Publications

May 2010 (Revised June 2012)
Case

From Imitation to Innovation: Zongshen Industrial Group

By: Willy Shih and Nancy Hua Dai

As Zuo Zongshen drove the transformation of the Zongshen Industrial Group from an early imitator in the motorcycle business to a company that increasingly focused on innovation as a way to get out of the hyper-competitive commodity business, he continually faced new... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Learning; Investment; Disruptive Innovation; Knowledge Acquisition; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Competitive Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Motorcycle Industry; China

02 Aug 2022
Research & Ideas

6 Strategies for Building Socially Responsible—and Profitable—Companies

A dozen years ago, Harvard Business School Professor George Serafeim wondered why some companies operated with an eye toward the greater good, while most did not. Back then, he always got the same response: Corporate leaders thought social and environmental practices... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

Web

Browse All Articles, Research, & Case Studies - HBS Working Knowledge

ensuring implementation, and the critical importance of corporate involvement in driving ambitious climate action. 05 Nov 2024 Book Building the Road to 'Small Business Utopia' with AI and Fintech by Karen G. Mills Could artificial... View Details

April 2011 (Revised June 2014)
Case

Securities Lending After the Financial Crisis

By: Robert C. Pozen and Gayle Hameister

In April 2009, Wendy Jefferson had just returned to her office following a whirlwind day of meetings with her newest client, Star Advisor. Jefferson, a financial services consultant, was eager to dig into the information provided to her and her team about the Star... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Debt Securities; Financing and Loans; Investment Funds; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Information

26 Jul 2016
First Look

July 26, 2016

impressions of the expresser. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51400 Can Paying Firms Quicker Affect Aggregate Employment? By: Barrot, Jean-Noel, and Ramana Nanda Abstract—In 2011, the federal government accelerated payments to their... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 1990 (Revised October 1997)
Case

Siemens Electric Motor Works (A) (Abridged)

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Explores how a cost system can help support a firm's decision to change strategies. In the process, the students are introduced to a simple activity-based cost system. Siemens Electric Motor Works found itself facing an increasingly competitive environment and so made... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Cost Accounting; Cost; Adoption; Cost vs Benefits; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Production; Business Strategy; Electronics Industry; Manufacturing Industry

June 2025
Case

Vail Resorts: Responding to Activist Pressure (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Edward A. Meyer

On January 27, 2025, the head of a relatively small hedge fund named Late Apex Partners sent a highly critical letter to the board of directors of Vail Resorts, the world’s largest ski resort operator. In his letter, and the 88-slide presentation that accompanied his... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Finance; Capital Budgeting; Corporate Governance; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Leading Change; Valuation; Investment Activism; Climate Change; Management Succession; Financial Management; Risk Management; Business and Shareholder Relations; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Travel Industry; United States; Australia; Canada

08 Sep 2010
News

Emerging Scholar Award

05 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

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

says Letian Zhang, the study’s author and an assistant professor of business administration at HBS. “Organizations are adopting a more bottom-up approach, so they’re trying to unleash the potential, the... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

September 2007
Article

Investigative Negotiation

By: Deepak Malhotra and Max H. Bazerman

This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading. Negotiators often fail to achieve results because they channel too much effort into... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Tactics; Motivation and Incentives; Perspective; Pharmaceutical Industry

Find at Harvard

Rob Markey is a Senior Lecturer of Business Administration in the Technology and Operations Unit at Harvard Business School. He teaches Managing Service Operations in the MBA elective curriculum. The course focuses on how to effectively design,... View Details

07 Apr 2022
Blog Post

Product Management at HBS: Roll Up Your Sleeves and Learn by Doing

a mobile base building game called Regent, and by taking a series of elective courses across multiple disciplines, from artificial intelligence to data science to business strategy. The Product Management 101 class taught by Professor... View Details

19 Oct 2021
Research & Ideas

Fed Up Workers and Supply Woes: What's Next for Dollar Stores?

stores,” which now outnumber all of the Starbucks and McDonald’s in the United States combined. They will account for 40 percent of all new store openings this year, according to a Coresight Research report. Willy Shih, the Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Management... View Details

Keywords: by Christine Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette; Retail

14 Sep 2018
Blog Post

10 Things I Learned During My First Month in the MS/MBA: Engineering Sciences Program

skills with big-picture business vision. I chose Harvard’s MS/MBA: Engineering Sciences Program to become a strong leader while also refining the skills I would need to succeed in deeply technical fields. I arrived in Boston on an... View Details

October 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Thermax—Changing of the Guard

By: Christina R. Wing and Inakshi Sobti

Thermax is an engineering company in India that provides integrated solutions in energy, environment, and chemicals. The Aga family along with family trusts owns 62% of the company. Post a restructuring exercise in 2000, Thermax transforms itself from a small family... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Transformation; Business Conglomerates; Strategy; Management Succession; Selection and Staffing; Organizational Culture