HBR's 10 Must Reads 2019: The Definitive Management Ideas of the Year from Harvard Business Review (with bonus article "Now What?" by Joan C. Williams and Suzanne Lebsock) (HBR's 10 Must Reads)

Delivering outstanding customer service requires a culture and a mindset that emphasize achievement, impeccable service, and problem solving through autonomy and inventiveness.

the positive abnormal returns associated with the announcement of a hedge fund intervention are, in part, a transfer of wealth from workers to shareholders. The study found that workers’ hours decreased and their wages stagnated in the three years after an intervention.

Identify subcultures that may account for higher or lower group performance

What are the characteristics of people who are most successful in your culture? When new people don’t succeed in your culture, what is the most common reason?

In a merger, designing a new culture on the basis of complementary strengths can speed up integration and create more value over time

winning; authority, defined by strength, decisiveness, and boldness; safety, defined by planning, caution, and preparedness; and order, focused on respect, structure, and shared norms.

Employees were reminded to define service from the customer’s perspective, to constantly engage customers with questions geared toward understanding their specific needs and preferences, and to go beyond their expectations.

Assess current and future external conditions and strategic choices and determine which cultural styles will need to be strengthened or diminished in response.

Then a program was launched to promote cultural alignment within 30 top teams, with an emphasis on clarifying priorities, making authentic connections, and developing team norms that would bring the new culture to life.