Publications

October 2014
Supplement

Quiet Logistics (B)

By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred

This two-part case focuses on how to identify and manage strategic uncertainties in an innovative, entrepreneurial start-up company. In the (A) case, students learn about Quiet Logistics, an e-commerce fulfillment company working with high-end apparel retailers such as... View Details

April 2008 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc.

By: Robert G. Eccles and David Lane

As CEO of leading executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles for the past 18 months, Kevin Kelly was pleased with his accomplishments so far but concerned about threats he perceived to Heidrick's position at the highest levels of the executive search business. In... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Recruitment; Disruptive Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Service Industry; Service Industry

16 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

Delivering the Digital Goods: iTunes vs. Peer-to-Peer

the same music download as Apple's iTunes, and at no charge, why have millions of users chosen to pay a fee using Apple's service rather than download for free from p2p... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Music

03 Oct 2023
Research Event

Build the Life You Want: Arthur Brooks and Oprah Winfrey Share Happiness Tips

also when the numbers took off. It all sort of happened at the same time. But it was because it was intentional. And we were trying to use it as a service and not just View Details

Keywords: by HBS Staff

31 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 31, 2009

Shadow of a Giant (A) Harvard Business School Case 609-002 As the only significant competitor to Intel Corporation in PC microprocessors, Advanced Micro Devices faced daunting investment choices. Not only... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

October 2016 (Revised September 2017)
Case

The CRISPR-Cas9 Quarrel

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Matthew G. Preble

In mid-2016, the Broad Institute and the University of California, Berkeley were in the middle of a contentious patent dispute over which entity controlled a breakthrough gene editing technology called CRISPR-Cas9. With CRISPR-Cas9, scientists might soon be able to... View Details

Keywords: CRISPR; Broad Institute; University Of California Berkeley; Intellectual Property; Patents; Law; Lawsuits and Litigation; Science; Genetics; Entrepreneurship; Biotechnology Industry; United States

02 Oct 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Bitcoin

Keywords: by Rainer Böhme, Nicolas Christin, Benjamin Edelman & Tyler Moore; Banking

19 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

How Mercadona Fixes Retail’s ’Last 10 Yards’ Problem

highlights the chain's "specialists"—an unusual example of how operations, customer service, employee relations, and profitability are all maximized together. "It's a lot like the kind of View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail; Food & Beverage

January 2020 (Revised July 2020)
Case

BlackRock: Linking Purpose to Profit

By: Aiyesha Dey

The case revolves around the actions that Barbara Novick, co-founder and Vice-Chair of Blackrock, and Michelle Edkins, Global Head of Investment Stewardship, would need to take in response to the controversial CEO letters from Laurence (Larry) Fink, Chairman and CEO of... View Details

19 Nov 2013
First Look

First Look: November 19

entry of new female candidates, no change in female or male voter turnout, and no spillover effects to neighboring areas. Further analysis points to a reduction in party bias against women candidates as the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2018
Case

Verona Group

By: Robert L. Simons and Sarah Abbott

Are a salesperson's struggles her own fault or the result of a problematic job design? Anna George works as a salesperson at Verona Group, a company that designs and wholesales high-end women's apparel. She had spent nearly 20 years in sales with another fashion label... View Details

Keywords: Jobs and Positions; Design; Analysis; Performance; Measurement and Metrics; Salesforce Management; Organizational Design

September 2020 (Revised July 2022)
Case

Tulsa Remote: Moving Talent to Middle America

By: Prithwiraj (Raj) Choudhury, Emma Salomon and Brittany Logan

Tulsa Remote sought to attract a diverse group of remote workers to the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma—and was willing to put its money where its mouth was, offering $10,000 and a range of wraparound services for its program participants. After a successful pilot year, which... View Details

Keywords: Remote Work; Relocation; COVID-19 Pandemic; Community; Employment; Internet and the Web; Geographic Location; Programs; Employees; Diversity; Recruitment; Oklahoma; Tulsa

July 2019 (Revised May 2021)
Case

Acelerex

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In early 2019, Randell Johnson, Founder and Chief Executive of Acelerex, was reflecting on the company’s first year of rapid growth and the challenges of scaling the business that lay ahead. Acelerex was riding the waves of change taking place in electrical power grids... View Details

Keywords: Energy; Energy Sources; Growth Management; Expansion; Global Strategy; Cash Flow; Energy Industry; Web Services Industry; Consulting Industry

October 2014 (Revised June 2015)
Case

Quiet Logistics (A)

By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred

This two-part case focuses on how to identify and manage strategic uncertainties in an innovative, entrepreneurial start-up company. In the (A) case, students learn about Quiet Logistics, an e-commerce fulfillment company working with high-end apparel retailers such as... View Details

06 Aug 2018
Blog Post

Parks Management is People Management

has given me an avenue through which I can dig into park operations. I am evaluating opportunities for sharing operational resources, such as equipment, labor, or expertise, between multiple parks. My project work, View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit / Government

November 2017 (Revised June 2019)
Case

JOE & THE JUICE Crosses the Atlantic (with video link)

By: Ethan Rouen and Suraj Srinivasan

As JOE & THE JUICE began its rapid U.S. expansion in 2017, its founder and CEO, Kaspar Basse, fretted about how he could keep his employees feeling like they were doing meaningful work. Founded in 2001, JOE & THE JUICE had always focused on making healthy juices,... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Employees; Retention; Expansion; Growth Management

Forthcoming
Article

What's My Employee Worth? The Effects of Salary Benchmarking

By: Zoë B. Cullen, Shengwu Li and Ricardo Perez-Truglia

While U.S. legislation prohibits employers from sharing information about their employees’ compensation with each other, companies are still allowed to acquire and use more aggregated data provided by third parties. Most medium and large firms report using this type... View Details

Keywords: Information Sharing; Wages; Policy; Compensation and Benefits

March 2018 (Revised June 2018)
Case

City Year at 30: Toward Long-Term Impact

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and James Weber

In 2018, City Year was a 30-year-old nonprofit that recruited and organized teams of young-adult “volunteers” (corps teams) to provide a year of citizen service. It had 3,100 corps members serving in 327 schools located in 28 U.S. cities. In its early decades, City... View Details

Keywords: Education; Service Operations; Nonprofit Organizations; Growth and Development Strategy; Performance Efficiency; Resource Allocation; Change Management; Social Entrepreneurship; Middle School Education; Secondary Education; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Human Capital; Growth Management; Service Delivery; Organizational Design; Social Enterprise; Poverty; United States

February 2024 (Revised May 2025)
Case

Shore Capital Partners: The Next Ten Years

By: Boris Groysberg and Kerry Herman

Private equity firm Shore Capital Partners is at an inflection point, after 12 years of phenomenal growth and success. Now, as the partners consider options, should Shore remain micro-cap focused, or move into more mid-cap investments? Should Shore hold investments... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategy; Financial Services Industry