Publications

21 Nov 2023
Research & Ideas

Employee Negativity Is Like Wildfire. Manage It Before It Spreads.

spreading, Goldenberg says. Prior research has shown that people tend to express stronger emotions when they know other people are watching. And seeing people express intense emotions also tends to amplify the emotions of the watchers. Emotions also can spread through... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

30 Apr 2024
Book

When Managers Set Unrealistic Expectations, Employees Cut Ethical Corners

willing to approve continued sales of a drug known to be lethal to some customers in fulfilment of their assigned role to maximise value for shareholders (Armstrong, 1977, p. 204). And so on. Yet, the insights from this research and their... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

June 1991 (Revised December 1997)
Case

Takeover of the Norton Co., The

By: Thomas R. Piper

After a decade of mediocre performance, the Norton Co. enters 1990 with the prospect of increased sales in the next few years. Yet Norton is pursuing slow growth industries, and a lower than expected earnings announcement at the beginning of 1990 has depressed earnings... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Goals and Objectives; Forecasting and Prediction; Performance Evaluation; Revenue; Bids and Bidding; Business Processes; Ownership Stake

26 Apr 2023
In Practice

Is AI Coming for Your Job?

irrelevant construct when considering how to harness generative AI’s capabilities. Processes ranging from negotiating contracts with vendors to developing marketing messages will be redesigned from the ground up in order to exploit the... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Technology

30 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

Why Anger Makes a Wrongly Accused Person Look Guilty

researchers were inspired to investigate the link between anger and guilt five years ago after discussing true crime documentaries and the dynamics of the falsely accused being interviewed by police. “As behavioral scientists, we wondered what faulty reasoning View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

14 Feb 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: February 14

transactional media marketplace and hoped that two new marketing analytics products would give it a more predictable revenue stream. But sales were behind forecast. DataXu’s large brand and advertising agency clients found the new... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Nov 2011
First Look

First Look: Nov. 1

capital. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/12-028.pdf Cases & Course Materials"In a Pickle: Barclays Capital and the Sale of Del Monte Foods (A) John Coates, Clayton Rose, and David LaneHarvard Business School... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

25 Jul 2006
First Look

First Look: July 25, 2006

plans, we find collaborative engagement of the functions to be a consistent process feature and operational norm encouraged and maintained by integrators. In particular, the information processing nature of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2017 (Revised April 2019)
Case

Summa Equity: Building Purpose-Driven Organizations

By: George Serafeim

In 2015, Reynir Indahl left top Nordic private equity firm Altor Equity Partners to found Summa Equity (Summa). After long contemplation following the financial crisis, Indahl was convinced the financial system was producing negative externalities and that the current... View Details

March 2007 (Revised June 2007)
Case

Wal-Mart, 2007

By: David B. Yoffie and Michael Slind

In 2007, Wal-Mart faced challenges to its historically high growth rate. Lagging same-store sales and setbacks overseas led the company to consider strategic shifts. Wal-Mart was the world's largest retailer, but competition had become particularly acute as the company... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Management Practices and Processes; Rural Scope; Human Resources; Problems and Challenges; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Globalized Firms and Management; Marketing Strategy; Growth Management; Urban Scope; Retail Industry; United States

07 Jul 2022
HBS Case

How a Multimillion-Dollar Ice Cream Startup Melted Down (and Bounced Back)

Hills was running out of money and may not make it through the lean winter months, Smith and Cuscuna were surprised. Sales had been brisk. “They built a giant factory costing almost $7 million that required View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

22 Apr 2019
Research & Ideas

Why Salespeople Struggle at Leading

This sad scenario plays out at many firms: Top-performing salespeople get promoted to become sales managers, but don’t actually know how to manage. The result is a disaster—productivity takes a dive, disgruntled salespeople start heading... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

18 Jul 2006
First Look

First Look: July 18, 2006

Working PapersNone available this week Cases & Course MaterialsThe Company Sale Process Author:William E. Fruhan Jr. Harvard Business School Note 206-108 Lays out the steps, timeline, and View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2010
Article

Beyond the Deal: Wage a 'Negotiation Campaign'

By: James K. Sebenius

While negotiation scholars primarily take the individual transaction as the "unit of analysis," this article characterizes the (new) concept of a "negotiation campaign" in which a number of individual deals must be put together, often on multiple "fronts," to realize a... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Deal; Management Practices and Processes; Value; Problems and Challenges; Business Startups; Sales; Partners and Partnerships; Venture Capital

Find at Harvard

Read Now

28 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 28

learn the unvarnished truth from relevant stakeholders about how the design and behavior of the organization is misaligned with its goals and strategy. The Strategic Fitness Process (SFP) was designed to enable leaders to overcome... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

28 Jan 2019
Research & Ideas

Forget Cash. Here Are Better Ways to Motivate Employees

types of work Cash rewards are best suited as a motivator for work that is measured quantitatively, Whillans says. Many studies of the service and sales industries show that cash rewards lead to increased View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

March 2014
Case

Babcock International Plc

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

In 2013, Babcock International Plc (Babcock) was the largest engineering services provider in the UK with sales of over £3 billion. Under the leadership of CEO Peter Rogers, Babcock had grown revenues and profits nearly tenfold over the previous decade as it benefited... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Change; Strategy And Leadership; Diversification; United Kingdom; Military; Nuclear Power; Nuclear; Engineering And Construction; Conglomerates; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Global Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Construction Industry; Energy Industry; United Kingdom