Publications

January 1976 (Revised February 1981)
Case

Daisy (A): The Women's Shaving Market

March 2010 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Roll Back Malaria and BCG: The Change Initiative

By: Nava Ashraf, Rachel Gordon and Catherine Ross

Roll Back Malaria, a global partnership dedicated to fighting malaria has not met its founders' expectations of effectively combatting malaria. In 2005, after several internal evaluations, RBM leadership has decided to engage the Boston Consulting Group to work on a... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Management Practices and Processes; Performance Evaluation; Communication Strategy; Communication Intention and Meaning; Non-Governmental Organizations; Change Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Negotiation; Health Industry

June 2008 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (A)

By: Anita L. Tucker and Jillian Alexandra Berry

Brigham and Women's Hospital challenged a team of physicians to improve patient flow from the Emergency Department to Intensive Care Units (ICUs). One of the team members, Selwyn Rogers, Director of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) at Brigham and Women's... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Health Care and Treatment; Service Operations; Business Processes; Performance Productivity; Conflict and Resolution; Health Industry; Massachusetts

November 2006
Case

The Pine Street Initiative at Goldman Sachs

By: Boris Groysberg, Scott A. Snook and David Lane

Almost five years had passed since Goldman Sachs launched its innovative leadership development initiative called Pine Street. Focused primarily on developing Goldman's most senior managers, Pine Street had evolved significantly since its inception in November of 1999.... View Details

Keywords: Executive Education; Personal Development and Career; Leadership Development; Business Education; Financial Services Industry

October 2009 (Revised December 2010)
Case

GE Money Bank: The M-Budget Card Initiative

By: Michael L. Tushman, Sebastian Raisch and Christian Welling

The M-Budget Card case study is about mastering the challenges of an exploratory strategic initiative in a context marked by time pressure and frequent change. M-Budget was the first of a series of highly successful projects that established GE Money Bank as a leader... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Credit Cards; Leading Change; Product Launch; Product Development; Groups and Teams; Banking Industry; Switzerland

April 1996 (Revised May 1997)
Case

Netscape's Initial Public Offering

By: W. Carl Kester and Kendall Backstrand

In August 1995, Netscape's board of directors was confronted with a decision about what price to offer the company's shares in its initial public offering (IPO). Preliminary demand for shares was high, but the company had not generated any positive earnings at the time... View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Information Technology; Problems and Challenges; Valuation; Governing and Advisory Boards; Information Technology Industry

December 2004 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Nestle: Sustainable Agriculture Initiative

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

Swiss food giant Nestle attempts to improve the performance of its suppliers of agricultural commodities to raise quality, lower costs, and contribute to sustainable development. Its initiatives focus first on coffee, cocoa, and milk. Nestle managers assert that the... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Social Issues; Business and Community Relations; Corporate Strategy; Agribusiness; Supply Chain Management; Marketing Strategy; Value Creation; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

June 2004
Teaching Note

The ITC eChoupal Initiative (TN)

By: David M. Upton and Virginia Fuller

Teaching Note to (9-604-016). View Details

October 1999 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Women's World Banking: Catalytic Change Through Networks

By: James E. Austin and Susan Hamerling

Describes the evolution of Women's World Banking, an international microfinance nonprofit promoting financial access for poor women. Explores the organization's development of different types of networks to achieve its mission. View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; History; Networks; Microfinance; Nonprofit Organizations; Gender; Growth and Development Strategy

February 2008 (Revised February 2009)
Case

The International Finance Corporation's Grassroots Business Initiative

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Katharine Lee

Grassroots Business Initiative was set up to financially assist small enterprises engaged in creating social value. Three years later, Harold Rosen, its creator, wished to explore an alternative funding model to provide it with scale and sustainability. View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Microfinance; Investment Funds; Social Enterprise

February 2016 (Revised February 2018)
Case

The Battle over the Initiative and Referendum in Massachusetts (1918)

By: David Moss and Dean Grodzins

On Election Day in 1918, Massachusetts voters would have to decide not only on their preferred candidates for governor and U.S. Senator, but also whether or not to approve 19 proposed amendments to the state constitution. By far the most controversial of these would... View Details

Keywords: Political Elections; Government Legislation; Power and Influence; History; Massachusetts

January 2001 (Revised June 2001)
Case

Local Initiatives Support Corporation

By: James E. Austin and Kim Slack

Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC) is a $74 million nonprofit social enterprise that combats poverty by helping community development organizations build affordable housing and create economic development opportunities through public-private partnerships. Poses a... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Development Economics; Education; Capital; Investment Funds; Taxation; Growth and Development; Partners and Partnerships; Nonprofit Organizations; Segmentation; Service Industry

Research Summary

Great Negotiator Study Initiative

By: James K. Sebenius

What can be legitimately be learned from closely studying great negotiators at work? Since 2000, the Program on Negotiation (PON)—an active inter-university consortium mainly comprised of numerous faculty from across... View Details

May 2019 (Revised June 2021)
Case

State of Charge: The Massachusetts Energy Storage Initiative

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In early 2017, Judith Judson (Harvard Business School MBA, 2000), Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER), was reflecting on the results of the initiative she had led to identify the contribution advanced electricity storage could make... View Details

Keywords: Energy Storage; Energy Generation; Programs; Policy; Strategy; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; Massachusetts

July 2004
Supplement

World Vision International: The AIDS Initiative

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Management discusses the organizational and governance challenges of operating a global network of partner organizations. Then key managers reflect on the decision World Vision must make on the AIDS Hope Initiative--a new strategic direction that challenges many of the... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Goals and Objectives; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Problems and Challenges; Core Relationships; Welfare; Value; Health Industry

January 1976 (Revised February 1981)
Case

Daisy (B): Researching the Women's Shaving Market

February 2006 (Revised November 2006)
Case

GE's Growth Strategy: The Immelt Initiative

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Follows the actions of GE CEO, Jeff Immelt, as he implements a growth strategy for the $150 billion company in a tough business environment. In four years, he reinvigorates GE's technology, expands its services, develops a commercial focus, pushes developing countries,... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Judgments; Global Strategy; Leadership Style; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Structure