Publications

17 Apr 2017
Research Event

The Most Pressing Issues for Platform Providers in the Sharing Economy

The so-called chicken-and-egg problem is arguably the most discussed and most obvious business dilemma in the sharing economy. Platform providers–like Uber, Airbnb, or Etsy–rely on both consumers View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Service

Research Summary

Lean Startup Management Practices

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Many information technology startups have embraced "lean startup" management practices. Lean startups confront high levels of uncertainty about both customer problems and product solutions: the strength of demand for new... View Details

January 2019 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Commercial Sales Transformation at Microsoft

By: Doug J. Chung

Industry leaders should adapt to changes in the business context and consider different ways to grow. Advances in technology had shifted software demand to the cloud. As a result, Microsoft announced a strategic shift in direction from its existing ‘Windows first’... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Strategy; Transformation

22 Feb 2010
Op-Ed

Tragedy at Toyota: How Not to Lead in Crisis

Toyota's ever-widening problems are a tragic case study in how not to lead in crisis. Under the media spotlight, Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda, grandson of the founder, went into hiding and sent American CEO Jim... View Details

Keywords: by William George; Auto

24 Feb 2011
News

Latest sales, price data point to weak, tentative recovery

August 2017
Case

RoboTech: Storming into the U.S. Market

By: Christopher A. Bartlett, Rachel Gordon and John J. Lafkas

This case describes the challenges facing the CEO of a small, Singapore-based industrial robotics company that decides to diversify away from its core industrial robot business by leveraging its expertise into the medical-devices industry. It launches an innovative... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Diversification; Product Launch; Competitive Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Singapore; United States

March 2008
Case

Shangri-La Hotels

By: Dennis Campbell and Brent Kazan

In November 2006, Symon Bridle, the newly appointed chief operating officer of Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, was thinking about a number of organizational issues that presented challenges to Shangri-La's rapid expansion strategy. There were three major issues at hand:... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Growth and Development Strategy; Standards; Service Delivery; Organizational Culture; Accommodations Industry; China; Europe; North America

May–June 1996
Article

Ruling the Net

By: D. L. Spar and Jeffrey J. Bussgang

The Internet promises a radical new world of business. But for many companies, it has yet to deliver. Although doing business in cyberspace may be novel and exhilarating, it can also be frustrating, confusing, and even unprofitable. Debora Spar and Jeffrey Bussgang... View Details

Keywords: Information Services; Online Technology

Find at Harvard

09 Nov 2011
News

US uncovers alleged 'click fraud' ring

06 Mar 2012
News

HBS Professors Discuss US Outlook in NYC

August 1992 (Revised September 2002)
Case

Star Distributors, Inc. (A)

By: David A. Thomas

Depicts the conflict and organizational problems that emerged in a franchise operation owned by Paul Logan, an African American, and John Heyman, a white American. Provides the opportunity to examine the ways in which race influences managerial behavior and... View Details

Keywords: Conflict Management; Performance Effectiveness; Franchise Ownership; Race; Management Style; Conflict and Resolution; Business and Stakeholder Relations

February 1993 (Revised March 1993)
Case

Frito-Lay, Inc.: A Strategic Transition (A) (Updated)

By: Lynda M. Applegate

The setting is a food manufacturing company that has stumbled in terms of its historic growth and profit achievements. In trying to recapture momentum, the president has used information technology as one element in his program of transition. The case focuses on the... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Information Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Transition; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

Find at Harvard

18 Feb 2015
News

Steve Grossman, Michael Porter team up on income inequality

November 2021
Case

Steve Schwarzman on Dealmaking I: “Becoming a ‘Friend of the Situation’” (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Alex Green

Blackstone Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO Stephen A. Schwarzman, whom Forbes has called “Wall Street’s Greatest Dealmaker,” played a major role in the negotiations that transformed Blackstone from a fragile startup in 1985 with $400,000 in capital into a dominant... View Details

Keywords: Dealmaking; Bargaining; Conflict Resolution; Negotiation; Private Equity; Conflict and Resolution; Entrepreneurship; Problems and Challenges; Negotiation Tactics; Financial Services Industry

2019
Working Paper

Southern Responses to Gold Certification: Cooperate, Compete, Reject, Revise

By: Kristin Sippl

Artisanal gold mining is a Southern subsistence livelihood posing both challenges and opportunities for sustainable development. In 2011, Fairtrade International launched a certification program to address sustainability problems in the sector. Southern activists,... View Details

Keywords: Eco-labeling; Extractive Industries; Emerging Economies; Fair Trade; Environmental Sustainability; Standards; Programs; Governance Compliance; Competition; Adaptation; Mining Industry

Read Now

January 1998 (Revised April 1998)
Case

Lincoln Electric: Venturing Abroad

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Jamie O'Connell

Lincoln Electric, a 100-year-old manufacturer of welding equipment and consumables based in Cleveland, Ohio, motivates its U.S. employees through a culture of cooperation between management and labor and an unusual compensation system based on piecework and a large... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Restructuring; Transformation; Construction; Compensation and Benefits; Management; Market Entry and Exit; Labor and Management Relations; Competitive Advantage; Expansion; Manufacturing Industry; Ohio

April 1979 (Revised April 1981)
Case

Chaircraft Corp. (B)

Discusses the purchase and installation of automated cutting equipment in a medium-sized furniture factory. The equipment has so far failed to cut costs as expected and the management is attempting to discover what the problems are and what can be done to remedy them. View Details

Keywords: Production; Cost Management; Consumer Products Industry