Publications

November 1999 (Revised June 2000)
Case

FairMarket: Managing Business Development

By: William A. Sahlman, Michael J. Roberts and Cathy Taylor

Describes the evolution of FairMarket, a provider of turnkey auction services to community and merchant Web sites. Describes several deals that the CEO must negotiate, requiring a view of the company's valuation. View Details

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Internet and the Web; Valuation; Negotiation Deal; Auctions; Growth and Development Strategy; Web Services Industry

2002
Chapter

Cooperative Customer Management: Is There Strategic Potential for a New Relationship between Retail and Industry?

By: Christian H.M. Ketels, Dirk Seifert and Alexander Kracklauer

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Cooperation; Supply Chain Management; Retail Industry; Manufacturing Industry

August 1998 (Revised September 2002)
Case

Knowledge Management at Andersen Consulting

Andersen Consulting has spent several years developing a knowledge management system. The two partners responsible are now wondering what to do next and how to improve usability of the knowledge sharing system. View Details

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Knowledge Management; Consulting Industry

05 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

The Middle Manager of the Future: More Coaching, Less Commanding

Middle managers aren’t going extinct. They’re evolving. Once a wasteland where careers stalled or abruptly ended in layoffs, middle management has adapted and is thriving, seeing double-digit growth in some... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

October 2015
Article

Managing the Performance Tradeoffs from Partner Integration: Implications of Contract Choice in R&D Projects

By: Alan MacCormack and Anant Mishra

Formal contracts represent an important governance instrument with which firms exercise control of and compensate partners in R&D projects. The specific type of contract used, however, can vary significantly across projects. In some, firms govern partnering... View Details

Keywords: ＂＂Partner Integration; Contract Choice; R＆D Project Management; Relational Contracts; Partnering Performance; Research and Development; Projects; Partners and Partnerships; Performance; Contracts

25 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

Rapport: The Hidden Advantage That Women Managers Bring to Teams

mostly female workers tend to have less rapport—which can hamper productivity. Tamayo notes that prior research has emphasized the importance of soft skills, such as communication, for both workers and managers, yet this paper goes a step further in illustrating how... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin; Food & Beverage

May 1997
Background Note

Institutional Perspective on Management

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

Discusses the dimensions of the institutional environment surrounding business, including the role of stakeholders and the need for new collaborations in emerging markets; the key assumptions of the institutional perspective on businesses and markets, especially in... View Details

Keywords: Economics; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Management Skills; Emerging Markets; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Perspective

21 Nov 2023
Research & Ideas

Employee Negativity Is Like Wildfire. Manage It Before It Spreads.

a function of the wind, and whether its overall intensity is increasing or decreasing.” Thinking about managing collective emotions is like thinking about controlling a fire. You care less about the individual trees and more about whether... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

April 2008
Teaching Note

Campbell and Bailyn's Boston Office: Managing The Reorganization (Brief Case)

Teaching Note for (2182) View Details

Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Fixed Costs; Group Dynamics; Human Resource Management; Compensation; Matrix Organization; Leading Teams; Leadership; Change Management; Organizational Design; Groups and Teams; Compensation and Benefits; Sales

March 1990 (Revised July 1991)
Case

Digital Equipment Corp.: Complex Order Management

By: Janice H. Hammond

Describes the proposed creation of a low end 3000 configuration workstation using Digital's competitive advantage of offering a la carte configuration capability and ability to build different options for customers. Disadvantages of this 3000 configuration workstation... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Cost; Management Practices and Processes; Distribution; Competitive Advantage

March 2011 (Revised February 2018)
Supplement

Wealth Management Crisis at UBS (B)

By: George Serafeim

The case describes the resolution of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation for tax fraud and the increasing pressure on the wealth management business. View Details

August 2007
Module Note

Managing Networked Businesses: Platform Evolution Module

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Offers an overview of conceptual content and pedagogical guidance for instructors using a six-session module, "Platform Evolution," from "Managing Networked Businesses" (MNB), a case-based MBA elective course on platform-mediated networks. The module explores the... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Networks; Business or Company Management; Rights; Business Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Multi-Sided Platforms; Market Transactions; Innovation and Invention; Marketing; Competition; Market Entry and Exit

April 2009
Supplement

Merck: Managing Vioxx (E)

By: Robert L. Simons, Kathryn Rosenberg and Natalie Kindred

Keywords: Leadership; Decision Choices and Conditions; Customer Focus and Relationships; Pharmaceutical Industry

July 2010 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts

By: Robert G. Eccles and Kerry Herman

Daren Kemp, a partner at leadership consultancy and executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles, is responsible for the firm's relationship with Standard Chartered Bank (Standard Chartered). Standard Chartered is one of 94 companies in Heidrick's strategic partners... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Service Delivery; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy; Consulting Industry; Employment Industry

January 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Background Note

Managing Networked Businesses: Course Overview for Students

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Provides an overview for students of the MBA elective course Managing Networked Businesses (MNB). MNB focuses on management challenges in businesses that exhibit network effects. The first section of the note explains that such businesses comprise a large and growing... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Capital Structure; Business or Company Management; Network Effects; Organizational Design; Business and Government Relations; Social and Collaborative Networks; Competitive Strategy

Research Summary

Risk, Trust and Escalation Behavior of Owner Managers

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery

Professor Montgomery and Professor Deepak Malhotra (HBS), together with scientists from Harvard's Program on Evolutionary Dynamics, are studying risk-related decision making of owner managers in newly-founded and established companies. This experimental... View Details

10 Jan 2008
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Operations Management

Sharpening Your Skills dives into the HBS Working Knowledge archives to bring together articles on ways to improve your business skills. Questions to be answered: Can "lean" productions methods improve service industries? How can a company's order View Details

27 Sep 2017
HBS Seminar

Judith Chevalier, Yale School of Management

June 2007 (Revised July 2008)
Case

Kinder Morgan, Inc. - Management Buyout

Kinder Morgan, Inc., was a leader in the transportation and distribution of energy throughout North America, managing a master limited partnership with over $35 billion in infrastructure assets. In the summer of 2006, Richard Kinder, the founder and chairman of Kinder... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Fairness; Governing and Advisory Boards; Privatization; Partners and Partnerships; Conflict of Interests; North America