Small Companies - Publications - Faculty & Research

September 2013 (Revised November 2015)
Case

Living Proof: Are We a Technology Company or a Beauty Company?

Jon Flint came up with the idea of a science-based beauty company while talking with his hairdresser about the problems with typical hair and skin care products. Together with a small team that included Professor Robert Langer of MIT, he committed to assemble a team... View Details

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07 Feb 2023
Research & Ideas

Supervisor of Sandwiches? More Companies Inflate Titles to Avoid Extra Pay

research out of Harvard Business School. In fact, these are just a handful of suspect titles companies are using to classify hourly workers as supervisors and avoid paying an estimated $4 billion in overtime a year, finds a study by... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis

20 Apr 2021
Book

A Simple Question That Can Guide Companies to Epic Success

New Video: Books@Baker Interview with Felix Oberholzer-Gee Click to watch. Some companies gain advantage by commanding premium prices. Others lean on their world-class talent. But, a small slice of View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

24 May 2010
Research & Ideas

Stimulus Surprise: Companies Retrench When Government Spends

professors Lauren Cohen, Joshua Coval, and Christopher Malloy discovered to their surprise that companies experienced lower sales and retrenched by cutting payroll, R&D, and other expenses. Indeed, in the years that followed a... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

02 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

Digital Initiative Summit: Companies Must Forget—and Borrow

Series Big Messages, Small Screens, Many Choices Companies Must Forget—and Borrow The Business of Crowdsourcing Freeing Patient Data to Enable Innovation Who Has the Power in the Music Industry? View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Education; Advertising

19 Oct 2021
Cold Call Podcast

Should Global Beer Company Molson Coors Dive into the Cannabis Beverages Business?

Keywords: Re: Derek C. M. van Bever

07 Oct 2024
Blog Post

Four Ways to Make The Most of Your Company Events

engage students in discussion around company values, job opportunities, and potential career paths. You and your team have the option to facilitate events 1:1 or in a small group in person or virtually, or... View Details

March 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Cummins, Inc.: Building a Home Community for a Global Company

By: Joseph L. Bower and Michael Norris

In 2010, Tom Linebarger, president and COO of Cummins, Inc., the Columbus, Indiana-based manufacturer of diesel engines, has to decide where to locate the company's new manufacturing line for high horsepower engines. He has three choices to decide from: Seymour,... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing; Competitiveness; Competition; Education; Business and Community Relations; Manufacturing Industry; United States

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08 Mar 2021
In Practice

COVID Killed the Traditional Workplace. What Should Companies Do Now?

A year ago, COVID-19 forced many companies to send employees home—often with a laptop and a prayer. Now, with COVID cases subsiding and vaccinations rising, the prospect of returning to old office routines appears more possible. But will employees want to flock back to... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

23 Mar 2023
Blog Post

Arla Foods: How Sustainable Can A Dairy Company Be?

8,500 dairy farmers, and the 4th largest dairy company in the world. When we entered the Arla Headquarters near Aarhus, the rare Danish winter sun lit up the central atrium, highlighting the most adorable office centerpiece: the cows!... View Details

01 Mar 2007
News

Pharma Suits a Farm Gal

GRAHAM: From rodeo to CEO. Amylin Pharmaceuticals CEO Ginger Graham (MBA ’86) had a good year in 2006, with Amylin stock up as much as 45 percent, with Byetta and Symlin, its two innovative diabetes drugs, performing well, and with the View Details

Keywords: biopharmaceutical company; Health, Social Assistance; Corporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing Offices; Management

14 Nov 2023
Research & Ideas

The Network Effect: Why Companies Should Care About Employees’ LinkedIn Connections

Instruments, and Apple were among the most highly connected and at the center of their professional communities. While this makes sense, Nagle says, the study also uncovered that there are “big companies that are not well connected, and... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

10 Jan 2022
Research & Ideas

How to Get Companies to Make Investments That Benefit Everyone

Regulators often punish companies for bad behavior—for instance, by fining them if they pollute the environment. But instead of focusing on what business leaders are doing wrong and constantly slapping their hands, government officials... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

08 Dec 2020
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Hunt for Talent on Digital Platforms, Not in Resume Piles

contracted the national polling company CivicScience to survey more than 13,000 workers from a variety of industries across the country. They found that nearly 18 percent of workers were recruited to their positions by a firm or an... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Employment

17 Jan 2023
Book

Good Companies Commit Crimes, But Great Leaders Can Prevent Them

good companies commit criminal violations. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. “Executives at large companies often have limited knowledge of the risk that their View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

17 Apr 2022
Book

How to Avoid the 'Ethical Slide' That Leads Companies Astray

Company managers have likely heard the old quip: Business ethics is a contradiction in terms. That’s because too often, business is viewed as a hard-hearted enterprise, driven by getting ahead at all costs, even if that means cutting... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

13 Apr 2016
Blog Post

3 Reasons Why Company Conversations Might Be Right For Your Organization

two candidates. In this setting, a company can create meaningful connections with a small pool of highly interested talent. To learn even more about Company Conversations,... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

September 2012
Case

Castronics, LLC

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Patrick Dickinson (HBS '09) and Michael Weiner (MIT's Sloan '07) acquired Castronics, a firm that specialized in threading pipe used in the oil and natural gas industry, at the end of 2009. The partners overcame significant hurdles during the first two years of... View Details

Keywords: Small Business; Search Funds; Corporate Finance; Entrepreneurship; Financial Management; Energy Industry; Western United States

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22 May 2024
HBS Case

Banned or Not, TikTok Is a Force Companies Can’t Afford to Ignore

trust Even first-time users can easily create short videos that achieve wide visibility. Each video is guaranteed a small viewership of up to 500 people to assess its appeal through metrics like watch time; depending on its performance, a... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology

2003
Book

When You Say Yes But Mean No: How Silencing Conflict Wrecks Relationships and Companies

By: Leslie Perlow

“Saying yes when you really mean no” is a problem that haunts organizations from start-ups to multi-nationals. It exists across industries, levels, and functions. And it’s exacerbated by a down economy, when the fear of losing one’s job is on everybody’s mind and the... View Details

Keywords: Conflict and Resolution; Relationships; Business Ventures

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