Publications

February 1991
Case

Burlington Northern: The ARES Decision (B)

By: Julie H. Hertenstein and Robert S. Kaplan

The ARES team formally proposes that Burlington Northern implement the ARES system. The project meets resistance. In light of financial restructuring and high level of debt, executives wonder whether the company can afford ARES. Weak links during the ARES development... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Restructuring; Cost vs Benefits; Decision Choices and Conditions; Borrowing and Debt; Capital Budgeting; Projects; Technology Adoption; Service Industry

August 1993 (Revised August 2002)
Exercise

Work Methods Design Exercise

Teams of students receive identical product design specifications, a sample unit of the product, and a series of assignment questions that entail time and motion studies, which they must both understand and perform before class discussion. In class, teams explain how... View Details

Keywords: Resource Allocation; Product Development

June 2019 (Revised May 2022)
Case

Roger Federer's TEAM8: Launching the Laver Cup

By: Anita Elberse

Roger Federer, widely regarded as the best tennis player in the history of the sport, walked onto the court to thunderous applause during in the second edition of the Laver Cup in September 2018. Named after tennis legend Rod Laver, the Cup pitted many of the greatest... View Details

Keywords: Superstars; Tennis; Tournaments; Entrepreneurship; Sports; Competitive Strategy; Value Creation; Sports Industry

Nancy F. Koehn is a historian at the Harvard Business School where she holds the James E. Robison chair of Business Administration. Koehn's research focuses on crisis leadership and how leaders and their teams rise to the challenges of high-stakes situations. Her... View Details

Keywords: beauty products; clothing; consumer products; entertainment; fashion; marketing industry; retailing; health care; advertising; media

February 2016 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Alvogen

By: Daniel Isenberg and William Kerr

Alvogen is a young Icelandic generic pharmaceutical company, whose CEO believes that his global strategy will give them an edge in this competitive industry.
Robert Wessman, Alvogen’s CEO, was also previously the CEO of Actavis, another Icelandic generics... View Details

Keywords: Pharmaceutical Companies; Generic Drugs; Entrepreneurship; Globalization; Risk and Uncertainty; Pharmaceutical Industry; Iceland

2014
Article

Psychological Safety: The History, Renaissance, and Future of an Interpersonal Construct

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Zhike Lei

Psychological safety describes people's perceptions of the consequences of taking interpersonal risks in a particular context such as a workplace. First explored by pioneering organizational scholars in the 1960s, psychological safety experienced a renaissance starting... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Safety; Groups and Teams

Find at Harvard

Program

The Women's Leadership Forum

programs have no formal educational requirements, admission is a selective process based on your professional achievement and organizational responsibilities. Read More Answering Your Questions Our Program Advising team can help you at... View Details

18 Apr 2011
News

It's Not Nagging: Why Persistent, Redundant Communication Works

23 Apr 2019
Video

The New Venture Competition Student & Alumni Journeys

12 Dec 2006
First Look

First Look: December 12, 2006

those that are more technology intensive, exhibit a higher sensitivity of affiliate cash holdings to repatriation tax burdens. Lift Outs: How to Acquire a High-Functioning Team Authors:Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams Periodical:Harvard... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Profile

Lauren Burrows

work, but what I enjoy most is that I spend my days working with a small, entrepreneurial team helping to build companies that are working to solve some of the most pressing challenges we face in terms of energy and the environment. How... View Details

Keywords: Energy / Extractive Minerals; Manufacturing; Venture Capital / Private Equity; Financial Services

July 2004 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Sony EyeToy

By: Anita Elberse and Youngme E. Moon

In early 2004, less than a year after its launch, Sony's EyeToy, a unique video gaming concept, had become a tremendous success across Europe. Developed for use with Sony's PlayStation 2 console, the revolutionary technology allowed users standing in front of a small... View Details

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product Development; Performance Improvement; Software; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Europe

In 2013, Brett Peiser, CEO of Uncommon Schools, a very high performing charter school management organization (CMO), and his team are surprised by the results of the more rigorous Common Core State Standards. For nearly 10 years, Uncommon had successfully fulfilled... View Details

Akshita Joshi

Akshita Joshi is a doctoral candidate in the Organizational Behavior program at Harvard Business School. She has 15 years of work experience & holds an MBA from Stanford GSB & an M.A. in Psychology from UCP Portugal. Her research is focused on the emotional,... View Details

May 2024
Case

Leading Culture Change at Microsoft Western Europe

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Cat Huang

In 2023, Cindy Rose, President of Microsoft Western Europe, faced a critical decision. Rose grappled with the potential impact of widespread layoffs on psychological safety and the cultural transformation she had championed since her arrival. When Rose had first joined... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Organizational Culture; Transformation; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Problems and Challenges; Motivation and Incentives; Groups and Teams; Business or Company Management; Technology Industry; Europe

June 2008
Case

Rackspace Hosting in Late 2000

By: James L. Heskett and W. Earl Sasser

The leadership team of Rackspace, faced with accommodation of its service offering and dwindling financial reserves, decides to make customer focus the rallying cry of its new strategy. This short case was designed as the discussion igniter for a series of short video... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Finance; Management Teams; Service Operations; Customer Ownership; Strategy

Ethan Bernstein (@ethanbernstein) is an associate professor in the Organizational Behavior unit at Harvard Business School. He teaches the second-year MBA course Managing Human Capital, the... View Details

July 2019
Supplement

Omidyar Network's Investment Decisions: MicroEnsure and Lenddo

By: Vikram S Gandhi

A team of investors at Omidyar Network explore two different investment possibilities in the budding financial inclusion space using their investment framework to consider capital alternatives available for both investments, each of which carries highly divergent... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Micro Finance; Investment; Investment Return; Investment Activism; Investment Portfolio; Microfinance; Decision Choices and Conditions; India; Philippines

January 2013
Supplement

SMARTBITES (B): May 2009

By: Michael Roberts and Amar Bhide

The case describes a Turkish brother and sister team who are evaluating the option of acquiring and operating a franchise of a large US bakery/cafe for Turkey. They are comparing this option to that of simply starting a similar business. View Details

Keywords: Franchising; Start-up; Franchise Ownership; Business Startups; Food and Beverage Industry; Turkey