Publications

September 2012 (Revised May 2013)
Case

Automating the Paris Subway (A)

By: Michel Anteby, Elena Corsi and Emilie Billaud

In 2001, the head of the Paris Subway reflected on how to transform Line 1 into a driverless line without triggering a social conflict. After the shock of the 2000 Notre Dame de Lorette subway accident, in which a train derailed and caused 25 injuries in a Paris subway... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Technological Innovation; Rail Transportation; Labor Unions; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Conflict Management; Rail Industry; Transportation Industry; Paris

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

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

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

October 2000 (Revised June 2002)
Supplement

Nick Fiore: Healer or Hitman? (B)

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Tara Donovan

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Strategic Planning; Decision Choices and Conditions

January 2013
Supplement

Austal, Ltd. (B)

By: Willy Shih, Margaret Pierson and Dawn H. Lau

Austal, Ltd. was an Australian builder of high-speed passenger ferries. It had translated that expertise into a foothold in the defense market on the US Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program with an Alabama assembly facility. In January 2009 it had just completed the... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Global Strategy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Ship Transportation; Transportation Industry; Australia; United States; Alabama; Philippines

December 2024
Case

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM): The AI Journey

By: Shikhar Ghosh

In early 2024, Bill Fandrich, Executive VP and CIO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM), faced a critical decision about AI adoption within the organization. Fandrich had championed AI implementation at BCBSM. After successfully developing three AI... View Details

May 2024 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Leading Culture Change at Microsoft Western Europe

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Cat Huang

In 2023, Cindy Rose, President of Microsoft Western Europe, faced a critical decision. Rose grappled with the potential impact of widespread layoffs on psychological safety and the cultural transformation she had championed since her arrival. When Rose had first joined... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Organizational Culture; Transformation; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Problems and Challenges; Motivation and Incentives; Groups and Teams; Business or Company Management; Technology Industry; Europe

10 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

Commodity Busters: Be a Price Maker, Not a Price Taker

profitability of whole markets.— Benson P. Shapiro Make Your Price This is perhaps most true in pricing, a particularly vexing challenge in today's hypercompetitive marketplace. Major customers exert enormous pressure to force suppliers to View Details

Keywords: by Benson P. Shapiro

February 2017
Supplement

Truly Human Leadership at Barry-Wehmiller: Video Supplement

By: Jan Rivkin and Dylan Minor

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Values and Beliefs; Organizational Culture; Employees; Business Strategy; Manufacturing Industry

March 2021 (Revised August 2024)
Case

Hotwire.com: Navigating Through Turbulence

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Manny de Zarraga and Eric Levine

On September 10, 2001, after speaking at an industry conference at New York’s World Trade Center, Hotwire co-founder Spencer Rascoff boarded a flight from Newark to San Francisco. After returning home, Rascoff awoke the next morning to a phone call informing him that... View Details

Keywords: September 11; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Disruption; Decisions; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Growth Management; Digital Platforms; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Expansion; Internet and the Web; Leading Change; Leadership Style; Air Transportation Industry; Tourism Industry; San Francisco

September 2006
Teaching Note

OfficeTiger (TN)

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III

Teaching Note to (804-109). View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Service Delivery; Mergers and Acquisitions; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; India; Europe; United States; Asia

10 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

Women at Work

a part-time, off-career job in HR for one year. Then, if and when things were under control, she could come back and see clients again. Kara Gruver Though it seemed like a step... View Details

Keywords: by Wendy Guild

April 2024 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Unleashing Human Magic at Best Buy

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger, Sunil Gupta and Amram Migdal

The case examines the transformation of Best Buy under CEO Hubert Joly's leadership from 2012. Facing significant business challenges, including competition from online and physical retailers, Joly implemented the "Renew Blue" turnaround strategy, which focused on... View Details

02 Feb 2010
First Look

First Look: Feb. 2

increasing profitability by immersing themselves in the lives of their customers. This book shows how resilient organizations cut through internal barriers that impede action, build bridges between warring divisions, View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

November 2017
Teaching Note

Reinventing Best Buy

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Teaching Note for HBS No. 716-455. On March 1, 2017, Best Buy Company, Inc., North America’s largest retailer of consumer electronics and appliances, announced a third year of comparable-store sales increases and a 20.8% increase in domestic comparable online sales.... View Details