Publications

July 2013
Case

Slicing Pie with a Razor: Ockham Technologies' Founding Agreement

By: Noam Wasserman and Yael Braid

Ockham Technologies' three founders are about to craft their founding agreement and split the equity among themselves. Uncertainty lingers over each member's future contributions, though—how is the team to devise a durable and effective split? Jim Triandiflou and Ken... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Conflict Management; Governing and Advisory Boards; Employees; Management Teams; Product Development; Technology Industry

02 Apr 2007
Lessons from the Classroom

Making the Move to General Manager

Esty. To that end, readings and classroom discussions in GMP are very different from the Harvard MBA program, and from other HBS leadership programs. Where the MBA program develops functional skills, GMP... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

16 Aug 2022
Op-Ed

Now Is the Time for Entrepreneurs to Play Offense

For the past six months, there has been a lot of handwringing about the market downturn. Most everyone has been advising entrepreneurs to marshal their capital, cut costs, and extend their runway. In... View Details

Keywords: by Jeffrey Bussgang

07 May 2007
Research & Ideas

Rediscovering Schumpeter: The Power of Capitalism

librarian challenged him to a duel. Schumpeter won the duel by cutting a small slice out of the librarian's shoulder. The two men later became good friends, and the students got access to the books. Like... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Education

1990
Article

Outsourcing: Harbinger of IS's Transformation

By: R. L. Nolan

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Transformation

04 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Is Web Surfing Distracting Your Workers?

A number of studies have suggested that US workers waste between one and two hours a day web surfing, costing their companies billions in lost productivity. In response, some employers have banned private Internet use at the office, a... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

1995
Article

What Downsizing Does to Creativity

By: T. M. Amabile and R. Conti

Keywords: Creativity; Job Cuts and Outsourcing

April 1995
Case

Montague Corporation (A)

By: Norman A. Berg and James Weber

The Montague Corp. is a small company started in 1987 and owned by David Montague, age 31, and his father. The company designs, manufactures in Taiwan, and sells through distributors worldwide a high-quality "bicycle that folds." The company offices are located in... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Financial Strategy; Financial Management; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Globalized Firms and Management; Family Business; Bicycle Industry; Taiwan; Cambridge

13 Oct 2009
Research & Ideas

7 Lessons for Navigating the Storm

strikes. It's as if doing so is tantamount to admitting failure as a leader. This tension is not necessarily surprising. Fortune 500 CEOs are some of the most driven, results-oriented people on the planet. Because their jobs compel them... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

09 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

When Benchmarks Don’t Work

product, or service against the best-known similar activity, so that challenging but attainable goals can be set and a realistic course of action implemented to efficiently become and remain best of the... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan; Service

01 Feb 2021
What Do You Think?

Has the New Economy Finally Arrived?

four years came along. It brought tax cuts and higher growth. The unemployment rate fell. Wages, particularly for low-income workers, increased. But contrary to Phillips curve thinking, inflation remained... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

Comment

Discussion of 'The Use of Management Control Mechanisms to Mitigate Moral Hazard in the Decision to Outsource'

By: Dennis Campbell

Keywords: Management; Decision Making; Ethics; Job Cuts and Outsourcing

April 2004 (Revised July 2007)
Case

OfficeTiger

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Johanna Regine Naunton Blaxall

OfficeTiger was founded in late 1999 with an innovative approach to global outsourcing. The company's employees, located primarily in India, provided services for corporations, investment banks, and professional services firms throughout the United States, Europe, and... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Globalized Markets and Industries; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Operations; India

November 2006
Case

Kroger Union Negotiations

By: Dennis A. Yao

A stylized version of the negotiations between Kroger Company and its local unions during the mid-1980s. Management faces a sequence of individual negotiations with local unions during a time of weak economic performance when management is seriously considering... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Wages; Management; Negotiation Participants; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Tactics

1995
Article

Managing Distrust: The Hidden Cost of Downsizing

By: D. Sull and N. Nohria

Keywords: Management; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Cost; Trust

December 2005
Article

Reducing Slack: The Performance Consequences of Downsizing by Large Industrial Firms, 1977-93

By: E. Geoffrey Love and Nitin Nohria

Keywords: Business Ventures; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Performance; Outcome or Result

19 Sep 2016
Research & Ideas

Why Isn't Business Research More Relevant to Business Practitioners?

time? Why is it that even people who care about morality end up behaving unethically? Why is it that people often feel inauthentic at work? What does that imply for their job satisfaction and productivity?”... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Education

05 Sep 2019
Sharpening Your Skills

Making the Right Technical Hire

developers and 27 percent wanted sales leads, 13 percent were looking for growth marketers and 7 percent wanted front-end developers/UX/designers. Sure, it’s fine to look for a generalist [or augmenting your... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin; Technology

February 2008
Case

Monitor's Opportunities in India (A)

By: Juan Alcacer and Jan W. Rivkin

The CEO of a strategy consulting firm must decide which of the firm's functions, if any, to move to India. In particular, he wonders whether business research--currently conducted by highly paid consultants in developed countries--can be conducted more efficiently and... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Consulting Industry; India