Publications

November 2022 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Northvolt: Building Batteries to Fight Climate Change

By: George Serafeim, Debora L. Spar and Julia M. Comeau

In 2016, Swedish entrepreneurs Carl-Erik Lagercrantz and Peter Carlsson founded an electric battery company called Northvolt with the dual goals of creating a company to address climate change and bringing battery manufacture to Europe. Northvolt, which succeeded in... View Details

Keywords: Batteries; Climate Change; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Green Technology; Mission and Purpose; Goals and Objectives; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Green Technology Industry; Battery Industry; Sweden; Europe

November 2022 (Revised December 2024)
Course Overview Note

The Entrepreneurial Manager: Spring 2025

By: Christina Wallace and Jo Tango

Every Harvard Business School first-year student enrolls in "The Entrepreneurial Manager," a course that focuses on leadership in entrepreneurial settings. This document outlines the course's goals and approach. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Entrepreneurs; Founders; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Leadership

February 1996 (Revised June 1997)
Case

Northern Telecom (B)

By: Robert J. Dolan and Sylvie Ryckebusch

Documents two problems in the product development process of Northern Telecom's new Greenwich key systems product line. These problems are due to the conflicting goals of the marketing, design, and manufacturing groups in the product development team. A rewritten... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Product Development; Goals and Objectives; Telecommunications Industry

October 2013 (Revised November 2021)
Case

Cynthia Carroll at Anglo American (A)

By: Gautam Mukunda, Lisa Mazzanti and Aldo Sesia

In 2007, Cynthia Carroll, the newly-appointed chief executive of mining giant Anglo American, was considering shutting down mines in South Africa for safety reasons, namely worker fatalities. No company had ever done so before. Carroll felt that operating a company... View Details

Keywords: Culture; Leadership; Gender; Safety; Working Conditions; Business Exit or Shutdown; Organizational Culture; Change Management; Mining; Mining Industry; South Africa

31 May 2015
News

Harvard Management Professor: What Your Team Is Really Afraid of

September 2020 (Revised July 2021)
Case

Moderna (A)

By: Marco Iansiti, Karim R. Lakhani, Hannah Mayer and Kerry Herman

In summer 2020, Stephane Bancel, CEO of biotech firm Moderna, faces several challenges as his company races to develop a vaccine for COVID-19. The case explores how a company builds a digital organization, and leverages artificial intelligence and other digital... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Vaccine; Digital Organizations; Organizational Structure; Operations; Management; Health Pandemics; Research and Development; Goals and Objectives

25 Apr 2014
Video

Annie Bertrand - Making A Difference

Jillian J. Jordan

Jillian Jordan is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration in the Negotiation, Organizations & Markets Unit at Harvard Business School. She teaches Negotiations in the MBA elective curriculum.

Professor Jordan’s research investigates moral... View Details

June 2020
Case

What IKEA Do We Want?

By: Juan Alcácer, Cynthia A. Montgomery, Emilie Billaud and Vincent Dessain

In 2018, Swedish furniture maker IKEA was undergoing a significant transformation. Challenged by the rise of online shopping and changing consumer behavior, and mourning the death of its founder, the Company's top executives knew they had to step out of their comfort... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Transformation; Leading Change; Mission and Purpose; Business Model; Emerging Markets; Customer Focus and Relationships; Organizational Culture; Disruption; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry; Europe; Netherlands; Sweden; China; India; United States

30 Mar 2015
Video

Jennifer Moses - Making A Difference

12 PM – 1 PM EST, 15 Feb 2022
Virtual Programming

Career Check-Up

Using a very simple framework, this program will leave you with an 8-point career inspection from which you can define what is working well, along with areas that need attention. Takeaways will include greater professional self-awareness, goal setting and action... View Details

August 2013 (Revised September 2013)
Course Overview Note

Entrepreneurship in Healthcare IT Services (EHITS) Fall Term 2013: Course Outline and Syllabus

By: Robert F. Higgins

This is the syllabus and course outline for "Entrepreneurship in Healthcare IT and Services (EHITS)" taught by Prof. Bob Higgins in the fall of 2013. Contains the course overview, objectives, goals and themes. View Details

Keywords: Healthcare Technology; Health Services; Healthcare Ventures; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Information Technology; Health Industry; Technology Industry; United States

27 Sep 2016
News

How Men & Women See the Workplace Differently

April 2018 (Revised March 2019)
Case

Tesla-SolarCity

By: E. Scott Mayfield and Emil N. Siriwardane

On June 21, 2016, Tesla Motors, Inc. announced its offer to acquire SolarCity, bringing CEO Elon Musk one step closer to completing his goal of moving the world from a hydrocarbon-based economy to a solar-electric one. Markets and analysts were mixed in their reaction... View Details

Keywords: Tesla; SolarCity; Solar Power; Mergers and Acquisitions; Renewable Energy; Goals and Objectives; Finance

March 2003 (Revised December 2003)
Exercise

Organizational Alignment Exercise

By: Michael Beer and John J. Gabarro

Presents an overview of a method for diagnosing and developing an organization's capability to achieve its goals and implement its strategy, with exercises for application. A rewritten version of an earlier exercise. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Alignment

14 Jul 2015
News

How Women Can Succeed by Networking Authentically

February 2018 (Revised May 2018)
Case

Haier: Incubating Entrepreneurs in a Chinese Giant

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Nancy Hua Dai

CEO Zhang Ruimin must plan how to accelerate the growth of self-managed microenterprises. Platforms were Haier’s business platforms operating in five major sectors: white goods transformation, investment and incubation, financial holdings, real estate, and cultural... View Details

Keywords: China; Microenterprise; Appliances; Platform; Change; Innovation; Opportunities; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Transformation; Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; China

March–April 2024
Article

How Fast Should Your Company Really Grow?

By: Gary P. Pisano

Growth—in revenues and profits—is the yardstick by which the competitive fitness and health of organizations is measured. Consistent profitable growth is thus a near universal goal for leaders—and an elusive one.

To achieve that goal, companies need a growth... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Strategy; Organizational Culture