Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(1,109)
- Faculty Publications (87)
- September 2009 (Revised May 2011)
- Case
Acumen Fund: Measurement in Impact Investing (A)
By: Alnoor Ebrahim and V. Kasturi Rangan
Acumen Fund is a global venture capital firm with a dual purpose: it looks for a return on its investments, and it also seeks entrepreneurial solutions to global poverty. This case examines Acumen's new projects in Kenya. The organization's investment committee and its... View Details
- March 2008
- Case
Novartis AG: Science-Based Business
By: H. Kent Bowen and Courtney Purrington
Novartis is a science-based drug company, which has important implications for its business strategy. It is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world with over $38B in sales in 2007. Pharmaceuticals account for slightly over $24B of that total. In 2007,... View Details
- 2007
- Working Paper
The Impact of Component Modularity on Design Evolution: Evidence from the Software Industry
By: Alan MacCormack, John Rusnak and Carliss Y. Baldwin
Much academic work asserts a relationship between the design of a complex system and the manner in which this system evolves over time. In particular, designs which are modular in nature are argued to be more "evolvable," in that these designs facilitate making... View Details
- November 2007 (Revised May 2008)
- Case
Haier Hefei Electronics Co. (A)
By: Lynn Sharp Paine
The Haier Group, the first mainland Chinese company to make the Financial Times list of Asia's "most admired companies," attributes its success in large measure to the new value system it has sought to instill throughout the organization. However, when Haier takes over... View Details
- December 2006 (Revised February 2007)
- Case
Opportunity International: Measurement and Mission
By: Herman B. Leonard, Marc J. Epstein and Melissa Tritter
After a "first career" in business, HBS graduate Christopher Crane becomes CEO of a worldwide microfinance network. The organization's twin challenges are: 1) developing metrics to give it an accurate picture of its situation and impacts, and 2) generating rapid... View Details
- 2006
- Other Unpublished Work
Does Competition Increase Patent Litigation? Empirical Evidence of Strategic Patenting in the Telecom Equipment Industry
By: Juan Alcacer and Rachelle C. Sampson
Anecdotal evidence suggests that patent litigation has increased in the last 20 years as firms in knowledge intensive industries use patents more frequently to protect their knowledge stocks and managers focus on extracting new revenue streams from existing patent... View Details
- November 2005
- Case
Playgrounds and Performance: Results Management at KaBOOM! (A)
By: Herman B. Leonard, Marc J. Epstein and Laura Winig
KaBOOM!, a successful playground-building social enterprise funded through corporate partnerships, wants to develop a performance measurement system that will enable the organization to expand its impact substantially. The board of directors and management are trying... View Details
- June 2005 (Revised March 2017)
- Teaching Note
Siebel Systems: Organizing for the Customer
By: Robert Simons
Teaching Note to (103-014). The Siebel Systems case describes the unusual accountability and organizing choices made by managers of a successful, rapidly growing software development company. The case is set in 2002, but details the critical decisions made by founder... View Details
- October 2004 (Revised September 2005)
- Case
Sonoco Products Company (A): Building a World-Class HR Organization
By: David A. Thomas, Boris Groysberg and Cate Reavis
Describes the steps the vice-president of human resources takes in revamping an HR function that was noncooperative and, at times, competitive and introducing the company to the notion of HR as a strategic business partner. Explores changes made to the company's... View Details
- July 2004 (Revised December 2004)
- Case
Timberland: Commerce and Justice
By: James E. Austin, Herman B. Leonard and James Quinn
When Jeffrey Swartz became the third generation in his family to lead the Timberland Co., he pursued a strategy in which commerce and justice were "inextricably linked." Community involvement, environmental management, and global labor standards became not addenda to... View Details
- February 2004 (Revised March 2006)
- Case
Pratt & Whitney: Engineering Standard Work
By: H. Kent Bowen and Courtney Purrington
As the engineering of state-of-the-art jet engines becomes more and more complex, Pratt & Whitney leaders face major competitive problems. Product development projects are not meeting the cost, quality, and lead-time targets. The leadership develops a design,... View Details
- May 2003 (Revised March 2004)
- Case
Harlem Children's Zone, The: Driving Performance with Measurement and Evaluation
By: Allen S. Grossman and Daniel F. Curran
Geoffrey Canada, CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone, wanted his organization to grow dramatically to reach thousands of poor and underserved children in Harlem. The agency ran a variety of successful social service programs throughout New York City that were separately... View Details
- March 2003
- Case
Insurer of Last Resort? The Federal Financial Response to September 11
By: David A. Moss and Sarah A. Brennan
Examines the federal financial response to September 11, 2001: the airline bailout, the victim compensation fund, emergency aid to New York and Washington, and terrorism reinsurance. Less than two weeks after the attacks, the government had committed almost $40 billion... View Details
- February 2003 (Revised March 2003)
- Case
The Nature Conservancy
By: Allen S. Grossman and Jane Wei-Skillern
Almost immediately upon being appointed CEO of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Steve McCormick undertakes a radical reorganization of this global institution. TNC is the largest and, by most measures, the most successful environment organization in the world, with... View Details
- February 2003 (Revised March 2004)
- Case
Store24
By: Susan L. Kulp, V.G. Narayanan and Dennis Campbell
Illustrates how nonfinancial performance measures can be used to manage a business and evaluate the success of a strategy. View Details
- May 2001 (Revised June 2010)
- Case
Jumpstart
Many in the nonprofit sector doubt whether organizational performance can be measured. Jumpstart, a 10-year-old nonprofit, developed performance measurement and management systems from its inception. The organization has experienced explosive growth and attributes a... View Details
- March 1994 (Revised September 1995)
- Case
Enron Gas Services
By: Peter Tufano
The CEO of Enron Gas Services (EGS), a subsidiary of the largest U.S. integrated natural gas firm, considers the risks and opportunities of selling a variety of natural gas derivatives, both embedded in gas delivery contracts and as free-standing financial contracts.... View Details
- October 1993 (Revised July 1997)
- Case
Measure of Delight: The Pursuit of Quality at AT&T Universal Card Services (A)
By: Roy D. Shapiro and Michael D. Watkins
AT&T's Universal Card Services (UCS) has been extremely successful during its short lifetime. Dedicated to improving service quality and customer satisfaction, chief quality officer Rob Davis and his quality team have designed and put into place an unusual measurement... View Details
- October 1987 (Revised February 1992)
- Case
Motorola and Japan (A)
By: David B. Yoffie and John J. Coleman
In 1981, Motorola was reevaluating its strategy towards Japan. The firm had been successful in penetrating the Japanese market, and it was confronting increased Japanese competition at home. How it should respond and with what kind of organization were the central... View Details
- Forthcoming
- Article
Communication within Firms: Evidence from CEO Turnovers
By: Stephen Michael Impink, Andrea Prat and Raffaella Sadun
This paper uses novel, firm-level communication measures derived from communications metadata several months before and after a CEO transition for 102 firms to study whether and how this organizational event is reflected in employees’ communication flows. We find that... View Details