Publications

February 2004 (Revised May 2005)
Supplement

Confronting a Necessary Evil: The Firing of Alex Robins (B)

By: Joshua D. Margolis

A manager recounts his experience firing the person he was asked to replace and reflects on the challenges of the experience. Teaching Purpose: To role-play and reflect on tasks that entail harming other people to fulfill one's responsibility. View Details

Keywords: Resignation and Termination

17 Feb 2022
Book

When Employees Feel a Sense of Purpose, Companies Succeed

book, Deep Purpose: The Heart and Soul of High-Performance Companies, I explore how some leaders embrace “deep purpose” as a generative force that can be a catalyst to achieve both impressive economic results View Details

Keywords: by Ranjay Gulati

15 Jul 2019
Book

Many Executives Are Afraid of Finance. Here's How They Can Gain Confidence

Finance can be intimidating, and many business executives don’t even try to get their arms around it. But Harvard Business School Professor Mihir Desai says business leaders need to engage with the world of finance in order to succeed.... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

October 2018 (Revised March 2019)
Background Note

Note on Managing Workforce Reductions

By: Ethan Bernstein and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Each individual who enters an organization will, at some point, leave. And yet most future leaders spend significantly more effort learning about recruiting than departures, despite the sensitivity and challenges associated with the latter. This note is intended to... View Details

Keywords: Layoffs; Downsizing; Workforce; Workforce Reductions; Delayering; Human Resources; Employees; Resignation and Termination; Management; Organizations; Reputation

January 2011 (Revised July 2011)
Supplement

Caterpillar, Inc. (B)

By: David F. Hawkins

Analyst must identify role of management and actuarial judgment in measuring corporate post employment benefit obligations and assets. View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Compensation and Benefits; Resignation and Termination; Manufacturing Industry; Mining Industry; Consumer Products Industry

03 Dec 2014
What Do You Think?

Can the Brilliant Jerk Be Managed Effectively?

on; beginning an intervention with the offender early on; providing an opportunity for attitude improvement, possibly with the engagement of a counselor or coach; and then terminating in a timely fashion the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

22 May 2017
Lessons from the Classroom

A Luxury Industry Veteran Teaches the Importance of Aesthetics to Budding Business Leaders

Pauline Brown joined the HBS faculty following a tenure as Chairman of North America at the French luxury goods conglomerate, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. (Photo credit: Albert Cheung) To future CEOs who want to succeed in the business of making View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Beauty & Cosmetics; Apparel & Accessories; Auto; Tourism

03 Oct 2005
Research & Ideas

The Box Office Power of Stars

such, from the perspective of the trader, the market works much like any other stock exchange. Movies have an initial public offering once the project first takes shape, and traders can buy, sell, cover, and... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Entertainment & Recreation; Motion Pictures & Video

December 8, 2022
Article

What Companies Still Get Wrong about Layoffs

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Marilyn Morgan Westner

Research has long shown that layoffs have a detrimental effect on individuals and on corporate performance. The short-term cost savings provided by a layoff are often overshadowed by bad publicity, loss of knowledge, weakened engagement, higher voluntary turnover, and... View Details

Keywords: Resignation and Termination; Employment; Selection and Staffing; Performance

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January 2011
Case

Exit Strategy (A)

By: Clayton S. Rose and Justine Kelly Lelchuk

Jeff Brown wondered whether now was the right time to call his boss, and friend, Bernard Tubiana. Brown was a rising star at Deloitte Consulting and three weeks into an important project for Aflac. He was about to receive an offer from Aflac's major competitor,... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Ethics; Employees; Resignation and Termination; Service Industry

January 2011
Supplement

Exit Strategy (C)

By: Clayton S. Rose and Justine Kelly Lelchuk

Supplements the (B) case. View Details

Keywords: Resignation and Termination; Service Industry

2006
Case

Strategies for Preventing a Knowledge-Loss Crisis

When employees leave an organization, they depart with more than what they know; they also leave with critical knowledge about who they know. Thus, the departure of key people can significantly affect the relationship structure and consequent functioning of an... View Details

Keywords: Analytics; Networks; Knowledge Management; Resignation and Termination

August 1993
Case

You've Just Got to Fire Him (A)

A CEO has decided to fire his head of sales, but stumbles over the question of when and how? This case describes the background and the resolution that it had to be done in June of 1992 in a particular way. View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Resignation and Termination

Find at Harvard

April 2004 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Precise Software

By: Paul A. Gompers and Sara Bergson

Yossi Sela, general partner at Gemini Venture capital, considers a new investment in Precise Software. The firm is at a crisis point, and Sela needs to decide whether he will fire the firm's chief executive officer. Conflicts between the American CEO and the Israeli... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment; Resignation and Termination; Crisis Management; Managerial Roles; Conflict and Resolution; Israel; United States