Publications

24 Jun 2020
News

Silicon Valley can no longer 'tinker around the edges' to fix its diversity problem

Bary Roberts

Keywords: Ecotourism

January 1998 (Revised February 1998)
Case

Sideco Americana S.A. (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Harold F. Hogan Jr

This case focuses on a decision the Sideco management team faces when customers of its newly acquired and privatized water and sewer company neglect to pay its bills. Describes the effort to transform an old-style Argentine construction and engineering company into a... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Transformation; Business or Company Management; Values and Beliefs; Argentina

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24 Jan 2011
HBS Case

Terror at the Taj

managers could explain the behavior of these employees," says Deshpandé. "In the interview, the vice chairman of the company says that they knew all the back exits—the natural human instinct would be to flee. These are people... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Accommodations

28 Aug 2020
Video

Fadi Ghandour

Fadi Ghandour, Founder of Dubai-based courier company Aramex and a leading entrepreneur in the Gulf, explains that his company purposefully recruited Arabs from the region rather than Western expatriates as he wanted long-term commitment and loyalty, and knowledge of... View Details

June 2022 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Netflix's Culture: Binge or Cringe?

By: Hubert Joly, Leonard A. Schlesinger, James Barnett and Stacy Straaberg

In May 2022, streaming entertainment company Netflix lost customers for the first time in more than 10 years. Once a first mover in the streaming landscape, Netflix was facing competition from Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, HBO Max, and others. A key component of... View Details

01 Sep 2021
What Do You Think?

Can We Train for Trust?

maintaining an open mind on the subject. As he put it, “Was the old way making your company great? We actually do have a fair bit of data on in-person management and most of it isn’t great.” According to Javier Vales, management from... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

2009
Case

What People Want (and How to Predict It)

By: Thomas H. Davenport and Jeanne G. Harris

Historically, neither the creators nor the distributors of cultural products such as books or movies have used analytics -- data, statistics, predictive modeling -- to determine the likely success of their offerings. Instead, companies relied on the brilliance of... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Creativity; Customer Satisfaction; Forecasting and Prediction; Markets; Business Model; Publishing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

March 2000 (Revised July 2001)
Case

Microsoft: Competing on Talent (A)

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Meg Wozny

Describes the evolution of Microsoft's human-resource philosophies, policies, and practices and how they used as a core of the company's competitive advantage. In particular, the focus is on how Microsoft tried to retain its ability to recruit, develop, motivate, and... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Retention; Recruitment; Competitive Advantage; Motivation and Incentives; Business Startups; Talent and Talent Management

September 1991 (Revised January 1998)
Case

Chaparral Steel: Rapid Product and Process Development

By: Dorothy Leonard-Barton and Gil Preuss

One of the nation's foremost mini-mills' core competence is the rapid realization of technology into products. This case describes the development of a highly innovative casting technique and features the role of the company's culture in achieving its goals. The... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Innovation and Invention; Information Infrastructure; Product; Organizational Culture; Business Processes; Competency and Skills

November 2000 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Meg Whitman at eBay Inc. (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Maria Farkas

Meg Whitman takes over as CEO of eBay from the founder. She must figure out how to lead the company through a stage of phenomenal growth without compromising eBay's unique external customer culture and internal culture--its key success factors. A rewritten version of... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Style; Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth Management; Organizational Culture; Success

May 2025
Case

The Future of the BBC: Public Ownership vs. Privatization

By: Henry McGee

With viewership of the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) in decline, the country’s Culture Minister must recommend a new funding model for the venerated public institution which will allow the broadcaster to succeed in an increasingly competitive media environment. View Details

Keywords: Television Entertainment; Cooperative Ownership; State Ownership; Privatization; Public Ownership; Competition; Business Model; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United Kingdom

18 Oct 2016
News

Wells Fargo's Polar Opposite

September 2008 (Revised July 2011)
Case

Keeping Google 'Googley'

By: Boris Groysberg, David A. Thomas and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

This case, set in 2008, examines how Google has worked to avoid potential negative byproducts of rapid growth such as bureaucracy, slow decision-making, lack of visibility, and organizational inconsistency. When the case protagonist, Kim Scott, started with Google in... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Internet; Information Technology Industry

February 1999 (Revised June 1999)
Case

Bloomberg L.P.

By: Clayton M. Christensen, Richard G. Hamermesh and Jeremy Dann

Michael Bloomberg founded his company to provide customers quick access to financial market data and analytical tools for understanding that data. As Bloomberg L.P. grew quickly,entered the ranks of "large, established companies," it grappled with a whole new range of... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Problems and Challenges

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June 2020
Case

Recovering Trust After Corporate Misconduct at Wells Fargo

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Jonah S. Goldberg

The case describes widespread misconduct at Wells Fargo Community Bank in the period leading up to 2017 and the company’s subsequent attempts to improve internal controls, company culture, and corporate governance. The case examines the potential causes of large scale... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Misconduct; Internal Controls; Banks and Banking; Crime and Corruption; Corporate Governance; Organizational Culture; Governance Compliance; Management Systems; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Improvement; Governing and Advisory Boards

October 2000 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Rob Waldron at SCORE! Educational Centers (Abridged)

By: David A. Thomas and Stephanie L. Woerner

Describes Rob Waldron's actions upon assuming leadership of SCORE! Educational Centers, an after-school tutoring enterprise. Examines the issue of acquiring and growing a small, privately-owned company into a professional organization, especially regarding corporate... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Decision Making; Education; Human Resources; Recruitment; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Private Ownership; Education Industry

August 2011
Supplement

Raj Datta, Former Chief Knowledge Officer of MindTree, In-Class Comments, April 1, 2011

By: David A. Garvin

MindTree is a mid-sized Indian IT services company known for its knowledge management practices, its collaborative communities, and its strong culture and values. The CEO has set a goal of becoming a $1 billion company by 2014; to reach that goal, employees must create... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Management; Social and Collaborative Networks; Innovation and Invention; Organizational Culture; Learning; Values and Beliefs; Information Technology Industry; Service Industry; India

March 2017
Case

Swagbucks

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Matthew G. Preble

In early 2016, Chuck Davis, chairman and CEO of Prodege LLC, parent company of the brand promotion business Swagbucks, and Josef Gorowitz, Prodege’s founder and president, must decide whether to acquire MyPoints, a competitor to Swagbucks, after the company’s... View Details