Publications

10 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

Do You Have Change Fatigue?

know-it-all leaders unnecessary for successful change, they often muck it up. Echoing Garvin, Rosabeth Moss Kanter notes that it's very difficult for leaders to spell out in advance precisely what the future state should look like—so many... View Details

Keywords: by Nick Morgan

June 2008 (Revised August 2008)
Case

World Wildlife Fund US

By: Jane Wei-Skillern and Kerry Herman

World Wildlife Fund US is a leading international conservation nonprofit that operates within a global network of WWF organizations. This case examines WWF US's strategy to achieve its mission of protecting natural wildlife and resources. In contrast to traditional... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Partners and Partnerships; Environmental Sustainability; Nonprofit Organizations; Social and Collaborative Networks; Trust; Integration; Sumatra; United States

22 Feb 2022
News

A World of Difference

shortly after taking off from New York City. He had served in the military, flown all sorts of planes, and accumulated over 30,000 hours of flying experience. And yet, in the 208 seconds that he had to make... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint

2019
Working Paper

Thinking Outside the Box (12): The Benefits of Increased Transparency in Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance for the 180 Million Insured

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Barak D. Richman

Economists have long noted that the tax exclusion of employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) caused workers to purchase health plans that differ in price and other characteristics from those they would otherwise choose for themselves. We explore the short-term and long-term... View Details

Keywords: After-tax Income; Consumer-driven Health Care; Health Care Costs; Health Insurance; Income Inequality; Tax Policy; Health Care and Treatment; Cost; Insurance; Income; Equality and Inequality; Taxation; Policy; United States

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Portrait Project

Sumit Malik

was left shriveled and raw. I prickled from the sting of the injustice. He wrapped his calloused hands around my shoulders. From jumbled fragments, those calloused hands had built a new life for me. My grandfather fought divisions but... View Details

03 Jul 2008
What Do You Think?

Are Followers About to Get Their Due?

Sameer Kamat asked whether Kellerman's categorization over-simplifies the issue and opines that "these are transient states that followers pass through in their careers." Sujeet Prabhu observed that "The five types of... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

23 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

China’s 60-Year Road from Revolution to World Power

This was a growth fueled above all by private enterprise, urban and rural, in what we may now consider the first "golden age" of Chinese capitalism. This new economic activity began and spread outward from China's centers of... View Details

Keywords: by William C. Kirby

Joseph A. Martino

Starting with the company as a 16 year old office boy, Martino went on to transform National Lead into one of the country’s leading industrial producers of lead products and paints. During his tenure as CEO, National Lead was among the top 50 U. S. firms in terms of... View Details

Keywords: Metals

October 2022 (Revised September 2024)
Case

To SFO or Not To SFO: The Tolman Family Selects a Family Office Strategy

By: Lauren Cohen, Hao Gao, Victoria Alvarez-Arango, Grace Headinger, Mili Sanwalka and Anna Yuan

Peter Tolman, a first-generation investment professional, debated which family office strategy to adopt for managing his family’s assets. As the sole steward of his family’s wealth, he sought to conserve and grow his family’s wealth for him, his wife, and his two very... View Details

Keywords: Family Office; Investment Strategy; Family Business; Financial Strategy; Investment; Strategy; Diversification; Management; Asset Management; Wealth; Financial Services Industry; United States; Canada

23 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

Creative Entrepreneurship in a Downturn

closely and talk to people (like Frederick, the auto shop owner) in your neighborhood. On the very day that the Wall Street Journal had a story on how venture financing is down—February 11, 2009—the New York... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

March 2012 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Gary Hirshberg and Stonyfield Farm

By: Nancy F. Koehn, Nora N. Khan and Elizabeth W. Legris

Gary Hirshberg and Stonyfield Farm is the story of one entrepreneur's vision and journey to create a market-leading, environmentally responsible business founded on the principles of product quality, organizational alignment, and sustainability. A former environmental... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurs; Values; Development Stage Enterprises; Innovation; Management By Objective; Experimentation; Emerging Technologies; Mission and Purpose; Management Style; Values and Beliefs; Social Issues; Organizational Culture; Environmental Sustainability; Business Growth and Maturation; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Innovation and Invention; Food and Beverage Industry; New Hampshire

Profile

Liz Plooster

of faith! New friends to grow with, so much to learn, plenty of restaurants to try, and a whole new side of the country to explore. Being part of the HBS community is like A camping trip with View Details

07 Nov 2012
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Sir Alex Ferguson--Managing Manchester United

film, music, television, video games, the performing arts, sports, and advertising. She has written dozens of cases on firms and businesses as varied as Hulu, Marvel Enterprises, New York's Marquee nightclub, The Metropolitan Opera, and... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Sports; Entertainment & Recreation

11 Mar 2008
First Look

First Look: March 11, 2008

executives during the initial stages of implementing the new strategy. Our analysis demonstrates that this firm's balanced scorecard contained useful and timely information for distinguishing between these alternatives. These results... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

November 2016 (Revised August 2020)
Case

Improving Access at VA

By: Ryan W. Buell, Robert S. Huckman and Sam Travers

In 2015, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) ran the largest healthcare system in the United States, with over 1,700 sites of care that served nearly 9 million veterans. One year earlier, a scandal had erupted over a cover-up of the excessive wait times veterans... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Service Delivery; Social Issues; Health Care and Treatment; Government Administration; Performance Improvement; Public Administration Industry; Health Industry; United States

April 2015
Supplement

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp: Redefining Success in the U.S. (B)

By: Gautam Mukunda, Thomas DeLong and Aldo Sesia

This (B) case describes the actions André Wyss, president of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, took in early 2012 to transform the company's General Medicines group and build its specialty medications, marketing the selling capabilities in the face of falling... View Details

Keywords: LEAD; Leadership And Change Management; Talent Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Change Management; Talent and Talent Management; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

April – May 2010
Article

Banking Deregulations, Financing Constraints and Firm Entry Size

By: William R. Kerr and Ramana Nanda

We examine the effect of US branch banking deregulations on the entry size of new firms using micro-data from the US Census Bureau. We find that the average entry size for startups did not change following the deregulations. However, among firms that survived at least... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Financing and Loans; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Market Entry and Exit; Banking Industry; United States

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July 2004 (Revised January 2007)
Case

H&R Block and "Everyday Financial Services"

By: Peter Tufano and Daniel Schneider

H&R Block, the U.S. market leader in tax preparation services, must decide whether to offer financial services to its low-income clients. H&R Block is facing increased competition from branded and nonbranded tax preparers, and the number of returns prepared by the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Income; Taxation; Product Development; Financial Services Industry; United States

June 2018 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Renegotiating NAFTA

By: Laura Alfaro, Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason and Sarah Jeong

January 1, 2019 marked the 25th anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Twenty-five years after the landmark trade pact was signed by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, considerable debate surrounded it. Trade and trade agreements were a... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Negotiation; Agreements and Arrangements; Cost vs Benefits; Auto Industry; United States; Mexico; Canada