Filter Results:
(784)
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(784)
- News (113)
- Research (609)
- Events (1)
- Multimedia (3)
- Faculty Publications (288)
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(784)
- News (113)
- Research (609)
- Events (1)
- Multimedia (3)
- Faculty Publications (288)
- August 2015 (Revised June 2021)
- Case
Amazon.com, 2021
By: John R. Wells, Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth and Galen Danskin
In February 2021, Amazon announced 2020 operating profits of $22,899 million, up from $2,233 million in 2015, on sales of $386 billion, up from $107 billion five years earlier (see Exhibit 1). The shareholders expressed their satisfaction (see Exhibit 2), but not all... View Details
Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Internet; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Digital Platforms; Competition; Internet and the Web; Corporate Strategy; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Price; Applications and Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle
Wells, John R., Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth, and Galen Danskin. "Amazon.com, 2021." Harvard Business School Case 716-402, August 2015. (Revised June 2021.)
Reza R. Satchu
Reza Satchu is a Senior Lecturer in the Entrepreneurship Management Unit at the Harvard Business School where he teaches The Entrepreneurial Manager, The Founder Mindset and Founder Launch. He is also the Founder, Managing Partner and majority shareholder of... View Details
- May 2016
- Article
'Both/And' Leadership
By: Wendy K. Smith, Marianne Lewis and Michael Tushman
Leaders face a multitude of strategic paradoxes—contradictory pressures that are too often viewed as "either/or" choices. There are innovation paradoxes, in which the pursuit of new offerings and processes conflicts with the mandate to sustain the tried and... View Details
Smith, Wendy K., Marianne Lewis, and Michael Tushman. "'Both/And' Leadership." Harvard Business Review 94, no. 5 (May 2016): 62–70.
- February 2025
- Article
Deep Responsibility, SDGs, and Asia: A Historical Perspective
By: Geoffrey Jones
Although it was only in 2015 the 17 SDGs were adopted by UN Member States, many of the underlying ideas can be found in the strategies of some businesses going back to the nineteenth century. Asia was the home of many of the most advanced concepts of business... View Details
Keywords: ESG; Multinational Corporation; Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Governance; Leadership; Asia
Jones, Geoffrey. "Deep Responsibility, SDGs, and Asia: A Historical Perspective." Asian Business & Management 24, no. 1 (February 2025): 25–32.
- December 1999 (Revised March 2000)
- Case
Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B)
At the May 1996 annual shareholders meeting, Alcoa CEO Paul O'Neill reported that Alcoa was making great progress toward becoming a world-class leader, both in terms of workplace safety and profitability. This validated of O'Neill's decade-long emphasis on safety as... View Details
Spear, Steven J. "Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B)." Harvard Business School Case 600-068, December 1999. (Revised March 2000.)
TransDigm in 2017: The Beginning of the End or The End of the Beginning?
TransDigm, an incredibly successful yet relatively unknown company, manufactures a wide range of highly engineered aerospace parts utilizing a somewhat controversial strategy. In the 10 years following its IPO in March 2006, its stock price increased by... View Details
- December 1996 (Revised July 1997)
- Case
USG Corporation
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Tara L. Nells
In 1988, USG was the world's largest gypsum producer and one of the world's largest building-products companies. On May 2, 1988, USG's board of directors announced a proposed leveraged recapitalization plan to thwart a hostile cash tender offer by Desert Partners. With... View Details
Keywords: Capital Structure; Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Governance; Valuation; Cash Flow; Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; United States
Esty, Benjamin C., and Tara L. Nells. "USG Corporation." Harvard Business School Case 297-052, December 1996. (Revised July 1997.)
- 2012
- Working Paper
A Framework for Research on Corporate Accountability Reporting
By: Karthik Ramanna
This paper provides an accounting-based conceptual framing of the phenomenon of corporate accountability reporting. Such reporting is seen as arising from a delegator's (e.g., a citizenry) demand to hold a delegate (e.g., shareholders) to account. When effective,... View Details
Keywords: Integrated Corporate Reporting; For-Profit Firms; Framework; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Research; Environmental Sustainability; Social Issues
Ramanna, Karthik. "A Framework for Research on Corporate Accountability Reporting." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 12-021, September 2011. (Revised July 2012, October 2012.)
- January 2020
- Case
Wuxi Lead Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd.
By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock
In 2019, Wuxi Lead Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. (Lead) was the largest supplier of lithium-ion rechargeable battery manufacturing equipment in the world. Based in Wuxi, China, the company generated RMB 3.9 billion ($557 million) in revenues in 2018, up from RMB 175... View Details
- April 2016 (Revised June 2017)
- Teaching Note
Dollar General Bids for Family Dollar
By: Jonas Heese, Paula A. Price and Suraj Srinivasan
In spring 2015, Dollar General CEO Rick Dreiling was looking ahead to retiring at year's end but worried about ensuring continued growth for the company he had built since 2008 into a market leader in the U.S. discount retail world. Dollar General operated over 11,500... View Details
- February 2011 (Revised April 2012)
- Case
Braddock Industries, Inc.
This case examines the drivers of economic value creation for shareholders, and how these drivers are reflected in various incentive compensation programs for management. The case also looks at how the economic performance of business units can be evaluated using... View Details
Keywords: Business Units; Investment; Executive Compensation; Measurement and Metrics; Performance Evaluation; Business and Shareholder Relations; Motivation and Incentives; Value Creation
Fruhan, William E. "Braddock Industries, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 211-061, February 2011. (Revised April 2012.)
- March 2009 (Revised September 2010)
- Case
HOYA Corporation (A)
By: W. Carl Kester and Masako Egawa
In 2007, HOYA of Japan must decide whether to change its friendly exchange offer for Pentax into a hostile cash tender offer. A surprising sequence of events had caused a friendly merger agreement to fall apart, resulting in a boardroom coup at Pentax and the... View Details
Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Investment Activism; Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Governing and Advisory Boards; Negotiation Tactics; Business and Shareholder Relations; Valuation; Japan
Kester, W. Carl, and Masako Egawa. "HOYA Corporation (A)." Harvard Business School Case 209-065, March 2009. (Revised September 2010.)
- June 2007 (Revised December 2007)
- Case
AFL-CIO: Office of Investment and Home Depot
By: Rakesh Khurana and James Weber
Describes the AFL-CIO: Office of Investments activities in their campaign to improve governance at Home Depot by calling attention to Home Depot CEO Robert Nardelli's compensation package and the company's poor performance. The AFL-CIO Office of Investments advocates... View Details
Keywords: Investment; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Labor Unions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business and Shareholder Relations
Khurana, Rakesh, and James Weber. "AFL-CIO: Office of Investment and Home Depot." Harvard Business School Case 407-097, June 2007. (Revised December 2007.)
- Research Summary
Corporate Governance
The characteristics and structure of boards of directors have important implications for firm performance. Professor Wang has found that firms with well-connected boards whose members have strong network connections provide economic benefits that are not immediately... View Details
Acquirer-Target Social Ties and Merger Outcomes
This paper investigates the effect of social ties between acquirers and targets on merger performance. We find that the extent of cross-firm social connection between directors and senior executives at the acquiring and the target firms has a significantly negative... View Details
- February 7, 2023
- Editorial
Business Schools are Ignoring Students’ Changing Aspirations: They Must Focus on Management as a Calling
By: Andrew J. Hoffman
Many management students today are concerned about the mounting threats of climate change, income inequality, health care, and more. They increasingly see business as a place to make a difference in the world. Andrew Hoffman writes that business schools are slow to... View Details
Hoffman, Andrew J. "Business Schools are Ignoring Students’ Changing Aspirations: They Must Focus on Management as a Calling." LSE Business Review (February 7, 2023).
- November 2009
- Article
Responding to Public and Private Politics: Corporate Disclosure of Climate Change Strategies
By: Erin Marie Reid and Michael W. Toffel
The challenges associated with climate change will require governments, citizens, and firms to work collaboratively to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a task that requires information on companies' emissions levels, risks, and reduction opportunities. This paper... View Details
Keywords: Climate Change; Problems and Challenges; Pollutants; Risk and Uncertainty; Business and Shareholder Relations; Management Practices and Processes; Social Issues; Corporate Disclosure; Values and Beliefs; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government and Politics
Reid, Erin Marie, and Michael W. Toffel. "Responding to Public and Private Politics: Corporate Disclosure of Climate Change Strategies." Strategic Management Journal 30, no. 11 (November 2009): 1157–1178. (Featured by the Network for Business Sustainability.)
- October 2017 (Revised April 2024)
- Case
Snap Inc. Goes Public (A)
By: Lynn Sharp Paine and Will Hurwitz
Snap Inc.’s chairman must decide how to address investor concerns about the company’s unprecedented plans to issue only non-voting shares in its upcoming IPO. The case is set in early 2017 following the public availability of Snap’s IPO filing with the U.S. Securities... View Details
Keywords: Ethics; Capital Structure; Corporate Accountability; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Going Public; Business and Shareholder Relations; Leadership; Management; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Venture Capital; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States; California
Paine, Lynn Sharp, and Will Hurwitz. "Snap Inc. Goes Public (A)." Harvard Business School Case 318-042, October 2017. (Revised April 2024.)
- November 2015 (Revised October 2017)
- Case
Dollar General Bids for Family Dollar
By: Jonas Heese, Paula A. Price, Suraj Srinivasan and David Lane
In spring 2015, Dollar General's CEO Rick Dreiling was looking ahead to retiring at year's end but worried about ensuring continued growth for the company he had built since 2008 into a market leader in the U.S. discount retail world. Dollar General operated over... View Details
Keywords: Dollar General; Family Dollar; Dollar Tree; Antitrust; Board Of Directors; Activist Investors; Federal Trade Commission; Acquisition; Valuation; Corporate Strategy; Retail Industry; United States
Heese, Jonas, Paula A. Price, Suraj Srinivasan, and David Lane. "Dollar General Bids for Family Dollar." Harvard Business School Case 116-007, November 2015. (Revised October 2017.)