Publications

18 Dec 2012
First Look

First Look: December 18

CEO, rising leader of a firm in transition, and manager of massive complexity-thanks to our incredibly networked and increasingly unpredictable world of business. What if you were in his shoes? If you're a top executive today, you... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

25 Nov 2008
First Look

First Look: November 25, 2008

unique panel dataset on firm hierarchies (1986-1999) of large U.S. firms and find that increasing competition leads firms to become flatter, i.e., (i) reduce the number of positions between the CEO and division managers (DM), (ii)... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

13 Jun 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, June 13

Business School Case 817-088 Hygeia Group: Delivering Quality Care in Nigeria Fola Laoye is the Group Managing Director of Hygeia Group, a Nigerian healthcare insurer and provider, and she is deciding on the optimal strategy to grow the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Oct 2016
HBS Case

Business Solutions That Help Cut Food Waste

As much as 40 percent of food grown in the United States for human consumption is wasted. Source: Eivaisla After decades of wasteful food practices, where perfectly good food is discarded even as poverty keeps many families hungry, solutions are starting to come... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage

March 2004
Case

L.L. Bean: A Search for Growth

By: Rajiv Lal, Walter J. Salmon and James Weber

In mid-2003, CEO Chris McCormick felt L.L. Bean was in a good position to begin to grow again. For nearly 90 years, the company sold clothing and gear for outdoor enthusiasts through its catalogs and a single retail store in Freeport, Maine. In the three decades prior... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Restructuring; Growth and Development Strategy; Cost Management; Sales; Performance Improvement; Diversification; Distribution Channels; Resignation and Termination; Retail Industry; Web Services Industry

18 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 18, 2009

possible responses to this shortage: Sharing addresses impedes new Internet applications and does not seem to be scalable. A new numbering system ("IPv6") offers greater capacity, but network incentives impede transition. Paid transfers of IP addresses would... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

08 Dec 2009
First Look

First Look: Dec. 8

quest for the Next Big Thing. The problem with corporate entrepreneurship, of course, has been that the entrepreneur must deal with the challenges of securing resources and support within an organization focused on operations that are... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

21 Feb 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: February 21

across medicine. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52286 forthcoming Strategic Management Journal Overcoming Institutional Voids: A Reputation-Based View of Long-Run Survival By: Gao, Cheng, Tiona Zuzul,... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

12 Mar 2024
HBS Case

How Used Products Can Unlock New Markets: Lessons from Apple's Refurbished iPhones

value. The Apple name gives its products higher “residual value,” making them easier to resell, Serafeim says. An actively managed operating system. Apple updates the system its devices rely on often, helping the products stay relevant.... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Electronics; Information Technology

26 Sep 2005
Research & Ideas

What Perceived Power Brings to Negotiations

And so the manipulation of the alternatives was really straightforward. Q: What can managers and other professionals learn from this research when they find themselves in negotiations? A: I think the critical piece here is the distinction... View Details

Keywords: by Mallory Stark

10 Jan 2005
Research & Ideas

How to Put Meaning Back into Leading

early-twentieth-century social scientists is what we call "the meaning and organization problem." One of the main trends of modern society was the rise of large formal work organizations. Capitalists and managers encouraged the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

October 2010
Teaching Note

From Imitation to Innovation: Zongshen Industrial Group (TN)

By: Willy C. Shih

Teaching Note for 610057. View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Transformation; Problems and Challenges; Taxation; Information Technology; Selection and Staffing; Talent and Talent Management; Corporate Strategy; Acquisition; Technology Adoption; Supply Chain; Motorcycle Industry

1989
Book

Planning and Power in Iran: Ebtehaj and Economic Development under the Shah

By: Geoffrey Jones

This book provides a biography of Abol Hassan Ebtehaj, who headed Iran's central bank and Plan Organization during the 1940s and 1950s. It provides a wide-ranging survey of the problems of modernization and economic planning in Iran. Ebtehaj was at the center of... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Decision Making; Economics; Central Banking; Policy; Political History; Resignation and Termination; Biography; Books; Surveys; Growth and Development Strategy; Planning; Iran

Find at Harvard

23 Sep 2014
First Look

First Look: September 23

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 handbook) includes 100% self-allocated time, no View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

07 Aug 2007
First Look

First Look: August 7, 2007

implications of these findings for organizational learning, process improvement and human resource management are discussed. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/08-002.pdf Deferred Acceptance... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

01 Mar 2018
What Do You Think?

Two Decades Later, is the 'New Economy' Finally Here?

reliance on non-renewable or non-recyclable resources a sustainable economy will not emerge until graduate schools research and teach how to identify and manage the existential risks referred to above.” Nick... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

October 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

SEK: Reimagining Spanish Higher Education at Universidad Camilo José Cela (UCJC)

By: John J-H Kim, Mary C. Sauer and Emilie Billaud

In 2023, Nieves Segovia, President of the SEK Education Group in Spain, contemplates the future of her family's for-profit education company, which includes K-12 schools and the newly established UCJC university. Renowned for its innovation in education, SEK faces... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Curriculum and Courses; Higher Education; Teaching; Digital Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Knowledge Dissemination; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Succession; Resource Allocation; Organizational Structure; Education Industry; Europe; Spain

January 2009 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Disaster in April: The Obligations of Kelly Construction

By: John D. Macomber, Christopher M. Gordon and Ben Creo

A construction company experiences a crane accident with multiple fatalities. The CEO, a client, and an employee must make choices to meet the company's obligations. Set in 2006, the case looks at the choices faced by board members of a museum that is an important... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Family Business; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Governing and Advisory Boards; Compensation and Benefits; Contracts; Crisis Management; Construction Industry