Publications

February 2024 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Taffi: Entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia

By: Paul A. Gompers and Fares Khrais

Taffi was a tech-enabled fashion styling startup founded by Shahad Geoffrey in Saudi Arabia in 2020. Within three years of operating, Geoffrey had pivoted the business multiple times. In 2023, Geoffrey was attempting the business’s most ambitious pivot yet, shifting... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Disruption; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; AI and Machine Learning; Fashion Industry; Technology Industry; Saudi Arabia; Arabian Peninsula

November 1993 (Revised September 2018)
Case

Rudi Gassner and the Executive Committee of BMG International (A)

By: Linda Hill and Katherine Seger Weber

Explores the roles of CEO Rudi Gassner and the 9-person executive committee in leading BMG International. BMG International is the international music subsidiary of Bertlesmann, a German company that is the second-largest media conglomerate in the world. Describes a... View Details

Keywords: Managerial Roles; Management Teams; Decision Making; Business Plan; Growth and Development Strategy; Global Strategy; Leadership Style; Organizational Culture; Business Subsidiaries; Business Conglomerates; Cost Management; Change Management; Music Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Germany

November 2012 (Revised August 2013)
Case

A Politician in a Leather Suit and the Paradox of Japanese Capitalism

By: Karthik Ramanna and Matthew Shaffer

Two lost decades later, capitalism in Japan embodies peculiar contradictions—preserving wealth and social stability in the face of declining economic power. Scant transparency in Japanese corporate practices plays an important role in this phenomenon. Sometimes... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Economic Systems; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Fairness; Values and Beliefs; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Civil Society or Community; Japan; Tokyo

24 Oct 2023
HBS Case

From P.T. Barnum to Mary Kay: Lessons From 5 Leaders Who Changed the World

are operating in competitive markets where someone is trying to leapfrog us or steal our customers,” Simons says. “The more there’s risk of disruption in your industry, the more there’s a danger that someone who is an outlier in terms of View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

June 2013
Teaching Note

A Politician in a Leather Suit and the Paradox of Japanese Capitalism

By: Karthik Ramanna

Two lost decades later, capitalism in Japan embodies peculiar contradictions—preserving wealth and social stability in the face of declining economic power. Scant transparency in Japanese corporate practices plays an important role in this phenomenon. Sometimes... View Details

Keywords: Japan; Tokyo; Economic Systems; Corporate Accountability; Values and Beliefs; Fairness; Crime and Corruption; Civil Society or Community; Corporate Governance; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Tokyo

August 2009
Supplement

The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (CW)

By: Willy C. Shih

When L.C. Tu receives an emergency order, he is confronted with a range of production scheduling choices, each of which has unique costs and trade-offs. The case was designed to help students understand job-shop style production and the impact of disruptions and... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Disruption; Customer Focus and Relationships; Cost; Cost Management; Business or Company Management; Time Management; Network Effects; Production; Hardware; Manufacturing Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Taiwan

January 2011
Case

Founder-CEO Succession at Acer

By: Noam T. Wasserman, Michael Shih-ta Chen and Keith Chi-ho Wong

Stan Shih, founder-CEO of Acer, Inc., had proactively chosen and transitioned the "perfect" successor as CEO, but was now faced with major problems. Over the last two years, his heir apparent, Leonard Liu, had made the changes he had been hired to make, including... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Management Style; Management Succession; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Conflict Management

April 2009 (Revised January 2011)
Case

Gucci Group: Freedom within the Framework

By: Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez, Elena Corsi and Vincent Marie Dessain

Gucci Group's CEO had to decide if his decentralized management style was the most effective philosophy in an economic downturn. The sharing of customer information across units and its use in the creative process are key initiatives analyzed in the case. CEO Robert... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Globalized Firms and Management; Knowledge Sharing; Leadership; Management Style; Management Systems; Brands and Branding; Apparel and Accessories Industry

24 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 24, 2009

support the change, and evaluating the change implementation). We examine this relationship using data from 89 clinical managers at the United Kingdom National Health Service who implemented change projects between 2003 and 2004. Our... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

March 2012 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Gary Hirshberg and Stonyfield Farm

By: Nancy F. Koehn, Nora N. Khan and Elizabeth W. Legris

Gary Hirshberg and Stonyfield Farm is the story of one entrepreneur's vision and journey to create a market-leading, environmentally responsible business founded on the principles of product quality, organizational alignment, and sustainability. A former environmental... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurs; Values; Development Stage Enterprises; Innovation; Management By Objective; Experimentation; Emerging Technologies; Mission and Purpose; Management Style; Values and Beliefs; Social Issues; Organizational Culture; Environmental Sustainability; Business Growth and Maturation; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Innovation and Invention; Food and Beverage Industry; New Hampshire

2022
Article

‘American Management’ vs ‘Swiss Labour Peace’. The Closure of the Swiss Firestone Factory in 1978

By: Sabine Pitteloud

This article focusses on the closure of the Firestone’s Swiss subsidiary in 1978. It contributes to the existing literature dealing with the ‘nationality’ of multinational companies and the impact of U.S. management style on local capitalist systems. Drawing on a... View Details

Keywords: Americanization; Capitalism; Corporate Nationality; Industrial Relations; Multinational; Narratives; Multinational Firms and Management; Nationality; Economic Systems; Labor and Management Relations; Switzerland

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04 Sep 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, September 4, 2018

business’s success. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54913 in press Management Science Communicating Warmth in Distributive Negotiations is Surprisingly Counter-productive By: Jeong, M., J. Minson, M.... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

17 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

What the Stockdale Paradox Tells Us About Crisis Leadership

[This is the fourth installment in a monthly series on management issues in the time of COVID-19.] “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

January 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Satera Team at Imatron Systems, Inc. (A), The

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Elizabeth Schatzel

Escalating conflict has erupted within the Satera product development team, resulting from the conflicting cognitive styles of the two senior mechanical engineers. The conflict has taken a toll on both project progress and team morale, endangering one of the most... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Management; Business or Company Management; Groups and Teams; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

03 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

How to Succeed With Your New Boss

your mandate and negotiate for resources is a clear early priority. Defining Your Goals When you think about working with your new boss, keep the following goals in mind: Clarify mutual expectations early. Begin managing expectations... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Watkins

18 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Looking in the Mirror: Questions Every Leader Must Ask

the right questions," says Kaplan, a Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School. "Most leaders spend a lot of their time looking for answers. Very often, they may feel isolated and alone. I want to help them... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

August 2009
Case

The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

By: Willy C. Shih, Chen-Fu Chien, Chintay Shih and Jack Chang

When L.C. Tu receives an emergency order, he is confronted with a range of production scheduling choices, each of which has unique costs and trade-offs. The case was designed to help students understand job-shop style production and the impact of disruptions and... View Details

Keywords: Disruption; Customer Relationship Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Cost; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Production; Semiconductor Industry; Taiwan