Publications

August 2009 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Whole Foods: Balancing Social Mission and Growth

By: Christopher Marquis, Marya Besharov and Bobbi Thomason

In 2009, Whole Foods stands at a crossroads. Their incredible growth over the past 25 years has vaulted them into the ranks of the largest US supermarkets and they have arguably led to the widespread acceptance of natural and organic foods in the United States. Yet... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

10 Sep 2020
Blog Post

Founding a Company at the Intersection of Medicine and Technology

Paxton Maeder-York is a proud member of the MBA class of 2019, Section G. He deferred between his RC and EC years to complete an additional master’s degree in Computational Science. Having studied Biomedical Engineering as an... View Details

29 Jul 2002
Research & Ideas

Time Pressure and Creativity: Why Time is Not on Your Side

out, the results suggest that, overall, very high levels of time pressure should be avoided if you want to foster creativity on a consistent basis. However, if a time crunch is absolutely unavoidable, managers can try to preserve... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Education; Fine Arts

04 Jan 2017
What Do You Think?

How Much Bureaucracy is a Good Thing in Government and Business?

Hare echoed Wittenberg's opinion: “(Bureaucracies) are far too often, about themselves and expanding the power and influence of the people who head them.” Tom commented, “Most... View Details

Keywords: by James L. Heskett

September 2016 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Angie's List: Ratings Pioneer Turns 20

By: Robert J. Dolan and Ayelet Israeli

In 1995, before people “googled” or “yelped,” Angela Hicks (HBS, 2000) was establishing her Angie’s List as a pioneer in the accumulation and dissemination of consumer rating information. Hicks focused on the home repair and maintenance market and, as she put it,... View Details

July 23, 2012
Article

Companies and Investors Should See More of Each Other

By: Robert G. Eccles and George Serafeim

Company executives and institutional asset managers are increasingly working sustainability into their strategy and operations. Similarly, institutional asset managers are doing the same in constructing their portfolios. Yet both groups are doing this relatively... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Environmental Sustainability; Growth and Development Strategy

Read Now

March 2022
Case

In Data We Trust: Be Mobile Africa and Furthering Financial Inclusion Across the African Continent

By: Lauren Cohen, Grace Headinger and Pierre Marchesseault

To Cédric Jeannot, leveraging technology to promote financial inclusion was personal. After no established financial institution would accept his technology platform to lower transaction costs for free, Jeannot launched FinTech company Be Mobile Africa in May 2020.... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Fintech; Emerging Market; Fundraising; Financial Inclusion; Strategy; Expansion; Management; Entrepreneurship; Personal Finance; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry; Africa; Togo; Nigeria; Ghana

02 Oct 2017
What Do You Think?

Do Bitcoin and Digital Currency Have a Future?

Credit: pixelfit SUMMING UP How Will Digital Currencies Be Regulated? Blockchain technology has a brighter future than most digital currencies in general and Bitcoin in particular, judging from responses to this month’s column. It’s also... View Details

Keywords: by James L. Heskett; Financial Services

2025
Working Paper

CEO-Firm Matches and Productivity in 42 Countries

By: Amanda Dahlstrand, Dávid László, Helena Schweiger, Oriana Bandiera, Andrea Prat and Raffaella Sadun

Firms are key to economic development, and CEOs are key to firm productivity. Are firms in countries at varying stages of development led by the right CEOs, and if not, why? We develop a parsimonious measure of CEO time use that allows us to differentiate CEOs into... View Details

Keywords: Training; Management Skills; Economic Growth; Leadership Development

Read Now

25 Mar 2022
News

Joseph Fuller: Skill-based Hiring, Harvard Business School, and the Future of Learning

March 1986 (Revised July 2000)
Case

Peter Browning and Continental White Cap (A)

Presents a new divisional vice president's entry into a well-established and still successful manufacturing organization which is nevertheless facing an impending competitive crisis. Demonstrates his challenge and his efforts, under pressure from corporate... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Crisis Management; Manufacturing Industry

October 2005
Case

General Eisenhower and the D-Day Invasion

Describes the way in which General Dwight D. Eisenhower worked with his commanders, as well as political leaders, to plan the June 1944 D-Day invasion. View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Strategic Planning; Leadership; War

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools

Find at Harvard

01 Sep 2013
News

Three Decades of Change and Counting

Now in its 31st year, the Summer Venture in Management Program (SVMP) offers rising college seniors who are typically underrepresented in the business school classroom the opportunity to live the MBA experience for one week each... View Details

18 Oct 2016
News

China, artificial intelligence, and Jim Breyer

constantly seeing at what point in the mediation app it is working or not working,” Breyer said. “It starts with great content and with people who deeply care about meditation. Marrying that with the data... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Myers

November 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Liz Claiborne and the New Working Woman

By: Anthony Mayo and Mark Benson

At age 47, with two decades of experience as a lead designer for a Fortune 500 fashion company, Liz Claiborne put her life savings on the line to form Liz Claiborne, Inc., a partnership that included her husband. A decade later, in 1986, Claiborne was CEO of her own... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Entrepreneurship; Business History; Leadership; Gender; Brands and Branding; Personal Development and Career; Apparel and Accessories Industry