Publications

Find at Harvard

Read Now

February 2003 (Revised February 2009)
Case

Yahoo!: Becoming a Competitor in the Career Listings Space (A)

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Nicole Nasser

In late 2001, Yahoo!'s new executive leadership team faces a decision. With online advertising revenues significantly off, the company has decided to explore new strategic businesses, including online recruiting. The team must decide whether to make a bid for... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decisions; Recruitment; Management Teams; Negotiation Deal; Employment Industry

14 Feb 2022
Research & Ideas

Curiosity, Not Coding: 6 Skills Leaders Need in the Digital Age

digitally literate, right? In actuality, our research highlighted that none of these characteristics matter as much as you might think when it comes to leading digital transformation. In fact, 71 percent of 1,500 executives we surveyed in... View Details

Keywords: by Linda A. Hill, Ann Le Cam, Sunand Menon, and Emily Tedards; Technology

March 2003 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Trend Micro (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Kim Bettcher

The founder and CEO of Trend Micro is seeking to develop an effective decision-making process for the company's multicultural executive team as part of his effort to develop a more cohesive and focused global organization. This case describes the company's growth and... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Management Teams; Diversity; Information Technology Industry

April 2019
Case

Barber Cardiosystems

By: Ranjay Gulati and Paul S. Myers

Barber Cardiosystems, based in Melbourne, Australia, designs and manufactures therapeutic devices used for treatment of coronary conditions. Over four decades, it has grown to be among the top 200 medical device companies in the world. It competes against much larger... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Strategic Alignment; Cost Management; Performance Productivity; Organizational Culture; Motivation and Incentives; Organizational Design; Strategy; Leadership; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Australia

Martin Sinozich is a Senior Lecturer in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School, where he teaches in both MBA and Executive Education programs. For first-year MBAs, Martin teaches in Field Global Immersion, a required course that... View Details

July 1997
Case

We've Got Rhythm! Medtronic Corporation's Cardiac Pacemaker Business

By: Clayton M. Christensen

Illustrates how a new management team at Medtronic's Cardiac Pacemaker business reversed a steep decline in market share by adopting certain management principles for new product development: clarifying strategy, aggregating project planning, accommodating the number... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Product Development; Health; Technology; Change Management; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States

May 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Case

The Video-Streaming Wars in 2019: Can Disney Catch Netflix?

By: Anita Elberse and Monica Cody

Bob Iger, CEO of entertainment conglomerate Disney, thrilled investors with details about Disney’s upcoming foray into video streaming in April 2019. Disney’s move was only the latest in a series of actions taken by new and established entertainment companies in a... View Details

Keywords: Television; Entertainment; Media; Television Entertainment; Management; Strategy; Disruption; Information Technology; Competition; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

August 1994 (Revised November 1994)
Case

Saturn: A Different Kind of Car Company

Saturn was General Motors' (GM) response to Japanese companies' dominance of the small car market during the mid-1980s. In the three-and-a-half years since its first sedan rolled off the assembly line, the Saturn Corp. had accumulated an impressive list of... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Auto Industry; Retail Industry

April 2018 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Maersk: Betting on Blockchain

By: Rajiv Lal and Scott Johnson

In March 2018, international shipping giant Maersk is getting ready to debut a trade digitization platform. Maersk hopes the platform will help streamline global trade since shipping goods internationally is an extraordinarily complicated and inefficient process.... View Details

Keywords: Maersk; IBM; Blockchain; Shipping; Shipping Line; Trade; Bitcoin; Digitization; Container Shipping; Joint Ventures; Ship Transportation; Transportation Networks; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Applications and Software; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry

11 May 2009
Research & Ideas

The IT Leader’s Hero Quest

seat," the pressure to provide the analysis and judgment spills over to the senior executive team members, and, in this case, the CIO. Our advice to CIOs and other senior View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

July 2006
Case

Citigroup: Euro Zone Bond Trading (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Christopher Bruner and Aldo Sesia

Describes the development and execution of a bond trading strategy by a London-based team of Citigroup eurozone bond traders. The trades, which involved two of Europe's leading electronic trading platforms, gave rise to a European-wide controversy over the traders'... View Details

Keywords: Debt Securities; Financial Markets; Bonds; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Decision Making; Lawfulness; Business Strategy; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Europe

October 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Loris

By: Shunyuan Zhang, Das Narayandas, Stacy Straaberg and David Lane

In December 2022, Loris’s executive team considered their go-to-market strategy. Loris was an artificial intelligence (AI) software startup for the customer service industry with two products on the market: 1) Agent Assist which provided customer service agents (CSAs)... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Business Startups; AI and Machine Learning; Applications and Software; Marketing Strategy; Sales; Technology Industry; United States

06 Jul 2016
Research & Ideas

The Truth About Authentic Leaders

The debate over which form of leadership works best seems settled, in my view. Most leading companies globally are focusing on developing "authentic leaders" within their ranks. Executive courses at Harvard Business School in... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

11 May 2022
News

Finding It Hard to Get a New Job? Robot Recruiters Might Be to Blame

January 2014 (Revised May 2015)
Case

Yahoo: Both Sides of the Stamped Deal

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Lisa C. Mazzanti

In 2012, Marissa Mayer became the CEO of Yahoo!, a tech giant with a tumultuous past. When Mayer tries to reinvigorate the company, she hires Jacqueline Reses, who has a private equity background, to head both human resources and mergers and acquisitions (M&A). As part... View Details

Keywords: Mobile App; Acquisition-hire; Exit Strategy; Start-up; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Mergers and Acquisitions; Human Resources; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Product Development; Technology Industry; Sunnyvale; New York (city, NY)

12 Sep 2023
Book

Successful, But Still Feel Empty? A Happiness Scholar and Oprah Have Advice for You

objectified as an extension of your work, too. You Might Also Like: Why Giving to Others Makes Us Happy Blissful Thinking: When It Comes to Finding Happiness, 'Your Dreams Are Liars' When Working Harder Doesn’t Work, Time to Reinvent Your Career Feedback or ideas to... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

March 1996 (Revised January 2002)
Case

CIBA Vision: The Daily Disposable Lens Project (A)

By: Gary P. Pisano

Examines CIBA Vision's decision on whether to launch a major new R&D initiative to develop a low-cost, daily disposable contact lens, and how to organize such a project should it proceed. One group of executives favors setting up a small, autonomous project team... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Operations; Research and Development; Decision Making; Production; Strategy; Management; Organizational Design; Globalization; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

18 Oct 2022
News

#TimTalk – Sales management that works with Frank Cespedes

May 1997 (Revised July 1997)
Case

Vermeer Technologies (D): Making Transitions

By: Ashish Nanda

Microsoft has acquired Vermeer, and Vermeer executives are both excited and concerned as they prepare to move to Redmond. Even though the acquisition has been financially rewarding, the Vermeer engineers worry how well they will adapt to their new home. Meanwhile,... View Details

Keywords: Horizontal Integration; Value Creation; Applications and Software; Acquisition; Product Development; Information Technology Industry