Publications

August 2001 (Revised March 2008)
Case

NerveWire, Inc.

By: Nitin Nohria and Anthony Mayo

NerveWire, a management consulting and systems integration provider based in Newton, MA, was closing in on its second anniversary. In the beginning days of NerveWire, the major challenge was recruiting--finding the right people who embodied its values and business... View Details

Keywords: Values and Beliefs; Leadership; Mission and Purpose; Behavior; Internet; Newton

August 2023
Case

Floward

By: Krishna Palepu and Namrata Arora

In 2022, Abdulaziz B. Al Loughani, CEO and co-founder of Floward, an online flower and gifting company established in Kuwait in 2017, contemplated the firm's growth trajectory. Floward, an e-commerce enterprise that offered fresh-cut flowers sourced directly from... View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Information Technology Industry; Middle East; North Africa; Saudi Arabia; Kuwait; United Arab Emirates; Jordan

17 Jan 2008
Research & Ideas

If Marketing Experts Ran Elections

in November. While 20 percent of U.S. adults are political junkies, the rest can't spare the time, don't think their vote will matter, see no important differences among the candidates, or are turned off by the electoral process and... View Details

Keywords: by John A. Quelch

June 2001 (Revised September 2010)
Exercise

Deal-crafting Toolkit

By: Michael A. Wheeler

Illustrates the potential sources of value creation as well as practical barriers to its achievement. Students analyze five brief scenarios that would yield efficient trades over valuation, discount rates, expectations, and risk tolerance, but that might be thwarted by... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Deal; Negotiation Process; Behavior; Valuation; Value Creation

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21 Jun 2023
Blog Post

Building a Better World: The Harvard Builders Club

Amid the greatest economic, geopolitical, and social uncertainty in years, there is one thing we can be sure about – real value creation and innovation are enduring. This is... View Details

Ashley V. Whillans

Ashley Whillans is the Volpert Family Associate Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, where she teaches the Motivation and Incentives course to MBA students. Professor Whillans earned her PhD in Social Psychology from the University of... View Details

January 2021 (Revised May 2021)
Case

Amazon Shopper Panel: Paying Customers for Their Data

By: Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli

This case introduces a new Amazon program that has consumers upload their receipts from transactions outside of Amazon, in exchange for money. Through the discussion, the case aims to explore issues in customers’ privacy in the digital age, the value of customers’ own... View Details

Josh Krieger is an Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit. Josh’s research focuses on R&D strategy and the economics of innovation. His work examines project selection, R&D competition, and... View Details

February 2010
Case

Go Mobile: The Phirbol Franchise

By: Rajiv Lal and Natalie Kindred

To grow Phirbol, a telecom retail franchise chain in Delhi, India's underdeveloped markets, its founders were exploring ways to offer more value to the franchisees. In mid-2009, the Phirbol franchise was comprised of some 150 franchisees that had converted their small... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Innovation and Management; Brands and Branding; Service Operations; Franchise Ownership; Value Creation; Telecommunications Industry; Delhi

28 Apr 2021
News

Psychological Safety in a Hybrid World

April 1998 (Revised July 2005)
Case

Acquisition of Consolidated Rail Corporation (A), The

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Lori A. Flees and Mathew M Millett

On October 15, 1996, Virginia-based CSX and Pennsylvania-based Consolidated Rail (Conrail), the first and third largest railroads in the eastern United States, announced their intent to merge in a friendly deal worth $8.3 billion. This deal was part of an industry-wide... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Decisions; Contracts; Rail Industry; United States

2008
Book

Ownership Quotient: Putting the Service Profit Chain to Work for Unbeatable Competitive Advantage

By: James L. Heskett, W. Earl Sasser Jr. and Joe Wheeler

Hundreds of large organizations worldwide have used the groundbreaking Service Profit Chain to improve business performance. Now The Ownership Quotient reveals the next generation of the chain: customer and employee "owners" of your business. Employee-owners exhibit... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Customer Ownership; Employee Ownership; Competitive Advantage; Value Creation

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March 1982 (Revised June 1986)
Background Note

Note on Diversification as a Strategy

By: Michael E. Porter and Malcolm S. Salter

Presents a discussion of corporate diversification. Covers historical background, the concept of strategy for a diversified company, and concepts of value creation. View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Strategy; Value Creation

Teaching Interest

Overview

Negotiation

Managing, Organizing, and Motivating for Value View Details

August 1995
Case

Slade Plating Department, The

By: Linda A. Hill

Describes a conflict between the values and norms of a segment of an internal social system and those of management and the wider culture. Includes decision opportunity. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Conflict and Resolution; Values and Beliefs; Organizational Culture; Decision Making

February 1997
Case

Arch Communications Group, Inc.

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Sarayu Srinivasan

The market values Arch differently from analysts' values. View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Framework; Forecasting and Prediction; Investment; Stocks

June 2018 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Sony

By: Stefan Thomke, Atsushi Osanai and Akiko Kanno

Sony used to be synonymous with "innovation" and "cool products." The case reveals how the company lost its edge and describes the leadership initiatives to restore its former glory. In 2012, Kazuo (Kaz) Hirai becomes CEO and successfully transforms Sony, including a... View Details

Keywords: Customer Experience; Product Differentiation; Transformation; Leadership Style; Technology Adoption; Leading Change; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Japan

June 2023 (Revised July 2023)
Case

Social Media Background Screening at Fama Technologies

By: Joseph Pacelli, Jillian Grennan and Alexis Lefort

Fama Technologies is an online screening company that uses AI to analyze job applicants' publicly available online content for signs of risk and culture fit. The case opens with Ben Mones, founder and CEO, looking to secure funding from venture firms. He is running... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Recruitment; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Organizational Culture; Talent and Talent Management; AI and Machine Learning; Social Media; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; United States

December 1993 (Revised August 1998)
Case

Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Company versus NutraSweet (A)

The NutraSweet Co. has very successfully marketed aspartame, a low-calorie, high-intensity sweetener, around the world. NutraSweet's position was protected by patents until 1987 in Europe, Canada, and Japan, and until the end of 1992 in the United States. The case... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Canada; Japan; United States; Europe