Publications

01 Sep 2005
News

London Forum Highlights the Best of HBS

ideas can come from anywhere — inside or outside, up or down an organization.” Sorrell, whose firm places up to one-third of all the advertising seen around the world, addressed the challenges WPP Group faces in developing a global... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training

05 May 2023
News

Fail Better

traditions. But we wanted to bring them all under this pan-Hispanic umbrella. So that was also a challenge. And the third part that was a challenge was we wanted to make the language authentic. They spoke Spanish and English, so... View Details

01 Dec 2008
News

Business at the Summit

HBS Centennial Event Confronts Present and Future Challenges Rising to the challenge: Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust and Dean Jay Light shared a vision of closer collaboration between HBS and Harvard on 21st-century issues. Faust... View Details

Keywords: leadership; alumni events; Centennial; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training

June 2011
Case

Leaders Who Make a Difference: Joel Klein's Transformation of NYC's DOE, Day 1

By: Joseph L. Bower and Sonja Ellingson Hout

Joel Klein takes over NYC's public schools and begins to reform the nation's largest system by depoliticizing, rationalizing management, and confronting the union so that the focus is on the kids. View Details

Keywords: Public Sector; Organizations; Leadership; Problems and Challenges; Management

October 1984
Background Note

Goals: The Problem of Balancing Multiple Constituencies

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Richard R. Ellsworth

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Problems and Challenges; Balance and Stability

04 Sep 2007
Research & Ideas

Jumpstarting Innovation: Using Disruption to Your Advantage

established companies can also be a source of salvation: disruptive change. Applegate should know. Her current research and teaching focus on the challenges of building new ventures and leading radical business innovation in the face of... View Details

Keywords: by Lynda M. Applegate

01 Jun 2015
News

Higher Ground

the April concert was Tulane University’s Dixon Hall, with a stage that could barely fit all 67 orchestra members. Location was perhaps the least of the LPO’s challenges that night. Many of the musicians were still living in hotels or... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell; Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries; Arts, Entertainment; Health, Social Assistance

28 Oct 2013
Research & Ideas

Book Excerpt: The Good Struggle: Responsible Leadership in an Unforgiving World

more and more cases, when leaders make critical decisions, they are not choosing among specific, detailed options, each supported by in-depth analysis, nor are they expecting to implement the option they choose in a familiar, predictable, or View Details

Keywords: by Joseph L. Badaracco

October 1991 (Revised September 1998)
Case

Maxwell Appliance Controls

By: Robert S. Kaplan

A profitable manufacturing division of a large company is looking for new ways to identify sources of productivity improvements. Led by its senior finance officer, an activity-based cost system is developed to identify activities performed for its highly varied product... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Management Teams; Quality; Performance Improvement; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Production; Manufacturing Industry

01 Jun 2010
News

MBAs on a Mission

was typical for an HBS Leadership Fellow. The program catapults new grads into high-level positions at nonprofit and public-sector organizations, offering access to CEO-level management and decision-making. Meanwhile, organizations... View Details

Keywords: Sarah Auerbach;Deborah Blagg;Julia Hanna; Management; Management; Management; Management

27 Feb 2013
Research & Ideas

Sidetracked: Why Can’t We Stick to the Plan?

decisions that we expect we will make based on our finely developed plans are often different from how we actually behave. We get sidetracked. We set a new career path, we choose a diet to follow, we make plans to save for retirement, we set a new direction for the... View Details

August 2005 (Revised August 2007)
Background Note

Why Study Emerging Markets

By: Tarun Khanna, Krishna G. Palepu and Kjell Ke-Li Carlsson

Emerging markets have attracted considerable attention and are likely to become an increasingly important political and economic force. They represent an enormous opportunity for entrepreneurs, multinationals, and investors but also pose a threat for products, jobs,... View Details

Keywords: Profit; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Governance; Emerging Markets; Problems and Challenges; Opportunities

July 1993 (Revised March 1995)
Case

Millipore Corporate Strategy

By: Nitin Nohria and V. Kasturi Rangan

Millipore, a $750 million (sales) company with three divisions, had been growing at a rate of 20% in the 1970s, but this growth rate had slowed considerably in the 1980s. CEO John Gilmartin was looking for ways to reenergize the organization and redirect its strategy... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Corporate Strategy; Restructuring; Growth and Development Strategy; Goals and Objectives; Business Processes; Organizational Structure

July 2000 (Revised June 2002)
Case

Dawn Riley at America True (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Kristin Doughty

Dawn Riley is the CEO/Captain of America True, the first coed syndicate to race for the America's Cup. Over three years, based on her vision for America True, she built the syndicate from scratch, bringing on investors and sponsors, designing and building a boat, and... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Leadership; Problems and Challenges; Sports; Gender; Business Startups; North and Central America; New Zealand; San Francisco

01 Dec 2018
News

Lighting the Way

Photo courtesy of Beverly Anderson Photo courtesy of Beverly Anderson A recent study of alumni offers insights into the reality of the challenge that African American women face in their careers: Of the 532 African American women who... View Details

November 2008
Supplement

Whole Foods Acquires Wild Oats (B)

Keywords: Communication Technology; Problems and Challenges; Acquisition; Management Teams; Retail Industry; United States

January 1993 (Revised May 2002)
Background Note

Note on Techniques for Analyzing Business Problems

A six-step technique for solving business problems is presented: stating the problem, developing a framework for analysis, identifying key issues, performing analysis, drawing conclusions, and making recommendations. Intended to be used with a case or cases that... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Framework; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Problems and Challenges