Publications

29 Apr 2008
First Look

First Look: April 29, 2008

Working PapersNone this week Cases & Course MaterialsAvaya (A) Harvard Business School Case 508-048 Avaya's top management wants to improve demand generation. This requires an improvement in the relationship between Sales and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 1998 (Revised May 1998)
Case

SITEL Corporation

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Martha Gershun

SITEL has grown extremely rapidly and is now operating worldwide with operations in more than 30 countries. Since many of its locations serve the same customers, the officers are debating the costs and benefits of additional centralization. Some feel that the autonomy... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Globalized Firms and Management; Growth Management; Success

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19 Apr 2010
Research & Ideas

The History of Beauty

disinclined to conform to assumed gender stereotypes by working on beauty. The fashion industry, which is also huge, suffers from the same lack of attention from management researchers. Q: You write, "Beauty emerges as an industry which... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Beauty & Cosmetics

January 2003 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Office Depot, Inc.: Business Transformation (A)

By: James L. Heskett, Dan Maher, Daniel F. OBrien, Thomas Watson and Jeffrey F. Rayport

The company's management is considering the possibility of launching a rebranding campaign around the promises "What you need. What you need to know." The questions are whether and when to launch the campaign in view of the large number of training efforts and... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Advertising Campaigns; Brands and Branding; Business Strategy; Technology Adoption; Transformation; Market Timing; Growth and Development; Training; Retail Industry

January 2009 (Revised May 2011)
Case

China Mobile's Rural Communications Strategy

By: William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan, G.A. Donovan and Tracy Manty

China Mobile was the world's leading mobile communications service provider with over 400 million customers. In some cities, its penetration rate was over 100%. With such huge successes, Chairman Wang Jianzhou was exploring ways to expand its customer base. Nearly... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Investment; Rural Scope; Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Telecommunications Industry; China

09 Feb 2010
First Look

First Look: Feb. 9

differences appear to be associated with different models of development—open, distributed organizations developing systems with smaller cores. We find that core components are often dispersed throughout a system, making their detection and View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2011 (Revised October 2014)
Case

Dropbox: 'It Just Works'

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Michael Pao and Lauren Barley

Dropbox is a venture-backed Silicon Valley startup, founded in 2006, that provides online storage and backup services to millions of customers using a "freemium" (free + premium offers) business model. The case recounts Dropbox's history from conception through... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Distribution; Product Design; Product Development; Internet; Service Industry; California

February 2000 (Revised April 2001)
Case

CNET 2000

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Pauline M Fischer

CNET's managers explain the strategic analysis that led to their decision to increase their annual marketing budget from $1 million to $100 million. CNET is an online information intermediary that helps consumers make purchase decisions about PC hardware and software,... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Corporate Strategy; Budgets and Budgeting; Financial Strategy; Decisions; Growth and Development; Customer Focus and Relationships; Business Divisions; Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Consumer Behavior; Online Technology; Information Technology Industry

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17 Mar 2008
Research & Ideas

The Lessons of Business History: A Handbook

research is widely confirmed throughout the essays of the Handbook. Chandler was primarily concerned with understanding the growth of large, diversified, and professionally managed firms from the late 19th... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Web

HBS Entrepreneurship Summit - Alumni

Senior Lecturer of Business Administration Ann Dewitt (MBA 2009), The Engine Unpacking the Supply Chain Mess with Some First Principles and Common Sense Willy C. Shih, Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Management Practice in Business... View Details

28 Jun 2011
First Look

First Look: June 28

PublicationsManager-Specific Effects on Earnings Guidance: An Analysis of Top Executive Turnovers Authors:Francois Brochet, Lucile Faurel, and Sarah McVay Publication:Journal of Accounting Research (forthcoming) Abstract We investigate how View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 1983 (Revised June 1986)
Case

Johnson & Johnson (B): Hospital Services

By: Francis Aguilar

The main issue has to do with the lack of fit or incompatibility between the early environmental requirements for strategy and the cultural constraints on the organization. Describes the internal resistance to the proposed changes and top management's efforts to... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Health Care and Treatment; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Industry

March 2012
Article

Enriching the Ecosystem

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

To remain a leader in innovation, the United States needs the support of foundational institutions that help seed, grow, and renew enterprises. Historically, these institutions-such as universities, venture creators, labor markets, and job-training programs-have tended... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Organizations; Research and Development; Social and Collaborative Networks; Growth and Development Strategy; United States

01 Oct 1997
News

J. Hughes Norton III

Norton is seated in Congressional's main dining room, his cell phone close at hand. As senior vice president in charge of golf operations at Cleveland-based International Management Group (IMG), the world's oldest and largest sports... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons

14 Jun 2011
First Look

First Look: June 14

managers publicly acknowledge the need to explore new businesses and markets, the claims of established businesses on company resources almost always come first, especially when times are hard. When top teams allow the tension between... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Article

Strategic Networks and Entrepreneurial Ventures

Much research suggests that social networks shape the emergence and development of nascent ventures. Scholars have argued that founders' and firms' networks influence innovation and the identification of entrepreneurial opportunities, as well as facilitate the... View Details

Keywords: Social and Collaborative Networks; Innovation and Invention; Opportunities; Value; Body of Literature; Research; Outcome or Result; Business Ventures; Entrepreneurship; Relationships; Management Practices and Processes; Power and Influence

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September 2020
Case

True North: Pioneering Analytics, Algorithms and Artificial Intelligence

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Kairavi Dey and Hannah Mayer

True North was a private equity fund that specialized in the growth and buyout of mid-market, India-centric companies. The leadership team initially believed that technology was not core to traditional businesses and steered clear of new age technology-oriented... View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Information Technology; Management; Operations; Organizations; Leadership; Innovation and Invention; Business Model; AI and Machine Learning; Computer Industry; Technology Industry