Publications

October 2005 (Revised September 2006)
Case

Sapient Corporation (Abridged)

By: Rakesh Khurana and Joel Podolny

Describes the start-up, growth, organizational design, and operations over the first 10 years of a professional services firm. Focuses on the creative use of organizational purpose and values as an integral part of strategy and alignment of organizational activities. View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Organizational Culture; Change Management; Human Resources; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Operations; Business Processes; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Service Industry

November 2007
Supplement

Differences at Work: Jason (B)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Rachel Gordon

In Differences at Work: Jason (B) HBS Case No. 9-408-049 Jason decides that his firm should have a more articulated position that everyone in the firm understands about why diversity benefits the firm instead of pursing diversity because it feels like the “right” thing... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Policy; Employees; Diversity

18 Feb 2002
Research & Ideas

Wrap-up: Software, Telecom, and Recovery

professor who served as panel moderator, the money flow in venture capital may have been down 51 percent in 2001 compared to 2000, but the sum total was still greater than the previous eighteen or so years combined. Ed Kania, View Details

Keywords: by Wendy Guild & Martha Lagace; Financial Services; Technology; Communications; Telecommunications

24 Jul 2006
Research & Ideas

How Kayak Users Built a New Industry

in how designs are created and then turned into real things. Many management scholars and economists fall into the habit of thinking that innovation is something that firms uniquely do in order to make money. But Eric von Hippel and his... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Entertainment & Recreation

17 May 2010
Research & Ideas

What Brazil Teaches About Investor Protection

supposed to be bad, and there was little debate about what companies or managers could do about it. For me this just sounded too simplistic. Moreover, the focus on national laws led to policy recommendations that were sometimes too... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Banking; Financial Services

05 Nov 2010
Research & Ideas

The Work-Around Culture: Unintended Consequences of Organizational Heroes

"Work-around cultures" are pervasive in health care. Employees tend to work around obstacles, often feeling like a hero in the process, without solving the underlying problems. The reasons for these cultures are manifold, but they are costly in financial and... View Details

Keywords: by Anita Tucker; Health

09 Feb 2010
First Look

First Look: Feb. 9

human patients. Doyle believes NovoCure has the potential to become an important company with a major new cancer therapy platform but must complete pivotal (Phase III) clinical trials and receive FDA approval. Doyle's venture View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

02 Nov 2016
Op-Ed

Government and Financial Tech Can Fix Cash Woes for Small Businesses

Ask any small business owner and they will tell you that cash flow is on their mind pretty much all the time. This isn’t surprising, given that they are continuously managing dollars coming in from customers and going out to pay for... View Details

Keywords: by Karen Mills

31 Jan 2011
Research & Ideas

Taking the Fear out of Diversity Policies

often, then, companies will adopt diversity policies more out of fear than anything else, the researchers argue. And this can lead to nonproductive situations. For example, a manager may shy away from constructively criticizing a minority... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

January 2001 (Revised August 2003)
Case

Diageo plc

A major U.K.-based multinational is reevaluating its leverage policy as it restructures its business. The treasury team models the tradeoffs between the benefits and costs of debt financing, using Monte Carlo simulation to estimate the savings from the interest tax... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Multinational Firms and Management; Capital Structure; Restructuring; United Kingdom

06 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

Should Entrepreneurs Pitch Products or Ideas for Products?

speculation—and then, hopefully, sell it? “One of the top questions screenwriters talk about in their online communities is whether to pitch or to spec,” says Luo. In her paper published by Management Science, When to Sell Your Idea:... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Motion Pictures & Video; Entertainment & Recreation; Banking

June 2007 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Lazard LLC

By: Guhan Subramanian and Eliot Sherman

Describes Lazard's situation in 2001, and supplies context for the subsequent negotiation between its Chairman and his hand-picked successor. In 2001 Lazard, the last of the great investment houses to remain both private and in the control of its founding family, is in... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Family Business; Talent and Talent Management; Selection and Staffing; Management Succession; Negotiation Tactics; Financial Services Industry

March 1992 (Revised April 1995)
Teaching Note

BMW: The 7-Series Project (A), Teaching Note

By: Gary P. Pisano

Teaching Note for (9-692-083). View Details

Keywords: Projects; Competency and Skills; Production; Quality; Product Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Decisions; Management Practices and Processes; Luxury; Auto Industry

July–August 2024
Article

Case Study: Are the Right People in the Right Seats?

By: Nitin Nohria

The newly appointed CEO of Highstreet Properties has doubts about several members of the top team she has inherited. She’s trying to drive a turnaround, the company has a complicated matrix structure, and some team members seem opposed to her strategy. She’s debating... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Organizational Structure; Employees; Change Management

June 2023
Supplement

Social Media Background Screening at Fama Technologies (B)

By: Joseph Pacelli, Jillian Grennan and Alexis Lefort

Fama Technologies is an online screening company that uses AI to analyze job applicants' publicly available online content for signs of risk and culture fit. The case opens with Ben Mones, founder and CEO, looking to secure funding from venture firms. He is running... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Recruitment; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Organizational Culture; Talent and Talent Management; United States

15 Feb 2000
Research & Ideas

The Right Connections

of the picture, a young company must clear many hurdles before convincing potential investors that its future prosperity is a good bet. New research by HBS associate professor Monica Higgins and Associate Professor Ranjay Gulati of the Kellogg Graduate School of View Details

Keywords: by Judith A. Ross

January 1991 (Revised November 1994)
Supplement

Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B)

Describes the compromise worked out between Xerox and the black caucus groups. The implications of this arrangement for Xerox and black employees over the next 16 years is also described. View Details

Keywords: Agreements and Arrangements; Employee Relationship Management; Race Characteristics; Consumer Products Industry

October 2007 (Revised February 2008)
Case

The Coca-Cola Company (A): The Rise and Fall of M. Douglas Ivester (Abridged)

By: Michael D. Watkins, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis

This is a shortened version of "The Coca-Cola Company (A): The Rise and Fall of M. Douglas Ivester," HBS case #9-800-355. It eliminates some background detail and the financial data and exhibits. As with the original case, it chronicles the appointment of Douglas... View Details

Keywords: Resignation and Termination; Selection and Staffing; Managerial Roles; Food and Beverage Industry