Publications

March 1998 (Revised April 1998)
Case

Lehigh Steel

By: V.G. Narayanan and Laura Donohue

Lehigh Steel is a specialty steel manufacturer that plummeted from record profits to record losses in less than three years, driven by an inability to distinguish between profitable and unprofitable business. The scale and growth of service activities and overhead... View Details

Keywords: Measurement and Metrics; Product; Cost; Activity Based Costing and Management; Profit; Accounting; Corporate Finance; Steel Industry

January 2024
Case

The Financial Times (FT) and Generative AI

By: Andrew Rashbass, Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Jordan Mitchell

In September 2023, John Ridding, CEO of the Financial Times, was considering the possible impact of Generative AI on the industry and his business. Having navigated successfully the seismic shift from print to digital, and reporting record results, the company... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Technology Adoption; Change Management; Journalism and News Industry

13 Dec 2022
Interview

Why Some Start-Ups Fail to Scale

By: Jeffrey Rayport and Curt Nickisch

Managing rapid growth is a huge challenge for young businesses. Even start-ups with glowing reviews and skyrocketing sales can fail. That’s because new ventures and corporate initiatives alike have to sustain profitability at scale, according to Harvard Business School... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Growth Management; Outcome or Result; Transition

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April 2006
Case

Edison Schools, Inc.: From the Candle to the Light Bulb?

Edison Schools, Inc., a pioneer in the for-profit management of public schools, demonstrates the challenges and opportunities related to private sector involvement in the delivery of a public good. Follows the organization from its start-up through its initial public... View Details

Keywords: Private Ownership; Public Sector; Education; Conflict and Resolution; Public Administration Industry; Education Industry; United States

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December 2002 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Basel II: Assessing the Default and Loss Characteristics of Project Finance Loans (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Aldo Sesia

In June 1999, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision announced plans to revise the capital standards for banks. The Basel Committee believed that project loans were significantly riskier than corporate loans and, therefore, warranted higher capital charges under... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Project Finance; Financing and Loans; Projects; Standards; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry

2008
Working Paper

The Effect of Labor on Profitability: The Role of Quality

By: Zeynep Ton

Determining staffing levels is an important decision in retail operations. While the costs of increasing labor are obvious and easy to measure, the benefits are often indirect and not immediately felt. One benefit of increased labor is improved quality. The objective... View Details

Keywords: Profit; Selection and Staffing; Service Delivery; Business Processes; Quality; Retail Industry

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14 Jan 2019
Op-Ed

These 4 CEOs Created a New Standard of Leadership

contribute to society in meaningful ways, not just profit from it. They believed that organization had to benefit all stakeholders: their customers, employees, shareholders, and communities and that this approach would result in sustained... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Health; Banking; Food & Beverage; Consumer Products

May 2003
Case

Sun Hydraulics: Leading in Tough Times (A) (Abridged)

By: Linda A. Hill and Jennifer Suesse

Sun Hydraulics, 32-year-old global hydraulics engineering and manufacturing company headquartered in Sarasota, Florida; confronts tough choices due to the economic downturn in 2001. The company leadership debates how to maintain profitability and reduce labor costs... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Mission and Purpose; Financial Crisis; Crisis Management; Manufacturing Industry; Florida

August 2024 (Revised February 2025)
Case

Novo Nordisk Foundation

By: Debora L. Spar and Julia M. Comeau

In 2024, Novo Nordisk A/S was one of the most profitable firms in the world, thanks largely to just two GLP-1-based drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy. Unusually, this incredibly profitable firm was controlled not by individual private shareholders, but by a non-profit... View Details

Keywords: Pharmaceutical Companies; Diabetes; Obesity; Foundation; Non-profit Management; Profit; Corporate Governance; Business or Company Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Expansion; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Nonprofit Organizations; Pharmaceutical Industry; Denmark; Europe

Research Summary

Overview

By: Ethan C. Rouen

Relying on empirical archival methodologies—as well as techniques in data science—to develop and structure new sources of data by which to approach questions of looming disclosure changes, Professor Rouen has focused on one of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s... View Details

23 Jan 2013
Research & Ideas

Three-Dimensional Strategy: Winning the Multisided Platform

third party. By contrast, a grocery store also creates a space for consumers and multiple brands to meet—but the store controls the transaction, serving as a reseller. Done right, the MSP model has proven extremely lucrative, throwing off much higher percentage View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

June 2007 (Revised February 2008)
Case

Ericsson: Leading in Times of Change

By: Das Narayandas, Vincent Marie Dessain, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Anders Sjoman

After its dramatic corporate turnaround, the Swedish telecom infrastructure company Ericsson hires a new CEO to bring the former Swedish flagship company back on track. Puts students in the shoes of Carl-Henric Svanberg, an industry outsider and CEO of locks group Assy... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Profit; Leading Change; Goals and Objectives; Managerial Roles; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Problems and Challenges; Sweden

January 2003 (Revised April 2003)
Case

Sun Hydraulics: Leading in Tough Times (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Jennifer Suesse

Sun Hydraulics, 32-year-old global hydraulics engineering and manufacturing company headquartered in Sarasota, Florida, confronts tough choices due to the economic downturn in 2001. The company leadership debates how to maintain profitability and reduce labor costs... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Mission and Purpose; Financial Crisis; Crisis Management; Manufacturing Industry; Florida

09 Oct 2013
News

Why business can be good at solving social problems

November 2011
Article

How Great Companies Think Differently

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Corporate leaders have long subscribed to the belief that the sole purpose of business is to make money. That narrow view, deeply embedded in the American capitalist system, molds the actions of most corporations, constraining them to focus on maximizing short-term... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Profit; Leadership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Shareholder Relations; Behavior; Social Issues; Competitive Advantage

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Leonard A. Schlesinger is Baker Foundation Professor at the Harvard Business School where he serves as Chair of the School’s Practice based faculty and faculty Chair of the MBA Field Global Immersion program. He has served as a member of the HBS faculty from 1978 to... View Details

March 2022 (Revised October 2022)
Case

Transforming Kimball International, Inc. (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

Kimball International, Inc. (KII), led by CEO Kristie Juster, and its board of directors, chaired by Kim Ryan, faced critical questions about KII’s future in the spring of 2021. Two years earlier, the board had appointed Juster as the new CEO of KII, a publicly traded,... View Details

March 1999
Case

MySoftware Company (A)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Nicole Tempest

In 1997, Gregory Slayton took the position as CEO of MySoftware, which had been experiencing revenue and operating losses for the past two years. Within 90 days, he stabilized the company through a combination of cost cutting, financial discipline, and accountability... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Cost Management; Profit; Employees; Growth and Development Strategy; Operations; Outcome or Result; Partners and Partnerships; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Information Technology Industry