Publications

March 2006 (Revised November 2006)
Case

China: To Float or Not To Float? (C)- Esquel Group and the Chinese Renminbi

By: Laura Alfaro, Rafael M. Di Tella and Ingrid Vogel

In July 2005, China revalued its currency by 2.1% and adjusted its exchange rate regime toward a more market-based system. Esquel Group, a family-run, privately held textiles firm specializing in high-quality cotton shirts with its most significant manufacturing base... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Currency Exchange Rate; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Value Creation; China

December 2007 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Xanadu on Broadway

By: Anita Elberse

Can one of Hollywood's biggest flops magically turn into a Broadway hit? Xanadu, an adaptation of a 1980 Olivia Newton-John roller-disco film described by one critic as "the epic failure to end all epic failures," opened on Broadway in July 2007. Producer Rob Ahrens,... View Details

Keywords: Theater Entertainment; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Demand and Consumers; Risk and Uncertainty; Creativity; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

29 Oct 2007
HBS Case

Marketing Maria: Managing the Athlete Endorsement

When Serena Williams took Centre Court at Wimbledon on July 3, 2004, few gave her opponent, 17-year-old Russian star Maria Sharapova, much of a chance. But Sharapova took the Ladies' Singles championship in straight sets, catapulting her... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Sports

28 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

Eyes Shut: The Consequences of Not Noticing

leaders often fail to notice when their decisions indirectly hurt people—and how people often fail to hold organizations accountable for indirectly causing harm. book excerpt Failing To Notice Indirect Actions From The Power of Noticing: What the Best Leaders See View Details

Keywords: by Max H. Bazerman; Retail

March 2022 (Revised November 2024)
Case

Aldrich Capital Partners

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

By July 2016, the Aldrich Capital Partners team had spent over two years trying to raise their inaugural growth-equity fund. They had pitched to over 140 investors, but none had committed. Managing Partners Mirza Baig and Raz Zia each had extensive experience in the... View Details

Keywords: Growth Equity; Investment Evaluation; Entrepreneurship; Private Equity; Investment; Strategy; Decision Making; United States

July 2009 (Revised August 2011)
Case

What Happened at Citigroup? (A)

By: Clayton S. Rose and Aldo Sesia

What went wrong at Citigroup? In 1998, the Travelers Group and Citicorp merged to create Citigroup Inc., considered the first true global "financial supermarket" and a business model to be envied, feared, and emulated. By year-end 2006 the firm had a market... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Model; Decision Choices and Conditions; Globalized Firms and Management; Leadership; Risk Management; Failure; Financial Services Industry

18 Mar 2001
Research & Ideas

Want to Be an Entrepreneur? [Part I]

potential of new ideas could be inimical to operating a real business. All fall, the news had been sobering, as the dot-com bubble deflated, paring billions—ultimately trillions—of dollars of stock-market value from the "idea" companies that had been spawned,... View Details

Keywords: by John S. Rosenberg

Article

Chris Argyris (1923–2013)

By: Amy C. Edmondson

Chris Argyris, a pioneer in the fields of organization development, organizational learning, and action science, passed away on November 16, 2013. Argyris was born in Newark, New Jersey, on July 16, 1923, to Greek immigrant parents, and grew up in Irvington, New... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Personal Development and Career

Find at Harvard

20 Aug 2001
Research & Ideas

Making an Ally of Uncle Sam

levels, will affect structural conditions." 2 Porter integrated the impact of government into strategy development by focusing on how it affected his "five-forces" analysis of rivals, potential entrants, suppliers,... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Watkins, Mickey Edwards & Usha Thakrar

2013
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: David Weinstein and Write the World

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Juliane Calingo Schwetz and Patricia Bissett Higgins

David Weinstein, a lawyer and former Chief Administrative Officer of mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments, launched Write the World, a proprietary online platform that included a writing curriculum, essay prompts in distinct subject matter, and access to expert... View Details

Keywords: Writing; Online Platform; Social Entrepreneurship; Education; Internet and the Web; Competency and Skills; Change Management; Leadership

22 Aug 2005
Research & Ideas

The Hard Work of Failure Analysis

personal responsibility. Evidence of this problem is provided by a study of a large European telecoms company, which revealed that very little learning occurred from a set of large and small failures over a period of twenty years. Instead... View Details

Keywords: by Amy Edmondson & Mark D. Cannon

September 2023
Case

The Meteoric Rise of Skims

By: Ayelet Israeli, Jill Avery and Leonard A. Schlesinger

Since its founding in 2019 by Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede, Skims, a solutions-oriented brand creating the next generation of underwear, loungewear, and shapewear with an eye toward body-type and skin-tone inclusivity, has experienced a meteoric rise. Kardashian, who... View Details

December 2020 (Revised January 2022)
Supplement

Michael Ku and Global Clinical Supply at Pfizer Inc.: Bringing Hope to Patients (B)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2011, Michael Ku became Pfizer’s Vice President of Global Clinical Supply (GCS) after the company had undergone three large-scale mergers and acquisitions. As Ku and his new leadership team set out to build a proactive, end-to-end, digital and physical clinical... View Details

Keywords: Digital Technology; Customer-centricity; Innovation; Customer Focus; Talent; Talent Management; Leadership; Innovation and Invention; Transformation; Organizational Culture; Customer Focus and Relationships; Change Management; Talent and Talent Management; Supply Chain; Mission and Purpose

October 2004 (Revised July 2011)
Case

AT&T 2000-2004

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Kerry Herman

Provides an update on CEO Michael Armstrong's "Project Grand Slam" strategy to build the value of AT&T by offering a complete, integrated telecommunications solution to both corporate and residential customers, including wireless and wire line telephone, Internet,... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Customers; Business or Company Management; Failure; Business and Shareholder Relations; Networks; Corporate Strategy; Internet; Wireless Technology; Value Creation; Telecommunications Industry