Publications

05 Apr 2004
What Do You Think?

Should We Brace Ourselves for Another Era of M&A Value Destruction?

approach an acquisition like a conquering hoard, focusing on the numbers while remaining insensitive to the qualities and needs of the human resources being acquired. Carey and Ogden set out to examine the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

July 2011
Case

Shifting the Diversity Climate: The Sodexo Solution

By: David A. Thomas and Stephanie J. Creary

This case profiles the evolution of Sodexo's diversity initiative. Diversity became a key priority for Sodexo, North America in 2001 after a class-action lawsuit was filed and certified in Washington, D.C. against Sodexo Marriot Services, Inc., the food services... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Business Strategy; Globalization; Management Teams; Gender; Race; Ethnicity; Age; Food and Beverage Industry; North America; Washington (state, US)

15 Nov 2018
Book

Can the Global Food Industry Overcome Public Distrust?

JamesBrey Food is the largest segment of the global economy. It is also widely recognized as more critical for human health than any pharmaceutical drug on the planet. But significant changes in the industry are making people lose trust in many institutions involved in... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Agriculture & Agribusiness

03 May 2022
Research & Ideas

Desperate for Talent? Consider Advancing Your Own Employees First

Job openings in the United States continue to hover at record high levels, exacerbated by the Great Resignation and a sputtering emergence from the pandemic. Competition remains fierce among companies struggling to find qualified workers. Yet many employers,... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

July 2011 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Game Time Decision for AppDirect

By: Andrei Hagiu, Laura Arjona and Emily Zhang

AppDirect is a start-up that offers small businesses software-as-a-service solutions through a business app marketplace and portal. Daniel Saks, co-founder and co-CEO, is faced with the key question of deciding distribution strategy: should AppDirect find channel... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Distribution; Applications and Software; Innovation Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology Industry; United States

Profile

Laura Mackay

Why was earning your MBA at Harvard Business School important to you? I had gotten to a point in my professional career where I was in leadership positions, yet did not have the capabilities I needed to be an effective leader. Having... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Technology

01 Nov 2019
What Do You Think?

Should Non-Compete Clauses Be Abolished?

Andrei Stanescu SUMMING UP Can Rules on Non-Compete Agreements Be Fixed? There is strong opposition to non-compete agreements, especially as applied to employees with low incomes. They are difficult to enforce, even where they are permitted. But if it is difficult to... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

April–June 2022
Other Article

Commentary on 'Causal Decision Making and Causal Eﬀect Estimation Are Not the Same... and Why It Matters'

By: Edward McFowland III

There has been a substantial discussion in various methodological and applied literatures around causal inference; especially in the use of machine learning and statistical models to understand heterogeneity in treatment effects and to make optimal decision... View Details

Keywords: Causal Inference; Treatment Effect Estimation; Treatment Assignment Policy; Human-in-the-loop; Decision Making; Fairness

01 May 2018
News

Elon Musk’s Unusual Compensation Plan Isn’t Really About Compensation at All

October 2022
Article

When Listening Is Spoken

By: Hanne Collins

Feeling heard is critical to human flourishing—across domains, relationships are strengthened and individual well-being is enhanced when people feel listened to. High-quality conversational listening not only requires the cognitive processes of attention and... View Details

Keywords: Listening; Interpersonal Communication; Perception; Behavior

Read Now

November 2009 (Revised August 2010)
Case

NovoCure Ltd.

By: William A. Sahlman and Sarah Flaherty

Venture capitalist William Doyle must raise $35 million for a portfolio company with a promising, novel cancer therapy, just as global capital markets are imploding in the fall of 2008. NovoCure, Ltd., has developed an electrical-field-based therapy, called Tumor... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Investment; Health Care and Treatment; Health Testing and Trials; Technological Innovation; Financial Services Industry

June 2004 (Revised June 2004)
Case

Utah Symphony and Utah Opera: A Merger Proposal

By: Thomas J. DeLong and David L. Ager

Anne Ewers, general director of Utah Opera, is awaiting the decision of the members of the board of the Utah Symphony and Utah Opera about whether to merge Utah's top two arts organizations. If the vote favors the merger, Ewers will be asked to assume the helm of the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Human Resources; Management; Fine Arts Industry; Music Industry; Utah

May 2008 (Revised September 2009)
Case

IBM's Dynamic Workplace

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

IBM already competed for talent by being a best workplace. It was one of the first companies to provide paid vacations, health insurance, sick leave, job sharing, and domestic partner benefits. Its human resources portfolio included a full array of progressive policies... View Details

Keywords: Values and Beliefs; Globalized Firms and Management; Leading Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Culture; Social Enterprise

17 Oct 2016
HBS Case

Business Solutions That Help Cut Food Waste

As much as 40 percent of food grown in the United States for human consumption is wasted. Source: Eivaisla After decades of wasteful food practices, where perfectly good food is discarded even as poverty keeps many families hungry, solutions are starting to come... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage

30 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

Looking Behind Bad Decisions

dysfunctional competition, while also providing tools that foster rational decision making. Consider this hypothetical question posed in the paper: A. If you die in an auto accident, your heart will be used to save another person's life. In addition, if you are ever in... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls

28 Oct 2020
Blog Post

Keep Your Weary Workers Engaged

need help for the next many months to keep theirs and others’ spirits high so we can keep them for when we recover.” “How to motivate a team that has been furloughed? With our operations totally shut down by the government, we had to... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

08 Dec 2020
Blog Post

Keep Your Weary Workers Engaged

need help for the next many months to keep theirs and others’ spirits high so we can keep them for when we recover.” “How to motivate a team that has been furloughed? With our operations totally shut down by the government, we had to... View Details

06 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

Are the Olympics a Catalyst for China Reforms?

the Americas, etcetera. The litany is very impressive. Most of all, he seemed to serve as a human bridge. Q: If reformers wanted to take the Yung Wing example and work for change inside China, what potential routes or alliances are open... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

July 2011 (Revised August 2011)
Supplement

Renewing GE: The Africa Project (B)

By: David A. Thomas and Stephanie J. Creary

This case continues the story of the evolution of GE's business initiatives Africa. Between November 2010 and March 2011 several significant structural changes and leadership appointments were announced at GE, which reflected the company's commitment to global growth... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Restructuring; Multinational Firms and Management; Developing Countries and Economies; Consumer Products Industry; Hong Kong; Africa; Republic of Ireland