Publications

May 2022
Case

What to Propose?

By: David G. Fubini

Two audit and financial services firms, one of which your consulting firm has supported extensively, have merged to create one of the largest audit firms in the world. The audit firm's Executive Team has requested proposals aimed at re-evaluating their internal... View Details

Keywords: Consulting; Professional Services; Governance; Presentations; Organizational Structure; Transition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Consulting Industry

01 Mar 2009
News

A Modern-Day Classic

and “integration” to help managers grasp how an organization is an entity made up of so many modular units, and that the ideal structure of that entity depends on its way of View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

01 Sep 2017
News

Inbox: From Das’s Desk

long-term success. But the world is changing rapidly—and this old one-and-done contract no longer applies. The skills and knowledge we need to manage and lead today’s... View Details

Keywords: Das Narayandas; HBX; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools

October 2000 (Revised July 2001)
Case

Avon Products (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Greg Rogers

The general manager of Avon Mexico, Fernando Lezama, must decide whether to promote a woman to the position of vice president of sales. If appointed, the candidate would be the first female in all of Latin America to hold an executive position and one of the first... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Leading Change; Salesforce Management; Organizational Culture; Job Design and Levels; Gender; Management Teams; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Mexico

05 Jul 2006
First Look

First Look: July 5, 2006

Manly Men: The Organizational Reconstruction of Men's Identity R. Ely and Debra E. Meyerson Best Paper Proceedings of the Academy of Management (forthcoming). This paper presents a case study of offshore oil... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 Dec 2008
First Look

First Look: December 23, 2008

science of building a sufficient and sustainable "winning coalition" of support behind an organizational vision as well as dealing effectively with would-be "blocking coalitions." We... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

11 Oct 2016
First Look

October 11, 2016

to old ways of doing things, and company performance doesn't improve. To fix these problems, senior executives and their HR departments should change the way they think about... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

19 Mar 2013
First Look

First Look: March 19

proprietary platform depends on (i) how changes in the number of developers affect the incentives to invest in the open platform and (ii) how investment in the open platform affects the revenues of the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2009 (Revised November 2009)
Background Note

Adult Life Stages

By: John A. Davis

This note describes basic concepts of adult life stage theory and summarizes Daniel Levinson's research findings on the adult development of men and women. View Details

Keywords: Transition; Motivation and Incentives; Behavior; Personal Development and Career; Organizational Culture; Gender

Find at Harvard

March 2017
Case

Cantel Medical

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Cantel Medical Corporation provided infection prevention and control products and services for patients, caregivers, and other healthcare providers. In 2016, Cantel generated sales of $665 million and net profits of $60 million, double the levels of five years earlier.... View Details

Keywords: Cantel; Charles Diker; Furniture Industry; Matrix Organization; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Units; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Chemicals; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Business History; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Structure; Problems and Challenges; Research and Development; Opportunities; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Information Technology; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States; New Jersey

23 Apr 2013
First Look

First Look: April 23

suggests that this model-which tolerates moral complexity-is perhaps one of the few that can adapt and endure over time. Manufacturing Morals is a perceptive must-read for anyone looking for insight into the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2017
Teaching Note

Tencent

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Teaching Note for HBS No. 718-426. Tencent had undergone many transformations since it was founded in 1998 as a simple messaging service. In 2017, it was the largest online games provider in China with a wide range of game types, China’s largest social networking... View Details

16 Nov 2010
Lessons from the Classroom

Data.gov: Matching Government Data with Rapid Innovation

and other top executives representing fields as diverse as telecommunications, financial services, and pharmaceuticals, as well as government entities in the US and... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Technology

March 2007
Teaching Note

Understanding Customer Profitability at Charles Schwab (TN)

By: Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez

Teaching note to 106002. View Details

Keywords: Customers; Profit; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Decision Making; Cost; System; Transformation; Budgets and Budgeting; Performance Evaluation; Financial Services Industry; Web Services Industry