Publications

June 2014
Case

Starbucks Coffee Company: Transformation and Renewal

By: Nancy F. Koehn, Kelly McNamara, Nora N. Khan and Elizabeth Legris

Starbucks Coffee Company: Transformation and Renewal analyzes the turnaround and reconstruction of Starbucks Coffee Company from 2008 to 2014 as led by CEO and co-founder Howard Schultz. The case offers executives and students an opportunity to examine in depth how... View Details

02 Aug 2022
Research & Ideas

6 Strategies for Building Socially Responsible—and Profitable—Companies

A dozen years ago, Harvard Business School Professor George Serafeim wondered why some companies operated with an eye toward the greater good, while most did not. Back then, he always got the same response: Corporate leaders thought social and environmental practices... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

January 2024
Technical Note

Venture Capital and Private Equity Funds: A Primer

By: Jo Tango and Christina Wallace

How do venture capital and private equity funds actually work? This Technical Note covers the "when, who, and how" details:

"When": fund length, extensions, and when investors can no longer initiate new investments.
"Who": who is in the General... View Details

Keywords: Fund Flows; Fund Management; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Investment Funds

April 2001 (Revised July 2002)
Case

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (A)

By: Susan M. Fournier, Kerry Herman, Laura Winig and Andrea Carol Wojnicki

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSLO), a branded and integrated content and media company dedicated to "elevating the role of the homemaker," went public on October 19, 1999, creating a company with a market value of $1.73 billion, and a stake for Stewart worth $1.2... View Details

Keywords: Management; Media; Identity; Personal Characteristics; Brands and Branding; Media and Broadcasting Industry

2015
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Mike Critelli and Dossia Service Corporation

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Patricia Bissett Higgins

In 2010, Mark Critelli was a well-seasoned corporate executive who had recently transitioned from being the CEO of a Fortune 500 company to that of a startup called Dossia. As an AL Fellow, he knew that despite believing in Dossia’s mission to empower individuals with... View Details

2015
Working Paper

Risk Preferences and Misconduct: Evidence from Politicians

By: Dylan Minor

When seeking new leaders, business and government organizations alike often need individuals that are less risk averse, or even risk-seeking, in order to improve performance. However, individuals amenable to increased risk-taking may be more likely to engage in... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Behavior; Ethics; Government and Politics; United States

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November 2019 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Marcus by Goldman Sachs

By: Rory McDonald, Samir Junnarkar and David Lane

Five years on from the 2008 financial crisis, Goldman Sachs remained wounded. Revenues at the global investment bank had stagnated below pre-crisis levels, and the firm had yet to rebound from a substantial decline in securities-trading revenues. Marcus by Goldman... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Banks and Banking; Innovation Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Organizational Culture; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom

October 2014 (Revised June 2016)
Case

MasterCard: Driving Financial Inclusion

By: Sunil Gupta, Rajiv Lal and Natalie Kindred

MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga was investing significant time and attention to increase financial inclusion among individuals with historically no access to banking or financial services in countries around the world with large underserved populations. The effort included... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Financial Services; Financial And Social Return; Financial Inclusion; Strategic Management; South Africa; Nigeria; Ajay Banga; Marketing Strategy; Social Marketing; Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry; South Africa; Nigeria

2016
Blog

Building A Culture of Health - John A. Quelch: Creating A Culture of Health

By: John A. Quelch

All American companies are in the health business whether they like it or not. The private sector directly pays for one-fifth of the whopping 17.5% of GDP spent on healthcare in the United States. Rather than viewing health merely as an insurance expense to be... View Details

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2007
Book

When Professionals Have to Lead: A New Model for High Performance

By: Thomas J. DeLong, John J. Gabarro and Robert Lees

For too long, professional services firms (PSFs) have relied on the "producer-manager" model, which works well in uncomplicated business environments. However, today's managing directors must balance conflicting roles, more demanding clients, tougher competitors, and... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Management Practices and Processes; Service Operations; Performance Effectiveness; Strategy

Find at Harvard

January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
Case

THE YES: Reimagining the Future of E-Commerce with Artificial Intelligence (AI)

By: Jill Avery, Ayelet Israeli and Emma von Maur

THE YES, a multi-brand shopping app launched in May 2020 offered a new type of buying experience for women’s fashion, driven by a sophisticated algorithm that used data science and machine learning to create and deliver a personalized store for every shopper, based on... View Details

Keywords: Data; Data Analytics; Artificial Intelligence; AI; AI Algorithms; AI Creativity; Fashion; Retail; Retail Analytics; E-Commerce Strategy; Platform; Platforms; Big Data; Preference Elicitation; Preference Prediction; Predictive Analytics; App Development; ＂Marketing Analytics＂; Advertising; Mobile App; Mobile Marketing; Apparel; Online Advertising; Referral Rewards; Referrals; Female Ceo; Female Entrepreneur; Female Protagonist; Analytics and Data Science; Analysis; Creativity; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Consumer Behavior; Demand and Consumers; Forecasting and Prediction; Marketing Channels; Digital Marketing; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; AI and Machine Learning; E-commerce; Digital Platforms; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

17 Jan 2007
Op-Ed

Learning from Private-Equity Boards

to a per diem fee of slightly over $4,500. This is one-fifth the per day equivalent of the average CEO, and nearly one-tenth that for CEOs of companies over $10 billion in revenues. My guess is that, given the increasing level of work required and View Details

Keywords: by Malcolm Salter; Financial Services

26 Jun 2020
Research & Ideas

Why Japanese Businesses Are So Good at Surviving Crises

by overcoming personal struggle before, and she knew firsthand what supplies fellow shelter survivors needed most. Kato accepted the challenge, reopening her store 11 days after the earthquake struck. Soon afterward, seeing customers... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

December 2013 (Revised March 2016)
Case

Managing Online Reviews on TripAdvisor

By: Thales Teixeira and Leora Kornfeld

In 2013, TripAdvisor was the most visited online travel site in the world. It hosted a massive repository of information on hotels and travel services, and provided millions of reviews written by consumers. Consumers were becoming increasingly motivated to read and... View Details

Keywords: Online Word-of-mouth; Online Reviews; Hotels; Internet and the Web; Marketing Communications; Marketing Reference Programs; Digital Marketing; Customer Satisfaction; Accommodations Industry; Travel Industry

December 2002 (Revised February 2015)
Case

Jim Sharpe: Extrusion Technology, Inc. (Abridged)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Barbara Feinberg

Jim Sharpe, 10 years after receiving his MBA from Harvard and working for others, has finally become his own boss and 100% owner of manufacturer of aluminum extrusions. After 10 months of an unfunded search, he acquires the business in an LBO and prepares to face his... View Details