Publications

06 Sep 2005
Research & Ideas

When Product Variety Backfires

co-written by professor Dilip Soman of the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, demonstrates that sometimes offering too many choices prompts the confused consumer to defer a purchase or run to the arms of a competitor... View Details

Keywords: by Poping Lin; Consumer Products

09 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

The Challenge of the Multi-site Nonprofit

Why is it more difficult for nonprofit organizations than, say, retail chains, to run efficient multi-site operations? A recent Harvard Business Review story concluded that nonprofits waste $100 billion a year through inefficient... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

September 1976 (Revised July 1995)
Case

Texas Instruments: Time Products Division

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Outlines the components of Texas Instruments' low-cost digital watch. Focus is on getting the assembly line running smoothly and efficiently in order to meet production cost and delivery requirements. View Details

Keywords: Cost; Production; Service Delivery; Performance Efficiency; Electronics Industry; Technology Industry

August 1999 (Revised June 2008)
Case

Taran Swan at Nickelodeon Latin America (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Kristin Doughty

Eighteen months after launching Nickelodeon Latin America, general manager Taran Swan must leave the company's Miami headquarters for her New York home because of complications with her pregnancy. Unable to travel for at least the next six months, Swan must decide how... View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Leadership Style; Managerial Roles; Organizational Culture; Groups and Teams

March–April 2024
Article

Case Study: Navigating Labor Unrest

By: Jorge Tamayo

Paulo Ferreira, the president of Luna Brazil, has an ambitious plan to turn around the dismal performance of the plant he oversees in Campinas. The wrinkle is, he needs the buy-in of the powerful local union, which is still smarting from a 10-year-old labor conflict... View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Layoffs; Manufacturing; Labor and Management Relations; Labor Unions; Negotiation Tactics; Conflict and Resolution; Performance Improvement; Corporate Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Brazil

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09 Aug 2016
Video

The Making of an Internship: An Effective Onboarding Process

March 2000 (Revised May 2000)
Case

Evolution of eCoverage in the Online Insurance Market, The

David Riker, the founder and chairman of eCoverage, an online insurance company, describes the various phases of company development, such as presenting a business plan, gathering a management team, getting the word out, and running the site. View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Insurance Industry

11 Jun 2013
News

Harvard professor finds online adverts offer better value

17 Jan 2020
News

Review: Competing in the Digital Age

January 2016 (Revised May 2016)
Case

IKEA in Saudi Arabia (A)

By: Karthik Ramanna, Jérôme Lenhardt and Marc Homsy

A Swedish newspaper reveals that IKEA has erased all images of women from its catalog for Saudi Arabia. The article sparks criticism of IKEA from the Swedish government and its customers in the West. Critics contend that IKEA is not living up to its own commitments to... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Values; Islam; Multinationals; Globalization; Leadership; Equality and Inequality; Multinational Firms and Management; Religion; Organizational Culture; Gender; Consumer Products Industry; Saudi Arabia; Sweden

January 2021 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Tech with a Side of Pizza: How Domino's Rose to the Top

By: Boris Groysberg, Sarah L. Abbott and Susan Seligson

After hitting an all-time low in 2008, Domino’s Pizza underwent a vigorous rebranding, product development, and embraced innovative technologies to become the world’s leading international fast-food retailer. Domino’s considered itself as much a tech company as it was... View Details

01 Apr 2020
Blog Post

The Product Design Sprint - 5 Things I Learned in Launch Lab 1

were required to run a “design sprint” – a structured and rigorous process for quickly identifying critical questions facing a venture, and rapidly developing multiple answers to these questions to test with stakeholders. A highlight of... View Details

11 Apr 2012
News

The 'Links' Between Golf and Leadership

05 Mar 2015
Video

EiR Jim Sharpe, former president of Extrusion Technology

24 Feb 2016
News

What Jane Austen Could Teach Donald Trump

03 Jun 2019
Video

Overcoming institutional voids to succeed in emerging markets

September 2016
Case

Truly Human Leadership at Barry-Wehmiller

By: Dylan Minor and Jan Rivkin

The chief executive of Barry-Wehmiller, a large maker of industrial equipment, has resolved to run the company via “truly human leadership” in which “success is measured by the way we touch the lives of people.” With unusual people practices and a distinctive strategy,... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Values and Beliefs; Organizational Culture; Employees; Business Strategy; Manufacturing Industry

August 2011 (Revised July 2014)
Case

Earl Martin Phalen: Ready to ROAR?

By: Noam T. Wasserman, Julia Taylor and Yael Braid

Earl Martin Phalen is in the midst of starting his second non-profit organization, Summer Advantage, by implementing the lessons he learned from BELL, the non-profit he had founded and run for the prior 15 years. His aspirations for Summer Advantage were to make it... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Nonprofit Organizations; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Selection and Staffing; Leadership Development; Financial Management