Publications

March 2014
Case

Managing Change at Axis Bank (A)

By: Paul Healy and Rachna Tahilyani

Axis Bank is India's third largest private sector bank. In April 2009, Shikha Sharma, an outsider, was appointed as its CEO. She took over from a person who had overseen ten years of rapid growth at the bank. The selection of an outsider as the new CEO surprised many... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Valuation; Finance; Banks and Banking; Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry; India

29 Jul 2013
News

Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending - Buying Experiences

Article

Trust: The Foundation of Leadership

By: Frances Frei and Anne Morriss

The authors contend that if leadership is about empowering others, in your presence and your absence, then trust is the emotional framework that allows that service to be freely exchanged. Based on their experiences advising individuals and organizations, their basic... View Details

Keywords: Trustworthiness; Authenticity; Empathy; Trust; Leadership; Competency and Skills; Behavior

2018
Book

Driving Digital Strategy: A Guide to Reimagining Your Business

By: Sunil Gupta

Disruption and transformation get a lot of hype and for good reason. Digital technologies have disrupted entire industries and incumbents have often struggled in this new world. Typical approaches used by legacy players such as using technology to improve efficiency,... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Information Technology; Transformation; Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Value Creation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Organizational Structure; Digital Strategy

August 2017
Case

RoboTech: Storming into the U.S. Market

By: Christopher A. Bartlett, Rachel Gordon and John J. Lafkas

This case describes the challenges facing the CEO of a small, Singapore-based industrial robotics company that decides to diversify away from its core industrial robot business by leveraging its expertise into the medical-devices industry. It launches an innovative... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Diversification; Product Launch; Competitive Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Technology Industry; Singapore; United States

2017
Other Teaching and Training Material

Financial Accounting Reading: Basic Accounting Concepts and Assumptions

By: David F. Hawkins

Core Curriculum Readings in Financial Accounting cover the fundamental concepts in financial accounting. The objective of this reading is to enhance the student's understanding of the nature of the information that general purpose financial reports provide. This goal... View Details

Keywords: Accounting

August 2014 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Reinventing Retail: ShopRunner's Network Bet

By: Benjamin Edelman and Karen Webster

ShopRunner considers adjustments to improve its online shopping service which offers no-charge two-day shipping as well as easy returns and other conveniences. Competitors' diverse pricing models and ancillary benefits raise questions about how to structure and price... View Details

Keywords: Shopping Club; Coop; Pricing; Shipping; Marketing Channels; Global Strategy; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Information Technology Industry; Retail Industry; United States; China

August 2011 (Revised November 2017)
Case

Adaptive Engineering, LLC

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

The owner and CEO of Adaptive Engineering was facing an important decision: should he focus on rebuilding its core professional services business which had generated significant revenue and cash flow over the past several years, or should he focus on developing and... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Making; Service Industry; Technology Industry

April 1995 (Revised July 1996)
Case

Microsoft, 1995

By: Tarun Khanna, David B. Yoffie and Israel Yellen Ganot

Explores Microsoft's core desktop computing software business and its newer endeavors in 1995. Designed to explore the sustainability of its phenomenal success, and to examine the logic behind its renewed emphasis on some areas, particularly the home computing software... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Software; Computer Industry

10 May 2012
News

Life lessons for the office

10 Sep 2014
Blog Post

A Summer Reflection

Looking back on my summer internship at Walmart, I have four main takeaways about the company: Walmart cares A LOT about maintaining the culture that Sam Walton initially put in place. It’s actively and constantly managed- 4 core values,... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Consumer Products / Retail

October 2014 (Revised December 2018)
Background Note

Leading and Managing Change

By: Ryan Raffaelli

Managing change is consistently ranked as one of the most critical and difficult tasks that leaders face. This note outlines the key choices that leaders must make when engineering change. It is organized into four sections, offering guidance on how to 1) diagnose the... View Details

Keywords: Change Leadership; Leading Change; Change Management

23 May 2012
News

Start-Up Customer Service 101

18 Oct 2024
Blog Post

The Benefits of Living in a Dorm at HBS

On the HBS campus, six residence halls—Chase, Gallatin, Hamilton, McCulloch, Mellon, and Morris—offer a unique and vibrant community of single-occupancy spaces. Since 1927, residential living has been a core component of the MBA... View Details

November 2001 (Revised July 2011)
Case

Grupo Elektra

By: David J. Arnold, Gustavo Herrero and Luiz Felipe Monteiro

Grupo Elektra is Latin America's largest consumer finance company based on credit sales in its hard goods retail outlets. It has started to internationalize in Latin America but now must to decide whether to enter the U.S. Hispanic market and which of its two core... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Emerging Markets; Global Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Retail Industry; Latin America; United States; Mexico

April 1993 (Revised December 1993)
Case

NEC

By: Marco Iansiti

Investigates product development practices at NEC. The company provides an intriguing example of how to build capability through a stream of product development projects. Focuses in detail on an engineering group that develops the core component of its line of... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Product Design; Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Information Technology; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Information Technology Industry

January 2009 (Revised May 2009)
Case

Innovation at Mahindra & Mahindra (A)

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Briana Doerr Luthra

Describes the Mahindra & Mahindra Group's approach to innovation. The Group is among the top industrial houses in India and its managing director Anand Mahindra has put innovation at the core of its growth strategy. Emphasis is placed on managing the balance between... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Marketing; Business Processes; Product; Innovation Strategy; Organizational Design; Demand and Consumers; Auto Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; India

2010
Simulation

Marketing Simulation: Managing Segments and Customers

By: Das Narayandas

In this single-player simulation, students assume the position of CEO of a medical motor manufacturer and are tasked with executing a successful business-to-business marketing strategy over a period of twelve fiscal quarters. Students determine all aspects of the... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Salesforce Management; Distribution Channels; Price; Product Positioning; Customer Relationship Management; Profit; Revenue; Cost vs Benefits; Policy; Manufacturing Industry