Publications

May 2024
Supplement

gWorks (A)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

In January of 2019, Joe Heieck, CEO of gWorks, was deciding whether to proceed with his acquisition of Data Tech, that was a business roughly the same size as gWorks. gWorks, which provided geospatial software to small city and rural county governments, was acquired by... View Details

26 Jun 2020
Research & Ideas

Why Japanese Businesses Are So Good at Surviving Crises

delivers food to victims CEO Takeshi Niinami of Lawson, a chain of convenience stores, watched out his Tokyo office window as skyscrapers swayed. Just minutes before the tsunami reached the Tohoku shore, he sent an order to employees:... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

20 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

The 5 Strategy Rules of Bill Gates, Andy Grove, and Steve Jobs

If there were a Mount Rushmore for technological innovation, Bill Gates, Andy Grove, and Steve Jobs would be the faces looking outward. The longtime CEOs of Microsoft, Intel, and Apple have done more than anyone to popularize the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Computer

07 Mar 2022
Research & Ideas

Effective Leaders Share the Spotlight with Their Teams

During a 2017 Amgen earnings call, CEO Robert Bradway began answering an analyst’s question, then turned to colleague Sean Harper and said, “Sean, I'll let you talk about the specifics.” Bradway’s simple act of calling on Harper to add... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

July 2010 (Revised March 2011)
Case

A&M/Octone Records: All Rights or Nothing?

By: Anita Elberse, Elie Ofek and Caren Kelleher

In April 2008, after successfully transitioning Octone Records to Universal Music Group and relaunching the label as A&M/Octone Records, president and CEO James Diener is facing a new challenge. Diener and his executive team have trouble convincing a new, promising... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Intellectual Property; Contracts; Rights; Product Marketing; Product Development; Technology; Music Industry

March 2015 (Revised May 2018)
Case

JPMorgan Chase: Tapping an Overlooked Talent Pool

By: Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly

By the spring of 2014, the pilot had come to an end for JPMorgan Chase's ReEntry Program, a program designed for women coming back to the workforce after a period of time away. Mary Callahan Erdoes, CEO of Asset Management, and her team had to evaluate whether or not... View Details

Keywords: Women; Training; Leadership; Motherhood; Talent and Talent Management; Experience and Expertise; Diversity; Gender; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Human Capital; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Programs; Financial Services Industry; United States

February 2024
Case

ReSpo.Vision: The Kickstart of an AI Sports Revolution

By: Paul A. Gompers, Elena Corsi and Nikolina Jonsson

This case study explores the growth journey of Polish computer vision sports start-up ReSpo.Vision in an emerging entrepreneurial ecosystem. By providing 3D data and analysis to soccer clubs, ReSpo.Vision achieved significant milestones with a €1 million seed round, an... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Business Plan; Experience and Expertise; Talent and Talent Management; Decisions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Forecasting and Prediction; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; AI and Machine Learning; Analytics and Data Science; Applications and Software; Business Strategy; Sports Industry; Technology Industry; Poland; Europe

12 Aug 2014
First Look

First Look: August 12

March 2014, Kevin Counihan, CEO of Access Health CT, Connecticut's state health insurance exchange, stops to consider the success it has experienced so far and to think about how to ensure its long-term sustainability. Purchase this case: View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

Good Leadership Is an Act of Kindness

of the simplest words and gestures often gets lost when CEOs and managers are in perpetual crisis management mode, struggling with layoffs, remote work technology, market woes, and a range of other frustrating disruptions. While... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Susan Seligson

13 Jan 2009
First Look

First Look: January 13, 2009

corporate social responsibility, and CEO leadership. This collection captures Porter's unique ability to bridge theory and practice. Each of the articles has not only shaped thinking, but also redefined the work of practitioners in its... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

June 2011 (Revised April 2014)
Case

sweetriot 2.0

By: Christopher Marquis, Donna Khalife and Bobbi Thomason

In the fall of 2010, Sarah Endline, CEO and Founder of sweetriot, an organic chocolate company, was deciding the best way to grow her organic chocolate company, while keeping her chocolate physically and conceptually on the shelf. She wanted to grow the offerings and... View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Profit; Business Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Social Enterprise; Growth and Development Strategy; Experience and Expertise; Economic Growth; Organizational Culture; Mission and Purpose; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Food and Beverage Industry; New York (state, US)

June 2018
Case

Candor at Clever

By: Ethan Bernstein and Om Lala

Clever, a high-growth EdTech company based in San Francisco, had grown quickly in market share and headcount. As with many high-growth companies, however, early employees (many of whom had never managed people before) had been given the opportunity to manage teams, and... View Details

March 2011 (Revised February 2012)
Case

Innovation and Growth at Actelion Ltd.

By: Gary P. Pisano, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Ruth Dittrich

In late 2010, Jean-Paul Clozel, CEO of the Swiss biotech pharmaceuticals firm Actelion, looks back on a successful decade. The small venture that he had started with a few of his scientist colleagues in the late 1990s to discover novel medicine in a research-driven... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Talent and Talent Management; Innovation and Management; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Organizational Culture; Research and Development; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Switzerland

08 Oct 2020
Research & Ideas

Keep Your Weary Workers Engaged and Motivated

necessities of social distancing attenuate or alter the traditional organizational levers. Several CEOs observed: “Keeping spirits high in a sales environment. At the moment our sales force has to work twice as hard for a quarter of the... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

March 2022 (Revised March 2024)
Case

DaVita Responds to COVID

By: Susanna Gallani and David Lane

Early in August 2021, DaVita CEO Javier Rodriguez was assessing the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on his firm, which provided life-sustaining kidney dialysis to roughly 240,000 people. Effective infection control practices and information sharing had ensured... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Change Management; Communication; Talent and Talent Management; Fairness; Values and Beliefs; Corporate Accountability; Health Care and Treatment; Health Pandemics; Human Resources; Employee Relationship Management; Retention; Wages; Working Conditions; Leadership Style; Crisis Management; Organizational Culture; Health Industry; United States