Publications

November 2009 (Revised September 2010)
Case

Discovering Hidden Gems: The Story of Daryl Morey, Shane Battier, and the Houston Rockets (A)

By: Frances X. Frei and Matthew Todd Perlberg

As NBA Commissioner David Stern approached the podium, silent anticipation gripped the 4,000 Houston Rockets fans gathered at the Rockets Draft Party. "With the 8th pick in the 2006 NBA draft," Stern began, "the Houston Rockets select Rudy Gay from the University of... View Details

Keywords: Sports; Talent and Talent Management; Competitive Strategy; Operations; Groups and Teams; Sports Industry

March 2008 (Revised February 2009)
Case

Russell Reynolds Associates, Inc.

By: Robert G. Eccles and David Lane

This brief document presents the schedule of events for Russell Reynolds Associates 2007 New Associates Program, an opportunity for recent hires to spend time with each other and the firm's senior leadership while learning subtleties of the search process amid bonding... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Learning; Recruitment; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Programs; Consulting Industry; Service Industry

May 2007 (Revised January 2009)
Case

Stryker Corporation: In-sourcing PCBs

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

This case examines a proposed investment in the capability to manufacture printed circuit boards (PCBs) in-house rather than buying them from third-party contract manufacturers. Stryker Corporation's Instruments business is considering the proposal in response to... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Capital Budgeting; Investment; Investment Return; Production; Valuation

02 Dec 2020
News

Havas New York CEO Laura Maness: Listen, Learn, and Lead

01 Jun 2009
News

Decisions through the Ages

WATANABE: A primer for all ages on how to think entrepreneurially. Photo Courtesy Portfolio/Penguin Group USA In business and education, Japan and the United States seem to alternate as inspirations for one another, and Ken Watanabe (MBA ’05) may be the latest guru in... View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

01 Feb 2001
News

When Last Seen

The Bulletin likes to be sure that it is, without exception, landing in the mailboxes of all HBS alumni. So it was with our usual attentiveness that we followed the recent confusion in the Sunshine State, in order to ascertain if the mailing address for George W. Bush... View Details

01 Sep 2004
News

Steve Barger (MBA 1974)

Growing up, Steve Barger spent his summers picking crops in Oregon until he was old enough to work in the cannery his father ran. A graduate of Williams College, he has two children and is married to his hometown sweetheart. Barger is president of Northwest Cascade, a... View Details

Keywords: Water, Sewage and Supply Systems; Utilities

01 Jun 2004
News

No Nukes

Often overshadowed by higher-profile conflicts, North Korea’s nuclear intentions have concerned the United States for many years. Now it is a high-stakes test of diplomacy in which China, Japan, Russia, and South Korea have joined the two past disputants in an effort... View Details

Keywords: nuclear; programs; National Security and International Affairs; Government

01 Mar 2004
News

L. Paul Bremer: In His Own Words

Introducer: Mornings at 5 a.m., Bremer jogs around the “once-splendid gardens of Saddam’s former palace.” He is driven around Baghdad in an armored Chevy Suburban. His “wood-paneled office was once the epicenter of Saddam’s government.” A hand-carved motto on his desk... View Details

Keywords: National Security and International Affairs; Government

01 Sep 2003
News

Business Plan Contest

Gyaana faculty advisor Professor of Management Practice Allen S. Grossman with team members Meghna Modi, Arvind Krishnamurthy, and Raj K. De Datta (all MBA ’03). FBC team members Brian T. Hoskins (MBA ’03) and Alejandro Simkievich, a student at MIT’s Sloan School. Not... View Details

Keywords: contests; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

18 May 2010
News

A Teacher At Heart

Keywords: Finance

12 Oct 2010
News

Banker to the World

Keywords: Finance; Administration of Economic Programs; Government

02 Nov 2010
News

Commanding Officers

In an electoral season marked by voter invective toward “government” and practically anyone associated with it, Ray Jefferson (MBA 2000) reminds us that there are public servants out there who are better people than we the people lately seem to deserve. Jefferson, who... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Administration of Economic Programs; Government

March 2025
Case

Fostering Community at Airbnb (A)

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer, Heather Whiteman and Sarah Mehta

Set in November 2020, this case explores Airbnb’s efforts to foster a culture of belonging, particularly given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company’s workforce. It details how Airbnb used employee surveys and organizational network analysis (ONA)—a... View Details

Keywords: Change; Communication; Competency and Skills; Human Resources; Surveys; Information Technology; Health Pandemics; Organizational Culture; Networks; Accommodations Industry; Technology Industry; Travel Industry; United States; California

June 2009 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

By: Anita L. Tucker and Amy C. Edmondson

The case describes an organization's use of the science of improvement to transform their process quality from below average to the top 10% in their industry. The case outlines the protagonist's strategy of developing internal experts who are trained in a common... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Experience and Expertise; Leading Change; Measurement and Metrics; Service Delivery; Performance Improvement; Health Industry; Ohio

2009
Working Paper

Fluid Tasks and Fluid Teams: The Impact of Diversity in Experience and Team Familiarity on Team Performance

By: Robert S. Huckman and Bradley R. Staats

In this paper, we consider how the structures of tasks and teams interact to affect team performance. We study the effects of diversity in experience on a team's ability to respond to task changes, by separately examining interpersonal team diversity (i.e., differences... View Details

Keywords: Familiarity; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Groups and Teams; Projects; Experience and Expertise; Diversity; India

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2009
Working Paper

Performance Pressure as a Double-Edged Sword: Enhancing Team Motivation While Undermining the Use of Team Knowledge

By: Heidi K. Gardner

In this paper, I develop and empirically test the proposition that performance pressure acts as a double-edged sword for teams, providing positive effects by enhancing team motivation to achieve good results while simultaneously triggering process losses. I conducted a... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Expectations; Groups and Teams