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Structuring the Organizational Response

View Dutch Leonard's Slide Presentation View Amy Edmondson's Slide Presentation You do not need to read the case study to benefit from the recording. If you want the case, Harvard Business Publishing offers Columbia's... View Details

April 21, 2023
Article

When Scenario Planning Fails

By: Kalle Heikkinen, William R. Kerr, Mika Malin, Panu Routila and Eemil Rupponen

How can organizations perform scenario planning when they are hit by shocks outside of leaders’ field of vision? Interviews with Nordic executives, who experienced both the Covid-19 pandemic and were in close proximity to Russia as the country invaded Ukraine, can... View Details

Keywords: Planning; Crisis Management; Organizational Structure; Forecasting and Prediction; System Shocks; Organizational Change and Adaptation

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October 2020
Case

Fiscal Responses to COVID-19

By: Rawi Abdelal, Rafael Di Tella, Vincent Pons and Galit Goldstein

For the first half of 2020, the COVID-19 crisis seemed on the verge of spiraling out of control. The business world struggled to figure out what COVID meant for macroeconomics. Extended restrictions limiting human interaction meant an end to normal economic production,... View Details

Keywords: Fiscal Policy; COVID; COVID-19; Economic Analysis; Economic Downturn; Economic Conditions; Economic Governance; Economic Systems; Economy; Health Pandemics; Finance; Policy; United States; Germany; France; European Union

Article

Moral Dilemmas and Trust in Leaders during a Global Health Crisis

By: Jim A. C. Everett, Clara Colombatto, Edmond Awad, Paulo Boggio, Björn Bos, William J. Brady, Megha Chawla, Vladimir Chituc, Dongil Chung, Moritz A. Drupp, Shristi Goel, Brit Grosskopf, Frederik Hjorth, Alissa Ji, Caleb Kealoha, Judy S. Kim, Yangfei Lin, Yina Ma, Michel André Maréchal, Federico Mancinelli, Christoph Mathys, Asmus L. Olsen, Graeme Pearce, Annayah M. B. Prosser, Niv Reggev, Nicholas Sabin, Julien Senn, Yeon Soon Shin, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Hallgeir Sjåstad, Madelijn Strick, Sunhae Sul, Lars Tummers, Monique Turner, Hongbo Yu, Yoonseo Zoh and Molly J. Crockett

Trust in leaders is central to citizen compliance with public policies. One potential determinant of trust is how leaders resolve conflicts between utilitarian and non-utilitarian ethical principles in moral dilemmas. Past research suggests that utilitarian responses... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Impartial Beneficence; Utilitarian Responses; Trust; Ethics; Public Opinion; Leadership Style

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December 2001 (Revised February 2004)
Case

Argentina's Convertibility Plan

By: Rafael M. Di Tella and Ingrid Vogel

Describes the political and economic development in Argentina from 1989 to 1995, with a focus on the role of the currency board. Culminates in Argentine policy makers (Menem in particular) contemplating how to respond to the tequila crisis in the middle of 1995.... View Details

Keywords: Currency Exchange Rate; Government and Politics; Interest Rates; Balance and Stability; Developing Countries and Economies; Financial Crisis; Crisis Management; Policy; Currency; Macroeconomics; Argentina

31 Mar 2008
HBS Case

JetBlue’s Valentine’s Day Crisis

rebooking). JFK, which frequently experiences weather delays, is also a significant hub for JetBlue. Evaluating The Response In the second part of the class, Huckman and the students assess JetBlue's View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Air Transportation

February 2008 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Chronology of the Asian Financial Crisis

By: Laura Alfaro, Rafael Di Tella and Renee Kim

In July 1997, Thailand became the first Asian "tiger" economy to abandon its fixed exchange rate system in response to speculative attacks on its currency. Investors started to flee Asia, and the crisis rapidly spread to other countries. Central banks spent billions of... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Currency Exchange Rate; Central Banking; Policy; Crisis Management; Asia; Thailand

April 2005 (Revised August 2008)
Case

Crisis at Japan Communications, Inc.

In 2001, Seiji Frank Sanda is facing his worst crisis since founding Japan Communications Inc. (JCI) in 1996. His planned IPO was stopped, leaving JCI with a large organization and strong revenues, but losses and a dwindling balance sheet. He is seriously considering... View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Entrepreneurship; Crisis Management; Communications Industry; Japan

12 Dec 2018
News

Lesson Plan

the district’s solicitor and financial consultant waive fees for refinancing debt from 2014 was rebuffed as agenda-driven by a 20-year veteran of the board. Cognetti’s response: “My agenda is to get us through this crisis and stop any... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; photographed by Chris Sorensen

May 2014 (Revised March 2017)
Case

Unilever's Lifebuoy in India: Implementing the Sustainability Plan

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Unilever's new Global Brand VP must not only revitalize Lifebuoy soap's sagging market performance, but simultaneously impact the health of one billion people worldwide. The latter challenge comes from Unilever's new CEO who has introduced the Unilever Sustainable... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Management; Corporate Social Responsibility; Strategy Implementation; Marketing Strategy; Mission And Purpose; Change Management; International Business; Global; Fast-moving Consumer Goods; Soap; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Health Care and Treatment; Environmental Sustainability; Global Strategy; Developing Countries and Economies; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Health Industry; India

05 May 2022
News

Lesson Plans

educational gaps and develop new services in response to the needs of students today, wherever they may be. SK: Obviously the pandemic has caused massive dislocations in certain ways. Physical schools shut down. We see wars going on. Just... View Details

June 2010 (Revised August 2010)
Case

State Grid: Corporate Social Responsibility

By: Christopher Marquis, Nancy Dai, Dongning Yang and Hong Wu

In October 2009, State Grid, the largest utility company in the world, and a pioneer and leader in CSR practices in China, was planning its 2009 CSR Report and long-term CSR implementation. Some of the specific challenges faced at the time include: How could the... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Management Systems; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Accountability; Behavior; Change Management; Global Range; Employees; Utilities Industry; China

Research Summary

Supply Chain Inventory Planning

My work studies management decision-making in demand and supply planning contexts with a focus on forecasting and inventory planning decisions. I examine these decision-making processes from both a supply chain (i.e. across firm) and an... View Details

01 Jun 2020
News

Meal Plan

Alive customers, who tend to have special dietary needs, to access the food they wanted. To address that, we created three- and five-day plans with ready-to-eat, portioned meals that you could just pull out of the refrigerator. That... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; restaurants; COVID-19; pandemic; recovery; Food Services and Drinking Places; Hospitality; Food and Beverage Stores; Retail Trade

01 Jun 2020
News

Lesson Plans

past participants, half said they got more attention from recruiters after completing one of our programs; 53 percent gained more responsibility at work; and 25 percent got a promotion or title change. This will be the first recession... View Details

Keywords: Jen Mele

01 Jun 2009
News

Crisis and Creativity

"I'll be happy to give you innovative thinking. What are the guidelines?" © The New Yorker Collection 2005 Leo Cullum from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved. Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s chief of staff, recently echoed Machiavelli when he said, “You never want a... View Details

Keywords: Bhaskar Chakravorti

Responsibility of Business

rich collections at the Harvard libraries, along with energetic assistance from the librarians, were also indispensable resources. During my fellowship, I was honestly surprised by the number of faculty who were critically examining the purpose of value creation and... View Details

December 2020 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Arcos Dorados: A QSR Recovery Plan

By: Forest Reinhardt, José B. Alvarez, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Mariana Cal

Arcos Dorados—McDonald’s largest independent franchisee, covering Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)—faced a pandemic that was disrupting the entire consumer foodservice business in 2020. With the exclusive right to own, operate, and sub-franchise McDonald’s... View Details

2009
Casebook

Managing Crises: Responses to Large-Scale Emergencies

By: Arnold M. Howitt and Herman B. Leonard

This casebook provides an organized treatment of the major challenges associated with managing large scale disaster events, including discussion of systematic methods of organizing disaster response, preparing in advance for disaster situations, and distinguishing... View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Planning; Natural Disasters