Publications

February 2008 (Revised January 2009)
Background Note

Offshoring Day in BGIE and Strategy

By: Jan W. Rivkin and Troy Smith

Describes a set of activities in which students will participate before and during a day of classes on offshoring. The day's classes will examine the implications of offshoring for policy makers, business leaders, and workers. View Details

Keywords: Policy; Employees; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Labor; Management; Strategy

Find at Harvard

November 2007
Supplement

Differences at Work: Emily (B)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Rachel Gordon

In Differences at Work: Emily (B) HBS Case No. 9-408-046 Emily considers whether to file a formal complaint with her Human Resources department about the emails but ultimately decides to confront the culprits herself, beginning by sending an email to one of her... View Details

Keywords: Working Conditions; Interpersonal Communication; Employees; Conflict and Resolution; Communication

November 2007
Case

Differences at Work: Ben (A)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Rachel Gordon

During a casual conversation one of Ben's professional colleagues unexpectedly makes an anti-Semitic remark. What should Ben do? View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Behavior; Ethics; Religion; Employees; Diversity

March 2002
Teaching Note

Akamai's Underwater Options (A) and (B) TN

By: Brian J. Hall and Jonathan Lim

Teaching Note for (9-902-069) and (9-902-195). View Details

Keywords: Stock Options; Employee Stock Ownership Plan

20 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Activist CEOs Are Rising Up—and Their Customers Are Listening

Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. Toffel is the Senator John Heinz Professor of Environmental Management at HBS. “ some CEOs believe they can’t be silent when a proposed government policy might lead some of their employees to be subjected... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

03 Jun 2020
Research & Ideas

Who Guarantees Your Workplace Is Safe for Return?

of equal or greater concern: Will shoppers, diners, students, and workers feel safe returning? How can they be comfortable that the space is safe beyond just taking someone’s word for it? Cautious and shell-shocked employees and... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber and Joseph Allen; Real Estate

Career Coach

David Kay

David Kay was the first employee and Director of Communications at UPSIDE Foods (formerly Memphis Meats). In his 7.5 years there he wore many hats including in PR, operations, business development, fundraising, marketing, government... View Details

27 Feb 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

How Following Best Business Practices Can Improve Health Care

Harvard Business School spends a significant amount of research funds each year on the health care industry, answering questions such as: How can the business of health care be made more efficient? What can a business do to motivate View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Health; Medical Devices & Supplies

13 Mar 2005
Research & Ideas

Reinforcing Values: A Public Dressing Down

performance to improve, only to be bitterly disappointed. For some reason, the right things still don't happen. Why is change so hard? First of all, most people are reluctant to alter their habits. What worked in the past is good enough; in the absence of a dire... View Details

Keywords: by David A. Garvin & Michael A. Roberto

March 2022 (Revised March 2024)
Case

DaVita Responds to COVID

By: Susanna Gallani and David Lane

Early in August 2021, DaVita CEO Javier Rodriguez was assessing the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on his firm, which provided life-sustaining kidney dialysis to roughly 240,000 people. Effective infection control practices and information sharing had ensured... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Change Management; Communication; Talent and Talent Management; Fairness; Values and Beliefs; Corporate Accountability; Health Care and Treatment; Health Pandemics; Human Resources; Employee Relationship Management; Retention; Wages; Working Conditions; Leadership Style; Crisis Management; Organizational Culture; Health Industry; United States

September 2016 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Collage.com: Scaling a Distributed Organization

By: Christopher Stanton and Shikhar Ghosh

Kevin Borders and Joe Golden, co-founders and co-CEOs of Collage.com, must decide how to grow their custom photo-products startup in the face of fierce competition. From 2011 through 2016, the business evolved from a hobby to a startup with $22 million in revenue and... View Details

Keywords: Remote Work; Internet and the Web; Organizational Structure; Competitive Strategy; Employees; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Service Industry

December 2013 (Revised July 2015)
Case

VP Group: Vegpro Grows Beyond Kenya

By: Jose Alvarez and Natalie Kindred

In 2013, Kenyan horticulture producer and exporter VP Group is weighing potential expansion opportunities against the growing risks in its production and export markets. With $121 million in 2012 revenues, VP Group has grown rapidly in recent years by expanding its... View Details

01 Jun 2024
News

Action Plan: Role-Play

When you encounter the phrase private investigator, chances are good the character you conjure up in your mind doesn’t resemble Sarah Carson (MBA 1971). So much the better for Carson, whose work has often required convincing people she was a small-business employee... View Details

Keywords: Christine Speer Lejeune; photo by Christina Gandolfo; detective; private investigator; undercover; acting

May 2024
Supplement

DRSi (A)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

In March of 2019, Jen Ransom Fuller purchased DRSi. DRSi, located in Bellevue, Washington, printed and reproduced architectural plans and drawings. Fuller planned to use her first year of ownership to learn the business and to run it in much the same way as the seller.... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Small Business; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Business Education; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Health Pandemics; Selection and Staffing; Employee Relationship Management; Production; Logistics; Safety; United States; Washington (state, US)

April 1974 (Revised June 1983)
Case

Robert F. Kennedy High School

By: John J. Gabarro

Presents the problem facing a newly appointed high school principal. Raises issues about interpersonal and group behavior including lack of open conflict resolution and the need to intervene in an interpersonal conflict. Also raises the issue of intergroup conflict... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Secondary Education; Employee Relationship Management; Organizational Structure; Behavior; Conflict Management; System