Publications
Publications
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- Faculty Publications (689)
- December 2014
- Case
Groupon: A New CEO Takes Charge
By: Lynda M. Applegate and Arnold B. Peinado
On August 7, 2013, Eric Lefkofsky, the chairman and largest shareholder of Groupon was named CEO, replacing founder Andrew Mason, who had run the company since its inception in 2009. When Groupon had its initial public offering (IPO) in November 2011, the company's... View Details
- December 2014 (Revised October 2015)
- Case
Susie Mulder at NIC+ZOE
By: David Fubini, Joshua Margolis and Kerry Herman
Susie Mulder must decide how to lead NIC+ZOE—the women's apparel brand she had recently joined as CEO—from its start-up phase into a disciplined growth phase. With growing revenues, a successful product line, and savvy private equity investors, NIC+ZOE seems perfectly... View Details
- December 2014 (Revised October 2017)
- Case
Dow: Breakthroughs to World Challenges
By: Michael E. Porter, Mark R. Kramer and Annelena Lobb
Dow had adopted the "Breakthroughs to World Challenges" (BWC) program as part of its ten-year 2015 Sustainability Goals. BWC was an internal award recognizing products that effectively addressed one of five world challenges: energy and climate change, sustainable water... View Details
- October 2014 (Revised June 2015)
- Case
Quiet Logistics (A)
By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred
This two-part case focuses on how to identify and manage strategic uncertainties in an innovative, entrepreneurial start-up company. In the (A) case, students learn about Quiet Logistics, an e-commerce fulfillment company working with high-end apparel retailers such as... View Details
Keywords: Strategy Execution; Strategic Uncertainty; Disruptive Change; Managing Growth; Robotics; Disruptive Technology; Managing Start-ups; Management Control Systems; Performance Measurement; Business Growth and Maturation; Disruption; Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Crisis Management; Risk Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; E-commerce; Distribution Industry; Technology Industry; United States
- October 2014
- Supplement
Quiet Logistics (B)
By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred
This two-part case focuses on how to identify and manage strategic uncertainties in an innovative, entrepreneurial start-up company. In the (A) case, students learn about Quiet Logistics, an e-commerce fulfillment company working with high-end apparel retailers such as... View Details
Keywords: Strategy Execution; Strategic Uncertainties; Managing Growth; Disruptive Change; Robotics; Disruptive Technologies; Managing Start-ups; Management Control Systems; Performance Measurement; Business Growth and Maturation; Disruption; Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Crisis Management; Risk Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; E-commerce; Distribution Industry; Technology Industry; United States
- October 2014
- Article
Putting Sales at the Center of Strategy
By: Frank Cespedes
Research indicates that relatively few firms execute their strategies effectively, and, on average, companies deliver just 50% to 60% of the financial performance that their strategies promise. One reason is a disconnect between strategic goals and field implementation... View Details
- September 2014 (Revised June 2016)
- Case
edX: Strategies for Higher Education
By: David Collis, Matthew Shaffer and Ashley Hartman
In May 2012, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) founded edX, a new non-profit joint venture that would provide a platform for massive open online courses (MOOCs). edX did not produce original courses or instructional content—it made... View Details
- September 2014
- Supplement
HGRM (B): Launching Hoxell, a New IT Venture
By: Lynda M. Applegate, Gabriele Piccoli and Arnold Peinado
- August 2014 (Revised March 2016)
- Case
Thomas Cook Group on the Brink (A)
By: Benjamin C. Esty, Stuart C. Gilson and Aldo Sesia
Harriett Green, the newly appointed CEO of Thomas Cook Group, faces a daunting set of business and financial challenges at the 171-year old UK travel services company. The company has lost almost £600 million in the last three quarters; has seen its stock price fall... View Details
Keywords: Turnaround; Corporate Restructuring; Change Leadership; Female Ceo; Change Management; Communication Strategy; Borrowing and Debt; Cash Flow; Cost Management; Financial Liquidity; Financial Management; Executive Compensation; Leading Change; Crisis Management; Value Creation; Travel Industry; United Kingdom
- June 2014 (Revised March 2017)
- Teaching Note
Agero: Enhancing Capabilities for Customers
By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred
This is the teaching note for Agero: Enhancing Capabilities for Customers (HBS No. 113-001) View Details
- June 2014 (Revised February 2017)
- Case
Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation
By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Joshua D. Margolis and Matthew G. Preble
What do you do when your rising professional career is cut short by an unexpected cancer diagnosis? Kathy Giusti shifted careers, built a new organization that transformed how cancer research is done, and now faces the challenge of sustaining the organization and its... View Details
Keywords: Philanthropy; Philanthropy Funding; Entrepreneurship; Health Care; Management Styles; Personalized Medicine; Health Care Outcomes; Cancer; Cancer Care In The U.S.; Personal Care; Leadership; Leading Change; Social Entrepreneurship; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Health Care and Treatment; Leadership Style; Management Style; Management Skills; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Health; Health Industry; United States; Canada; Spain
- June 2014 (Revised February 2017)
- Teaching Note
Atlanta Schools: Measures to Improve Performance
By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred
This is the teaching note for Atlanta Schools: Measures to Improve Performance (HBS No. 114-001) View Details
- June 2014
- Teaching Note
Google Glass
By: Thomas Eisenmann
In early 2014, business development executives at Google were formulating a distribution strategy for Glass, a wearable computer that projected information on a display viewable with an upward glance. Options, which were not mutually exclusive, included 1) continuing... View Details
- June 2014
- Case
Starbucks Coffee Company: Transformation and Renewal
By: Nancy F. Koehn, Kelly McNamara, Nora N. Khan and Elizabeth Legris
Starbucks Coffee Company: Transformation and Renewal analyzes the turnaround and reconstruction of Starbucks Coffee Company from 2008 to 2014 as led by CEO and co-founder Howard Schultz. The case offers executives and students an opportunity to examine in depth how... View Details
Keywords: Howard Schultz; Starbucks; Transformation; Turnaround; Change; Decision Making; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development; Leadership; Organizations; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Strategy; Value; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry; North and Central America; Europe; Asia; South America; Middle East; Latin America
- 2014
- Working Paper
Handshaking Promotes Cooperative Dealmaking
By: Juliana Schroeder, Jane Risen, Francesca Gino and Michael I. Norton
Humans use subtle sources of information—like nonverbal behavior—to determine whether to act cooperatively or antagonistically when they negotiate. Handshakes are particularly consequential nonverbal gestures in negotiations because people feel comfortable initiating... View Details
- May 2014 (Revised January 2015)
- Case
Vaxess Technologies, Inc.
By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez
In February 2014, Michael Schrader, chief executive of Vaxess Technologies, Inc., was assessing the startup health care company's 2014 marketing plan. On December 31st, 2013, Vaxess had obtained an exclusive license to a series of patents for a silk protein technology... View Details
- April 2014
- Tutorial
Conjoint Analysis: Online Tutorial
By: Elie Ofek and Olivier Toubia
The Conjoint Analysis: Online Tutorial is an interactive pedagogical vehicle intended to facilitate understanding of one of the most popular market research methods in academia and practice, namely conjoint analysis. The aim is to provide students or executives going... View Details
- April 2014 (Revised June 2014)
- Case
Google Glass
By: Thomas Eisenmann, Lauren Barley and Liz Kind
In early 2014, business development executives at Google were formulating a distribution strategy for Glass, a wearable computer that projected information on a display viewable with an upward glance. Options, which were not mutually exclusive, included 1) continuing... View Details
- April 2014 (Revised March 2015)
- Case
GE and the Industrial Internet
By: Karim R. Lakhani, Marco Iansiti and Kerry Herman
CEO Jeff Immelt considers whether GE is moving fast enough on its new Industrial Internet initiative. The undertaking includes building out an Industrial Internet, connecting machines and devices, collecting their data and operations, and providing services to clients... View Details
Keywords: Technology; Operations Management; Strategy; Big Data; Business Analysis; Corporate Strategy; Digital Technology; Digital Innovation; General Management; General Strategy; Global Competitiveness; Global Strategy; Innovation; Innovation And Management; Industrial Internet; GE; Innovation and Invention; Information Technology; Analytics and Data Science; Air Transportation Industry; Energy Industry; Health Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Rail Industry; Transportation Industry; Technology Industry; North and Central America; Asia; Europe; Middle East; Latin America
- 2014
- Working Paper
The Organizational and Geographic Drivers of Absorptive Capacity: An Empirical Analysis of Pharmaceutical R&D Laboratories
By: Francesca Lazzeri and Gary P. Pisano
Scholars and practitioners alike now recognize that a firm's capacity to assimilate and use know-how from external sources—what Cohen and Levinthal (1990) called "absorptive capacity"—plays a central role in innovation performance. In recent years, a common strategy... View Details