Publications

January 2009
Article

From Regional Star to Global Leader

By: Nitin Nohria

Yang Jianguo was recently promoted from country manager for China to global head of product development at a staid French perfume maker. He was chosen for his technical smarts and his knowledge of emerging markets—a critical avenue for growth, given that sales in the... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Globalized Firms and Management; Leadership Development; Management Teams; Emerging Markets; Product Development; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; China; Paris

Find at Harvard

28 Jul 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Disagreement about the Team’s Status Hierarchy: An Insidious Obstacle to Coordination and Performance

Keywords: by Heidi K. Gardner

November 1997 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Interactive Minds (A)

By: William A. Sahlman, Michael J. Roberts and Christina L. Darwall

The efforts of two recent Harvard Business School graduates to start a venture capital/consulting firm focused on opportunities related to the Internet are recounted. Raises the question of what the nature of this opportunity is, how well-positioned the protagonists... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Internet and the Web; Market Entry and Exit; Financing and Loans; Business Startups; Consulting Industry

28 Oct 2008
First Look

First Look: October 28, 2008

the parts of Africa that have a heavy disease incidence. MTV has developed a DNA of public service announcements that it claims are of central relevance to its high-risk customer base. How core is this to the strategy of a for-profit firm... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

March 2009 (Revised May 2011)
Case

The Credit Suisse/Gerson Lehrman Group Alliance

By: Robert G. Eccles and Laura Winig

The equity research department of Credit Suisse and the expert network firm of Gerson Lehrman Group, historically competitors, have established a strategic alliance which both believe will give them a competitive advantage. Under the leadership of its head of equity... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Financial Crisis; Investment Banking; Innovation and Invention; Alliances; Social and Collaborative Networks; Competitive Advantage; Banking Industry

24 Apr 2012
First Look

First Look: April 24

review can help researchers identify high-quality teamwork surveys. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/11-116.pdf The Flattened Firm—Not as Advertised Author:Wulf Abstract For decades, management consultants and the... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

29 Apr 2002
Research & Ideas

Star Power! How to Win in Professional Services

Limits To Leadership Being the chief executive of any company is a demanding job. Carrying out the responsibilities of a CEO in a professional service firm is exceptionally challenging because the position lacks the inherent power and... View Details

Keywords: by Jay W. Lorsch & Thomas J. Tierney

28 May 2024
In Practice

Job Search Advice for a Tough Market: Think Broadly and Stay Flexible

start careers in consulting are facing some of the toughest market conditions we’ve seen since 2007 and 2008. Just a few years ago, as a derivative of the COVID-19 pandemic, firms experienced a dramatic and... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

August 2017 (Revised November 2021)
Case

Ryan Greene at Rainier Wearables

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Christopher Payton

This case provides a platform for discussing mental health and depression in entrepreneurship. Why do entrepreneurs have more mental health issues than other professions? What can an entrepreneur do if they face a situation where their mental well-being is being... View Details

Keywords: Mental Health; Depression; Entrepreneurship; Well-being; Personal Development and Career

05 Nov 2007
What Do You Think?

Why Is Succession So Badly Managed?

of the inner workings of the firm, fires the CEO but appoints an acting CEO while a talent consultant is hired to begin a search for a replacement. Given the natural bias of the search firm and the board's... View Details

Keywords: Re: James L. Heskett

01 Nov 2010
Research & Ideas

How IT Shapes Top-Down and Bottom-Up Decision Making

Technology on Firm Organization," a paper she cowrote with Nicholas Bloom of Stanford University and Luis Garicano and John Van Reenen of the Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics. "Technologies that make... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

18 Dec 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 18, 2018

firms face little competition, even after the end of formal periods of patent protection and market exclusivity. Additionally, the evolving technologies of drug development—in particular, the increasingly common use of auxiliary endpoints... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

March 2020 (Revised January 2023)
Case

Nadine Vogel: Transforming the Marketplace, Workplace, and Workforce for People with Disabilities

By: Lakshmi Ramarajan, Hannah Riley-Bowles and Michael Norris

In 2019, Nadine Vogel, founder and CEO of Springboard Consulting, a firm that worked with Fortune 500 companies on issues related to disability and their workforce, faced the decision of the best path forward to grow her small company. Should she build more and better... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Decision Choices and Conditions; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Market Entry and Exit; Consulting Industry; United States; Florida; New York (state, US)

July 2023
Supplement

Schuberg Philis: From Success to Significance (B)

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Daniela Beyersdorfer

Three years into their “Ambition” growth plan, in 2022, the management team of Dutch professional service firm Schuberg Philis is taking stock. The global COVID-19 pandemic and other headwinds required adjustments to their growth targets, but they believe that their... View Details

Keywords: Management Succession; Growth Management; Change Management; Transformation; Mission and Purpose; Leadership; Leading Change; Consulting Industry; Consulting Industry; Europe; Netherlands

April 1997 (Revised July 1997)
Case

KPMG Peat Marwick U.S.: One Giant Brain

Demonstrates how organizations can move toward creation of processes and information technology infrastructures for effective knowledge management in order to enhance performance and productivity. More specifically, describes the knowledge management strategy of KPMG... View Details

Keywords: Internet; Information Technology; Knowledge Management; Consulting Industry; Consulting Industry; United States

July 2019 (Revised May 2021)
Case

Acelerex

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In early 2019, Randell Johnson, Founder and Chief Executive of Acelerex, was reflecting on the company’s first year of rapid growth and the challenges of scaling the business that lay ahead. Acelerex was riding the waves of change taking place in electrical power grids... View Details

Keywords: Energy; Energy Sources; Growth Management; Expansion; Global Strategy; Cash Flow; Consulting Industry; Consulting Industry; Consulting Industry