Publications

13 May 2020
Video

Cas Coovadia

Cas Coovadia, the long-running Managing Director of the Banking Association South Africa, discusses how the banking sector has been crucial to financing SMEs and providing low cost housing, and gives his belief... View Details

08 Dec 2021
Blog Post

The Drive to Succeed: Silvio Memme (MBA 2020) of OMERS Ventures and His Career Switch into Venture Capital

VC,” Memme wrote in his article for Medium. “The ability to combine critical thinking skills, an understanding of what it takes to commercialize innovation, and my love of all things entrepreneurial convinced me I had a lot of View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital

24 Oct 2019
Video

Anu Aga

Anu Aga, former Chair of the engineering and energy company Thermax in India, describes the difficult decision to reconstitute the company’s Board of Directors and her belief in the need to keep the roles of... View Details

September 2019 (Revised May 2021)
Case

pymetrics: International Expansion

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In August 2018, pymetrics, a solution offering neuroscience-based recruiting tests, closed a $40 million funding round that valued the business at $160 million. Over 60 companies around the globe were using pymetrics tests in their recruiting process, including... View Details

Thomas W. Graeber

Thomas Graeber is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration in the Negotiation, Organizations & Markets Unit at Harvard Business School. He teaches Negotiations in the MBA elective curriculum.

As an empirical behavioral and experimental... View Details

June 2004 (Revised September 2007)
Case

Zara: IT for Fast Fashion

In 2003, Zara's CIO must decide whether to upgrade the retailer's IT infrastructure and capabilities. At the time of the case, the company relies on an out-of-date operating system for its store terminals and has no full-time network in place across stores. Despite... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Customer Value and Value Chain; Information Management; Infrastructure; Supply Chain Management; Information Technology; Retail Industry

May–June 2021
Article

Eliminate Strategic Overload

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee

As companies respond to intensifying competitive pressures and challenges, they ask more and more of their employees. But organizations often have very little to show for the efforts of their talented and engaged workers. By selecting fewer initiatives with greater... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Initiatives; Value-based Strategy; Organizational Effectiveness; Strategy; Value Creation

Find at Harvard

09 Sep 2015
News

Corporate Efforts to Address Social Problems Have Limits

06 Mar 2025
Blog Post

IFC India 2025: Sustainability in Action: Inside Hindustan Unilever’s Public Sanitation and Plastic Recycling Facilities

India. Material Recovery Facility (MRF), Mumbai Today, over 10 million tons of plastic waste is generated annually in India and that figure is expected to double in the next two decades due to development, causing a $133 billion loss of... View Details

15 Mar 2021
News

Why Is It So Hard to Speak Up at Work?

2014
Book

Retail Revolution: Will Your Brick & Mortar Store Survive?

By: Rajiv Lal, Jose B. Alvarez and Dan Greenberg

In Retail Revolution, the authors go beyond the common belief of retail as a monolithic industry and provide a framework that any brick-and-mortar retailer can use to respond to the eCommerce threat. Through six examples, this book demonstrates how this... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Internet and the Web; Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Retail Industry

Find at Harvard

Harvard Business School and Polaroid - Edwin H. Land & Polaroid | Harvard Business School

Polaroid, McLean and Smith advised the company on the potential, design specifications, and monetary value of Edwin Land's new instant photography system that would be... View Details

March 2001 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, The

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Stacy McManus

In just seven days, the Ritz-Carlton transforms newly hired employees into "Ladies and Gentlemen Serving Ladies and Gentlemen." The case details a new hotel launch, focusing on the unique blend of leadership, quality processes, and values of self-respect and dignity,... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Service Operations; Performance Improvement; Problems and Challenges; Quality; Status and Position; Culture; Value Creation; Accommodations Industry; Service Industry

Winter 2017
Article

Why Big Data Isn't Enough

By: Sen Chai and Willy C. Shih

There is a growing belief that sophisticated algorithms can explore huge databases and find relationships independent of any preconceived hypotheses. But in businesses that involve scientific research and technological innovation, this approach is misguided and... View Details

Keywords: Big Data; Science-based; Science; Scientific Research; Data Analytics; Data Science; Data-driven Management; Data Scientists; Technological Innovation; Analytics and Data Science; Mathematical Methods; Theory

Accelerating the Careers of Diverse Rising Stars

The Advent Leadership Academy was a unique 13-week custom program designed to equip a diverse cohort of 40 talented leaders from across Advent's portfolio companies with the skills and frameworks they needed to advance their career... View Details

20 Aug 2021
Blog Post

Is the MBA Worth It? Hear What Recent HBS Grads Have to Say

How do you know if an MBA is worth it? We asked recent HBS alumni to reflect on their time at—and after—HBS. Here are their thoughts on the business school experience, the value of an MBA degree, and how to... View Details

February 1992 (Revised September 2003)
Supplement

Beech-Nut Nutrition Corporation (A-2)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Bronwyn Halliday and Michael Santoro

Beech-Nut's CEO must decide what to do. Asks students to consider how much evidence of impurity should be enough to trigger management's acknowledgment of a problem. What are the cognitive and attitudinal factors and pressures that lead people to persist in beliefs... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Risk Management; Attitudes; Nutrition; Cognition and Thinking; Food and Beverage Industry

14 Feb 2020
Video

Dr. Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti

Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti, Chair of Nalli Silk Sarees in India, described how he had to take over the family textile business at a very young age, and how he adhered to his father’s and grandfather’s conservative... View Details

September 2005 (Revised April 2009)
Background Note

Principles of Pricing

By: Robert J. Dolan and John T. Gourville

Presents the basic principles of pricing, including value pricing, price sensitivity, and price customization/discrimination. A rewritten version of an earlier note. View Details

Keywords: Price; Marketing Strategy; Value