Publications

April 1991
Background Note

Implementing Change: Note

Highlights the challenges of implementing major change in an organization. It first describes the common pitfalls so that implementors will be "forewarned." Next, it characterizes the guidelines for successful implementation as the "ten commandments", while offering a... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Change Management

27 May 2020
News

Why the SpaceX manned mission is critical to the private space race

March 2005 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Teach For America 2005

On November 17, 2004, as Teach for America's (TFA) national board meeting adjourned, Chief Operating Officer Jerry Hauser considered the opportunity before the organization. The board had just given the go ahead to move forward with development of a new strategic plan... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Education; Education Industry; United States

29 Feb 2024
HBS Case

Beyond Goals: David Beckham's Playbook for Mobilizing Star Talent

around talent, the question is, how do you best plan for that inevitable decline of even the best players? How can that talent extend their lifecycles after their active sports careers, like Beckham did so well? How can sports teams best... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Sports

April 1996
Case

Silver Lane Apartments

By: William J. Poorvu and John H. Vogel Jr.

Scott Johnson is a successful developer of single-family and multi-family housing who specializes in renovating and turning around poorly performing apartments in good locations. He plans to sell a 506-unit property for portfolio and estate planning purposes. This case... View Details

Keywords: Housing; Mortgages; Property; Negotiation Tactics; Real Estate Industry

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12 PM – 1 PM EDT, 20 Oct 2016
Webinars: Trending@HBS

Developing and Delivering Strong Pitches

Entrepreneurs--whether building and launching their own venture or launching new ventures in established businesses--are called on daily to explain the business opportunity they are pursuing to potential customers, partners, suppliers, advisers, investors, and... View Details

December 1991 (Revised February 1992)
Case

Dayton Electric Corp.

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Concerns a product redesign decision for one of the company's most successful motor products, its rectified power, medium D-C motor, the RPM. A one-year redesign program has proposed a design that comes close to meeting its stated cost and performance goals, but at the... View Details

Keywords: Product Design; Strategic Planning; Research and Development; Business Divisions; Decisions; Forecasting and Prediction; Product Development; Technological Innovation; Machinery and Machining; Manufacturing Industry; Ohio

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06 Sep 2016
News

Why psychological safety matters and what to do about it

October 2004 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Sonoco Products Company (A): Building a World-Class HR Organization

By: David A. Thomas, Boris Groysberg and Cate Reavis

Describes the steps the vice-president of human resources takes in revamping an HR function that was noncooperative and, at times, competitive and introducing the company to the notion of HR as a strategic business partner. Explores changes made to the company's... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Compensation and Benefits; Management Succession; Measurement and Metrics; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy

02 Jun 2010
What Do You Think?

How Do You Weigh Strategy, Execution, and Culture in an Organization’s Success?

hope the comments were as helpful and thought-provoking to you as they were to me. Those of you willing to venture to place weights on the determinants of success gave the nod to culture by a wide margin. As Mouaz AlZayyat put it,... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

18 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Looking in the Mirror: Questions Every Leader Must Ask

The book discusses several key areas of inquiry that can help leaders improve the success of their companies and nonprofit organizations including: vision and priorities, managing your time, giving and getting feedback, View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

October 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

MDH Partners: Evolving a Family Legacy

By: Christina R. Wing and Sarah Mehta

This case is about succession planning for MDH Partners, an Atlanta-based industrial real estate investment firm founded in 2005. When Jeffrey Small, Jr. cofounded MDH Partners, he named the company in honor of his grandfather, Mark Durward (MD) Hodges, an early... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Business Ventures; Ownership; Business Exit or Shutdown; Family Business; Management Succession; Personal Development and Career; Financial Services Industry; Real Estate Industry; United States; Georgia (state, US); Atlanta

25 Oct 2010
HBS Case

Tesco’s Stumble into the US Market

States is an unusually competitive and cluttered market. It is tough to succeed without a clear and sustainable point of differentiation. While successful grocery retailers are expanding internationally, the odds are long. Both... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

01 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

How To Make Restructuring Work for Your Company

address any one of these challenges can cause the restructuring to fail. Having A Business Purpose Restructuring is more likely to be successful when managers first understand the fundamental business/strategic problem or opportunity that... View Details

Keywords: by Stuart C. Gilson

19 Jun 2023
Blog Post

The Road to Impact

When he turned 50, David Offensend (MBA 1977) decided to make a change. He’d had a successful career in finance, but ever since his undergraduate days of studying public and international affairs at Princeton, Offensend View Details

Video

Entrepreneurship - the HBS Way

08 Mar 2019
Research & Ideas

Seven Negotiation Lessons from Amazon's HQ Disaster in Queens

As Amazon’s stunning pullout from New York fades into the news archives, its potent lessons for business negotiators risk being lost. Highly promising deals in diffuse multiparty settings with many potential spoilers, like Amazon’s View Details

Keywords: by James K. Sebenius; Real Estate; Construction

January 2004
Case

Bob Holgrom and the Buyout of the Carlson Division

By: Thomas R. Piper

The head of the Carlson Division stands to benefit substantially in financial terms if a private equity firm wins the bid for the division. The division is in the early stages of a performance turnaround, with only three quarters of profit improvement and no audited... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts; Corporate Disclosure; Ethics; Financial Reporting; Laws and Statutes; Performance Improvement

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March 2006 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Banco Hipotecario S.A.

By: Daniel Baird Bergstresser, Arthur I Segel and Alexandra de Royere

In 2003, the chairwoman and controlling shareholder of Argentina's leading residential mortgage lender are considering how to bring the bank's restructuring to a successful conclusion as the country's economy continues to suffer from the impact of the 2001-2002... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Currency; Banks and Banking; Mortgages; Crisis Management; Competition; Argentina