Publications

Web

Connect with Clubs - Recruiting

Pooja Singhi psinghi@mba2026.hbs.edu Business of Sports Club Co-Presidents Rachel Klein rklein@mba2026.hbs.edu Gavin Baker-Greene gbakergreene@mba2026.hbs.edu Club Email bos@studentclubs.hbs.edu Canadian Club Co-Presidents Kamil Tkaczuk... View Details

2010
Working Paper

Reversing the Queue: Performance, Legitimacy, and Minority Hiring

By: Andrew Hill and David A. Thomas

Studies of minority hiring have found that poor-performing firms or firms in highly competitive contexts are more likely to hire minority candidates. However, most work has examined hiring for entry and mid-level positions, not senior management. Management positions... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Selection and Staffing; Leadership; Managerial Roles; Performance Effectiveness; Sports Industry; United States

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11 Oct 2010
Research & Ideas

It Pays to Hire Women in Countries That Won’t

Call it corporate alchemy. New research finds that multinational companies can spin gender bias into gold by recruiting and hiring well-educated female managers in countries that traditionally discriminate against women. Employing women... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

13 Jan 2021
Research & Ideas

How 'Small C' Change Can Beat Large-Scale Rebuilding

to see. Due to the measurability of sporting performance, every manager of a professional team becomes a winner or a loser in the eyes of the public—week after week. So, it is not surprising that the shelf... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Sascha L. Schmidt, and Sebastian Flegr; Sports

19 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

The 10 Most Popular Articles of 2022

7. Dick’s Sporting Goods Followed Its Conscience on Guns—and It Paid Off After the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, Dick's Sporting Goods' CEO declared: "I don't want to be part of the story... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

01 Oct 1997
News

W. Hall Wendel, Jr.

economy was entering a recession. Great timing!" Leading a group of seven other Polaris managers and joined by his late father, William (MBA '40), he acquired the unit, accomplishing one of corporate America's first LBOs. "We signed the... View Details

Keywords: James E. Aisner; mountain; adventure; climbing

April 1990 (Revised March 1992)
Case

Oakland A's: Baseball's Great Transformation

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger

The Oakland A's baseball team underwent a major turnaround during the 1980s, both on the field and in the business office. One of the most significant improvements came in the area of customer service. The A's management believed that if they took care of their fans,... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Sports; Sports Industry; California

Web

Europe - Global

co-authored with Daniela Beyersdorfer, Director of Research & Administration at the Europe Research Center (ERC). From electric sports cars to digital customer experiences like “Track Your Dream,” the case—based on deep field research in... View Details

18 Dec 2013
HBS Case

Lessons from the Lance Armstrong Cheating Scandal

from the group. So when Armstrong decided to dope, he required other riders to dope as well to match his escalating performance level, and the rest of the support team to facilitate the doping and manage the cover-up to achieve victory.... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Sports

Web

Skydeck - Alumni

year in media Solving the Underemployment Crisis More than half of college grads are underemployed. In this excerpt from Managing the Future of Work, Stephen Moret (MBA 2011) discusses the root causes of this trend—and what policymakers... View Details

September 2018 (Revised March 2019)
Case

Philanthropy and Brand Building: Jeff Vinik and the Tampa Bay Lightning

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Michael Mondello

Owner Jeff Vinik and top management of the NHL Tampa Bay Lightning are reviewing their strategy and progress in achieving their goals of brand-building and community commitment. Strategic philanthropy is unusual in sport. Tampa Bay is historically a non-traditional... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business and Community Relations; Sports Industry; Tampa

01 May 2023
News

Yahoo Acquires Alumni Startup Wagr

Illustration by Drue Wagner Illustration by Drue Wagner Last week, Yahoo announced that it had acquired the sports betting startup Wagr, which was cofounded by Mario Malave (MBA 2020) and Eliana Eskinazi (MBA 2020). "Yahoo View Details

December 2008 (Revised February 2015)
Case

A.J. Washington: Retaining an NFL Star

By: Andrew Wasynczuk and Nicole Shae Bennett

General Manager Luke Kolville, of the Los Angeles Spartans, struggles with the best approach to negotiate a long-term contract for his star quarterback. The agent for Washington is relatively new to the industry and has his sights set particularly high. Kolville needs... View Details

Keywords: Retention; Human Capital; Contracts; Managerial Roles; Negotiation; Groups and Teams; Sports Industry; Los Angeles

Career Coach

Rich Schneider

Rich (HBS’74) has been a Career Coach since 2009 and works with both students and alumni. He retired from a 35 year career in management consulting that year and is presently active in several capacities: Partner in Sage Partners, a... View Details

Keywords: Sports; Sports; Sports; Sports; Sports

March 2004 (Revised April 2004)
Background Note

Seeing What's on Red Auerbach's Mind

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and John T. Gourville

Analysis of an interview with Red Auerbach, HBR No. 87201. Alan M. Webber, who conducted the interview, probed for the lessons that Auerbach has learned from a long and productive career coaching and managing the Boston Celtics, a professional basketball team in the... View Details

Keywords: Markets; Research; Sports; Product Development; Communication Intention and Meaning; Sports Industry