Publications

2011
Book

What to Ask the Person in the Mirror: Critical Questions for Becoming a More Effective Leader and Reaching Your Potential

By: Robert Steven Kaplan

Successful leaders know that leadership is less often about having all the answers-and more often about asking the right questions. The challenge lies in being able to step back, reflect, and ask the key questions that are critical to your performance and your... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Development; Organizational Development; Reaching Your Potential; Career Planning; Management Styles; Interpersonal Communication; Leadership; Performance Effectiveness; Personal Development and Career

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January 2013 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Hudson Yards—The Other Side of the Tracks?

By: Christopher M. Gordon, John D. Macomber, A. Eugene Kohn and Lisa Strope

Stephan Ross, CEO of Related Companies, is considering an opportunity to invest $1 billion for the air rights over the Hudson Rail Yards in New York City. The investment would allow Related to build a platform over the operating rail tracks and develop this blighted... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Property; Growth and Development Strategy; Urban Development; Real Estate Industry; New York (city, NY)

September 2023 (Revised October 2023)
Case

Mohamed Salah

By: Anita Elberse and Taher El Moataz Bellah

In June 2022, Mohamed Salah, one of the world’s best soccer players, and his lawyer and advisor Ramy Abbas Issa were in ongoing discussions with top English Premier League club Liverpool FC about a new playing contract for Salah. Arguably the Arab world’s biggest... View Details

Keywords: Soccer; Football; Superstars; General Management; Sports; Entertainment; Media; Marketing; Strategy; Compensation and Benefits; Contracts; Negotiation Participants; Negotiation Process; Sports Industry; England

02 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

10 Trends to Watch in 2024

The lightning-fast ascent of generative AI isn’t the only sea change on the horizon for businesses in the new year. The global economy is in flux as war, climate change, trade issues, and infrastructure problems demand attention. Many companies continue to struggle to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

19 Sep 2023
HBS Case

How Will the Tech Titans Behind ChatGPT, Bard, and LLaMA Make Money?

best position right now? Wu: A real standout right now is Meta, in terms of fighting hard for a prominent position on the open-source side with their LLaMA model. Prior to last year, many would have assumed... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Technology; Information Technology

March 2023
Case

MrBeast: Building a YouTube Empire

By: Anita Elberse and Oliver Band

Wednesday November 16, 2022 was a historic day in the ascent of Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, to the top echelon of YouTube creators. That day he became the YouTuber with the most subscribers ever—a total of 112 million. The meteoric rise of the 24-year-old... View Details

Keywords: Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Power and Influence; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

16 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Restaurant Revolution: How the Industry Is Fighting to Stay Alive

providing inexpensive, three-course meals for those on unemployment, and uses its facility to host a small food bank. In conjunction with the nonprofit Rethink Food, New York City’s Eleven Madison Park, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant ranked as the View Details

Keywords: by Michael S. Kaufman, Lena G. Goldberg, and Jill Avery; Food & Beverage

18 Apr 2023
Research & Ideas

The Best Person to Lead Your Company Doesn't Work There—Yet

isn’t necessary when looking for the right top executive; industry expertise often counts more. Many of these leaders have previous public-company management experience, and they deliver outsized returns for... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services

08 Apr 2019
Sharpening Your Skills

The Life of Luxury and How to Sell It

Aesthetics to Budding Business LeadersPauline Brown, a former top executive with French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, teaches a course called The Business of Aesthetics. Stella McCartney Combines High Fashion... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Auto; Retail; Fashion

27 Jun 2016
Research & Ideas

These Management Practices, Like Certain Technologies, Boost Company Performance

there was more than a full point between the top quartile (which averaged 3.72) and the bottom (which averaged 2.88). “Even the United States, which is at the top of the management ranking, has firms that... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

December 2011 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil

What is Baosteel, a top Chinese steelmaker, doing in Brazil? The company is responding to the Chinese government's "go global" policy and to the possible rise in iron ore input costs. But steel mills are complex, capital-intensive projects, and Brazil is an emerging... View Details

January 2022
Case

FIFA and The World Cup: The Future of Football

By: Anita Elberse, Oliver Band and Howard Johnson

Should FIFA host its biggest event—the FIFA World Cup—every two years instead of every four, as it has been doing since the event’s inception in the 1930s? In September 2021, Gianni Infantino, the president of the International Federation of Association Football... View Details

Keywords: Sports; Soccer; Football; Entertainment; Media; Talent Development; Globalization; Marketing; Strategy; General Management; Governance; Decision Making; Governing and Advisory Boards; Problems and Challenges; Brands and Branding; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

October 2021 (Revised June 2022)
Case

PittaRosso: Artificial Intelligence-Driven Pricing and Promotion

By: Ayelet Israeli

PittaRosso, a traditional Italian shoe retailer, is implementing an AI system to provide pricing and promotion recommendations. The system allows them to implement changes that would affect both the top of funnel and bottom of funnel activities for the company: once... View Details

September 2004 (Revised November 2004)
Case

Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains

By: Boris Groysberg and Anahita Hashemi

To remain competitive, Sallie Krawcheck and Lisa Shalett, Sanford C. Bernstein's director of research and associate director of research, respectively, were examining the need to expand the research department's size, not only domestically but also internationally.... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Selection and Staffing; Management Teams; Organizational Culture; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Expansion

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December 2009 (Revised January 2010)
Case

Managing Talent at Bertelsmann AG (A)

By: Boris Groysberg, Nitin Nohria, Mark Maletz and Kerry Herman

Bertelsmann's EVP HR Immanuel Hermreck and his team were focused on four key HR issues. Three of these were somewhat discreet: improving Bertelsmann's employer brand; managing Bertelsmann talent across the firm's decentralized businesses; and ensuring early... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Recruitment; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Leadership Development; Strategic Planning; Competitive Advantage; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Germany

December 2008
Case

Taylor Fresh Foods

By: David E. Bell, Natalie Kindred and Mary Louise Shelman

In 13 years, Bruce Taylor had built Taylor Fresh Foods into a $1 billion company and the top supplier of salads to the U.S. food service industry and to supermarket deli departments. In 2008, he was convinced that the time was right to make a big push in the fresh food... View Details

Keywords: Food; Brands and Branding; Demand and Consumers; Supply Chain Management; Competition; Expansion; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States