Publications

Find at Harvard

February 2003 (Revised April 2003)
Background Note

Note on Staffing in Professional Service Firms

By: Ashish Nanda

This case discusses the problem of balancing demand and supply of professionals within a professional services firm (PSF). It emphasizes how human resources management policies impact supply conditions and how market opportunities determine demand conditions. The case... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Balance and Stability; Supply and Industry; Employees; Service Industry

Find at Harvard

September 1992 (Revised August 2004)
Supplement

Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (C-1)

By: Lynn S. Paine

The division human resources officer must decide whether an older employee should be disciplined for misusing company time and for improperly filling out time cards for his work on government contracts. Intended to focus on the various factors relevant to disciplining... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Human Resources; Contracts; Management; Situation or Environment

14 Nov 2019
Video

Health Minute: Good Management Can Save Your Life

23 Apr 2019
Blog Post

HBS Shares Their Favorite Books for HR Leaders

HBS Career & Professional Development is excited to share some of our favorite books from the Harvard community for Human Resources leaders. Covering topics from effective leadership, to mentoring... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

October 2012 (Revised September 2013)
Teaching Note

The Dabbawala System: On-Time Delivery, Every Time

By: Stefan H. Thomke

The Mumbai-based dabbawalas are a 5,000 or so person organization that achieves exceptional service performance with a semi-literate workforce. Every working day, they deliver and return about 130,000 lunchboxes to offices throughout Mumbai. This entails more than... View Details

Keywords: Systems Design; Organization Design; Service; Organizational Design; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Mumbai

26 Oct 2020
Video

Shirley Zinn

Shirley Zinn, the Non-Executive Director of Sanlam and former Head of Human Resources at Standard Bank South Africa, explains the hardships of growing up in Cape Town’s Cape Flats in the 1960s, and the importance of possessing strong values and intent in the struggle... View Details

August 2001 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Consumer-Driven Health Care: Medtronic's Health Insurance Options

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, John Hurwitch and Seth Bokser

Describes the variety of health insurance plans that this medical device company offers, including a high-deductible, consumer-driven health plan with a health reimbursement account that also enables health care providers to quote their own prices. Asks students to... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Decision Choices and Conditions; Compensation and Benefits; Demand and Consumers

August 2011
Case

Mibanco: Meeting the Mainstreaming of Microfinance (MM)

By: Michael Chu, Gustavo Herrero and Jean Hazell

Facing an increasingly competitive microfinance market in Peru, Mibanco must continually optimize its product offerings, marketing operations, and human resource management to stay on top. This multimedia courseware provides visual orientation to enable viewers to more... View Details

Keywords: Microfinance; Markets; Change; Problems and Challenges; Management Teams; Employees; Marketing; Operations; Human Resources; Financial Services Industry; Peru

23 Aug 2022
News

HBS HR and the Future of Work: Q+A with Ellen Mahoney and Erin Graham

December 2010
Article

Work Pray Love

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

This article identifies five problematic issues in the intersection of work and life that create human resource challenges for organizations and their employees. These include work overload, the slow pace of adopting telecommuting, gender-related pay gaps, a household... View Details

Keywords: Wages; Work-Life Balance; Religion; Technology Adoption; Problems and Challenges; Human Resources; Gender

Find at Harvard

12 Feb 2025
Video

From acreage to AI, rethinking business ownership and society in our tech-driven the modern economy

June 1992 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Concordia Casting Company

By: F. Warren McFarlan

Describes five years of development in a centralized data processing activity serving a highly decentralized corporation. Data processing manager discovers that a major software system conversion is a full year behind schedule, and subsequently makes several managerial... View Details

Keywords: Analytics and Data Science; Applications and Software; System; Information Technology; Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Human Resources; Conflict and Resolution; Supply Chain Management; Accounting; Auto Industry

06 Jun 2011
News

Reshaping India's higher education landscape

2010
Working Paper

Prosocial Spending and Well-Being: Cross-Cultural Evidence for a Psychological Universal

By: Lara B. Aknin, Christopher P. Barrington-Leigh, Elizabeth W. Dunn, John F. Helliwell, Robert Biswas-Diener, Imelda Kemeza, Paul Nyende, Claire Ashton-James and Michael I. Norton

This research provides the first support for a possible psychological universal: human beings around the world derive emotional benefits from using their financial resources to help others (prosocial spending). Analyzing survey data from 136 countries, we show that... View Details

Keywords: Spending; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Happiness; Motivation and Incentives; Welfare; Uganda; Canada

Read Now

January 2004 (Revised July 2006)
Case

Executive Remuneration at Reckitt Benckiser plc

By: Jay W. Lorsch, V.G. Narayanan, Krishna G. Palepu, Lisa Brem and Ashley Robertson

Reckitt Benckiser plc has developed an executive compensation system. This case outlines the structure of the system, its emphasis on performance-based pay and a global outlook, and explains the role of the human resources department, the board of directors, and... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Employee Relationship Management; System; Executive Compensation; Retention; Performance; Human Resources; Recruitment; Business and Shareholder Relations

24 Jul 2014
Blog Post

Create a Content Marketing Strategy for your Talent Acquisitions Team

As a talent acquisitions manager or a marketing manager within a human resources team, you’ve probably asked yourself how to reach large quantities of high quality candidates in a thoughtful and meaningful... View Details

September 1989
Case

Navistar: Managing Change

Describes 15 years of change at Navistar. Highlights changes in strategy, name, products, services, size, human resources policies, and programs. Underscores the brisk pace and scope of changes. Students are asked to categorize the types of change, evaluate them, and... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management