Publications

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August 2011
Teaching Note

Before the Fall: Lehman Brothers 2008 (TN)

By: Clayton Rose and Sally Canter Ganzfried

Teaching Note for 309-093. View Details

Keywords: Resignation and Termination; Problems and Challenges; Management; Change; Performance; Rank and Position; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Investment Funds; Capital Structure; Service Industry

04 Jun 2024
Blog Post

Finding Alignment to Make Impact: Layla Ramirez (MBA 2017)

here that you could choose to participate in if you want to or not. I could make myself more wealthy. I could make other people more wealthy. That was my job. But it didn't feel big enough, purposeful enough, meaningful enough to me.” After four years in finance,... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

June 1991 (Revised April 1993)
Case

Acer, Inc.

By: Robert H. Hayes

Acer is undergoing two major transitions at the time of this case: from a small, entrepreneurially-run company to a large professionally-run one; and from a largely domestic company to a multinational one. After a decade of phenomenal growth, it is now facing a major... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Motivation and Incentives; Multinational Firms and Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Employees; Resignation and Termination; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Diversity; Computer Industry; Taiwan

August 2001
Case

Charmed Technology

By: Youngme E. Moon

Charmed Technology, a California start-up known primarily for its high-profile fashion shows featuring "wearable" computers, has just released its first product. The "CharmIT" is being billed as the world's first affordable, wearable computer for consumers. The key... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Resignation and Termination; Technological Innovation; Marketing Strategy; Product Development; Luxury; Information Infrastructure; Value Creation; Computer Industry; Fashion Industry

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

October 1996 (Revised May 2001)
Case

Cantuga Farmworkers Clinic (A)

By: James E. Austin and Catherine Overholt

The board of directors of a rural health clinic fires its executive director. The case elaborates the evolution and progress of the clinic under this director during a period of growth and a changing health care environment. Factors contributing to and questioning the... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Resignation and Termination; Managerial Roles; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Evaluation; Problems and Challenges; Rank and Position; Social Enterprise; Health Industry

10 Feb 2014
HBS Case

Stressing Safety in South Africa’s Platinum Mines

challenge of sustaining a culture change in the years leading up to Carroll's resignation in 2013. "They've addressed the safety issue and taken major steps to change the culture," Mukunda says. "And the next question is,... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Manufacturing

December 2024 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Strategy and CEO Succession at Starbucks

By: Krishna G. Palepu and David Lane

On August 13, 2024, Starbucks announced that Laxman Narasimhan who was appointed as the CEO only in September 2023, was stepping down as CEO and board director “with immediate effect.” Laxman would be replaced on September 9 by Brian Niccol, CEO since 2018 of Chipotle... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Corporate Governance; Leadership; Management Succession; Cost Management; Labor Unions; Working Conditions; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Service Operations; Investment Activism; Governing and Advisory Boards; Resignation and Termination; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

March 1998 (Revised November 2004)
Case

FAG Kugelfischer-A German Restructuring

By: Stuart C. Gilson

A large German manufacturer of ball bearings and precision machinery experiences severe financial difficulty brought on by poor management practices, an ill-conceived acquisition of a former East German ball-bearings company, and an industry recession. The company... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Acquisition; Restructuring; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Machinery and Machining; Policy; Resignation and Termination; Management Practices and Processes; Performance Evaluation; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Europe; Germany; United States

02 Mar 2023
Blog Post

Women, Work, and the "M" Word

One in five women report having left or considered leaving a job because of their menopause symptoms. Women are vital to the US workforce, and the Great Resignation saw the already slim ranks of women in corporate leadership drop... View Details

May 2010 (Revised November 2010)
Case

Investment Technology Group

By: Clayton S. Rose and David Lane

Investment Technology Group (ITG) CEO Robert Gasser wondered if the financial crisis had permanently affected the firm's business model. A leader in trade analytics and execution for institutional equity investors, ITG had grown since its establishment in 1987 in step... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Financial Crisis; Investment; Resignation and Termination; Crisis Management; Product Positioning; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Financial Services Industry; Information Technology Industry; New York (city, NY)

November 2003 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A)

By: Boris Groysberg and Laura Morgan Roberts

Reviews Josie Esquivel's career history, detailing how, through her personal attributes, skills, experiences, and organizational practices she has developed into a star analyst. Should Esquivel accept an offer to leave Lehman Brothers for Morgan Stanley? To make this... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Decision Choices and Conditions; Resignation and Termination; Job Offer; Franchise Ownership; Performance; Personal Development and Career; Personal Characteristics; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage

March 2003 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Bertelsmann AG

By: Bharat N. Anand, Michael G. Rukstad and Christoph Kostring

On July 28, 2002, Bertelsmann announced the firing of its CEO, Thomas Middelhoff, in a move that surprised industry observers, analysts, and many employees. Bertelsmann, a privately held company headquartered in Germany, was one of the largest global media... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Corporate Strategy; Entertainment; Media; Change Management; Integration; Resignation and Termination; Private Ownership; Initial Public Offering; Business Units; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Publishing Industry; Music Industry; Germany

Web

Women, Work, and the “M” Word - Blog: Health Supplement

their menopausal health and wellness is overlooked by their employer. One in five women report having left or considered leaving a job because of their menopause symptoms. Women are vital to the U.S. workforce, and the Great Resignation... View Details

01 Sep 2011
News

Coming Full Circle

dissertation focused on organizational mutiny. “Mutiny happens, but it’s hard to study,” says Merryman, noting that her interest in the topic was sparked by the 2006 resignation of Harvard President Larry Summers in the wake of a... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

04 Jun 2024
Blog Post

Finding Alignment to Make Impact: Layla Ramirez (MBA 2017)

here that you could choose to participate in if you want to or not. I could make myself more wealthy. I could make other people more wealthy. That was my job. But it didn't feel big enough, purposeful enough, meaningful enough to me.” After four years in finance,... View Details

07 Feb 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

Creating the Founders’ Dilemmas Course

board before the new CEO takes over. They also consider the viewpoint of the non-founding CEO via the case of Les Trachtman, CEO of Webpiont, as the founder tries to pressure Trachtman to leave the company by threatening to resign... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Education

January 2023
Case

Gerald Weiss (2023)

By: Brian J. Hall, Carleen Madigan, Andrew Wasynczuk and Caroline Witten

Gerald Weiss left Wall Street for the promise of a CFO position at a well-established corporation. He was given a 10-year options package with a guaranteed floor of $12 million and unlimited upside. To ensure the entire package would be worth at least $12 million after... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Resignation and Termination; Executive Compensation; Organizational Culture; Agreements and Arrangements; Stock Options; Conflict and Resolution; New York (city, NY)

Article

The Learning Effects of Monitoring

By: Dennis Campbell, Marc Epstein and F. Asis Martinez-Jerez

This paper investigates the relationship between monitoring, decision making, and learning among lower-level employees. We exploit a field-research setting in which business units vary in the "tightness" with which they monitor employee decisions. We find that tighter... View Details

Keywords: Learning; Business or Company Management; Decision Making; Employees; Research; Resignation and Termination; Rights; Business Units; Governance Controls; Performance; Motivation and Incentives