Publications

April 2004 (Revised May 2017)
Case

Real Madrid Club de Futbol

By: John Quelch, Jose Luis Nueno and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In June 2004, Florentino Perez, a well-known Spanish businessman, was elected president of Real Madrid, one of the world's top soccer clubs. In his campaign, Perez had promised to turn around the club's finances, bring in world-class talent, and expand the club's brand... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Change Management; Expansion; Marketing Channels; Sports; Management Teams; Trends; Brands and Branding; Sports Industry; Spain

19 Nov 2015
Working Paper Summaries

The US Experiment with Fair Trade Laws: State Police Powers, Federal Antitrust, and the Politics of 'Fairness', 1890–1938

Keywords: by Laura Phillips Sawyer; Retail

January 2018
Teaching Note

Suominen Wipes the Slate Clean

By: Boris Groysberg, Kalle Heikkinen, Michael Norris and James Barnett

In 2016, after successfully turning around Finnish nonwovens manufacturer Suominen, CEO Nina Kopola faces a decision on the company’s strategy moving forward. View Details

Keywords: Nonwovens; Female Protagonist; Turnaround; Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Pulp and Paper Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Europe; United States; Finland

February 2011
Case

Rebecca S. Halstead: Steadfast Leadership

By: Boris Groysberg and Deborah Bell

Reviews Rebecca Halstead's career history, detailing how, through her personal attributes, skills, experiences, challenges, and organizational practices she developed into a successful leader and commander in the U.S. Army. The case profiles her leadership style and... View Details

Keywords: Working Conditions; Groups and Teams; Competitive Strategy; Personal Development and Career; Organizational Culture; Personal Characteristics; Leadership Style; Gender; Power and Influence

Oct 2012
Book

Producing Prosperity: Why America Needs a Manufacturing Renaissance

In many cases, once manufacturing capabilities go away, so does much of the ability to innovate and compete. Manufacturing, it turns out, really matters in an innovation-driven economy. View Details

May 2009 (Revised January 2011)
Case

HubSpot: Inbound Marketing and Web 2.0

By: Thomas J. Steenburgh, Jill Avery and Naseem Ashraf Dahod

This case introduces the concept of inbound marketing, pulling customer prospects toward a business through the use of Web 2.0 tools and applications like blogging, search engine optimization, and social media. Students follow the growth of HubSpot, an entrepreneurial... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Entrepreneurship; Price; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Communications; Social and Collaborative Networks; Segmentation; Web

01 Dec 2003
Research & Ideas

Sometimes Success Begins at Failure

they have much more rarely considered the false negatives. This is because the damage created by false positives is much easier to recognize, and to quantify. It can be both expensive and embarrassing when a project goes through the entire R&D process and View Details

Keywords: by Henry Chesbrough; Health; Pharmaceutical

October 2011 (Revised June 2013)
Case

Becton Dickinson: Opportunities and Challenges on the Road to the 'Envisioned Future'

By: Michael Beer and Russell A. Eisenstat

The case depicts a mission and values driven firm, how it was turned around, and its unique strategy of enabling others to succeed. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

June 2016
Case

Suominen Wipes the Slate Clean

By: Boris Groysberg, Kalle Heikkinen and Michael Norris

In 2016, after successfully turning around Finnish nonwovens manufacturer Suominen, CEO Nina Kopola faces a decision on the company’s strategy moving forward. View Details

Keywords: Nonwovens; Female Protagonist; Turnaround; Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Pulp and Paper Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Europe; United States; Finland

20 Jun 2023
Cold Call Podcast

Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover: Lessons in Strategic Change

Keywords: Re: Andy Wu; Technology

January 2021 (Revised June 2023)
Case

Biobot Analytics

By: Raymond Kluender, Joshua Krieger and Mitchell Weiss

In 2017, Newsha Ghaeli and Mariana Matus were deciding whether to leave their labs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, put other job opportunities aside, and dive full-time into founding a wastewater analysis start-up, Biobot. Ghaeli, an architect, and Matus,... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Information Technology; City; Analytics and Data Science; Personal Development and Career; Technology Industry; Utilities Industry; Health Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Industry; Biotechnology Industry; United States; Kuwait; Korean Peninsula

16 Jun 2016
Blog Post

Why Entrepreneurs Should Consider Business School

non-entrepreneurial courses. Maybe I'd learn how to discount a cash flow (what was a cash flow, anyway?) or how to read a balance sheet. I wasn't sure how much of "general management" would apply to what I'd done, or what I wanted to do in the future. As it... View Details

September 2016 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Zalora Philippines: From Growth to Profitability

By: Donald Ngwe and Thales Teixeira

In May 2015 Paulo Campos, co-founder and CEO of Zalora Philippines, found himself at a crucial turning point in his young company’s development. In just three years, Zalora had come from entering the Philippine fashion retail industry as an unknown quantity to becoming... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Business Subsidiaries; Business Growth and Maturation; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; Sweden; Southeast Asia; Philippines

04 Jul 2005
Research & Ideas

Should You Outsource Your Marketing?

turning to marketing partners. Harvard Business School professors Gail J. McGovern and John Quelch documented the trend in an article in the March issue of Harvard Business Review. One reason behind the move? While company marketing... View Details

Keywords: by Poping Lin

July 2012 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Dragonfly Corporation

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Jim Sharpe

After 3 years of losses and under legal threats from their landlord, a husband and wife team are faced with shutting the company down, buying time with the landlord or turning to their parents for additional funds. Despite opening a new location and seeing that sales... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurial Management; Turnarounds; Bankruptcy; Bank Loan; Crisis Management; Family Business; Retail Trade; Financial Crisis; Financial Analysis; Entrepreneurship; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Retail Industry; United States

23 Jun 2015
News

Upgrading School with a Startup Mentality

27 May 2011
News

The Hidden Demons of High Achievers

2023
Working Paper

ESG: From Process to Product

By: George Serafeim

ESG measurement, analysis, management, and communication is a process that the financial industry has turned into a product, resulting in many investment funds using the ESG label. This has caused confusion, generating demand for a framework that defines... View Details

Keywords: ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; ESG Ratings; ESG Reporting; Investment Fund; Investment; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Financial Services Industry

Read Now

July – August 2008
Article

Reduce the Risk of Failed Financial Judgments

By: Robert G. Eccles Jr. and Edward J. Riedl

When crucial financial estimates rely on judgment, companies can minimize their risk by turning to appraisers, actuaries, and evaluators, whether internal, external, or a combination. View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Judgments; Financial Management; Risk Management