Publications

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April 2020
Teaching Note

Glossier: Co-Creating a Cult Brand with a Digital Community

By: Jill Avery

Teaching Note for HBS No. 519-022. Flush with cash from its Series C fundraise, cult beauty brand Glossier considers its next phase of growth, facing critical decisions on how to allocate its capital to support various marketing communications and distribution... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Crowdsourcing; CRM; Startup; Direct-to-consumer; DTC; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Consumer Behavior; Customer Relationship Management; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Social Media; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; United States

2009
Working Paper

Goals Gone Wild: The Systematic Side Effects of Over-Prescribing Goal Setting

By: Lisa D. Ordonez, Maurice E. Schweitzer, Adam D. Galinsky and Max H. Bazerman

Goal setting is one of the most replicated and influential paradigms in the management literature. Hundreds of studies conducted in numerous countries and contexts have consistently demonstrated that setting specific, challenging goals can powerfully drive behavior and... View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Performance Improvement; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives

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August 1991
Case

Momenta Corp. (A)

Momenta is a one-month-old high-tech company founded by Kamran Elahian who has already helped found two other successful firms. Having faced problems of teamwork and communication before, Kamran is determined to establish the right corporate culture early on. Teaching... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Business Startups

03 Oct 2013
News

What it Really Means to Give Back

April 1974 (Revised June 1983)
Case

Robert F. Kennedy High School

By: John J. Gabarro

Presents the problem facing a newly appointed high school principal. Raises issues about interpersonal and group behavior including lack of open conflict resolution and the need to intervene in an interpersonal conflict. Also raises the issue of intergroup conflict... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Secondary Education; Employee Relationship Management; Organizational Structure; Behavior; Conflict Management; System

25 Aug 2022
Research & Ideas

It’s All in a Name: Reputable Investors Help Startups Shine

a new study coauthored by Harvard Business School Professor Shai Bernstein. “Attracting high-quality talent is an important challenge for any young firm, and it’s critical to establishing reputation View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

May–June 2019
Article

Cross-Silo Leadership

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Tiziana Casciaro and Sujin Jang

Today the most promising innovation and business opportunities require collaboration among functions, offices, and organizations. To realize them, companies must break down silos and get people working together across boundaries. But that’s a challenge for many... View Details

Keywords: Cross-functional Management; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation Leadership; Groups and Teams; Employees; Attitudes

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February 2009 (Revised August 2010)
Case

Dubai: Global Economy

By: Richard H. K. Vietor and Nicole Michele Forrest

This case, along with Saudi Arabia: “Modern Reform, Enduring Stability” (709-042), provides an opportunity to discuss Saudi Arabia's efforts to modernize, without really Westernizing, in sharp contrast to Dubai, a nearby Arab Emirate. As Saudi Arabia's development... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Non-Renewable Energy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Government and Politics; Growth and Development Strategy; Saudi Arabia; Dubai; Middle East

May 1985 (Revised November 1990)
Case

Spinnaker Software Corp.

By: Howard H. Stevenson

Describes the problems faced by a company that has experienced remarkable growth, but growth which is below projections. The management must evaluate the company's position in the turbulent software industry. The two partners must then decide whether to cut back to... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Borrowing and Debt; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Profit; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Software; Information Technology Industry

March 2022
Case

Auto Mag (Abridged)

By: David E. Bell

A young HBS graduate purchases a publisher of specialty magazines that advertises second hand cars, boats, trucks, etc. The magazines carry photographs and a brief description of each article for sale. The company faces the problem of deciding on how many magazines to... View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Cost Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Forecasting and Prediction

February 1979 (Revised December 1983)
Case

Allied Chemical Corp. (A)

By: George C. Lodge and Joseph L. Badaracco Jr.

Describes Allied, the chemical industry, and the effects of the Kepone problem (a toxic pesticide dumped into the James River) as of 1976. The executive in the case must decide whether the company should support the passage of the Toxic Substances Control Act and an... View Details

Keywords: Pollutants; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Decision Making; Laws and Statutes; Welfare; Legal Liability; Business and Government Relations; Chemical Industry

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June 2020
Case

Recovering Trust After Corporate Misconduct at Wells Fargo

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Jonah S. Goldberg

The case describes widespread misconduct at Wells Fargo Community Bank in the period leading up to 2017 and the company’s subsequent attempts to improve internal controls, company culture, and corporate governance. The case examines the potential causes of large scale... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Misconduct; Internal Controls; Banks and Banking; Crime and Corruption; Corporate Governance; Organizational Culture; Governance Compliance; Management Systems; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Improvement; Governing and Advisory Boards

10 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Retailing Revolution: Category Killers on the Brink

increased at an impressive pace in the early 2000s even though Internet sales in the United States grew dramatically. Retail sales advanced from $2.87 trillion to almost $4 trillion between 1999 and 2007. However, the current recession... View Details

Keywords: by Rajiv Lal & Jose B. Alvarez; Retail

Hacking Heroin

“Hacking Heroin” was the first hackathon that Annie Rittgers, founder of Cincinnati-based consultancy firm 17a, had organized or even attended. “There will continue to be a lot of preventable overdose deaths and wasted potential if the opioid crisis continues... View Details

November 2002 (Revised March 2003)
Case

Water Policy Priorities Along the U.S.-Mexico Border

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Jose M. M. Porraz

The United States and Mexico face the challenges of managing shared water resources. The supply is limited and demand is growing on both sides of the border as a result of increased irrigated acreage and population growth. View Details

Keywords: Policy; Environmental Sustainability; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Negotiation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States; Mexico

09 Jul 2010
Working Paper Summaries

The Limits of Nonprofit Impact: A Contingency Framework for Measuring Social Performance

Keywords: by Alnoor Ebrahim & V. Kasturi Rangan

April 2012
Article

Teamwork on the Fly

By: Amy C. Edmondson

In a fast-paced and ever-changing business environment, traditional teams aren't always practical. Instead, companies increasingly employ teaming: gathering experts in temporary groups to solve problems they may be encountering for the first and only time. This... View Details

Keywords: Teaming; Cross-functional Integration; Organizational Learning; Groups and Teams; Experience and Expertise; Interpersonal Communication; Projects; Social and Collaborative Networks; Competency and Skills; Learning

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Christian Kaps is an Assistant Professor of business administration in the Technology and Operations Management (TOM) Unit at Harvard Business School. Kaps' research focuses on emerging topics in renewable electricity generation and storage - notably how new... View Details

March 2024
Case

Ava DuVernay's Array: Disrupting the Hollywood Film Industry

By: Anita Elberse and Morgan Brewton-Johnson

In February 2023 acclaimed filmmaker Ava DuVernay is filming her latest movie, Origin, a daring adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson’s book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. With Origin, DuVernay is pioneering a method to finance the endeavor—through a combination of... View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Intellectual Property; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Disruption; Motion Pictures and Video Industry