Publications

January 2000
Case

Talbots - A Classic

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

This case traces why the $1 billion women's clothing retailer decided to attract younger customers, what went wrong, and the actions taken to recover. By the end of 1999, the company has reestablished itself and faces several growth opportunities and must decide on the... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Decisions; Crisis Management; Product Positioning; Problems and Challenges; Segmentation; Fashion Industry

03 Dec 2012
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Against the Grain

(it has a reputation for the latter). It's a quandary for Jim's employer, of course, but withdrawing investment at the 11th hour would also put many poor farmers' livelihoods in jeopardy. Like many case studies prepared for classroom discussion, "Against the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Food & Beverage

December 2001
Case

Alibaba.com (B)

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Fred Young

The challenges the largest Chinese electronic commerce company faces many challenges at the end of 2001. This case describes how it has completely reoriented its strategy in the past 12 months to become a B-to-B company. The key question is: Will it work and what... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Business Strategy; Internet and the Web; Problems and Challenges; Information Technology Industry; China; United States

22 Oct 2007
Research & Ideas

Bringing ‘Lean’ Principles to Service Industries

well-grounded research on how improvements can be brought to services through some of these lean concepts." Not all lean manufacturing ideas translate from factory floor to office cubicle. For example, tools such as the andon cord, a rope that manufacturing... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Computer

August 2008 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Gazprom (A): Energy and Strategy in Russian History

By: Rawi E. Abdelal, Sogomon Tarontsi and Alexander Jorov

Critics have accused Gazprom, the world's largest natural gas producer, of eschewing market principles in favor of the foreign policy priorities of the Russian government, ever since the energy giant cut off the supply to Ukraine in January of 2006. The purported... View Details

Keywords: History; International Relations; Trade; Energy Industry; Russia; Soviet Union; Ukraine; Europe

04 Jul 2016
Research & Ideas

Is Your Org Chart Stuck in a Rut? Try a Scientific Experiment

organizations that really ends up with no trend line” “For decades, we’ve been in this cycle where an organization hires a consulting firm to help design and execute a restructuring, and then, as soon as they’re done, they start that... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

29 Sep 2017
Working Paper Summaries

International Business and Emerging Markets: A Long-Run Perspective

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones

25 Apr 2019
Research & Ideas

Incubators Take Notice: Your Entrepreneurs Are Networking with the Wrong People

another potential peril of referral-based hiring. Beyond ending up with a homogenous workforce, managers who hire candidates who already know other employees might have to work harder to get these candidates to collaborate with people... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

08 Oct 2021
Research & Ideas

How Newspaper Closures Open the Door to Corporate Crime

Professor Jonas Heese. When local newspapers shutter, some businesses evidently treat the lack of press coverage as permission to act badly and end up committing more illegal violations, including pollution, workplace safety infractions,... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

17 Apr 2006
Research & Ideas

Resisting the Seductions of Success

accomplishments. But when she tries to get him to talk about his life and what makes him happy, all she gets are clichés—that he likes to make her happy and still finds her the "cutest creature in the world."4 Lee View Details

Keywords: by Joseph L. Badaracco Jr.; Entertainment & Recreation; Information; Publishing

18 Nov 2008
First Look

First Look: November 18, 2008

reported accounting problems in early 2007. The resulting liquidity crisis forced the company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. According to the Bankruptcy Examiner assigned to investigate New Century, the company's troubles... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

November 2019
Case

Celebrity Fashions Limited (A)

By: V.G. Narayanan, Tanvi Deshpande and Shreya Ramachandran

In May 2017 in Chennai, India, the chairman of Celebrity Fashions doubted whether the company could last until the end of the year. Venkatesh Rajagopal had found that the company, a readymade garment manufacturing and exporter he founded in 1989, was having a hard time... View Details

Keywords: Turnarounds; Operations; Management; Financial Condition; Problems and Challenges; Communication; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Transformation; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Manufacturing Industry

December 2023
Case

Santa Elena: Table Grape Production in Chile’s Water-Challenged Regions

By: Forest Reinhardt, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Mariana Cal

In the fiscal year ending in September 2022, Santa Elena, Chile’s fifth-ranking table grape exporter, a grape producer and exporter since 1980, had exported around 3.5 million boxes (18-pound each). But, due to a 13-year-long drought that plagued table grape-growing... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Climate Change; Environmental Regulation; Environmental Sustainability; Natural Resources; Food; Environmental Law; Problems and Challenges; Weather; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Chile; South America; Latin America

08 Apr 2008
First Look

First Look: April 8, 2008

was an essential ingredient in the success of the transformation. The case ends with a review of changes in financial performance, employee attitudes and customer satisfaction. The case describes the important role that the human... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

April 2008
Case

A Day in the Life of Alex Sander: Driving in the Fast Lane at Landon Care Products

By: Larry E. Greiner and Elizabeth Collins

Alex Sander is a new product manager whose drive and talents are attractive to management, but whose intolerant style has alienated employees. This tension is presented against the backdrop of a 360° performance review process. Sander works in the Toiletries Division... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Conflict Management; Behavior; Management Practices and Processes; Talent and Talent Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Problems and Challenges; Consumer Products Industry; United States; Europe

May 1996
Background Note

The GM's Operational Challenge: Managing Through People

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Ashish Nanda

Highlights and explores how a general manager adds value to the firm at the operational level by managing through people. Discusses how assumptions about human motivation influence the employment contract that the general manager implicitly enters into with the workers... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Selection and Staffing; Contracts; Managerial Roles; Operations; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Motivation and Incentives; Value

29 Jun 2015
HBS Case

Consumer-centered Health Care Depends on Accessible Medical Records

trusted by consumers," Quelch says. "Can a health insurer counter out of the mold and break the standard prejudice against trusting insurers to develop a closer relationship with the end consumer?" Device companies: Device... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Health; Technology

27 Jul 2015
Research & Ideas

The ‘Promotion’ That Makes You Feel Bad

the strategy shifted, and they happened to be on the favored side of that strategy” Harvard Business School Associate Professor Tsedal Neeley and her research colleagues call this "unearned status gain," which can cause problems for those... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland

April 1996 (Revised December 1998)
Case

Australia in the 1990s: Lucky or Broke?

By: George C. Lodge

In 1996, Australia had a new prime minister, John Howard, ending 13 years of Labor Party rule. This case allows an analysis of the challenges that the new government faces and invites thought about the choices that the government has in meeting those challenges. Large... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Government and Politics; Markets; Problems and Challenges; Australia