Publications

May 2007
Article

The Governance of Open Source Initiatives: What Does it Mean to be Community Managed?

The concept of 'open source' software initially referred to software projects managed by grassroots communities in public forums. Since 1998, the concept has been adapted and diffused to new settings that extend beyond software. While the open source community has... View Details

Keywords: Governance; Open Source Distribution

Find at Harvard

Dennis “DJ” DiDonna has dedicated his career to commercializing social science research to create organizations which positively impact the world.

He is a Senior Lecturer in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School where he teaches the... View Details

2013
Working Paper

Helping You Help Me: The Role of Diagnostic (In)congruence in the Helping Process within Organizations

By: Colin M. Fisher, Julianna Pillemer and Teresa M. Amabile

Through an inductive, multi-method field study at a major design firm, we investigated the helping process in project work and how that process affects the success of a helping episode, as perceived by help-givers and/or -receivers. We used daily diary entries and... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Knowledge Management; Performance; Cooperation

SSRN

Read Now

December 2003 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Globalizing the Cost of Capital and Capital Budgeting at AES

By: Mihir A. Desai and Douglas Kurt Schillinger

With electricity generating businesses around the world, AES Corp. is seeking a methodology for calculating the cost of capital for its various businesses and potential projects. In the past, AES used the same cost of capital for all of its capital budgeting, but the... View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Risk Management; Globalized Firms and Management; Cost of Capital; Valuation; Emerging Markets; Foreign Direct Investment; Capital Budgeting; Energy Industry; South America

November 2002 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Circles: Series D Financing

By: Paul W. Marshall and Kristin Lieb

Circles, a corporate concierge company on the verge of profitability, must make a decision whether to take a D-round venture capital despite ever-changing and ever-worsening terms. A four-year-old company with several major clients, it has met its business plan... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Financing and Loans; Management Teams; Growth and Development Strategy; Negotiation Process; Venture Capital; Governing and Advisory Boards; Entrepreneurship; Service Industry; Consulting Industry; Massachusetts

June 2023
Supplement

Roche: ESG and Access to Healthcare

By: George Serafeim

In May 2022, Roche Group, one of the largest healthcare companies in the world, hosted its first ESG investor event focused exclusively on its efforts to impact access to healthcare. While Roche had recently set an ambitious goal to double the number of patients that... View Details

November 2021 (Revised January 2022)
Case

KFA, Inc.: Building the Future

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Elizabeth M. Adams

In 2021, Greg Bush, Jr., owner, president, and CEO of KFA, Inc. is working with his leadership team to plan for the future. KFA provides consulting services on software and project management needs for infrastructure projects. Bush and his team have just debuted a new... View Details

Keywords: Small Business; Communication Technology; Developing Countries and Economies; Growth and Development Strategy; Infrastructure; Consulting Industry; Information Technology Industry; Chicago; United States

09 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

Six Keys to Building New Markets by Unleashing Disruptive Innovation

be analyzed. Even when numbers are available, they are never clear. An intuitive process can still be rigorous if managers use the right tools. For example, discovery-driven planning lets you create a plan to test assumptions; aggregate... View Details

Keywords: by Clayton M. Christensen, Michael E. Raynor & Scott D. Anthony

Jenny Wang

Jenny Shan Wang is a doctoral student in the Technology and Operations Management program at Harvard Business School (HBS). She is broadly interested in interpretable machine learning (ML), identity and inequality, and improving existing methods... View Details

Research Summary

Overview

Matthew's research examines how entrepreneurial organizations and their managers create social and institutional change. His latest project focuses on hybrid organizations that combine aspects of non-profits and companies to create innovative organizational forms. In... View Details

Keywords: Organization Theory; Hybrid Organizations; Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Corporate Social Responsibility; Innovation

John D. Macomber

John Macomber is a Senior Lecturer in the Finance unit at Harvard Business School. His professional background includes leadership of real estate, construction, and information technology businesses. At HBS, Mr. Macomber's work focuses on climate adaptation and the... View Details

Keywords: waste management; waste management; waste management; waste management; waste management; waste management; waste management; waste management; waste management; waste management

September 1999
Background Note

Learning from Projects: Note on Conducting a Postmortem Analysis

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Steven Sinofsky

Describes how firms can learn from projects through postmortem analysis. Focuses on the step-by-step process of preparing and running a postmortem meeting as it is done at Microsoft and other software developers. View Details

Keywords: Conferences; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Projects; Software; Information Technology Industry

July 1997 (Revised April 1998)
Case

Chase Manhattan Corporation: The Making of America's Largest Bank

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Cedric Escalle

Chase Bank and Chemical Bank intend to merge, producing the largest commercial bank in the United States, the fourth largest in the world. Projected financial benefits under the merger reflect significant planned reduction in operating costs, including 17,000 employee... View Details

Keywords: Commercial Banking; Profit; Corporate Strategy; Value Creation; Restructuring; Negotiation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Risk and Uncertainty; Resignation and Termination; Revenue; Banking Industry; United States

November 2019
Case

The Genesis Lab at Novartis

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Ranjay Gulati, Patrick J. Healy and Kerry Herman

Novartis' Genesis Labs program, launched in 2016 as part of Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR), hosted pitch competitions where teams of NIBR scientists proposed ideas to explore that aimed to revolutionize drug discovery. The goal was to break down... View Details

Keywords: Drug Discovery; Health Care and Treatment; Research and Development; Innovation and Invention; Programs; Management

26 Aug 2002
Research & Ideas

High-Stakes Decision Making: The Lessons of Mount Everest

anticipatory regret can lead to indecision and costly delays. 71 This anxiety can be particularly problematic for executives in fast-moving industries. Successful management teams in turbulent industries develop certain practices to cope... View Details

Keywords: by Michael A. Roberto

September 2019 (Revised December 2023)
Case

Accounting Fraud at Tesco Stores (A)

By: Jonas Heese, Suraj Srinivasan and Julia Kelley

This case describes the accounting fraud at Tesco Stores Limited (TSL), which was discovered by a senior accountant in TSL’s finance department. The accountant was concerned about TSL’s handling of commercial income, which, according to the accountant, overstated... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Crime and Corruption; Organizational Culture; Corporate Accountability

April 1995 (Revised April 1995)
Case

Pillsbury: Customer Driven Reengineering

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Pillsbury is transforming itself from an integrated producer of flour and bakery products to a value-added supplier of premium branded products. After initial successes applying activity-based costing to manufacturing operations, two senior executives decide to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Production; Cost Management; Activity Based Costing and Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Food and Beverage Industry

October 2002 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Canary Wharf

By: William J. Poorvu, Arthur I Segel and Camille Douglas

On September 25, 2002, Peter Anderson was due to meet with Morgan Stanley in ten minutes. Anderson had been the finance director of Canary Wharf Group (CWG) since Paul Reichmann and a group of investors had repurchased Canary Wharf in 1995. Anderson had joined Olympia... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Negotiation; Business or Company Management; Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Financing and Loans; Crisis Management; Problems and Challenges; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Success

August 2009 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Eddie Bauer (A)

By: Paul Healy, Sharon Katz and Aldo Sesia

In June 2005, Eddie Bauer, the specialty apparel retailer, emerged from bankruptcy. Under the plan of reorganization former creditors converted their debt into common shares, taking 100% ownership in the reconstituted company. Large banks-including Bank of America and... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Mergers and Acquisitions; Restructuring; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Stock Shares; Valuation; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry; United States