Building A Great Company

What drives firm performance? Some factors are impactful and others are irrelevant. There are a lot of myths about what drives the performance of companies, and in this session we will separate myth from reality. How much does the company leadership matter? What about the industry and the economy? What about the company itself? Is strategy more important than high performing culture? Do the best companies really need to be great innovators? This session draws on the latest research on the drivers of organizational performance and shows how leaders who take a more strategic approach can create more successful organizations. We will also examine strategies for taking our leadership teams, functions, and our organizations to the next level, as well as the latest thinking about becoming a star company.

Boris Groysberg is tenured faculty in the Organizational Behavior unit at the Harvard Business School. He teaches extensively in Executive Education programs. Professor Groysberg is the chair of the “Driving Performance through Talent Management” program and co-chair of the “Leading Financial Organizations” program. In addition, he teaches in various other Executive Education programs, such as the “Owner/President/Manager” program. Professor Groysberg’s research investigates how a firm can be systematic in achieving a sustainable competitive advantage by leveraging its talent and how individuals can achieve stardom. Professor Groysberg is the author of Chasing Stars: The Myth of Talent and the Portability of Performance (Strategy + Business magazine’s top book pick in the Human Capital category for 2010), and co-author of Talk, Inc.: How Trusted Leaders Use Conversation to Power their Organizations and Wall Street Research: Past, Present, and Future. Professor Groysberg has also published more than 100 articles, notes, and case studies on how firms develop, hire, retain, and utilize their talent. Professor Groysberg has won numerous awards for his research on managing human capital.