Publications

March 7, 2024
Article

Integrating Digital Tools into Every Stage of Your Sales Strategy

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Georg Krentzel

In their growth and customer-acquisition activities, most companies now face twin challenges: understanding and responding to omni-channel buying behavior and doing that without inadvertently decreasing sales productivity. Thirty years ago, Peter Drucker noted that... View Details

Keywords: Sales Management; Digital Tools; Sales; Marketing Channels; Technology Adoption; Brands and Branding

Read Now

June 2010 (Revised May 2017)
Teaching Note

Sydney IVF: Stem Cell Research

By: Robert Simons and Kathryn Rosenberg

Teaching Note for 109017. View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Levers Of Control; Strategy; Risk Management; Decisions; Cooperative Ownership; Product Development; Moral Sensibility; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Expansion; Science-Based Business; Research; Management Practices and Processes; Business Subsidiaries; Biotechnology Industry; Sydney

April 1991 (Revised May 2017)
Teaching Note

Automatic Data Processing: The EFS Decision

Teaching Note for (9-190-059). View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Boundary Systems; Information Technology; Decision Making

September 1987 (Revised May 2017)
Teaching Note

Codman & Shurtleff, Inc.: Planning and Control System

Teaching Note for (9-187-081). View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Control Systems; Planning; System

October 8, 2012
Column

Henkel's Culture Shift

This case descriibes a CEO-led organizational transformation driven by stretch goals, performance measurement, and accountability. When Kasper Rorsted became CEO of Henkel, a Germany-based producer of personal care, laundry, and adhesives products, in 2008, he was... View Details

Keywords: Strategy Execution; Culture; New CEO; Change; Performance Measures; Accountability; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Corporate Accountability; Leading Change; Competitive Strategy; Organizational Culture; Performance Evaluation; Consumer Products Industry; Germany

Web

Economic Development in Rural Areas - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

governments need to provide rural regions with the necessary tools and financing mechanisms to develop and execute an effective strategy Key Documents Competitiveness in U.S. Rural Regions: Learning and... View Details

May 1991 (Revised March 2018)
Teaching Note

Automation Consulting Services

Teaching Note for 190-053 View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Levers Of Control; Consulting Industry

2009
Manual

Instructor's Manual to Accompany Corporate Information Strategy and Management: Text and Cases

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Robert D. Austin and Deborah Soule

This new edition examines how information technology enables organizations to conduct business in radically different and more effective ways. The authors objective is to provide readers with a better understanding of the influence of twenty-first century technologies... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Information Management; Managerial Roles; Strategy; Information Technology

03 Oct 2023
HBS Case

Layoffs Can Be Bad Business: 5 Strategies to Consider Before Cutting Staff

organization long term, says Sucher, who collaborated with research associate Marilyn Morgan Westner on the case study and with both Westner and research associate Christopher Diak on the background note. Sucher outlines five strategies... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Telecommunications; Technology; Financial Services; Manufacturing

March 2000 (Revised April 2017)
Teaching Note

The Cross Country Group: A Piece of the Rock (A) and (B)

By: Robert Simons and Indra A. Reinbergs

Teaching Note for (9-199-044) and (9-100-044). View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Strategy And Execution; Compensation; Performance Measures

June 1999 (Revised May 2017)
Teaching Note

Guidant Corporation: Shaping Culture Through Systems

By: Robert Simons and Antonio Dávila

Teaching Note for (9-198-076). View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Risk And Uncertainty; Service Industry; Financial Services Industry

December 2014
Case

Groupon: A New CEO Takes Charge

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Arnold B. Peinado

On August 7, 2013, Eric Lefkofsky, the chairman and largest shareholder of Groupon was named CEO, replacing founder Andrew Mason, who had run the company since its inception in 2009. When Groupon had its initial public offering (IPO) in November 2011, the company's... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Management; Disruptive Technologies; Growth Strategy; Customer Relations; Service Management; International Business; Business Models; Strategy Execution; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; United States

June 1988 (Revised July 1989)
Case

John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co.: The Inflation Strategy Task Force (A)

1980 was a critical time for John Hancock with high inflation, high interest rates, increased competition, and the desertion of policy holders seeking new investment opportunities. A new lower level (of vice presidents) task force was set up by the executive committee... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Insurance; Inflation and Deflation; Insurance Industry; United States

Web

Credential of Digital Innovation and Strategy | HBS Online

transformation and how to develop and execute a future-ready business strategy Explore digital tools and data-informed leadership to execute, innovate, and work smarter Apply design thinking and creative... View Details

November 2012 (Revised September 2013)
Case

Learning Resources: A Hands-On Toy Company Deals with New Challenges and Opportunities

By: Boris Groysberg and Anahita Hashemi

Learning Resources is a family-owned educational toy company that, by late 2011, was facing a myriad of challenges, including increased competition, entry into new markets, new distribution methods, rising costs of production in China, and changing customer behavior.... View Details

Keywords: Leading Teams; Strategy Formulation; Strategy And Execution; Innovation; Corporate Culture; Industry Analysis; Organizational Alignment; Entrepreneurs; Sales Channels; Leadership; Strategy; Change Management; Innovation Leadership; Family Business; Entrepreneurship; Product Design; Sales; Retail Industry; United States