Publications

November 1999 (Revised January 2000)
Case

Mexican Foundation for Rural Development

By: James E. Austin and Gerardo Lozano

The Mexican Foundation for Rural Development (MFRD) is a nonprofit network of 32 rural development centers servicing low-income farm families. Management plans to expand its operation dramatically, forming 10,000 rural cooperatives in ten years. It faces major issues... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Operations; Cooperative Ownership; Nonprofit Organizations; Society; Strategy; Mexico

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Career Coach

Alejandro Maldonado

Alejandro (HBS '08) has spent most of his career in the areas of direct investing and strategy, with a recent focus on human capital leadership and development. He has had experience in investment banking at Credit Suisse First Boston and in View Details

Keywords: Consulting; Education; Emerging Markets; Investment Banking; Financial Services (All); Private Equity; Financial Services (All); Social Enterprise; Impact Investing; Financial Services (All)

16 Dec 2008
First Look

First Look: December 16, 2008

variables. The results suggest that individuals bring to the workplace specific, measurable beliefs about speaking up, and that these implicit theories operate largely independently of current leader behaviors and other current work... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2023
Case

Crocs: Using Community-Centric Marketing to Make Ugly Iconic

By: Ayelet Israeli and Anne V. Wilson

In 2022, the Crocs Classic Clog was the best-selling item of clothing on Amazon, the brand was one of the fastest growing brands in the U.S., and global net revenue had increased to approximately $3.6 billion. By most accounts, Crocs had become the “it” shoe. Crocs... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Product Development; Growth and Development; Customer Value and Value Chain; Digital Marketing; Digital Strategy; Segmentation; Advertising; Consumer Products Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States

March 2005 (Revised August 2006)
Case

Siebel Systems: The Role of the CFO

By: Malcolm P. Baker and Lauren Barley

Mike Lawrie, the newly appointed CEO of Siebel Systems, considers a combination of growth and spending cuts to turn around the struggling software company. Focuses on the role of the chief financial officer, Ken Goldman, in corporate governance and compliance under... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Leading Change; Entrepreneurship; Job Design and Levels; Corporate Governance; Financial Strategy; Management Teams; Corporate Finance; Business and Shareholder Relations; Information Technology Industry

April 2022 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Restaurant Brands International: Version 2.0

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott

In 2010, 3G Capital acquired Burger King, the second largest burger chain globally. 3G expanded Burger King’s operations via acquisitions into a multi-brand business, renamed Restaurant Brands International. The acquisition had been a financial success story for 3G.... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Growth and Development; Performance Evaluation; Private Equity; Franchise Ownership; Culture; Change Management; Strategy; Human Resources; Information Technology; Competition; Retail Industry; United States

November 2009 (Revised August 2011)
Case

Warner Bros. Entertainment

By: Gary P. Pisano and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

Examines the process used by a major motion picture studio to develop and select movie projects. Warner Bros.' strategy is to focus its efforts on a small number of major "event" films (i.e., films with the potential to generate gross box office receipts of $300... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Film Entertainment; Risk Management; Product Development; Strategic Planning; Projects; Sales; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

14 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Reforming New Orleans Schools After Katrina

schools are public schools of choice that operate outside the governance and policies of their local school districts. In nearly all states, charter schools must be open to all students, just like traditional public schools. Families... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Education

April 2008
Case

Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. (A)

By: Paul W. Marshall, Michael Shih-ta Chen and Keith Chi-ho Wong

In late November 2000, Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd., the once-monopolized telecom operator owned by the Taiwanese government, was on its way to privatization. Mr. C.K. Mao, Chairman of the company, who headed the job only three months earlier, after its prior chairman... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Employee Relationship Management; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Privatization; Competition; Telecommunications Industry; Taiwan

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February 1985 (Revised September 1988)
Case

Komatsu Ltd.

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Reviews and updates the structure and characteristics of the earth-moving equipment industry presented in the companion case, Caterpillar Tractor Co. After revealing that CAT has suffered major financial losses during the period from 1981 through 1984, the case... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Machinery and Machining; Price; Growth and Development; Brands and Branding; Product Development; Production; Competitive Strategy; Global Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Industrial Products Industry

Web

Required Curriculum - MBA

integration Product development Information technology Technology and operations strategy Required Curriculum Term 2 Course Descriptions Business, Government, and the International Economy (BGIE) This course... View Details

April 2009
Journal Article

Perspectives on the Productivity Dilemma

By: Paul S. Adler, Mary Benner, David James Brunner, John Paul MacDuffie, Emi Osono, Bradley R. Staats, Hirotaka Takeuchi, Michael Tushman and Sidney G. Winter

For more than a century, operations researchers have recognized that organizations can increase efficiency by adhering strictly to proven process templates, thereby rendering operations more stable and predictable. For several decades, researchers have also recognized... View Details

Keywords: Learning; Innovation and Invention; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Operations; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Efficiency; Performance Improvement; Performance Productivity; Adaptation

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Do your business students plan to use the internet at work? Then they need to know about cybersecurity. Threats to computer systems grow and evolve daily, putting the operations, information, and reputation of companies—as well as individuals—constantly at risk.... View Details

28 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

Making the Decision to Franchise (or not)

decentralize their operations more; or they may provide more variable pay to employees when operating across diverse market types," Campbell continues. "Reporting structures, performance measurement systems,... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

05 Jul 2017
Research & Ideas

Are Stockbrokers Illegally Leaking Confidential Information to Favored Clients?

to the news of a new 13D. As the authors explain in the paper, “activists’ target companies tend to experience significant price changes once the activists’ strategies are released.” In other words, the stock price of the target company... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

March 1996 (Revised January 1997)
Case

America Online: Using Information Technology to Better Serve the Customer

By: James I. Cash Jr. and Judy E. Stahl

Mike Connors, president of AOL Technologies, examines several efforts to correct operational problems inhibiting the company's growth. What will need to be done to support growth and counter competition from Prodigy, Compuserv, and Internet-related services? View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Service Operations; Problems and Challenges; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology; Technology Industry

Web

Faculty & Research

established Ashesi University, which differentiated itself from Ghana’s traditional educational model by remaining privately funded (and therefore independent from Ghana’s public school system), religiously unaffiliated, and – in service of its mission of developing... View Details

September 2001 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Virgin Group, The: Filling in the Value Gap

By: Frances X. Frei, Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar and Corey B. Hajim

Chronicles the successes and failures of the Virgin Group. By examining these examples, students discover attributes of Virgin's overall service concept, which, at its core, competes on quality rather than on price. Students are challenged to consider how Virgin might... View Details

Keywords: Quality; Competition; Price; Business Conglomerates; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Market Entry and Exit