Publications

03 Apr 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Learning or Playing? The Effect of Gamified Training on Performance

Keywords: by Ryan W. Buell, Wei Cai, and Tatiana Sandino

July–August 2025
Article

How to Identify the Perfect Cofounder

By: Julia Austin

One of the first and most important decisions entrepreneurs make is whether to go it alone or bring on cofounders. Many investors favor startups with multiple founders, believing that a team reduces business risk by diversifying skills, sharing responsibilities, and... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Partners and Partnerships; Experience and Expertise

December 2001
Case

IntellectExchange, Inc.

By: James I. Cash Jr. and Janis L Gogan

A start-up intellect exchange initially offered a public expertise exchange, connecting experts with clients. Now management wonders whether a new, more focused strategy will succeed. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Experience and Expertise; Networks; Business Strategy

May 1997
Teaching Note

Introduction and Overview: Managing Product Development, Instructor's Note

By: Marco Iansiti

The first module, comprising three cases and a team exercise, provides an impressionistic look at all the issues raised in greater detail in subsequent classes. It thus enables students, who come to the course with a range of experience and skills, to get up to speed... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Product Development; Projects; Groups and Teams

September 1981 (Revised September 1986)
Case

Steinway & Sons

By: David A. Garvin

Considers whether Steinway should reintroduce a long-discontinued product line to meet competition from the Japanese. Raises the issue of just how quality is defined in this market. Looks closely at a production process relying on craft skills. Students have the... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Brands and Branding; Production; Quality; Competition

01 Jun 2012
News

Tickling the Ivories

KAO: Out of conflict and apparent mistakes, a beautiful, coherent melody. The Economist magazine has called him “Mr. Creativity” and a “serial innovator.” A former keyboard player for Frank Zappa, John Kao (MBA 1982), an HBS faculty member from 1982 to 1996, holds an... View Details

Keywords: Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

04 Feb 2022
News

Hour by Hour

Courtesy Rahkeem Morris Rahkeem Morris (MBA 2018) spent the first 10 years of his work life as an hourly wage earner, moving from one minimum wage job to the next, often without transferable skills or training. The cycle wasn’t good for businesses or for hourly... View Details

18 Nov 2020
News

Advancing Company Culture

01 Mar 2006
News

Whitehead Urges MBAs to Become Lifelong Leaders

WHITEHEAD (with moderator George):Because "the world cries out for leadership," HBS students must lead not just in their companies but in their lives. John C. Whitehead (MBA 11/ ’47), one of HBS’s most distinguished graduates, is a powerful role model for younger... View Details

01 Mar 2003
News

Student Snapshot

Second-year student Carlin (“Carly”) Janson divides her time between studying at HBS and managing the Catalyst Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship (Catalyst Alliance), the Cambridgebased social enterprise consultancy she founded while working at Accenture. Catalyst... View Details

Keywords: Nancy O. Perry; Catalyst Alliance; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

December 2009 (Revised January 2010)
Case

Managing Talent at Bertelsmann AG (A)

By: Boris Groysberg, Nitin Nohria, Mark Maletz and Kerry Herman

Bertelsmann's EVP HR Immanuel Hermreck and his team were focused on four key HR issues. Three of these were somewhat discreet: improving Bertelsmann's employer brand; managing Bertelsmann talent across the firm's decentralized businesses; and ensuring early... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Recruitment; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Leadership Development; Strategic Planning; Competitive Advantage; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Germany

01 Sep 2011
News

Alumni Book Briefs

Raising Eyebrows: A Failed Entrepreneur Finally Gets It Right by Dal LaMagna (MBA ’70) (Wiley) When LaMagna graduated from HBS, his entrepreneurial activities — including operating discos in drive-in theaters and working with the 1960s musical teen sensations the... View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

21 Oct 2010
News

Hell? Maybe Not.

MBA Recruiting Twitter feed Some students call it “hell week,” but the serene second floor of the Doubletree Guest Suites in Cambridge reveals none of the angst associated with the job interviews taking place. When I arrive midmorning, there are still a few yogurt... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

22 Jun 2011
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Motivation

Questions To Be Answered What's the best bonus program to boost sales productivity? Can companies inspire heroism in employees? Can employers promote moral behavior? Does money lead to creativity? What's The Best Bonus Program To Boost Sales Productivity? Do Bonuses... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty

February 2020 (Revised August 2020)
Case

Catalant's Operating System for the Future of Work

By: Christopher Stanton, William R. Kerr, James Palano and Kendall Smith

This case touches on the topics of project-based work, agile methodology, and skill and talent management through Catalant's evolution as a company. Catalant’s journey to becoming a software platform and talent marketplace provides context for students to explore new... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Information Technology; Talent and Talent Management; Business Model; Transformation

December 2007 (Revised February 2009)
Case

Don Jenkins: Resigning from the Firm

By: Boris Groysberg, Geoff Eckman Marietta and Steven Manchel

Don Jenkins, a star event planner at a large firm, resigns to take a position at a boutique firm. However, Don may have made some mistakes when departing that could be trouble later on down the road. The case can be used to teach the business and legal aspects of... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Resignation and Termination; Retention; Law; Service Industry

Find at Harvard

2008
Working Paper

Workplace Peers and Entrepreneurship

By: Ramana Nanda and Jesper B. Sorensen

We examine whether the likelihood of entrepreneurial activity is related to the prior career experiences of an individual's co-workers, using a unique matched employer-employee panel dataset. We argue that coworkers can increase the likelihood that an individual... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Power and Influence