Publications

October 2004 (Revised May 2006)
Case

Transforming Singapore's Public Libraries (Abridged)

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Roger H. Hallowell

The Singapore Public Library system was transformed from being mediocre at best to world class using information technology, progressive human-resources management, and marketing approaches unusual for government agencies. View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Service Delivery; Marketing Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Human Resources; Information Technology; Nonprofit Organizations; Public Administration Industry; Singapore

March 2022 (Revised February 2024)
Case

El Salvador: Launching Bitcoin as Legal Tender

By: Laura Alfaro, Carla Larangeira and Ruth Costas

In June 2021, Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, surprised the world with the announcement that the country would adopt bitcoin as legal tender, becoming the first nation to do so. Bitcoin was mostly used for trading and had one of the most volatile track records... View Details

Keywords: Bitcoin; Cryptocurrency; Currency; Financial Strategy; Economic Growth; Governance; Macroeconomics; Assets; Latin America; El Salvador

October 2012 (Revised February 2019)
Case

Whaling Ventures

By: Tom Nicholas and Jonas Peter Akins

Whaling was a prominent global industry in the nineteenth century and the United States was dominant. By 1850 there were about 900 whaling ships in the world and 700 of these were American. Rates of return on capital were high compared to benchmark investments, at... View Details

Keywords: Whaling; Organization Design; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Finance; Organizational Design; Industry Growth; History; United States

07 Jun 2014
Video

Aamir Rehman - Making A Difference

30 Sep 2019
News

Consumer instant gratification can prove risky

January 2023
Article

Psychological Safety Comes of Age: Observed Themes in an Established Literature

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Derrick P. Bransby

Since its renaissance in the 1990s, psychological safety research has flourished—a boom motivated by recognition of the challenge of navigating uncertainty and change. Today, its theoretical and practical significance is amplified by the increasingly complex and... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Risk and Uncertainty; Leadership; Working Conditions; Research; Performance; Learning; Organizational Culture

Find at Harvard

21 Jan 2020
News

Why Business Leaders Should Solve Problems Beyond Their Companies

29 Oct 2019
Video

Leonor Melo de Velasco

Leonor Melo, who founded the micro-finance Mundo Mujer Foundation (Women’s World Foundation) in Colombia in 1985, describes how the Foundation undertook financial product innovation, especially chattel... View Details

04 Feb 2020
Video

Erling Lorentzen

Erling Lorentzen, former head of Aracruz Celulose, a leading Brazilan manufacturer of pulp and paper, describes his efforts to gain financing from the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation.

View Details

January 2020 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Zara: An Integrated Store and Online Model (A)

By: Antonio Moreno

In 2010, amidst the growth of ecommerce and the emergence of new, purely online, fashion players, Zara launched its first online store, Zara.com. Since then, Zara’s online business had grown at a fast pace. By 2018, 12% of Inditex Group’s total sales came from the... View Details

Keywords: Stores; Integration; Operations; Business Model; Strategy; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Fashion Industry; Europe

Web

War & Peace: The Lessons of History for Leadership, Strategy, Negotiation & Humanity - Course Catalog

the choices we make when there is no dominant strategy. Evaluate the role and limits of decision making in the context of political, historical, institutional, and other... View Details

06 May 2025
Blog Post

The Incredible Land of Ice and Fire: Exploring Iceland's Renewable Energy Model for a Changing Planet

Climeworks clean our atmosphere and help build an entirely new market, we were reminded that when passion for the energy transition is matched with resources and allies, changing the View Details

Randolph B. Cohen

Randolph B. (Randy) Cohen is the MBA Class of 1975 Senior Lecturer of Entrepreneurial Management in the Finance Unit at Harvard Business School. Cohen’s main research focus has been the identification of top investment managers and the prediction of manager... View Details

Keywords: financial services; investment banking industry

03 Jul 2018
News

Faculty Summer Reading Recommendations

Fall 2023
Article

Firms, Rules, and Global Capitalism

By: Rawi Abdelal

Every organization of the world economy has been unstable. Each system is necessarily composed of trade-offs. Opportunities emerge, and disappointments abound. Nothing lasts; nothing is finished; and nothing is perfect. View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Business History; Balance and Stability