governance structure they use to formalize alliances. I also consider social and behavioral influences on the performance of such alliances.  In each of these areas, I extend the dyadic focus on individual relationships by considering the implications of the interorganizational networks in which firms are located. In some recent research, I have extended this relational perspective to the study of intra-firm collaboration and looked at how firms develop closely integrated business systems to adapt to changing market imperatives. A description of some of ongoing research projects follows:

Dynamics of Network Formation

An ongoing research project with my doctoral students extends my previous line of inquiry by examining some of the evolutionary dynamics of small-world networks. Diverging from recent research that has analyzed static small worlds, we have adopted a dynamic view of the development and ultimate dissolution of such networks. We also consider the micro-level behavioral dynamics underlying the development of these pervasive social systems; some of these dynamics result in the formation of local ties, which agglomerate into tightly linked clusters, while others generate bridging ties between those clusters.

Governance of Interorganizational Exchange

In a series of papers, I examine the antecedents and consequences of governance choices in exchange relations. Using data from the automotive industry, a coauthor and I have examined the dynamics associated with the social and contractual structure of sourcing relationships in this context. We develop a theory about (1) when and how pre-existing trust-the level of trust established prior to the current exchange-complements governance in directly enhancing exchange performance regardless of the governance structure used and (2) when and how pre-existing trust leads to the substitution of one governance mode for another, which may in turn shape exchange performance indirectly. In another co-authored study I am investigating the extent to which firms exchange information among their internal units versus with their external suppliers of components. Our findings confirm my prior field observations that in many instances the extent of information exchanged is actually lower among internal units than between the firm and its external suppliers. However, we also find that this reduced level of information exchange does not have a significant effect on the performance of the relationship.  We develop a theory to explain these findings. In a separate, conceptual paper my coauthor and I reexamine the traditional assumption of make and buy as mutually exclusive choices. We present an integrated theory of plural sourcing, wherein firms use multiple governance modes simultaneously to procure the same input.

Network Resources and the Performance of Interorganizational Exchange

My recent book (Managing Network Resources, Oxford University Press) introduced the idea of "network resources," valuable assets that accrue to a firm not from within its boundaries but from its ties to key external constituents including but not limited to partners, suppliers, and customers. As a follow up to this work, my coauthors and I are using a large-scale multi-respondent survey dataset to examine directly the performance of individual alliances from each partner's standpoint and consider how each partners' network resources, among other factors, may influence performance levels.  By simultaneously assessing the performance of alliances from each partner's vantage point and the role of network resources and other key factors in shaping ultimate success, this study present a unique window into interorganizational activity.

Customer-Centricity as a Vehicle for Organic Growth

This body of work examines the mechanics of how firms grow profitably in commoditizing markets. Underlying the "customer-centricity" that many firms embrace today is a factor that will determine their success with this effort: enabling collaboration across their internal silos and, increasingly, with external partners. While internal integration has been an enduring theme in organizational research, in this context the nature of integration is driven not by production concerns but by external market and customer demands. The integration challenge is significant, as these drivers are not always predictable and consistent. To integrate internally, a firm must align its product-, technology-, function- or geography-based business units and operations to generate customer-focused offerings in a systemic and flexible way, without completely obliterating these silos, which are often crucial to innovation and/or house deep product and marketing expertise. Along with internal integration, firms are also seeking external partners who provide key inputs or complementary outputs that enable them to simultaneously "shrink their core" by doing less themselves and "expand their periphery" by offering a broader, integrated assortment of products and services. This poses new integration challenges as firms must find ways to improve customer-focused collaboration with external partners.  The belief is that this internal and external integration will allow the company to fully leverage the specialization and competencies of individual organizations-within and outside of the firm-to deliver greater value to customers and better bottom lines to themselves. Based on a study of nine prominent companies that are dismantling and transcending silos to become more customer-focused, I present the key enablers that shape their success, the pitfalls they face, and a model of how this journey typically unfolds.

The Architecture of the Integrated Organization

In this research I explore how organizations balance pressures for efficiency with the need to be responsive at the same time. Operating in turbulent global markets it is increasingly important for firms to embrace both global efficiency and also local responsiveness. A key imperative for them is to configure their organizational boundaries to be more porous so they can connect externally but also to be more inteconnected internally. I am researching both the structural and behavioral changes organizations must make to tackle these increasingly difficult market conditions.

Teaching

Leading Growth through Customer Centricity - India

Challenged by growing competition, dwindling resources, and rising customer demands, forward-thinking companies are centering their business model on the customer rather than the commodity. But attaining true customer centricity requires a fundamental shift in thinking across the enterprise and a reorientation of the value proposition.

Related Link: program description

Advanced Management Program: Transforming Proven Leaders into Global Executives

As the world economy continues to evolve, so do the requirements for global leadership. The Advanced Management Program (AMP) is a powerful, transformational, and personalized learning experience that explores the best management practices and latest strategies for sustaining a strategic advantage over the long term.

Related Link: program description

Awards & Honors

Deep Purpose included as one of the Thinkers50 Best New Management Books of 2022.

Winner of the 2019 Strategic Management Society (SMS) Annual Conference Best Research Methods Paper Award for “Cognitive Framing and Capability Development at the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” with Tiona Zuzul, Ryan Raffaelli, and Jan Rivkin.

Finalist for the 2019 Strategic Management Society (SMS) Annual Conference Best Paper Award for “Cognitive Framing and Capability Development at the Federal Bureau of Investigation” with Tiona Zuzul, Ryan Raffaelli, and Jan Rivkin.

Named a Birla Fellow in 2012.

Won the 2012 Sumantra Ghoshal Award for Rigour and Relevance in the Study of Management from London Business School.

Elected a fellow of the Strategic Management Society in 2009.

Won the 2007–2008 Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA Program Best Professor Award.

Won the 1996 Best Paper Award from the Organization and Management Theory Division of the Academy of Management for "Customization or Conformity? An Institutional and Network Perspective on the Content and Consequences of TQM Adoption" with James Westphal and Steve Shortell (Administrative Science Quarterly, June 1997).

Named a Harvard MacArthur Fellow for 1992–1993.

Additional Information

• Personal Website
• Deep Purpose (Book Website)
• CV
• Working Knowledge

Editorial Board Memberships

• Academy of Management Annals
• Academy of Management Journal
• Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal

Areas of Interest

• customer focus
• economic sociology
• leadership
• organizational design
• strategic change
Additional Topics
• alliances
• corporate strategy
• customer relationship management
• entrepreneurship
• managing innovation
• network organizations
• networks
• organizational change and transformation
Industries
• biotechnology
• computer
• financial services
• industrial goods
• information technology industry
• pharmaceuticals
• professional services
• retailing

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To Succeed With Purpose, Make it Personal

08 Feb 2022
Fast Company
The ‘Do-Gooder’s Dilemma’: Why Purpose-Driven Companies Can’t Lose Focus On Profits

08 Feb 2022
CNBC
Employees Expect More from Their Lives and Work after COVID, Says Harvard’s Gulati

08 Feb 2022
BCG Henderson Institute
Deep Purpose with Ranjay Gulati

08 Feb 2022
Fast Company
The ‘Do-Gooder’s Dilemma’: Why Purpose-Driven Companies Can’t Lose Focus On Profits

10 Feb 2022
ABP Live
COVID-19 Pandemic: Harvard University Prof Ranjay Gulati Shares Survival Mantra For Businesses In New Book

10 Feb 2022
MarketWatch
Opinion: If Your Job Doesn’t Give You Purposeful Work, You Owe It to Yourself to Join the ‘Great Reshuffle’

13 Feb 2022
Charter Works
Deep Purpose by Ranjay Gulati: When Societal Purpose Truly Defines a Business

17 Feb 2022
HBS Working Knowledge
When Employees Feel a Sense of Purpose, Companies Succeed

20 Feb 2022
Financial Times
Hong Kong: A Case Study of Managing in Extreme Uncertainty

20 Feb 2022
Financial Times
Hong Kong: A Case Study of Managing in Extreme Uncertainty

08 Mar 2022
Fortune
It’s Not a Great Resignation–It’s a Great Rethink

17 Mar 2022
HBS Working Knowledge
Navigating Tradeoffs: How Purpose Becomes a Company's ‘Lighthouse in the Storm’

22 Mar 2022
Cold Call
How Etsy Found Its Purpose and Crafted a Turnaround

22 Mar 2022
Harvard Business Review
The Great Resignation or the Great Rethink?

22 Mar 2022
Harvard Business Review
The Great Resignation or the Great Rethink?

22 Mar 2022
Recruit-Holdings
Freedom within a Framework

22 Mar 2022
Forbes
Purpose: Does Your Company ‘Live’ It, Or Just Pay Lip Service?

22 Mar 2022
Financial Post
André Pratte: Walt Disney and the importance of corporate purpose

29 Mar 2022
Marketplace Business
Does Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Mark a Turning Point for U.S. Businesses?

30 Mar 2022
Forbes
Exercising Freedom In Your World To Uphold Freedom In The World

01 Apr 2022
Sustaining Sustainability
Deep Purpose with Ranjay Gulati, Professor at Harvard Business School and Best-Selling Author

13 Apr 2022
Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders
Ranjay Gulati (Harvard Business School) - Finding a Deeper Purpose

19 Apr 2022
Pharmaceutical Executive
Q+A With Harvard Business School Professor Ranjay Gulati

26 Apr 2022
HBS Working Knowledge
What Does Your Business Stand For? Why Building Trust Starts with Purpose

27 Apr 2022
Industry Week
Creating a Culture of Inspired Workers

02 May 2022
Futureproof.
Spotify, Disney, Ukraine, and Deep Purpose (ft. Ranjay Gulati)

05 May 2022
Next Big Idea Club
Deep Purpose: The Heart and Soul of High-Performance Companies

06 May 2022
Financial Management
‘Unlocking Hidden Value’: Why Purpose Should Be More Central to Business

06 May 2022
Inc.
How Looking Backward Helped LEGO's CEO Save His Company

13 May 2022
TED Talks
How Great Leaders Energize Their Organizations

24 May 2022
Inc.
The Key to Unlocking Your Company's Growth Potential

11 Jun 2022
Leadership Now with Dan Pontefract Podcast
Understanding Deep Purpose with Harvard's Dr. Ranjay Gulati

11 Jun 2022
Forbes
Deep Purpose: The Key To A Better World

27 Jun 2022
Thinkers50
Best New Management Books for 2022: Thinkers50 Announces New Booklist

28 Jun 2022
Business Insider
90 Harvard Alumni Held a Class Reunion in the Metaverse. It Shows the Potential of VR—but the Tech Needs to Improve before It Becomes Mainstream.

14 Jul 2022
Inc.
Three Ways Stakeholder Capitalism Delivers Excellence

03 Sep 2022
Motley Fool
The Fed Chief Speaks; Wall Street Reacts

27 Sep 2022
WGBH News
‘The Great Rethink’: How the Pandemic Has Forced New Normals in the Workplace

03 Oct 2022
Skip Prichard
How to Discover Your Organization’s Deep Purpose

17 Oct 2022
Pomp Podcast
Ranjay Gulati On The Secret To Building Multi-Billion Dollar Companies

24 Oct 2022
Charter Works
How to Navigate an Economic Downturn and Emerge Stronger

10 Nov 2022
Economic Times
Big Tech Layoffs – A Meltdown or Course Correction? Harvard Prof Ranjay Gulati Explains

18 Nov 2022
Forbes
Top Mistakes Leaders Make When Implementing An Organization’s Mission Statement

25 Nov 2022
Economic Times
From Kodak to Nokia, why do so many big companies end up failing?

25 Nov 2022
Forbes
Ranjay Gulati: How Deep Purpose Drives Extraordinary Performance

24 Jan 2023
Harvard Business School
Faculty Recognition

30 Nov 2022
Boston Globe
As the Great Resignation stretches on, there’s another movement afoot: The Great Rethink

07 Dec 2022
Inc.
Peak Patagonia: The Story Behind the Mic Drop Heard Round the World

08 Dec 2022
Futureproof.
Does Purpose Actually Matter?

09 Dec 2022
Daily Beast
Seven Questions Congress Should Make Sam Bankman-Fried Answer

15 Dec 2022
Harvard Business School
Top Podcasts of 2022

04 Jan 2023
Forbes
How To Encourage Employees To Work More Purposefully

16 Nov 2020
Wall Street Journal
How Panera’s CEO Learned to Go Against the Grain

16 Jun 2021
Inc.
Why Purpose Is an Underused Concept, According to This Harvard Business School Professor

01 Nov 2021
HBS Working Knowledge
Team Success Starts with the Individual—and with Love

12 Nov 2021
HBS Working Knowledge
Can Our Parenting Struggles Make Us Better Leaders?

16 Nov 2021
Cheddar
Thought Passing the Infrastructure Bill Was Hard? Try Implementing It

18 Nov 2021
Harvard Business Review
What Do Black Executives Really Want?

30 Nov 2021
NBC
Once Led by Founders, Twitter Set for Fresh Path

29 Jul 2019
Harvard Business Review
Finding (and Keeping) Your Company’s Soul

18 Jun 2019
Harvard Business Review
The Soul of a Start-up

18 Apr 2018
Harvard Business Review
Structure That’s Not Stifling

20 Oct 2017
WBUR
At GE, A New Urgency To Return To Industrial Roots

30 Aug 2017
Harvard Business Review
GE’s Global Growth Experiment

06 Jun 2016
Bloomberg
GE Studies Scrapping Annual Raise in Nod to Shifting Priorities

27 Apr 2016
HBS Working Knowledge
How the FBI Reinvented Itself after 9/11

04 Mar 2016
Harvard Business Review
Startups Can’t Revolve Around Their Founders If They Want to Succeed

17 Feb 2016
Harvard Business Review
Start-Ups That Last

07 Aug 2014
Bloomberg Businessweek
General Electric Wants to Act Like a Startup

15 Jul 2014
Financial Times
Cool heads improvise in crisis and calm

06 Jun 2013
HBS Working Knowledge
How to Do Away with the Dangers of Outsourcing

12 Mar 2013
HBR Blogs
Diagnostic Thinking

05 Sep 2012
Wall Street Journal
Are Firms Neglecting Succession Plans?

09 Feb 2012
Video: High Growth Requires Customer-First Thinking