Publications

March 2002 (Revised July 2004)
Case

RWE and the Proposal for a German Electricity Regulator

In April 2001, Dietmar Kuhnt, CEO of the German energy giant RWE, had to make a decision that would affect his company's future. Profits in the electricity sector depended heavily on regulatory rules that influenced industry structure and pricing. RWE had emerged... View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Governance Compliance; Business Strategy; Energy Industry; Germany

September – October 2011
Article

The Rise and Consequences of Corporate Sustainability Reporting

By: Ioannis Ioannou and George Serafeim

For many decades the cornerstone of corporate reporting has been financial information that is presented in a company's annual, semi-annual, and quarterly reports. These comprehensive financial reports—required by law for public companies in most countries... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; ESG Reporting; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Annual Reports; Operations; Strategy; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Performance; Business Model; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Disclosure

Read Now

21 Nov 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

The New Challenge of Leading Financial Firms

challenges that an executive can undertake, requiring mastery of talent management, change management, and ethics. “The business today is much more complex than ten or twenty years ago" —Paul M. Healy "The View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

Program

Senior Executive Leadership Program—Middle East

Summary Change is everywhere in the Middle East today, as many countries seek to diversify their economies and encourage new industries. The region's complex business environment includes distinct political and economic conditions in each... View Details

11 Mar 2001
Research & Ideas

Merchants to Multinationals: British Trading Companies in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

and the availability of limited liability to raise finance for the new business opportunities which appeared at this time. They functioned in part as venture capitalists identifying opportunities and placing potential British investors in... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones

January 2008 (Revised February 2011)
Case

Club Atlético Boca Juniors

By: Anita Elberse, Alberto Ballve and Gustavo Herrero

Club Atlético Boca Juniors is the most popular soccer club in Argentina and one of the most decorated clubs in the world. Throughout its storied history, the club has recruited and developed dozens of star players. In his eleven years at Boca Juniors, president... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Talent and Talent Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Sports; Sports Industry; Argentina

July 1990 (Revised October 1992)
Case

Consolidated Equipment Co.

By: Samuel L. Hayes III

A mature company seeks to rejuvenate itself with internal R&D and external acquisitions. It has developed a DCK model for analyzing the value of a proposed acquisition. A rewritten version of an earlier case by J.K. Butters. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Valuation; Business Growth and Maturation; Research and Development; Acquisition; Capital Budgeting

September 1998 (Revised May 1999)
Case

Arnold Communications

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Jeremiah Weinstock

The new owner and CEO of Arnold Advertising, a relatively small regional agency, aims to build it into Arnold Communications--a much larger, stronger firm competing successfully for national accounts. As part of this growth strategy, the agency develops a process for... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Creativity; Entrepreneurship; Advertising; Business Processes; Brands and Branding; Growth and Development Strategy; Advertising Industry

28 Apr 2022
Blog Post

Harvard Team Wins Second Place in MIINT Impact Investing Competition

(MBA 2023) shared his experience: “I joined the MIINT competition to learn how I could capitalize on my background as an investment professional to drive impact in emerging markets. The experience enabled me to gauge societal and community impact as well as learn about... View Details

August 2022
Supplement

Sweet Teez Bakery: Projecting the Dough’s Rise Financial Supplement

By: Emily R. McComb, Mel Martin and Amy Klopfenstein

Abstract: In 2021, the HBS Impact Investment Fund student team met with entrepreneur Teresa Maynard, who had applied for a $25,000 impact investment loan. The students thought the former Harvard Data Scientist’s bakery business, Sweet Teez Bakery, showed promise.... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investment; Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Finance; Investment; Goods and Commodities; Financial Reporting; Small Business; Food and Beverage Industry; Massachusetts; United States

Program

Succeeding as a Strategic CFO

and capabilities they need to succeed as a modern CFO. In the company of other senior financial leaders, you will discover how to build your skills in key areas, identify blind spots or competency gaps, and gain tools and insights... View Details

2007
Chapter

Process Management, Technological Innovation, and Organizational Adaptation

By: Mary Benner and M. Tushman

The promise of process management practices is that as organizations focus on variance reduction and increased process control, they will drive both speed and organizational efficiency. However, this promise also accentuates the dark side of process management. These... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Innovation and Management; Technological Innovation; Management Practices and Processes; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design

February 2008 (Revised September 2008)
Case

Apple Inc., 2008

By: David B. Yoffie and Michael Slind

In January 2007, three decades after its incorporation, Apple Computer shed the second word in its name and became Apple Inc. With that move, the company signaled a fundamental shift away from its historic status as a vendor of the Macintosh personal computer (PC)... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Leadership; Industry Growth; Corporate Strategy; Information Infrastructure; Internet and the Web; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry; Technology Industry

April 2017
Case

Global Leadership in a Dynamic and Evolving Region: Molinas @ The Coca-Cola Company (A)

By: Tsedal Neeley and Esel Çekin

Galya Frayman Molinas, President of Coca-Cola's Turkish business and a 20-year company veteran, is unexpectedly asked to take the helm of a newly expanded territory with operations across eight additional countries in Central Asia: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia,... View Details

Keywords: Functions; Structure; Centralization; Decentralization; Diversity; Country Of Origin Effects; Global Contextual Intelligence; Leading Change; Crisis Management; Organizational Structure; Experience and Expertise; Situation or Environment; Central Asia; Turkey