Publications

May 2017
Case

Pho Hoa Dorchester

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger, Michael Raiche and Roger Zhu

Pho Hoa is a traditional, family-owned Vietnamese restaurant in Dorchester, Massachusetts that opened in 1992. As he approached retirement in recent years, the founder/owner has scaled down his involvement in the day-to-day operations, leading to a number of... View Details

April 2013 (Revised October 2013)
Case

National Instruments

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Keri Pearlson and Natalie Kindred

This case explores the use of social media to support product design, customer support, marketing and HR activities at National Instruments (NI). Based in Austin, Texas, with over $1 billion in 2011 sales, NI designs, produces, and sells software and hardware platforms... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Applications and Software; Organizational Culture; Technological Innovation; Digital Platforms; Innovation and Management; Media; Management Systems; Social and Collaborative Networks; Information Technology Industry; Service Industry; Texas

08 Sep 2008
HBS Case

The Value of Environmental Activists

There are many methods, most financial, to measure the success of companies in meeting goals. But the question becomes a lot harder at Harvard Business School when MBAs are challenged to measure the efforts of environmental organizations like Greenpeace and the World... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Energy; Utilities

February 2010
Case

Shurgard Self-Storage: Expansion to Europe (Abridged)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh

Shurgard, a U.S.-based firm that rents storage facilities to consumers and small businesses, is considering financing options for rapid expansion of its European operations. Five years after entering Europe, Shurgard Europe has opened 17 facilities in Belgium, France,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Growth and Maturation; Multinational Firms and Management; Logistics; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Trade; Equity; Corporate Finance; United States; Europe

12 Aug 2002
Op-Ed

Using Big Business to Fight Poverty

governments that caused their misery in the first place. In such mismanaged countries—which number close to seventy—a way must be found to change the basic system. Globalization—seen by many today as a sort of cure-all—will certainly not eradicate poverty on its own.... View Details

Keywords: by George C. Lodge

01 Dec 2008
Lessons from the Classroom

How Many U.S. Jobs Are ‘Offshorable’?

Richard H.K. Vietor, Rawi E. Abdelal, and Jan W. Rivkin created a classroom exercise that asked HBS students to assess the potential "offshorability" of more than 800 occupations in the United States. The exercise replicated a... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

March 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Nigeria: Africa's Giant

By: Marlous van Waijenburg

"Nigeria: Africa’s Giant" delves into the economic development and state building record of Africa’s most populous country. Despite being one of the continent’s largest oil-exporters, Nigeria’s economy has been struggling, and poverty is widespread. The country’s... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Developing Countries and Economies; Government Administration; Poverty; Africa; Nigeria

2018
Book

Global History, Globally: Research and Practice Around the World

By: Sven Beckert and Dominic Sachsenmaier

In recent years historians in many different parts of the world have sought to transnationalize and globalize their perspectives on the past. Despite all these efforts to gain new global historical visions, however, the debates surrounding this movement have remained... View Details

Keywords: History; Research; Global Range

Find at Harvard

27 Aug 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

Learning From Japan’s Remarkable Disaster Recovery

It's common in Harvard Business School classrooms to discuss the "pivot," the moment an enterprise changes direction to pursue a new strategy. On a visit to eastern Japan, MBA students talked to Masamichi Ono, CEO of... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Energy; Utilities; Retail

June 1997 (Revised May 1998)
Case

Mobil USM&R (A1)

By: Robert S. Kaplan

First of a two-part case on the development and use of a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) at Mobil's US Marketing and Refining Division. Split from the original (A) case to give students an opportunity to suggest objectives and measures for the division's initial BSC, without... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Measurement and Metrics; Restructuring; Corporate Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Marketing Strategy; Motivation and Incentives; Mining Industry; Energy Industry; United States

19 Dec 2023
Research & Ideas

$15 Billion in Five Years: What Data Tells Us About MacKenzie Scott’s Philanthropy

finished giving, but with more than $15 billion granted to nearly 2,000 organizations, some meaningful patterns have begun to emerge. We parsed all the Yield Giving donation information available to date and matched it with Internal... View Details

Keywords: by Matthew Lee, Brian Trelstad, and Ethan Tran

02 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

10 Trends to Watch in 2024

The lightning-fast ascent of generative AI isn’t the only sea change on the horizon for businesses in the new year. The global economy is in flux as war, climate change, trade issues, and infrastructure problems demand attention. Many companies continue to struggle to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

30 Jul 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

Teaching The Deal

resolve internal conflicts. In the Negotiations course, students not only analyze a number of case studies, but also participate in a series of negotiation exercises that give them hands-on practice with a... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Education

25 Jun 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

FIELD Trip: Conquering the Gap Between Knowing and Doing

outside their comfort zone, demonstrating the power and the pitfalls in team-based work. At the same time, students are asked to write periodic reflections on their FIELD experiences, to help internalize the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Education

16 Apr 2008
Lessons from the Classroom

Chris Christensen: Legend of the Classroom

point. "His hands perform a rapid-fire ballet of encouragement: palms outstretched to reassure the uncertain student, wrists moving in quick circles to urge onward the confident," noted a 1976 article in the Harvard Gazette. "The reply completed, Mr.... View Details

Keywords: by Deborah Blagg; Education

17 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

Entrepreneurship in Asia and Foreign Direct Investment

worried about the ascendance of China, while firms in Taiwan and Hong Kong have reaped enormous benefits from Chinese economic expansion, according to Huang. He presented his new research proposal to an audience of faculty and doctoral View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

March 2004 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Newell Rubbermaid: Strategy in Transition

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery, Rhonda Kaufman and Carole Winkler

Describes the transformation of a company's corporate-level strategy. Begins by laying out the strategy that brought the Newell Co. stunning success for nearly three decades. The highly integrated, internally consistent strategy was tailored for manufacturing and... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Corporate Strategy; Transformation; Problems and Challenges; Acquisition; Product Development; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Retail Industry; United States