Publications

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2023
Book

Workplace Conditions

By: Jill Maben, Jane Ball and Amy C. Edmondson

This Element reviews the evidence for three workplace conditions that matter for improving quality and safety in healthcare: staffing; psychological safety, teamwork, and speaking up; and staff health and well-being at work. The authors propose that these are... View Details

Keywords: Working Conditions; Outcome or Result; Safety; Well-being; Health Industry

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January 2023 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Peloton Interactive (A)

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Lynn S. Paine and David Lane

Early in February 2022, the board of Peloton Interactive faced some knotty challenges. Immense pandemic demand for its stationary exercise bicycles and treadmills had prompted the firm to scale up production rapidly. But as gyms reopened and the virulence of the virus... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Growth Management; Investment Activism; Leadership; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Sports Industry; United States

January 2023 (Revised May 2024)
Teaching Note

Japan: Land of the Setting Sun?

By: Mattias Fibiger

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 721-007 and 723-415. View Details

January 2023
Case

Natura: Weathering the Pandemic at Brazil's Cosmetic Giant

By: Brian Trelstad, Pedro Levindo and Carla Larangeira

Brazil's Natura, a multi-brand cosmetics group, has taken several measures to safeguard the livelihoods of its thousands of employees and millions of sales representatives during the COVID-19 health and economic crisis. The company has also made strides in its efforts... View Details

January 2023 (Revised April 2023)
Case

Cobalt Robotics: Scaling Workplace Robotics

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Nicole Tempest Keller and Kyung Keun Park

Founded in 2016, Cobalt Robotics, based in Fremont, California, was a Robot-as-a-Service (RaaS) company that built autonomous workplace robots that were designed to replace or supplement human security guards. Outfitted with over 60 sensors, Cobalt robots patrolled... View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Invention; Marketing Strategy; Marketing Channels; Customers; Technology Industry; United States; California

January 28, 2023
Article

Will We Blame Self-Driving Cars? A New Study Finds That People Are Likely to Hold Autonomous Vehicles Liable for Accidents Even When They’re Not at Fault

By: Julian De Freitas

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Legal Liability; Trust; Perception; Auto Industry

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January 2023 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Adams + Beasley Associates

By: Dennis Campbell and Iuliana Mogosanu

This case illustrates how a strong culture, founder-led SME designed and used a unique performance metric—the job security index—to manage through periods of economic uncertainty. The case centers specifically on how the job security index was used in an interactive... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Measurement and Metrics; Employee Ownership; Risk and Uncertainty; Small Business; Leadership; Organizational Culture

January 2023
Case

Baofeng's Philanthropic Efforts in China

By: Lauren Cohen, Hao Gao, Bo Li and Zhaoheng Gong

Yanbao Dang, President of Baofeng Group and founder of the Yanbao Foundation, Baofeng Group’s philanthropic arm, weighed how the family nonprofit could maximize its impact. On a mission to eliminating poverty through broadening access to educational opportunities in... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Entrepreneurship; Rural Scope; Social Enterprise; Nonprofit Organizations; Social Issues; Poverty; Resource Allocation; Green Technology Industry; Education Industry; China; Asia

January 2023
Supplement

Junson Capital (B): Digital Transparency In the Family Office

By: Lauren Cohen, Hao Gao, Trang Duong, Grace Headinger and Keven Wang

Keywords: China; Hong Kong

January 2023
Supplement

M-KOPA (B): Empowering Lives

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Wale Lawal

January 2023 (Revised December 2023)
Case

OhmConnect: Energizing the Future

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Jennifer Fonstad and Nicole Tempest Keller

Founded in 2013, OhmConnect was a free consumer web app that alerted customers about peak hours of electricity demand, and paid them to lower their energy use at home during these periods. The company sold the aggregated reductions generated by thousands of households... View Details

Keywords: App Development; Renewable Energy; Electricity Usage; Regulations; VC; Technology; Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC); Scalability; Applications and Software; Growth and Development Strategy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business Model; Venture Capital; Energy Industry; United States; California; Texas; Europe

January 2023
Case

Clay Ridge Capital

By: Martin A. Sinozich and William R. Kerr

Kel Jackson, with the support of his young family, has been searching for a manufacturing business to purchase. After a long process, Kel had submitted a written offer to buy Sheetfab that matched his original conversation with the owner, but a broker Kel had never met... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Small Business; Entrepreneurship; Manufacturing Industry

January 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Digital Transformation at Tata Steel

By: Krishna Palepu, Das Narayandas, Radhika Kak and Rachna Tahilyani

T.V. Narendran, CEO of Tata Steel, India’s oldest steel manufacturing firm, had taken concrete business and cultural transformation steps to future-ready the firm since taking over in 2013. He had deleveraged and instilled financial discipline, acquired new businesses,... View Details

Keywords: Digital Transformation; Digital Strategy; Change Management; Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Steel Industry; Asia; India

January 2023
Teaching Note

Indonesia at a Crossroads

By: Mattias Fibiger

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 721-028. View Details

January 2023
Case

Inclusion and Diversity at Mars Petcare

By: Katherine Coffman and Tom Quinn

In 2020, the Mars Petcare Leadership Team found themselves dealing with critically important inclusion and diversity issues. Social unrest, including unprecedented protests for racial justice in the U.S. and across the globe, generated an urgency for substantive... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Diversity; Ethnicity; Gender; Race; Food and Beverage Industry; Health Industry; Europe; North and Central America; Asia; South America; Oceania

January 2023
Supplement

Mellody Hobson at Ariel Investments

By: Lakshmi Ramarajan and Francesca Gino

January 2023
Case

Year Up: Measuring and Scaling Impact

By: Natalia Rigol, Benjamin N. Roth, Brian Trelstad and Sarah Mehta

Year Up, a non-profit that provides training and practical work experience to low-income young people, has for years prioritized impact measurement. By 2022, it had built a robust body of evidence demonstrating that its program yields higher earnings for participants.... View Details

Keywords: Demographics; Education; Jobs and Positions; Measurement and Metrics; Performance; Research; Social Enterprise; Growth Management; Education Industry; United States; Massachusetts; Boston

January 2023
Teaching Note

Duolingo: Teaching Languages to the Masses

By: Youngme Moon

Teaching Note for HBS Case 323-016. At the time the case is written, Duolingo is the most popular language learning service in the world. The company has more than 40 million monthly active users, and the company’s total annual revenue has reached $250 million a year.... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Customer Relationship Management; Acquisition; Retention; Innovation and Invention

January 2023 (Revised December 2024)
Technical Note

LCA Action Planning: Responsibility and Accountability

By: Sandra J. Sucher, Nien-he Hsieh and Marilyn Morgan Westner

LCA action plans integrate responsibility and accountability into decision-making and planning. This module note was designed for the LCA course and reviews six steps leaders can follow to develop a practical LCA action plan for their business. It shows how integrating... View Details

Keywords: Responsibility; Accountability; Management Challenges; Corporate Accountability; Leadership; Planning; Decisions; Strategy