Page 4 - Harvard Business Review (November-December, 2017)

HBR SURVEY
Q: Do you think your organization will experience more or fewer
reorganizations in the next five years compared with the previous
five years?

18% 31% 32% 19%

FEWER SAME SOMEWHAT SIGNIFICANTLY
MORE MORE

SOURCE “HOW SUCCESSFUL WAS YOUR COMPANY’S REORG?” BY STEPHEN HEIDARI-ROBINSON AND SUZANNE HEYWOOD

e-mails, help people get to know purpose. The former focuses on a
one another quickly. company’s “license to operate”—
THE OVERCOMMITTED Paul Sewell, organizational culture the corporate social Hippocratic RECENTLY
ORGANIZATION and development oath to “do no harm.” The second TRENDING
focuses on whether “making the
As a team development practitioner, ON HBR.ORG
HBR ARTICLE BY MARK MORTENSEN AND I appreciate your highlighting the world a better place” is core to the
business purpose (because of the
HEIDI K. GARDNER, SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER importance of investing time to type of customers the company 5 Questions
By assigning people to build a strong, cohesive, trusting aims to serve or the way in which to Help Your
Employees Find
multiple teams at once, foundation for such teams. Many it organizes its operations and Their Inner
leaders believe they don’t have time
organizations can make sources its inputs). Purpose
more-efficient use of time and for this, and their teams’ progress is This is the difference between BY KRISTI HEDGES
slowed as a result.
brainpower and do a better reputation and brand. The goal High-Performing
job of solving problems and Andy Robbins, principal, of a good reputation is to be Teams Need
sharing knowledge across West Haven Coaching seen as a worthy company by all Psychological
groups. But competing stakeholders. The goal of a brand Safety. Here’s
priorities and other conflicts is to communicate a distinctive How to Create It
can make it hard for teams value proposition to a specific set of BY LAURA
DELIZONNA
with overlapping membership COMPETING ON SOCIAL customers. Consumers made Google
to stay on track. The authors PURPOSE the top search engine because it The Problem
with Saying
identify several ways to reduce was the best product, not because “Don’t Bring Me
the costs of multiteaming and HBR ARTICLE BY OMAR RODRÍGUEZ VILÁ AND of the company’s social mission to Problems, Bring
better reap its advantages. SUNDAR BHARADWAJ, SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER “organize the world’s information.” Me Solutions”
Consumers increasingly expect The construct of “competing BY SABINA NAWAZ
A solid onboarding process brands to have a social purpose on social purpose” confounds the How I
with countless small tweaks is beyond mere functional requirements of social legitimacy Remade GE
very helpful in building trust benefits. As a result, companies (where the dominant logic is risk BY JEFFREY R.
and connections in our matrix are taking social stands in very mitigation) with those of social IMMELT
organization. For example, we visible ways. For example, purpose (which is explicitly designed 7 Reasons
have a booklet that outlines our TOMS donates shoes and other to make social concerns an integral Salespeople
mission and goals and the structure goods for every product sold. aspect of the “reason to buy”). Don’t Close
that supports them. We give it to Such programs can benefit Every company needs a broad the Deal
BY STEVE W. MARTIN
newcomers before they arrive so society and the brand, but population of stakeholders to “buy
that they will have some grounding if not carefully managed, into” the fact that it is a desirable The Dark Side
in who we are and how we work. they may fizzle or even harm member of the community. But of Resilience
To build bonds among new staff the company. The authors commercial success is driven by BY TOMAS
CHAMORRO-
members, we have a two-day developed an approach that what paying customers actually want PREMUZIC AND
DEREK LUSK
interactive foundation program ties a brand’s most ambitious to “buy.” Unless they want to buy
in which people collaborate in a social aspirations to its most- social purpose, your social purpose Tesla Shows
nonwork context. We work hard to pressing growth needs. strategy will leave you with a strong How Traditional
Business Metrics
extend those bonds to the rest of the reputation and languishing sales. Are Outdated
organization. And small things, such A distinction needs to be made Jonathan Knowles, CEO, BY EDDIE YOON
as adding employees’ photos to their between social legitimacy and social Type 2 Consulting

NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2017 HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW 17