Publications

Article

Can They Take It with Them? The Portability of Star Knowledge Workers' Performance: Myth or Reality

By: Boris Groysberg, Linda-Eling Lee and Ashish Nanda

This paper examines the portability of star security analysts' performance. Star analysts who switched employers experienced an immediate decline in performance that persisted for at least five years. This decline was most pronounced among star analysts who moved to... View Details

Keywords: Firm Performance; Hiring; Employee Selection; Employee Retention; Knowledge; Employees; Selection and Staffing; Retention; Performance; Competitive Advantage; Financial Services Industry

Find at Harvard

This case analyzes the creation, loss, and attempted re-creation of competitive advantage. At one time, Bed Bath & Beyond was one of the most successful specialty retailers in the United States-it's growth and profit margins far exceeded rates at peer... View Details

Web

Placement - Doctoral

Management and Organization Dissertation: The Dynamics of New Venture Development: Scaling and Entrepreneurial Teams Advisors: Ranjay Gulati (Chair), N/A, Rory McDonald , and Frank Dobbin Stefan Dimitriadis Organizational Behavior, 2019... View Details

October 2018
Case

Recipe for Success: Growth and Evolution at Cafe Cupcake

By: Anthony Mayo and Heather Beckham

Café Cupcake (CC) is a fast-casual restaurant chain that offers artisan cupcakes and light fare throughout the southeastern United States and Texas. This case chronicles the growth and evolution of Café Cupcake. It also considers the specific human resource challenges... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Human Resources; Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Food and Beverage Industry

September 2007
Case

Collaborating to Improve

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer and Ingrid M. Nembhard

Madison Memorial Hospital is deciding between a variety of quality improvement strategies. Highlights quality improvement collaborative—organized programs popularized by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in which teams from multiple institutions work together to... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Service Delivery; Performance Improvement; Quality; Groups and Teams; Cooperation; Integration; Health Industry

September 2021
Case

Francoise Brougher (A)

By: Edward H. Chang, Nour Kteily and Kathleen McGinn

Francoise Brougher was a high-powered technology executive in Silicon Valley. After successful stints at Google (where she rose to lead a $16 billion ad sales business) and Square (which she helped take public), she joined Pinterest as its first Chief Operating Officer... View Details

Keywords: Gender Discrimination; Personal Development and Career; Gender; Prejudice and Bias; Resignation and Termination; Negotiation

March 2021 (Revised September 2021)
Case

Applied: Using Behavioral Science to Debias Hiring

By: Ashley Whillans and Jeff Polzer

The UK government’s Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) needed to hire a new associate and were trying to increase the diversity of their job candidates. This decision was based on academic research showing that recruiters and managers often fell into common traps like... View Details

Keywords: Hiring; Bias; Behavioral Science; Selection and Staffing; Diversity; Prejudice and Bias; Information Technology; Recruitment

November 2014 (Revised February 2016)
Case

DoubleDutch

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Matthew G. Preble

Lawrence Coburn and Pankaj Prasad, co-founders of the event solution startup DoubleDutch, have to make a significant decision about their young company's sales function. DoubleDutch's key product was a mobile application (app) and event management platform that... View Details

Keywords: Sales Management; Selling; Marketing Management; Strategy Implementation; Business Marketing; Sales Force Management; Salesforce Management; Marketing; Sales; Marketing Strategy; Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Technology Industry; United States; Europe; Asia

March 2011
Case

Insight Communications

By: Rajiv Lal and Natalie Kindred

After undertaking a multi-year, metrics-driven operational and cultural overhaul, in April 2010 Insight Communications was planning the next phase of its development. Insight was a New York-based provider of cable, landline phone, and high-speed Internet service to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Competitive Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Performance Improvement; Growth Management; Management Systems; Business Processes; Measurement and Metrics; Employees; Telecommunications Industry; New York (state, US)

8 AM – 5 PM EDT, 01 Jun 2017
Career Events

Career Reboot Camp in Boston

Career Reboot Camp in Boston! Led by Professor Tim Butler and facilitated by HBS career coaches, participants will work through exercises to reflect on their key career interests, what's important to them in work and life, and create a plan to move forward towards a... View Details

November 2018 (Revised August 2020)
Case

The Reinvention of Kodak

By: Ryan Raffaelli and Christine Snively

The Eastman Kodak Company (Kodak) was a name familiar to most Americans. The company had dominated the film and photography industry through most of the 20th Century and was known for making affordable cameras (and the “Kodak Moment”) and supplying the movie industry... View Details

Keywords: CEO; Leadership; Asset Management; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy

June 1991 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Becton Dickinson (B): Global Management

By: Michael Beer

The president of Becton Dickinson (BD) and his top management team struggle with issues of: 1) how to manage the top of the organization, focusing on leadership style, the committee structure, and the role of sector presidents, and 2) how to manage a multinational... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Human Resources; Leadership Style; Management Teams; Corporate Strategy; Health Industry

July 2023
Case

Difficult Observations

By: David G. Fubini, William Fubini and Patrick Sanguineti

In this short vignette on ethics in consulting, Daniel Lee, a new Associate assigned to work with an important client executive, must decide whether to report the executive's behavior toward his team. Though the executive's style seems harsh and intimidating toward his... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Decision Choices and Conditions

January 2015 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Project Titan at Northrop Grumman

By: C. Fritz Foley and Kevin Sharer

In March of 2011, Northrop Grumman divested shipbuilding assets through the spin-off of Huntington Ingalls Industries. This case reviews many of the key questions faced by Northrop's CEO, CFO, and top management team during this process, including questions concerning... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Reorganization; Spin Off; Asset Sales; Managing Portfolios Of Businesses; Managing Change; Diversification; Change Management; Restructuring; Corporate Strategy; Financial Strategy; Manufacturing Industry

17 May 2010
News

Eight HBS Students Honored for Service to the School and Society

21 Apr 2022
News

Will Women Leaders Change the Future of Management?

26 Jul 2011
News

The Debate Continues: Do You Prefer Superstar Individuals or Effective Teams?

Research Summary

Interaction of biological and psychological drivers of obesity

With a multi-disciplinary team of researchers in nutrition, microbiology, and epidemiology, we received a large grant to fund the Institute for Cardio-Metabolism and Nutrition (ICAN), a major initiative to promote research on obesity and... View Details

October 2000
Supplement

Singulus: Reflections by Roland Lacher

On January 14, 1999, Roland Lacher of Singulus, speaks to Harvard Business School students about the company he chairs. This video supplements the case and can be shown at the end of class. Roland Lacher describes the drivers of his decision whether to join Singulus.... View Details

Keywords: Management; Entrepreneurship