Publications

02 Apr 2010
What Do You Think?

Why Are Fewer and Fewer U.S. Employees Satisfied With Their Jobs?

them more interesting? What kinds of responses, if any, are called for? What do you think? To read more: The Conference Board, "U.S. Job Satisfaction at Lowest Level in Two Decades," January 5, 2010. Jeffrey Pfeffer, "Building Sustainable Organizations:... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

October 2016 (Revised January 2017)
Supplement

Bally Total Fitness (B): The Fall, 2005–2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

By many measures the largest health-club chain in the United States in the early 2000s, Bally Total Fitness sold most of its remaining fitness clubs to 24 Hour Fitness in 2014 and disappeared from the industry top 100 rankings. After Bally was bedeviled by accounting... View Details

September 1994 (Revised September 1994)
Case

Acer Group, The: Vision for the Year 2000

By: D. Quinn Mills and Richard C. Wei

In the early 1990s, Acer, Inc. set two goals: to be a top-five PC company worldwide in 1995 and to be a global consortium of companies by the year 2000. The company identified potential obstacles concerning capital, image, number of experienced international managers,... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Goals and Objectives; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Organizational Structure; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Experience and Expertise; Marketing Strategy; Production; Rank and Position; Business Strategy; Capital; Computer Industry; Japan

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03 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

Web Services

Aneel Bhusri, general partner at the venture capital firm Greylock. "Customers are quietly starting to use this technology, and they're driving significant cost savings." Investment has taken place across four categories:... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Service

July–August 2023
Article

Case Study: How Should a Start-Up Cut Its Burn Rate?

By: Nitin Nohria, Katie Josephson, Sophia Wronsky and Elizabeth Rha

Tyler Smith, the founder and CEO of the enterprise software firm Puck.io, is facing a hard decision. Just three months earlier the company laid off 20% of its employees to reduce its burn rate amid growing economic uncertainty and a suddenly unattractive funding... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business or Company Management; Business Startups

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Register to Read

October 1996 (Revised December 1996)
Case

United Electric Controls

By: H. Kent Bowen, Jody H. Gittell and Sylvie Ryckebusch

United Electric Controls (UE) was a small, traditional family-owned manufacturing company when Dave Reis, the youngest member of the Reis family, took over the business. This case describes Reis's efforts to change UE's traditional work practices in order to make the... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Family Business; Production; Business Strategy; Human Resources; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Decisions; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology; Electronics Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States

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October 2024
Article

Founder-CEO Compensation and Selection into Venture Capital-Backed Entrepreneurship

By: Michael Ewens, Ramana Nanda and Christopher Stanton

We show theoretically that a critical determinant of the attractiveness of VC-backed entrepreneurship for high-earning potential founders is the expected time to develop a startup’s initial product. This is because founder-CEOs’ cash compensation increases... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Executive Compensation

27 Jul 2020
Working Paper Summaries

The Evolution of CEO Compensation in Venture Capital-Backed Startups

Keywords: by Michael Ewens, Ramana Nanda, and Christopher Stanton

March 1999 (Revised June 2004)
Case

Keurig

By: Paul W. Marshall and Jeremy Dann

Nick Lazaris becomes Keurig's third CEO in three years, after one founder was fired and the other decided to leave the company. He inherits a company that has made several abortive attempts to launch its new coffee brewing system. Now, problems with crucial suppliers... View Details

Keywords: Resignation and Termination; Product Launch; Supply Chain Management; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Manufacturing Industry

26 Apr 2011
Op-Ed

HBS Faculty Comment on Environmental Issues for Earth Day

both nature and humankind. We asked a group of Harvard Business School faculty members to offer their views on the many facets of "going green." Amy C. Edmondson, Novartis Professor Of Leadership And Management The world's cities are... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Energy; Utilities

March 2004
Case

L.L. Bean: A Search for Growth

By: Rajiv Lal, Walter J. Salmon and James Weber

In mid-2003, CEO Chris McCormick felt L.L. Bean was in a good position to begin to grow again. For nearly 90 years, the company sold clothing and gear for outdoor enthusiasts through its catalogs and a single retail store in Freeport, Maine. In the three decades prior... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Restructuring; Growth and Development Strategy; Cost Management; Sales; Performance Improvement; Diversification; Distribution Channels; Resignation and Termination; Retail Industry; Web Services Industry

20 Sep 2011
First Look

First Look: September 20

effect dissipated. Finally, we show that labor increases valuation for both "do-it-yourselfers" and novices. Read the paper: http://www.people.hbs.edu/mnorton/norton%20mochon%20ariely.pdf A Global Leader's Guide to Managing... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

03 Feb 2020
What Do You Think?

Can an Organization Have Too Much 'Rebel Talent'?

while hiring and assigning conventional managers to deal with more familiar and common tasks and goals.” “The right question is therefore not the amount of ‘rebel talent’ but how to focus it on the right causes.” Grace was more cautious.... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

23 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 23, 2008

Authors:Michel Anteby and Mikell Hyman Periodical:Social Science & Medicine (forthcoming) Abstract Human cadavers are crucial to medical science. While the debate on how to secure sufficient cadavers has focused primarily on donors'... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

19 Dec 2006
First Look

First Look: December 19, 2006

lock-in in light of hyperbolic discounting, multiple selves, and wise policy design. Download working paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/07-038.pdf The Political Economy of Capitalism Author:Bruce R. Scott Abstract View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

12 Jul 2016
First Look

July 12, 2016

the dominant model in the United States and many other countries, is now widely recognized as perhaps the biggest obstacle to improving health care delivery. A battle is currently raging, outside of the public eye, between the advocates of two radically different... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2009 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Disaster in April: The Obligations of Kelly Construction

By: John D. Macomber, Christopher M. Gordon and Ben Creo

A construction company experiences a crane accident with multiple fatalities. The CEO, a client, and an employee must make choices to meet the company's obligations. Set in 2006, the case looks at the choices faced by board members of a museum that is an important... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Family Business; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Governing and Advisory Boards; Compensation and Benefits; Contracts; Crisis Management; Construction Industry