Publications

21 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 21

2009, the cofounders of Rent the Runway (RTR), a website that rented designer dresses, are debating whether to grow their startup at a measured pace and focus on improving operational effectiveness or raise a new round of venture capital... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2010
Article

The Emerging Capital Market for Nonprofits

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Allen S. Grossman

Many of our largest and most successful companies today did not exist 50 years ago. During this same time interval, companies that ranked among top in the 1960s have disappeared, been merged out of existence, or become much smaller presences in the U.S. industrial... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Investment Funds; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Corporate Accountability; Management Practices and Processes; Infrastructure; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance Effectiveness; Nonprofit Organizations

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13 Nov 2008
Working Paper Summaries

The Effect of Labor on Profitability: The Role of Quality

Keywords: by Zeynep Ton

16 Oct 2015
Blog Post

HBS and the Arts

experiences. Coming from a business development background, I had never thought about working on the operational side of a business. But my Technology and Operations Management (TOM) Class – taught by the... View Details

16 Jun 2023
News

On the Move: Adam Laitsas (MBA 2016)

Our “On the Move” series highlights HBS alumni who are taking on new roles and responsibilities. Here we speak with Adam Laitsas (MBA 2016), who was announced as EVP of International Strategy & Business Operations for the Professional... View Details

Keywords: marketing; career changes; mixed martial arts; sports; MENA; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment

August 1, 2015
Article

New Product Development Flexibility in a Competitive Environment

By: Janne Kettunen, Yael Grushka-Cockayne, Zeger Degraeve and Bert De Reyck

Managerial flexibility can have a significant impact on the value of new product development projects. We investigate how the market environment in which a firm operates influences the value and use of development flexibility. We characterize the market environment... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Projects; Management Style; Situation or Environment; Innovation and Invention; Competition

07 Nov 2022
News

Victoria’s Secret Buys Alumni-Founded Adore Me

Morgan Hermand Waiche Morgan Hermand Waiche The Wall Street Journal reported last week that startup lingerie retailer Adore Me was bought by Victoria’s Secret for $400 million. Launched soon after Hermand Waiche graduated, Adore Me aimed to upend the industry. "My... View Details

Keywords: Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores; Retail Trade

26 Mar 2008
First Look

First Look: March 26, 2008

Working PapersDiffusing Management Practices within the Firm: The Role of Information Provision Authors:Michael J. Lenox and Michael W. Toffel Abstract A key role of corporate managers is to encourage subsidiaries to adopt innovative practices. This paper examines... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Teaching Interest

Venture Capital and Private Equity (MBA)

By: Josh Lerner

The growth of private equity internationally has been dramatic, to the point that the asset class has been both lauded as the savior and vilified as the cause of our current economic malaise. Over the past two decades, private equity- ranging from venture capital to... View Details

Article

When the Thought Doesn’t Count: The Dynamics of Unhelpful Help in Creative Organizations

By: Colin Fisher, Julianna Pillemer and Teresa Amabile

We’ve all been there. You ask a colleague for help with something, maybe a tricky research design or a difficult student. They agree to help, but their assistance misses its mark. You wonder what happened and, if you turn to existing research and theory, you don’t find... View Details

Keywords: Helping; Organizational Culture

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June 2024 (Revised December 2024)
Case

Lana Ghanem: Pushing the Boundaries of Health Care Through Venture Capital

By: Joshua D. Margolis and Ahmed Dahawy

Lana Ghanem, managing director of Hikma Ventures, the corporate venture arm of larger pharmaceutical group Hikma, is considering how to grow the venture arm as well as progress her own career. Over the past few years Hikma's executive team had been pressuring the... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Investment; Corporate Governance; Health Care and Treatment; Leadership Development; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Venture Capital; Personal Development and Career; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Jordan

November 2021 (Revised May 2022)
Case

QuantumScape's Mission to Revolutionize Energy Storage for a Sustainable Future

By: William A. Sahlman, Allison M. Ciechanover and Jeff Huizinga

QuantumScape CEO Jagdeep Singh juggles the many activities required to lead the next-generation battery pioneer. Founded in 2010, QuantumScape’s mission was to develop new “solid-state” car batteries that would improve upon traditional lithium-ion batteries in key... View Details

Keywords: Batteries; Electric Vehicles; SPACs; Innovation and Management; Technological Innovation; Science-Based Business; Environmental Sustainability; Auto Industry; Energy Industry; California; San Jose

March 2021 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Aligning Mission and Margin at Southern Bancorp

By: Rebecca M. Henderson, Brian Trelstad and Eren Kuzucu

In October 2020, after spending almost a decade to turnaround Southern Bancorp, an Arkansan bank founded with the mission to provide financial services to rural, underserved communities, CEO Darrin Williams is wondering how Southern Bancorp should continue to grow.... View Details

Keywords: Racial Wealth Gap; Banks and Banking; Growth and Development; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Going Public; Investment Return; Social Issues; Wealth and Poverty; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States; Arkansas

December 16, 2019
Article

Why Your Startup Won't Last

By: Ranjay Gulati and Vasundhara Sawhney

Why do some startups that have crossed the threshold of “product-market fit” and have a viable business model still fail? This article begins by exploring the argument that most startups need more professionalization to thrive. Founders resist putting in place... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Organizational Structure; Growth and Development Strategy

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2018
Working Paper

Thanks for Nothing: Expressing Gratitude Invites Exploitation by Competitors

By: Jeremy Yip, Kelly Kiyeon Lee, Cindy Chan and Alison Wood Brooks

Previous research has revealed that expressing gratitude motivates prosocial behavior in cooperative relationships. However, expressing gratitude in competitive interactions may operate differently. Across five studies, we demonstrate that individuals interacting with... View Details

Keywords: Gratitude; Forgiveness; Negotiations; Emotion; Emotions; Behavior; Negotiation; Ethics

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April 2009 (Revised July 2010)
Case

Corporate Solutions at Jones Lang LaSalle (2001)

By: Ranjay Gulati and Lucia Menzer Marshall

Peter Barge, CEO of the newly created Corporate Solutions Group of Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), is executing a restructuring of the U.S. corporate real estate services division that will enable the company to offer its clients integrated solutions. Barge has created an... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Restructuring; Customer Relationship Management; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Corporate Strategy; Integration

December 2009
Article

Hiding the Evidence of Valid Theories: How Coupled Search Processes Obscure Performance Differences Among Organizations

By: Nicolaj Siggelkow and Jan Rivkin

Theorists argue that an organization's high-level choices, such as its organizational design or the attributes of its top management team, should influence its performance, yet empirical researchers have struggled to detect such influence. The impact of high-level... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Management Teams; Organizational Design; Performance Effectiveness; Power and Influence; Balance and Stability

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November 2002 (Revised June 2003)
Case

Corning, Inc.: Technology Strategy in 2003

By: Rebecca Henderson

Corning, Inc. has a 150-year history of building a strategy around innovation. Founded as a glass manufacturer in 1851, the company quickly established itself as a maker of specialty glass products and over the next 100 years diversified into light bulbs, television,... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Situation or Environment; Research and Development; Consumer Products Industry; United States