Publications

August 2023
Case

Stay or Go? Sarah Reynolds at Kensington Partners

By: David G. Fubini, Amr Seifeldin and Patrick Sanguineti

Sarah Reynolds, a Partner at the global Kensington Partners strategy consulting firm, has headed the firm's Telecommunications Group for a few years. Thanks to her stellar track record with clients, she has brought the group, and herself, a range of accolades and... View Details

Keywords: Consulting; Consulting Firms; Client Service; Career Management; Success; Time Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Personal Development and Career

2004
Class Lecture

Strategic Alliances: The Power of Partnering Between Nonprofits and Businesses

By: James Austin

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Partners and Partnerships

April 2024
Teaching Note

'The Wheels on the Bus' Go Electric: Highland Electric Fleets and Partners

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jacob A. Small

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 324-107. Founder Duncan McIntyre developed an innovative service-based business to electrify transportation fleets for school districts and scale through public-private partnerships while contributing to climate change solutions. The case... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Leadership; Growth Management; Supply Chain; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Innovation Leadership; Transportation Industry; United States; Canada

February 2000 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Butler Capital Partners and Autodistribution: Putting Private Equity to Work in France

Describes a proposed buyout transaction of Autodistribution, an entrepreneurial firm that is the leading car-parts distributor in France. The deal became feasible because of a failed takeover battle for Autodistribution's parent company. Private equity investor Butler... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts; Valuation; Executive Compensation; Entrepreneurship; Distribution Industry; Auto Industry; France

January 2020
Article

One of a Kind: The Strong and Complex Preference for Unique Treatment from Romantic Partners

By: Lalin Anik and Ryan Hauser

Individuals prefer romantic partners who universally treat others well (i.e., partners who exhibit trait-level generosity) and also prefer partners who treat them uniquely. Previous work supports both preferences, yet the literature has largely ignored what happens... View Details

Keywords: Relationships; Behavior; Satisfaction

February 1999 (Revised April 1999)
Case

Bain & Company, Inc.: Making Partner

By: Ashish Nanda

In June 1998, Bain's compensation and policy committee meets to review candidates for elevation to partnership. The case presents the profiles of four candidates and ends with the promotion committee debating the merits of the candidates. View Details

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Personal Development and Career; Employees

July 2011
Teaching Note

a-connect: In Search of Talent Partners (TN) (A) and (B)

By: Robert G. Eccles and Penelope Rossano

Teaching Note for 409036 and 411085. View Details

Keywords: Revenue; Business Offices; Attorney and Client Relationships; Customer Focus and Relationships; Initial Public Offering; Organizations; Change; Consulting Industry; Boston; Hong Kong; Singapore; San Francisco

January – February 2009
Article

Managing Strategy with External Partners

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez and Bjarne Rugelsjoen

Keywords: Management; Strategy; Partners and Partnerships

March 2014
Supplement

Experience! The Finger Lakes: The Groupon Partnership Decision (B)

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Chekitan S. Dev, Gabriele Piccoli and Arnold B. Peinado

November 2008 (Revised March 2011)
Case

a-connect: In Search of Talent Partners (A)

By: Robert G. Eccles and Dilyana Karadzhova

a-connect was started in 2002 by three former McKinsey partners who wanted to develop an alternative business model consulting firm, which they have positioned as a high-end staffing company. The company has been very successful, growing to revenues of CHF 30 million... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Decision Choices and Conditions; Initial Public Offering; Selection and Staffing; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketplace Matching; Expansion; Consulting Industry

September 2013 (Revised June 2017)
Case

IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

IBM's Corporate Citizenship office created a social and organizational innovation in public education through a business-school partnership. IBM's Stanley Litow was the key architect in designing Pathways in Technology Early College High School, known as P-TECH. The... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Partnerships; Leadership; Partners and Partnerships; Education; Business and Community Relations; Change; Innovation and Invention; Education Industry

September 2016
Case

Partners Group: Ain't No Mountain High Enough

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Ricardo Andrade

Partners Group (PG), a Swiss-based PE manager, initiated a series of strategic shifts and evolved from a predominately fund-of-funds manager into a large, multi-asset class PE firm focused on direct investments. PG was the first PE firm to go public in 2006. A number... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Management Practices and Processes; Entrepreneurship

November 2010
Case

Esquel Group: Building a Sustainable Partnership with Cotton Farmers in Xinjiang (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Jason Cheng Qian

Esquel Group, leading manufacturer of quality shirts, sought to negotiate long-term partnerships with often-exploited farmers in Xinjiang (western China) to procure a superior cotton variety. Seeking to secure a large supply of specialty cotton in an ethical and... View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Leasing; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Partners and Partnerships; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Hong Kong; Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu

June 2014
Supplement

eBay Partner Network — slide supplement (widescreen)

By: Benjamin Edelman

eBay considers adjustments to the structure and rules of its affiliate marketing program, eBay Partner Network (ePN). In particular, eBay reevaluates affiliate compensation structure, the role of bonuses for especially productive affiliates, and the overall rationale... View Details

Keywords: History; Online Technology; Markets; Negotiation Participants; Marketing; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Internet and the Web; Marketing Channels; Business Processes; Change; Compensation and Benefits; Web Services Industry

October 3, 2023
Article

The Employer-Educator Partnership That Can Fill U.S. Jobs

By: Joseph Fuller and Manjari Raman

Middle-skills workers—those with less than a four-year college education but more than a high school diploma—make up more than 60% of U.S. workers over the age of 25. These workers are the life force that keeps America’s economic engine humming, but, increasingly, as... View Details

Keywords: Jobs and Positions; Higher Education; Recruitment

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December 2010
Supplement

Urban Water Partners (B) (CW)

By: Karthik Ramanna and George Serafeim

Supplement to 111029 View Details

Keywords: Food and Beverage Industry; Dar es Salaam

September 1998 (Revised April 2000)
Case

Cia. Bozano, Simonsen of Brazil: Partnering in Privatization:

Shifts attention to the international context by looking at Cia. Bozano, Simonsen (CBS), a privately-held Brazilian group that has been a leading player in Brazil's privatization efforts in the 1990s. CBS has participated in privatizations across a wide array of... View Details

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Privatization; Brazil

June 2014 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Focus Financial Partners and the U.S. RIA Industry in 2014

By: Luis Viceira and Emily A. Chien

In the Spring of 2014, Rudy Adolf, CEO and founder of Focus Financial, and the two other co-founders of the firm are considering alternative growth strategies to solidify Focus Financial's position as a leading aggregator of independent wealth management firms in the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Financial Services Industry