Publications

18 Mar 2001
Research & Ideas

Want to Be an Entrepreneur? [Part I]

promising technology—and its first designs didn't work. She and her management colleagues were unknowns, and the product failures subtracted from their slight credibility. And at the time, she said, "the View Details

Keywords: by John S. Rosenberg

October 2011
Teaching Note

CNOOC: Building a World-class Energy Company (TN)

By: Joseph L. Bower

Teaching Note for 311-074. View Details

Keywords: Natural Environment; Employees; Markets; Alignment; Decisions; Leadership Development; Resource Allocation; Competition; Non-Renewable Energy; Energy Industry; China

February 2011
Case

oDesk: Changing How the World Works

By: Boris Groysberg, David A. Thomas and Jennifer M. Tydlaska

It is 2010, and Gary Swart, CEO of oDesk, is contemplating the next steps for his organization. Founded in 2004 in California, oDesk operates an online marketplace which matches Employers with Contractors. oDesk provides fact-based information on Contractors, including... View Details

Keywords: Recruitment; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Digital Platforms; Marketplace Matching; Corporate Strategy; Internet and the Web; Consulting Industry

December 2024 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Strategy and CEO Succession at Starbucks

By: Krishna G. Palepu and David Lane

On August 13, 2024, Starbucks announced that Laxman Narasimhan who was appointed as the CEO only in September 2023, was stepping down as CEO and board director “with immediate effect.” Laxman would be replaced on September 9 by Brian Niccol, CEO since 2018 of Chipotle... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Corporate Governance; Leadership; Management Succession; Cost Management; Labor Unions; Working Conditions; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Service Operations; Investment Activism; Governing and Advisory Boards; Resignation and Termination; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

19 Jan 2016
First Look

January 19, 2016

forthcoming Cambridge, MA: MIT Press Revolutionizing Innovation: Users, Communities, and Open Innovation By: Harhoff, Dietmar, and Karim R. Lakhani, eds. Abstract—The last two decades have witnessed an extraordinary growth of new models of View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 Feb 2021
Research & Ideas

COVID-19 Shines New Light on Working Conditions in Supply Chains

conditions along supply chains? Michael Toffel: In the US, this has probably been the most pronounced in the meatpacking industry, where folks work pretty closely together and weren’t really cared for in a robust way. And companies have had to figure out on their own... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Apparel & Accessories

28 Jun 2011
First Look

First Look: June 28

PublicationsManager-Specific Effects on Earnings Guidance: An Analysis of Top Executive Turnovers Authors:Francois Brochet, Lucile Faurel, and Sarah McVay Publication:Journal of Accounting Research (forthcoming) Abstract We investigate how View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

07 Sep 2019
Op-Ed

Even for Non-Believers, These Are the Next Steps on Climate Change

arguments about whether sea level rise is human caused or even if it’s real; we just need to invest with the probabilities in mind the same way we make risk management decisions under uncertainty about... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber

07 Aug 2015
Research & Ideas

Obama’s Clean Power Plan: Can Nuclear Power Beat the Global Threat of Coal?

This week, President Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency released the final version of the Clean Power Plan, a major set of rules and incentives aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from America's power plants. The plan requires each state to meet a... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Energy; Utilities

07 Aug 2000
Research & Ideas

The Business of Biotech

With the sequencing of the human genome running ahead of schedule, the American Stock Exchange's "BTK" biotech index registered an annual increase of 232 percent in February, prompting exuberant headlines ("Move Over,... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Biotechnology; Health; Technology

June 2009
Supplement

Midland Energy Resources, Inc.: Cost of Capital, Instructors Spreadsheet (Brief Case)

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and Joel L. Heilprin

Keywords: Risk Assessment; Risk Management; Valuation; Capital Structure; Cash Flow

12 Jun 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, June 12, 2018

workers with heterogeneous human capital interface with machine learning, relative to the older Boolean search technology. We randomly assign individuals with and without computer science and engineering... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

May 1985 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Comdisco, Inc.

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and Rita J. Seymour

Comdisco, the largest independent dealer and lessor of computers and peripheral equipment, needs financing in order to match its market's growth of 20-30% per year. The company has access to two types of risk capital, but there are substantial costs and risks... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Strategy; Cost vs Benefits; Capital Structure; Financing and Loans; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance; Growth and Development Strategy; Computer Industry; Distribution Industry

Find at Harvard

February 2008
Case

EFI, Inc. (A)

By: David B. Godes and Lauren Barley

EFI has a unique sales compensation challenge. They cannot allocate sales credit for their core product to individual salespeople. So, they've historically paid the sales force as a team. This has worked out fine, since they've been a near-monopoly seller of a single... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Compensation and Benefits; Performance Evaluation; Groups and Teams; Salesforce Management; Motivation and Incentives

May 1994 (Revised October 1994)
Case

Motorola: Institutionalizing Corporate Initiatives

By: Shoshana Zuboff and Janis Lee Gogan

Motorola became a recognized quality leader in large part by becoming a leader in employee education and by encouraging "participative management." Through the Motorola Training and Education Center, later Motorola University, the company invested substantial resources... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Customer Satisfaction; Training; Human Resources; Leadership; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Corporate Strategy; Education Industry

March 2022
Teaching Note

Supreme: Remaining Cool While Pursuing Growth

By: Jill Avery and Sandrine Crener

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 522-006. Following VF Corporation’s acquisition of cult streetwear brand Supreme, consumers and industry pundits were nervous that becoming part of a large, public corporation would put an end to Supreme’s slow and careful growth... View Details

Keywords: Cultural Branding; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Luxury; Growth Management; Consumer Products Industry; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; United States

24 Jul 2013
Op-Ed

Detroit Files for Bankruptcy: HBS Faculty Weigh In

forgiven. Liberia is not yet in the clear, but it is politically stable, its economy is rapidly growing, and its citizens are returning to lives enhanced by a more egalitarian power structure. Without the fiscal fresh start, investments in infrastructure and View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber, Robert C. Pozen, Eric D. Werker & Benjamin Kennedy; Auto

August 2006 (Revised June 2007)
Case

Shapiro Global

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Michael Brookshire, Monica Haugen, Michelle Kravetz and Sarah Sommer

Su Yee Goh, a director in a Singapore office, considers a proposal by a pregnant female executive for an alternative work arrangement so that she could both continue to work and spend more time with her family. Goh wants to keep the executive at Shapiro Global, but is... View Details

Keywords: Disruption; Globalized Firms and Management; Employee Relationship Management; Retention; Work-Life Balance; Singapore