Publications

18 Oct 2016
News

Leading the Way for Women Entrepreneurs

paused in describing herself and her role in founding her company, settling on “business strategy customer leadership person.” Barna urged her to call herself a visionary. The crowd of burgeoning entrepreneurs erupted in applause. Hyman... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Myers; Birchbox; Rent the Runway; Hello Alfred; Retail Trade; Retail Trade

23 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Psychology, Pathology, and the CEO

market share. Its Mach3 shaving system was a blockbuster product, but the company was suffering the effects of its own reliance on trade loading—the practice of offering discounts to retail customers at the end of a quarter in order to... View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

20 Feb 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, February 20, 2018

focused on getting news out to media outlets, today's CCO has become an integral part of any enterprise-company, corporation, governmental, and nongovernmental entity. Today's CCO is responsible for internal and external communication; with creating and implementing... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 1999 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Credit Suisse (A) (Abridged)

By: W. Earl Sasser and William E. Fulmer

Credit Suisse is looking for ways to differentiate itself from current and likely competitors. After two years of restructuring, the bank's leadership wants profitable growth. It has decided to emphasize customer service. View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Competitive Advantage; Customer Satisfaction; Banks and Banking; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Retail Industry

Find at Harvard

01 Jun 2017
News

Developing Insight that Has Power in Practice

The commitment to research that influences pedagogy, theory, and practice is inherent to HBS’s identity. The first field study, conducted in 1911 under the School’s Bureau of Business Research, comprised a comparative examination of the costs of operating a View Details

August 1965 (Revised December 1987)
Case

L.L. Bean, Inc.

Discusses the development and operations of a small manufacturing and mail order company doing $3 million sales. L.L. Bean operates in violation of most reasonable business principles, but it is profitable and growing. View Details

Keywords: Small Business; Operations; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Maine

October 2000 (Revised May 2001)
Case

Editora Abril S.A.

By: Michael Y. Yoshino and Perry Fagan

Brazil's media conglomerate Editora Abril S.A. is Latin America's largest publishing and printing company; it publishes books, and comic books, videos, maps, travel guides, music, and textbooks. It also owns Brazil's largest database marketing company, its... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Communications; Market Design; Media; Service Delivery; Private Ownership; Expansion; Web Sites; Publishing Industry; Service Industry; Brazil

November 2002 (Revised May 2003)
Case

ConAgra Foods

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Ingrid Vargas

In 2002, ConAgra Foods CEO Bruce Rohde was deliberating the next steps in the process of transforming the company from an agribusiness giant to a value-added food processor. ConAgra had become the second largest food company and number one food service supplier in the... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Leading Change; Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Food; Agribusiness; Product; Business Processes; Management Teams; Expansion; Brands and Branding; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States

03 Apr 2012
First Look

First Look: April 3

insurer Eureko as of October 2008, PZU was a highly profitable company and Poland's biggest asset holder. Eureko aimed at majority ownership of PZU as the building block of its Eastern European expansion strategy. The Treasury, however,... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

August 2014 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Hospital for Special Surgery (A)

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Stacy Schwartz

Hospital for Special Surgery, a focused factory for orthopedics and joint disease, is contemplating various growth options: further growth in the United Kingdom's National Health Services, management of hospitals in the United States, and/or hospital consulting.... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Nonprofit Organizations; Growth and Development Strategy; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Expansion; Health Industry; United Kingdom; United States

April 2024 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Unleashing Human Magic at Best Buy

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger, Sunil Gupta and Amram Migdal

The case examines the transformation of Best Buy under CEO Hubert Joly's leadership from 2012. Facing significant business challenges, including competition from online and physical retailers, Joly implemented the "Renew Blue" turnaround strategy, which focused on... View Details

Web

2017 Symposium - Race, Gender & Equity

Social Identity Management = Inclusion" at the 2017 Gender and Work Symposium. Gender Conformity & Nonconformity Thinking Expansively About Gender Nonconformity and Workplace Anti-Discrimination Strategies... View Details

Career Coach

Nicola Pugliese

optimally communicating a career narrative and personal brand, through written collateral (resumes, LinkedIn profiles, cover letters), interviewing and networking. Work Experience: Gillette/P&G Ð Global Consumer Product Marketing, Oxford Strategic Marketing Ð CPG... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Retail; Retail; Retail

December 1999
Case

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (A1): "Dot-comming" the World: Philip Nenon on a Billion Dollar Bet

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Jane Roessner

A group at Sun Microsystems, Inc. proposed that a recent acquisition that made fault-tolerant computers for telecommunications was a major opportunity for Sun. If the board provided funding to expand the acquisition's portfolio of products and make them part of the... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Governing and Advisory Boards; Motivation and Incentives; Expansion; Technology Industry

March 2022 (Revised February 2023)
Case

Sunōmi Switchel: Time to Switch?

By: Lindsay N. Hyde, Shani Carter McKinney and Alexandra Horvitz

Nicole Blank has bootstrapped her functional beverage company, Sunōmi Switchel, to contracts with leading grocery retailers. She is now faced with a series of choices for if and how to continue to grow the business. View Details

Keywords: Startup; Start-up; Startup Management; Burnout; Entrepreneur; Entrepreneurial Journey; Bootstrap; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Startups; Crisis Management; Financial Condition; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; District of Columbia

28 Jul 2015
First Look

First Look: July 28, 2015

of the business model as decisions enforced by the authority of the firm; this definition enables the analysis of business models through the analysis of individual firm choices. We situate negotiation outcomes within the strategy... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

January 1998 (Revised April 1998)
Case

Sealed Air Corporation: Globalization and Corporate Culture (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Karen Wruck

Sealed Air Corp.'s CEO and COO are considering what approach they should take to building a seamless corporate culture worldwide. Anticipating continuing growth and expansion, especially outside the United States, they are concerned with preserving and promoting the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Policy; Leadership; United States; Europe; Asia