HBR's Must Reads Digital Boxed Set

A key metric of good management, in fact, is whether such clear, consistent values have permeated the organization.

The larger and more complex a company becomes, the more important it is for senior managers to train employees throughout the organization to make independent decisions about priorities that are consistent with the strategic direction and the business model of the company.

We define an organization’s values as the standards by which employees set priorities that enable them to judge whether an order is attractive or unattractive, whether a customer is more important or less important, whether an idea for a new product is attractive or marginal, and so on.

In fact, a process that creates the capability to execute one task concurrently defines disabilities in executing other tasks.1

resource analysis doesn’t come close to telling the whole story

They are meant not to change or, if they must change, to change through tightly controlled procedures.

By selecting the right team and organizational structure for your innovation—and infusing it with the right resources, processes, and values—you heighten your chances of innovating successfully.

Our research suggests that three factors affect what an organization can and cannot do: its resources, its processes, and its values

Before rushing into the breach, managers must understand precisely what types of change the existing organization is capable and incapable of handling.

In trying to transform an enterprise, managers can destroy the very capabilities that sustain it.