Publications

February 2025 (Revised May 2025)
Case

Align Partners and SM Entertainment: Korean Shareholder Activism Meets K-Pop (A)

By: Charles C.Y. Wang and Billy Chan

For years, institutional investors had experienced very limited success in influencing the management of listed companies through shareholder activist campaigns in Korea. The common practice of circular ownership and public resentment toward foreign shareholder... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Public Equity; Stocks; Investment Activism; Music Entertainment; Corporate Governance; Success; Business and Shareholder Relations; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; South Korea

May 2022 (Revised December 2023)
Case

Founder Collective

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

Founder Collective ("FC") launched in 2009 with a clear mission: to be the most aligned fund for founders at the seed stage. In keeping with its mission, FC maintained smaller fund sizes and was not a lifecycle investor. By November of 2021, the seed market had become... View Details

Keywords: Seed Investing; Business Startups; Mission and Purpose; Investment; Competitive Strategy; Venture Capital

2019
Working Paper

Stewardship Codes and Shareholder Voting on Disputed Ballot Measures

By: Trang T. Nguyen and Charles CY Wang

This study examines the impact of stewardship codes on investor voting behavior in disputed ballot measures-- where ISS's recommendation differs from management's recommendation-- across nine countries. U.S. institutional investors' voting behavior in adopting country... View Details

Keywords: Stewardship Codes; Investment; Voting; Behavior

November 2024
Supplement

FedEx Cyberattack (B): Reflections and Lessons

By: Hise Gibson, Frank Nagle, Alicia Dadlani and Martha Hostetter

Set in 2024, this (B) case provides an update to the (A) case (no. 625-049) about a devastating cyberattack that destroyed thousands of computers and business systems at FedEx’s European division in 2017. It describes lessons learned and changes made in the wake of the... View Details

Keywords: Cybersecurity; Disruption; Crisis Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Europe

18 Jan 2019
Blog Post

Exploring the Tech World Through WesTrek

didn’t grow up with any desire to move across the country. After all, I love winter! I love the accents! I love the oysters! I love the east coast so much that I stuck around for 26 years, during which I attended the University of Pennsylvania and followed my passion... View Details

January 2023 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Elon Musk at Tesla

By: George Serafeim and Amram Migdal

This case gives an overview of Elon Musk’s career arc through the lens of the 2003 founding of Tesla and its growth through 2022. Background information is included on Tesla’s unique strategic decisions, its operational and reputational struggles and successes, and the... View Details

04 Feb 2015
What Do You Think?

Is There a Stanford-Google-Silicon Valley School of Management?

Summing Up How Transferable is the Google "School of Management"? Responses to this month's column suggest a great deal of respect for what Google's management has been able to achieve, both in terms of a strategy for bringing... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Education

November 2017 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Redfin: Redefine Real Estate

By: Hong Luo and Huafeng Yu

Founded in 2004, Redfin envisioned a light-touch model in which clients self-served using the digital platform in exchange for a significantly lower fee than traditional agents. Realizing the narrow appeal of its initial model, Redfin had made significant changes to... View Details

Keywords: Adaptation; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Real Estate Industry; North America

06 May 2024
Research & Ideas

The Critical Minutes After a Virtual Meeting That Can Build Up or Tear Down Teams

they carefully manage the relationship. About four months into the study, the researchers observed a much different reaction to a similar change in code ownership by the other team they were observing, which... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

July 2012 (Revised July 2015)
Case

Nalli Silk Sarees (A)

By: V.G. Narayanan, Namrata Arora and Vidhya Muthuram

Nalli Silk Sarees Private Limited was a family owned and operated business that retailed Indian ethnic wear. This 83-year-old company had enjoyed impressive growth with a $95 million turnover, a 22-store retail footprint, and had outdone its competitors by being the... View Details

Keywords: Pricing Strategy; Price; Strategy; Family Business; Growth and Development; Brands and Branding; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Competitive Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; India

Sara Torti is a senior product and operating executive who has focused extensively on creating and scaling technology-based businesses that require a combination of detailed execution, business insight and technical acumen. She has grown products... View Details

2021
Chapter

International Business History and the Strategy of Multinational Enterprises: How History Matters

By: Geoffrey Jones and Teresa da Silva Lopes

This chapter provides an overview of the evolution of international business over the long-run as well as the strategies of MNEs. It highlights how strategies became more complex over time with MNEs moving from being coordinators of resources and managers of... View Details

Keywords: Multinational; International Business; Internalization; Globalization; Theory; Multinational Firms and Management; Business History; Africa; Asia; Europe; Latin America; Middle East; North and Central America

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Program

Rising Generation in the Family Enterprise

responsibility to society? This program focuses specifically on the choices facing the rising generation in the context of a successful family enterprise. Some members of the new generation will decide to pursue leadership roles in View Details

March 2019 (Revised October 2020)
Case

GENTERA: Facing the Digital Age

By: Michael Chu and Carla Larangeira

After long dominating Mexican microfinance, Compartamos Banco faces the emergence of fintech, just as for the first time its loan portfolio and clients have declined. Enrique Majós, CEO of GENTERA, the bank´s parent company, is keenly aware of the profound changes... View Details

Keywords: Micro Finance; Base Of The Pyramid; Fintech; Microfinance; Disruption; Innovation and Management; Competitive Strategy; North America; Mexico

December 2003 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Globalizing the Cost of Capital and Capital Budgeting at AES

By: Mihir A. Desai and Douglas Kurt Schillinger

With electricity generating businesses around the world, AES Corp. is seeking a methodology for calculating the cost of capital for its various businesses and potential projects. In the past, AES used the same cost of capital for all of its capital budgeting, but the... View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Risk Management; Globalized Firms and Management; Cost of Capital; Valuation; Emerging Markets; Foreign Direct Investment; Capital Budgeting; Energy Industry; South America

October 1995 (Revised March 1996)
Case

Executive Shirt Company, Inc.

By: Janice H. Hammond and Sylvie Ryckebusch

The Executive Shirt Co. is contemplating a move into custom-made shirts. The company's general manager has charged two of his managers to come up with plans for incorporating production of custom shirts into the existing manufacturing process. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Production; Strategic Planning; Expansion; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States

Web

Placement - Doctoral

of the HBS Doctoral Programs have gone on to become prominent scholars in a wide range of disciplines at many of the world's most prestigious institutions. Placement, 2020-2025 Accounting & Management 2025 Terrence Tianshuo Shi Accounting... View Details

2023
Working Paper

Rapport in Organizations: Evidence from Fast Food

By: Achyuta Adhvaryu, Parker Howell, Anant Nyshadham and Jorge Tamayo

Common identity often provides a foundation for workplace rapport. Though gender is perhaps the most frequently studied dimension of identity among workers, little is known about how gender match between managers and their workers might affect team performance. Using... View Details

Keywords: Management; Relationships; Gender; Labor and Management Relations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Employees; Food and Beverage Industry; Colombia

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2019
Book

The Wise Company: How Companies Create Continuous Innovation

By: Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi

High-velocity change is the fundamental challenge facing companies today. Few companies, however, are prepared to continuously innovate—because they focus on the short-term and do not emphasize the wisdom needed to make sure that their interests are aligned with those... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge; Wise Leadership; Leaders; Innovation; Knowledge Management; Leadership; Innovation and Invention; Organizational Change and Adaptation

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