Publications

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Finance - Faculty & Research

lifestyle, especially as he and his partner continued working in their own professional roles. Rather than outsourcing full control to a private bank or wealth advisor, Rehman established what he referred to as a “Micro-Family Office.”... View Details

2012
Working Paper

Conflict Policy and Advertising Agency-Client Relations: The Problem of Competing Clients Sharing a Common Agency

By: Alvin J. Silk

What restrictions should be placed on advertising agencies with respect to serving accounts or clients that are competitors of one another in order to avoid conflicts in interest? In recent decades, the advertising and marketing services industry has undergone a number... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Service Delivery; Competition; Conflict of Interests; Policy; Practice; Advertising Industry; United States

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2012
Working Paper

Clusters, Convergence, and Economic Performance

By: Mercedes Delgado, Michael E. Porter and Scott Stern

This paper evaluates the role of regional cluster composition in the economic performance of industries, clusters, and regions. On the one hand, diminishing returns to specialization in a location can result in a convergence effect: the growth rate of an industry... View Details

Keywords: Industry Clusters; Performance; Economics

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09 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Unilever—A Case Study

The issue of control is examined, as is the related question of the "stickiness" of knowledge within large international firms. The discussion draws on a case study of the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods manufacturer Unilever, which... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Consumer Products; Entertainment & Recreation; Food & Beverage; Manufacturing; Retail

23 Jun 2023
HBS Case

This Company Lets Employees Take Charge—Even with Life and Death Decisions

ideas, bring them together, and send out the best ones, while still trying to ensure that there is no layer of management to take control away from the nurses,” Bernstein says. Technology (BuurtzorgWeb) serves as the main way nurses... View Details

Keywords: by Annelena Lobb; Health

December 2013
Case

Clique Pens: The Writing Implements Division of U.S. Home

By: Frank V. Cespedes and James Kindley

The Clique Pens Writing Implements division of U.S. Home is a manufacturer of a full line of pens, pencils, markers, and art supplies. Despite solid sales, division president Elise Ferguson has seen gross margins drop from 42% in 2010 to just over 36% in 2012 as a... View Details

Keywords: Production; Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Compensation and Benefits; Sales; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry

Web

Help - Alumni

Operations at 617-495-6207, or email gifts@hbs.edu , for further information about crediting. How can I view my giving history? You can view recent giving history by logging in on the Alumni Home Page . Then click on the “My HBS” tab... View Details

June 2009 (Revised February 2014)
Case

Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (A)

By: Nava Ashraf, Dean Karlan, Wesley Yin and Marc Shotland

Green Bank of the Philippines was known for its product innovation and its ability to bring new products to market. In 2002, Green Bank designed an untested commitment savings product that both gave individuals access to formal savings and helped them commit to... View Details

Keywords: Saving; Innovation and Invention; Measurement and Metrics; Product Design; Success; Performance Evaluation; Banking Industry; Philippines

16 May 2023
HBS Case

How KKR Got More by Giving Ownership to the Factory Floor: ‘My Kids Are Going to College!’

and antipathy, having bounced from one private equity owner to another four times, ran deep. The strategy demanded that Stavros deeply engage with the operations to discover pain points, like inefficient delivery routes and wasted scrap... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

January 2011 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Rebranding Gallagher

By: Rohit Deshpande and Keith Chi-ho Wong

Steve Tucker, the Deputy CEO of Gallagher Group Limited (GGL), the world's largest electric fence company, was about to present a new branding strategy to the company's senior managers and Bill Gallagher, Jr., CEO. After spending more than 18 months with brand... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Distribution; Industrial Products Industry

2024
Working Paper

Laparoscopy—Minimally Invasive Surgery: Case Histories of Transformational Advances

By: Amar Bhidé, Caitlin N. Bowler and Srikant M. Datar

We describe how operations through laparoscopes – tubular instruments inserted into abdominal cavities – revolutionized gynecological and other surgeries inside the abdomen, such as gall bladder removal. Specifically, we chronicle the 1) foundational contributions of... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Technology Adoption; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Invention; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

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February 1999 (Revised March 2000)
Case

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center: Coordinating Patient Care

External cost pressures are motivating the adoption of case management (CM) at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), but several of the organization's key professional groups are working against it. President and CEO David Dolins must decide whether CM is... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Service Operations; Organizational Culture; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Boston

May 2017 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies: Building Breakthrough Innovations in Crowd-Powered Ecosystems

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Terri L. Griffith and Ann Majchrzak

Dirk Ahlborn, co-founder and CEO of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Inc. (HTT) looks back at the evolving organizational design and community that allows HTT to be crowd-powered. Since the founding in 2013, HTT has dealt with building an organization with less... View Details

Keywords: Collaboration; Crowdsourcing; Entrepreneurial Finance; Innovation; Organizational Design; Startups; Business Startups; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Product Development

October 2024
Case

Tonik

By: Andy Wu, Maliha Malek Quadir and Aticus Peterson

This case study examines Tonik, the first digital bank in the Philippines, as it navigates the challenges of scaling its lending operations and achieving profitability in an evolving fintech landscape. It explores Tonik's journey from its launch in 2018 to early 2024,... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Financing and Loans; Profit; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Growth and Development Strategy; Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Product; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry; Philippines

30 Apr 2024
Book

When Managers Set Unrealistic Expectations, Employees Cut Ethical Corners

accounts—notwithstanding the company’s various compliance programmes, ethical business practices initiative, and espoused long-term customer focus. During this period, the bank had a total shareholder return of more than 100 percent, and the CEO’s compensation averaged... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

23 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

Sam Walton: Great From the Start

It did not take long for Walton to begin to chafe under the tight controls of Butler Brothers. He began scouting around for less expensive suppliers, and he found them. If there was inspiration in his business strategy, it lay in the next... View Details

Keywords: by Richard S. Tedlow; Retail

2009
Working Paper

International Differences in the Size and Roles of Corporate Headquarters: An Empirical Examination

By: David J. Collis, David Young and Michael Goold

This paper examines differences in the size and roles of corporate headquarters around the world. Based on a survey of over 600 multibusiness corporations in seven countries (France, Germany, Holland, UK, Japan, US, and Chile) the paper describes the differences among... View Details

Keywords: Business Headquarters; Size; Organizational Structure; Culture; Japan; France; Germany; Netherlands; United Kingdom; United States; Chile