Publications

Blog

Why Does Your Company Exist?

workforce. Similarly, a deep purpose—proven through actions—can inspire significant customer loyalty and drive stronger long-term relationships with business partners. Should your company transform your... View Details

December 2019 (Revised December 2022)
Case

TXU (A): Powering the Largest Leveraged Buyout in History

By: Trevor Fetter, Erik Snowberg and Rebecca M. Henderson

This case is designed to support a lively discussion about the relative merits of shareholder vs. stakeholder perspectives in the context of a company that provides a vital public service that has important environmental implications. The 2007 purchase of TXU, the... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Transformation; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Environmental Sustainability; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Energy Generation; Non-Renewable Energy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Utilities Industry; Energy Industry; Texas

01 Dec 2023
News

Case Study: Staking a Claim

they decide to buy a vehicle or settle in a condo, Surround offers the next level of insurance and will hopefully keep their business for the long haul. The Question: The average age of a Surround customer is 29, and figuring out how best... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Insurance Carriers and Related Activities; Finance

Web

African American Student Union Spotlight on Joint Degrees - MBA

Blog Blog MBA Voices Filter Results Arrow Down Arrow Up Read posts from Author Alumni Author Career and Professional Development Staff Author HBS Community Author HBS Faculty Author MBA Admissions Author MBA Students Topics Topics 1st Year (RC) 2+2 Program 2nd Year... View Details

March 2008 (Revised April 2009)
Case

The Xiamen PX Project: The Rule of Contract or Citizens in China Today

This case examines the effect of environmental activism on China's investment climate, focusing on the petrochemical sector. It shows how tensions between a country's national economic development goals and political constraints make for a more unpredictable investment... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Investment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Conflict and Resolution; China

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December 2006 (Revised September 2007)
Module Note

Platform-Mediated Networks

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Offers pedagogical guidance for instructors who wish to include a one- to four-session module on platform-mediated networks in an existing course on strategy, business policy, entrepreneurship, technology management, or marketing. View Details

Keywords: Networks

January–February 2014
Article

Can a Strong Culture Be Too Strong?

By: David A. Garvin

The article presents a case study of a business enterprise with high employee turnover that is considering adopting a personnel management innovation, referred to as People Support, involving a group of managers whose role is to listen to and help resolve employees'... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Retention; Organizational Culture

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17 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

Building Communities as Well as Companies

relationships with people well before I had launched my business. Start planning early. Save money. And go back to your community." Feeling profitable, McMillan said, is not only about economics—it's about earning respect from... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

2009
Working Paper

Assess, Don't Assume, Part I: Etiquette and National Culture in Negotiation

By: James K. Sebenius

When facing a cross-border negotiation, the standard preparatory assessments -- of the parties, their interests, their no-deal options, opportunities for and barriers to creating and claiming value, the most promising sequence and process design, etc. -- should be... View Details

Keywords: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Negotiation Process; Societal Protocols; Competitive Advantage; Cooperation

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March 2000
Case

Medscape

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer and Lisa Shapiro Strovink

Medscape is a health care Web site that focuses on delivering high-quality information to health providers and consumers. This case describes Medscape's formation and business model and asks, How is this model unique and is it sustainable? View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Customer Focus and Relationships; Service Delivery; Web Sites; Information Industry

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October 2022 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Driving Decarbonization at BMW

By: Shirley Lu, George Serafeim and Michael W. Toffel

The case describes BMW’s electrification and decarbonization strategy, and how the company measured carbon emissions throughout the life cycle of its vehicles and used tools like carbon abatement cost curves to evaluate decarbonization opportunities. In mid-2022,... View Details

15 Sep 2022
Research & Ideas

Looking For a Job? Some LinkedIn Connections Matter More Than Others

advancement—especially important in a hot labor market at a time of economic uncertainty. “Your digital network can have lasting implications on how your career progresses, not just over the next year, but over your whole life,” says Iavor Bojinov, assistant professor... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

October 2013 (Revised April 2016)
Case

StriveTogether: Reinventing the Local Education Ecosystem

By: Allen Grossman, Ann Lombard and Noah Fisher

StriveTogether aimed to improve education outcomes by coordinating the actions of diverse community stakeholders—nonprofit service providers, school districts, government, parents, businesses and others. StriveTogether had an intense focus on collective impact—"the... View Details

Keywords: Education Reform; Not For Profit; Communities; Collaboration; Collective Impact; Nonprofit Organizations; Education; Business and Community Relations; Education Industry; United States