Publications

October 1994
Case

Isuzu Motors, Ltd.: Cost Creation Program

Describes the various value engineering techniques used by Isuzu. Shows how Isuzu reduces the cost of its products while increasing their functionality within the constraints of a target cost. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Cost Management

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24 Feb 2015
First Look

First Look: February 24

for an effective combination of different project management practices involving people from various national and organizational cultures, who are enriched by different experiences and management theories,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2011 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Language and Globalization: 'Englishnization' at Rakuten (A)

By: Tsedal Neeley

Hiroshi Mikitani, the CEO of Rakuten, (Japan's largest online retailer), is at the helm of an organization that is rapidly expanding into global markets. In a critical stride toward becoming the world's No. 1 Internet services company, Mikitani announces... View Details

Keywords: Teaching; Human Capital; Change Management; Transformation; Social Enterprise; Communication Strategy; Internet and the Web; Disruptive Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Leadership; Global Strategy; Technology Industry; Retail Industry; Japan

09 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Moving From Bean Counter to Game Changer

up from 73 percent in 2008. Mikes and her colleagues first examined the banks' "risk management tool-makers." Often viewed as risk "compliance champions," these functional experts don't influence decisions... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Banking

May 1993 (Revised October 1995)
Case

Connor Formed Metal Products

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Donna B. Stoddard and Melinda Conrad

Connor Formed Metal Products was a small, privately owned manufacturer of custom metal springs and stampings. Since becoming president in 1984, Bob Sloss had implemented many changes to the company's organizational structure, management control systems, and information... View Details

Keywords: Private Ownership; Organizational Structure; Production; Change; Governance Controls; Information Technology; Manufacturing Industry

April 2005 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Change at Whirlpool Corporation (A)

By: Jan W. Rivkin, Dorothy A. Leonard and Gary Hamel

In 1998, the CEO of Whirlpool Corp. decides to change the company's strategy significantly to escape an increasingly unattractive "stalemate" in the appliance industry. The change he proposes involves a fundamental shift in the company's focus--from manufacturing to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Competitive Advantage; Strategic Planning; Production; Brands and Branding; Management Teams; Consumer Products Industry; United States

Research Summary

New Technologies and the Future of Food and Nutrition

By: Ray A. Goldberg

Ray A. Goldberg has been investigating the impact of new technologies on, and the functioning of, the global agribusiness system in the twenty-first century. He is currently developing a seminar to bring scientists, business leaders, academics, and consumer... View Details

May 2024
Article

The Health Risks of Generative AI-Based Wellness Apps

By: Julian De Freitas and G. Cohen

Artifcial intelligence (AI)-enabled chatbots are increasingly being used to help people manage their mental health. Chatbots for mental health and particularly ‘wellness’ applications currently exist in a regulatory ‘gray area’. Indeed, most generative AI-powered... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Well-being; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Applications and Software

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19 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

Digital Technology’s Profound Game Change for Marketers

technology is radically transforming the marketing function and the role of the marketing professional. The changes rippling through the marketing industry goes far beyond the simple mantra of "follow the eyeballs" to different... View Details

Keywords: by Jeffrey Bussgang; Advertising; Technology

August 2021
Article

A Mixed Methods Study of Change Processes Enabling Effective Transition to Team-based Care

By: Michael Anne Kyle, Emma-Louise Aveling and Sara J. Singer

Team-based care is considered central to achieving value in primary care, yet results of large-scale primary care transformation initiatives have been mixed. We explore how underlying change processes influence the effectiveness of transition to team-based care. We... View Details

Keywords: Team-based Care; Primary Care; Health Care and Treatment; Transformation; Groups and Teams; Change Management

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25 Sep 2006
Research & Ideas

How Software Platforms Revolutionize Business

Software Platforms Drive Innovation and Transform Industries, available October 4 from MIT Press. Evans is Managing Director of the Global Competitive Policy Practice at LEGC LLC. Hagiu is a professor in the Strategy unit at Harvard... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Video Game; Web Services

March 2002 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Note on Regulatory Choices

For many firms, government interaction is expansive, influencing the conduct of firms and industry structure. The visible hand of government, in the form of a regulatory scheme, plays a role in firm affairs along with the invisible hand of market forces. Deregulation... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Governance Compliance

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 2019 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Commercial Sales Transformation at Microsoft

By: Doug J. Chung

Industry leaders should adapt to changes in the business context and consider different ways to grow. Advances in technology had shifted software demand to the cloud. As a result, Microsoft announced a strategic shift in direction from its existing ‘Windows first’... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Strategy; Transformation

July 2010
Technical Note

Note on the Banking Industry

By: Clayton S. Rose and Scott Waggoner

This note provides an overview of the structure and function of the banking industry, with a primary focus on the U.S. It was designed to support the HBS MBA course "Managing the Financial Firm." View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Business or Company Management; Industry Structures; Banking Industry; United States

August 2021
Article

Improving Sales Hiring

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Sales hiring presents inherent challenges not found to the same extent in talent management in other functional areas. Moreover, common hiring practices make a tough job needlessly harder. This article suggests practical ways to improve sales hiring: Hire for the Task,... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Selection and Staffing

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August 2021
Case

Orchadio's First Two Split Experiments

By: Iavor I. Bojinov, Marco Iansiti and David Lane

Orchadio, a direct-to-consumer grocery business, needs to conduct its first two A/B tests—one to evaluate the effectiveness and functioning of its newly redesigned website, and one to market-test four versions of a new banner for the website. To do so, it will rely on... View Details

Keywords: Information Management; Technological Innovation; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Resource Allocation; Marketing; Measurement and Metrics; Customization and Personalization; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; Information Technology Industry; Food and Beverage Industry