Publications

August 2014 (Revised August 2015)
Supplement

Opening the Valve: From Software to Hardware (B)

By: Ethan Bernstein, Francesca Gino and Bradley Staats

Valve, one of the world's top video game software companies, has also become an iconic example of an organization with virtually no hierarchy. A 400-person organization, Valve's unique organizational form (described in detail in the case and accompanying employee... View Details

31 Jul 2012
First Look

First Look: July 31

Strategic Talent Management Initiatives Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. AbbottHarvard Business School Case 412-147 In 2012, Bill Allen and Maria Pejter, of Maersk Group's Human Resources Department, sat down to... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

08 Apr 2008
First Look

First Look: April 8, 2008

was an essential ingredient in the success of the transformation. The case ends with a review of changes in financial performance, employee attitudes and customer satisfaction. The case describes the important role that the human View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

01 Apr 2008
First Look

First Look: April 1, 2008

team-specific human capital by investing more in the internal networks and unique capabilities and resources of their own companies. Second, women took greater care when assessing a prospective new employer.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

05 May 2003
Research & Ideas

Sharing the Responsibility of Corporate Governance

Harvard Business School professor Constance Bagley studies the intersection of business and law, and is interested in how companies can use legal resources as a competitive asset. In this interview, Bagley discusses ways businesses can... View Details

Keywords: by Carla Tishler

11 Sep 2007
First Look

First Look: September 11, 2007

from a manufacturing to an innovation-led enterprise. How would they balance short-term pragmatism versus long-term vision? Do they have the appropriate human resources to scale and innovate? Is their... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

07 Dec 2010
First Look

First Look: Dec. 7

division. But now, the Development Banking team is contemplating going to the board to take the concept one step further: pro-actively investing in PSL-qualifying activities not as a matter of regulatory compliance but as business. Should the bank devote significant... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2017
Teaching Note

Dick's Sporting Goods

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Matthew G. Preble

This is the teaching note to accompany Rajiv Lal, Jose B. Alvarez, and Matthew G. Preble, “Dick’s Sporting Goods,” HBS No. 517-007 (Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Publishing, 2017). View Details

February 2017
Case

Dick's Sporting Goods

By: Rajiv Lal, Jose B. Alvarez and Matthew G. Preble

Edward Stack, chairman and CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS), faced a rapidly changing sporting goods landscape in October 2016. Two large competitors—The Sports Authority and Sport Chalet—had folded earlier that year, and DKS had to contend with increasingly robust... View Details

19 Mar 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, March 19, 2019

other outputs by autonomous machines. I argue that organizational researchers of creativity and innovation should invest significant energy in studying artificial intelligence and computer-assisted human intelligence, the ways in which... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

10 Jan 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: January 10, 2017

become the Amazon of freelance labor, and transforming its business model from a marketplace to software-as-a-service (SaaS). Each of the three paths was risky and required financial and human resource... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

30 Oct 2007
First Look

First Look: October 30, 2007

more than 20 case studies and other readings that offer a powerful and transformative approach to advancing and sustaining the work of school improvement. At the center of this work is the concept of organizational coherence: aligning organizational design, View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2024
Supplement

Climate Governance at Linde plc (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Suraj Srinivasan, Emilie Billaud and Vincent Dessain

In July 2023, the Linde plc board of directors' sustainability committee convened in London to review the company's environmental performance, with a focus on decarbonization and clean energy. Linde was the world's largest industrial gas supplier, with a workforce of... View Details

February 2013 (Revised December 2015)
Case

Groom Energy Solutions: Selling Efficiency

By: Michael W. Toffel, Kira R. Fabrizio and Stephanie van Sice

Groom Energy Solutions helps organizations reduce their energy use and costs through the implementation of energy efficiency measures, which create long-term financial and environmental benefits. With early success serving customers in the cold storage and industrial... View Details

Keywords: Groom Energy Solutions; Jon Guerster; Salem, MA; Energy Management; Energy Efficiency Paradox; Sustainability Management; Manufacturing; Cold Storage; Commercial Real Estate; Enterprise Smart Grid; Carbon Accounting; LED Lighting; Sustainability Research; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Entrepreneurship; Energy Entrepreneurship; Energy Services; Electricity; Startup; Expansion; Growth; Sustainability; Business Startups; Forecasting and Prediction; Energy Conservation; Revenue; Geographic Location; Human Resources; Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Operations; Service Delivery; Strategic Planning; Science; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Society; Social Issues; Technology Adoption; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Utilities Industry; United States; Boston

05 Sep 2012
First Look

First Look: September 5

company Danone's novel approach to knowledge management. In 2007, Human Resource Chief (Executive Vice President) Franck Mougin assesses the company's knowledge-sharing tools and considers his options going... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2022
Case

The Future of Start-Up Chile

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Ruth Costas and Pedro Levindo

In 2021, public accelerator program Start-Up Chile, which ten years earlier had created a global buzz, might be losing its competitive edge to similar programs or one-year visas for digital nomads offered by other countries. The case follows SUP’s CEO, Angeles Romo, as... View Details

15 Jul 2008
First Look

First Look: July 15, 2008

in cancer; building an RNAi Consortium to better understand the role of every gene in the human body; creating an integrated database that mapped the connections among drugs, genes, and diseases; and cataloging inherited genetic... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

December 2023 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Boortmalt: The Master Maltster

By: Forest Reinhardt, Jose B Alvarez, Damien McLoughlin, Lena Duchene and Emer Moloney

By May 2023, Boortmalt was the world’s leading producer of malt, with a production capacity of 3 million tonnes, 15% of global market share, and 27 malting plants across five continents. It had recently acquired a major competitor and had sustained an EBITDA growth of... View Details