Publications

January 1998 (Revised February 2002)
Case

Funai Consulting Company, Ltd. (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Tomoya Nakamura

In the summer of 1997, a consultant at Japan's Funai Consulting Co. Ltd., must decide how to respond to a client's proposal to offer "open pricing" (based on willingness to pay) to customers unable to pay the standard price for the client's product. The client, Akita... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Price; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Decisions; Agribusiness; Management Practices and Processes; Business Ventures; Consulting Industry; Japan

26 Jan 2015
Working Paper Summaries

The Rise and Fall of Demand for Securitizations

Keywords: by Sergey Chernenko, Samuel G. Hanson & Adi Sunderam

February 2017 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Kameda Seika: Cracking the U.S. Market

By: Elie Ofek, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno

In spring 2016, Kameda’s CEO, Michiyasu Tanaka, is facing difficult questions from board members over the lackluster performance of the company’s U.S. subsidiary. Kameda was the leading player in the Japanese rice cracker market and was looking to expand overseas to... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Adaptation; Performance Improvement; Food and Beverage Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Japan; United States

March 2022 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Doubling Down: Elon Musk's Big Bets in 2022

By: David Yoffie and Daniel Fisher

2021 was a banner year for Elon Musk. CEO of the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, the aerospace manufacturer SpaceX, and a few smaller startups, Musk became the richest person on Earth after Tesla reached a market capitalization of $1 trillion and SpaceX a private... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Transportation; Strategic Planning; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Goals and Objectives; Aerospace Industry; Auto Industry; Battery Industry; United States; Europe; China

August 1988 (Revised April 1998)
Case

IBM 360: Giant as Entrepreneur

By: Joseph L. Bower

Presents the ingredients that went into a major entrepreneurial shift by IBM--investing $5 billion into a new product line that would obsolete any existing computer product line offered by the competition, or by IBM itself. The economic and technical challenges of this... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Financial Management; Investment; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Problems and Challenges; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology Industry

10 Jul 2023
In Practice

The Harvard Business School Faculty Summer Reader 2023

to save himself from his inner turmoil. Arthur Brooks is the William Henry Bloomberg Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School, and Professor of Management Practice at HBS. He is the author of From Strength... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

Research Summary

Reflection

By: Joseph L. Badaracco

Corporations as Critical Social Institutions

My current research examines the extent to which corporations are emerging as critical social institutions. Over the past century, and especially in recent decades, firms have taken on... View Details

Keywords: Reflection

27 Mar 2019
HBS Seminar

Caitlin Rosenthal, UC Berkeley, Department of History

February 2011 (Revised December 2012)
Case

The Ford Fiesta

By: John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

Executives at Ford wondered if social media could be the marketing solution for the launch of the youth-oriented 2010 Fiesta. But with social media came a ceding of control. Some at the company believed that if Ford was going to move beyond its conservative brand image... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Digital Marketing; Leadership; Goals and Objectives; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Standards; Auto Industry

May 1990 (Revised August 1990)
Case

Campbell Soup Co.

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Describes the engineering effort at Campbell Soup Co. to develop a microwavable package and product for the growing convenience segment. Focuses on the role of engineering services in developing the production process, acquiring and installing equipment, and getting... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Production; Engineering; Strategy; Business Processes; Innovation and Management; Planning; Competitive Advantage; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry

Career Coach

Ildi Nielsen

and consumer products companies. Ildi also spent 12 years as an Executive Search Consultant in New York and Chicago for financial services firms. She worked with senior executives to build their teams and with a multitude of... View Details

Keywords: Investment Management; Investment Management; Investment Management; Investment Management; Investment Management; Investment Management; Investment Management; Investment Management; Investment Management; Investment Management; Investment Management; Investment Management; Investment Management; Investment Management

May 2008 (Revised September 2009)
Case

IBM's Dynamic Workplace

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

IBM already competed for talent by being a best workplace. It was one of the first companies to provide paid vacations, health insurance, sick leave, job sharing, and domestic partner benefits. Its human resources portfolio included a full array of progressive policies... View Details

Keywords: Values and Beliefs; Globalized Firms and Management; Leading Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Culture; Social Enterprise

21 Feb 2012
First Look

First Look: Feb. 21

multinational, dispersed shareholder, and private-equity owned firms are typically well managed. Stronger product market competition and higher worker skills are associated with better management practices.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

27 Oct 2017
News

Wanted for any job: A bachelor’s degree. Is that smart?

September 2024 (Revised May 2025)
Case

Carrie Wang: Choosing Between the Family Firm and the Family Spirit

By: Lauren Cohen, Fei Wu and Sophia Pan

Carrie Wang, Investment Head of the Wang’s single-family office, contemplated her next career steps. As one of the first businessmen who had risen from China’s industrial rise, her father had grown his wealth to a considerable level, eventually requesting that his... View Details

Keywords: Family Office; Interests Of Consumers; Family Business; Business Growth and Maturation; Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Financial Markets; Investment Portfolio; Investment Return; Private Equity; Customer Relationship Management; Interests; Reputation; Work-Life Balance; Real Estate Industry; China

January 1996
Case

Palm Computing, Inc. (A)

By: Myra M. Hart

Discusses patents, licenses, and deal making in a start-up venture. The entrepreneur, Jeff Hawkins, holds a patent on Palm Print, a pattern recognition algorithm. After licensing Palm Print to his employer, he led three years of development of commercial products for... View Details

Keywords: Intellectual Property; Patents; Agreements and Arrangements; Negotiation Deal; Business Startups; Management Teams

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

August 2000 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Callaway Golf Company

By: Rajiv Lal and Edie Prescott

Describes a situation faced by Mr. Ely Callaway, the 80-year-old founder, chairman, and CEO of Callaway Golf Co., in the fall of 1999. After a decade of stunning success with the marketing concept, Callaway suffered a significant loss and witnessed a steep decline in... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Crisis Management; Communication Strategy; Product; Business Strategy; Change Management; Competitive Advantage