Publications

25 Jul 2016
Research & Ideas

Who is to Blame for 'The Great Training Robbery'?

the push toward lean manufacturing. Beer cites a manufacturing company whose CEO was committed to improving quality and launched a lean training program in multiple plants. The effectiveness of that training was hampered in plants where... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Education

February 2019 (Revised May 2019)
Case

Schneider Electric: Opening Up to External Innovation

By: Antonio Davila

Schneider Electric competes in tough but stable markets around energy management, automation, and control of infrastructures ranging from homes to production plants. New technologies and new approaches to serving markets are challenging the status quo. To take... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Venture Capital; Accelerator; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Organizational Design; Energy Industry; Manufacturing Industry; France; United States

Web

Publications - Faculty & Research

Climate Instability: Understanding and Managing Physical Climate Risk By: Michael W. Toffel and Spencer Glendon In this compelling video, Spencer Glendon, founder of Probable Futures and Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School,... View Details

June 2003 (Revised October 2006)
Case

George McClelland at KSR (A)

By: Joshua D. Margolis, Ayesha Kanji and Wan Wong

George McClelland accepts a position as the chief administrative officer/chief operating officer at Kendall Square Research (KSR), a fledgling computer company that is taking its promising parallel computer technology to market. McClelland is a veteran of the computer... View Details

Keywords: History; Technological Innovation; Leadership; Business History; Accounting; Problems and Challenges; Business Strategy; Growth and Development; Computer Industry; Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

August 2018
Case

Digital Transformation at Brazilian Retailer Magazine Luiza

By: Thales S. Teixeira, Leandro A. Guissoni and Tania Modesto Veludo-de-Oliveira

By late 2017, Brazilian retailer Magazine Luiza's CEO was convinced that the company could significantly grow sales and accomplish its aspirations of digital transformation. What was unclear in his mind was whether he should act as a tech company and grow as fast as... View Details

Keywords: Digital; Ecommerce; Retailing; Brazil; Bricks And Mortar; Pricing; Customer Lifetime Value; Growth and Development Strategy; Internet and the Web; Transformation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Retail Industry; Brazil

02 Oct 2012
First Look

First Look: October 2

Publications Corporate Social Responsibility and Access to Finance Authors: Beiting Cheng, Ioannis Ioannou, and George Serafeim Publication: Strategic Management Journal (forthcoming) Abstract In this paper, we investigate whether... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2013 (Revised February 2016)
Case

GlaxoSmithKline: Sourcing Complex Professional Services

By: Heidi K. Gardner and Silvia Hodges Silverstein

Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) uses an innovative new approach to procuring outside legal counsel: it replaces relationship-based selection and law firms' traditional time-based billing with data-driven decision making and an online reverse auction. In... View Details

Keywords: Legal Industry; Procurement; Professional Service Firms; Pricing; Competition; Change Management; Supply Chain Management; Legal Liability; Business Processes; Legal Services Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

18 Mar 2014
News

Which Women Are Rising to the Top?

25 Aug 2003
Research & Ideas

Why IT Does Matter

people when a part or system is about to fail. Often, only the senior management team's imagination limits new IT-based opportunities. Our research suggests the following: New technologies will continue to give View Details

Keywords: by F. Warren McFarlan & Richard L. Nolan

January 1998 (Revised May 1999)
Case

General Scanning, Inc. (B)

By: H. Kent Bowen, Sean McClenaghan and Charles Tillen

After meeting with a mediator, Montagu and Davis decided their goals were not in accordance, and Davis left General Scanning. Montagu and Brosens wrote three-year objectives for the company and proceeded to search for a new professional manager. Chuck Winston took on... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Restructuring; Change; Business or Company Management; Ownership Stake; Strategic Planning; Hardware

January 2008 (Revised August 2011)
Case

ProntoWash: Washing the World's Cars to a Tango Beat

ProntoWash management considers whether franchising and the Balanced Scorecard could be combined to help customer-facing employees provide consistent service across the world and capture relevant management information. In 2007, ProntoWash, an international car-wash... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Growth and Development Strategy; Balanced Scorecard; Management Systems; Franchise Ownership; Performance Consistency; Argentina

08 Jan 2007
What Do You Think?

Neuro Economics: Science or Science Fiction?

At the same time, he adds, there will be "a new set of management and pop psychology books with dubious claims ." Among the potential benefits making it highly relevant, according to David Skinner, is that "its output might... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

12 PM – 1 PM EST, 02 Dec 2016
Webinars: Trending@HBS

Unlocking Growth & Resilience in Your Organization

Managers of companies in every industry and geography are focused on business model innovation as a way to respond to competitive threats and create new growth opportunities. Despite all of that effort and attention, the failure rate for corporate transformations is... View Details

12 Mar 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, March 12, 2019

successful dual-purpose companies build a commitment to creating both economic and social value into their core activities. This approach, which they call hybrid organizing, includes: setting and monitoring social goals alongside... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

August 2010 (Revised January 2013)
Supplement

Urban Water Partners (B)

By: Karthik Ramanna, George Serafeim and Aldo Sesia

The case explores a new business venture to bring clean water to residents of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, who otherwise cannot afford it. Management has enough money to get their company through August 2010, but needs more capital thereafter. An HBS alumnus is interested... View Details

Keywords: Human Needs; Accrual Accounting; Financial Statements; Health Industry; Utilities Industry; Dar es Salaam