Publications

01 Jul 2019
What Do You Think?

Are Super Stretch Goals Only for the Very Young?

abandon their ethics to get it.” When applied to individuals, the question prompted an interesting exchange between Sandeep and Phillippe Gouamba regarding the effect of wealth and poverty on the tendency of managers to employ super... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

February 2010
Case

Applied Research Technologies, Inc.: Global Innovation's Challenges

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Heather Beckham

Applied Research Technologies, Inc. (ART) is a diversified technology company which has used its entrepreneurial culture and encouragement of innovation as an ongoing competitive advantage. The case concentrates on the challenges faced by Peter Vyas, the Filtration... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Managerial Roles; Management Practices and Processes; Reputation; Organizational Culture; Innovation and Management; Competitive Advantage; Entrepreneurship; Management Systems; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Technology Industry

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

February 2019 (Revised March 2019)
Case

Banorte and the Capital Call Facility: Infrastructure Finance in Mexico

By: John D. Macomber, Carla Larangeira and Fernanda Miguel

As a result of Mexico´s pension industry deregulation, pension funds were able to invest in energy and infrastructure projects through a variety of financial instruments, particularly through Capital Development Certificates (CKDs), an asset class that served as a... View Details

Keywords: Financial Products; Fund Management; Capital Call Facility; Pension Funds; Infrastructure; Energy; Finance; Decision Making; Investment Funds; Financial Instruments; North America; Mexico

April 6, 2023
Article

A New NFT Launch Strategy: The Wave Mint

By: Scott Duke Kominers and 1337 Skulls Sers

In an NFT project, the mint—the process by which tokens are initially allocated—largely determines who your community is and how they and the broader market view the project going forward. In this piece, we review a new minting strategy recently introduced by 1337... View Details

Keywords: NFTs; Mechanism Design; Sales Management; Sales Model; Crypto Economy; Non-fungible Tokens; Networks; Product Launch; Auctions; Market Design

Read Now

November 1973 (Revised April 1983)
Case

Southport Minerals, Inc.

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

Examines how the attractiveness of an investment project can be enhanced by making financing and operating decisions which either manage investment returns or reduce project risks. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Financing and Loans; Investment; Investment Return; Risk Management; Operations; Projects

November 1990 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Regency Plaza

By: William J. Poorvu and Richard E Crum

Designed to examine the process of project management during the development cycle of a luxury condominium building, exploring the issue of how the design, development strategy, project organization, and project personnel are interrelated. More specifically, looks at... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Design; Construction; Housing; Management Practices and Processes; Projects; Luxury; Real Estate Industry

10 AM – 11 AM EDT, 26 Sep 2017
Webinars: Trending@HBS

Resilience in the Face of Risk

The definition of risk agility hearkens the survival and risk-taking instincts of the entrepreneur while establishing an organizational imperative of collective survival and organizational resilience. Amid this uncertainty, remaining passively on the sidelines of the... View Details

July 1999 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Chrysler and BMW: Tritec Engine Joint Venture

By: H. Kent Bowen and Courtney Purrington

A gifted project leader lacks significant new product development experience. The case highlights the issues and procedures related to defining the project strategy: organizing senior management approvals and support for creating a "heavyweight" team; aligning the... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Joint Ventures; Projects; Business Strategy; Management Teams; Groups and Teams; Machinery and Machining; Design; Business Processes; Product Design; Product; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Auto Industry

2015
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Robert Meaney and Technology for Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Renee Vuillaume

Two Valmont Industries (an international leader in infrastructure products and services) colleagues, Robert (Bob) Meaney and Richard Berkland hoped to improve the lives of small and medium-sized farmers in the developing world through modern irrigation technology. In... View Details

22 Jun 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Iterative Coordination and Innovation

Keywords: by Sourobh Ghosh and Andy Wu

October 2016
Technical Note

Product Development Fundamentals

By: Marco Iansiti, Michael Toffel, Kerry Herman and Julia Kelley

This note introduces key managerial issues in new product development. It describes the product development funnel and alternative approaches to structuring product development teams including functional, lightweight, heavyweight, and autonomous/dedicated teams, which... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Groups and Teams; Operations; Management

March 1998 (Revised June 1999)
Teaching Note

Linking Strategy and Innovation TN

By: Clayton M. Christensen

An overview note to guide instructors in teaching the third module of the Managing Innovation course. Describes how managers can use aggregate project planning to manage the resource allocation process in new product development. View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Managerial Roles; Resource Allocation; Product Development; Planning; Projects; Strategy

July 1997
Case

We've Got Rhythm! Medtronic Corporation's Cardiac Pacemaker Business

By: Clayton M. Christensen

Illustrates how a new management team at Medtronic's Cardiac Pacemaker business reversed a steep decline in market share by adopting certain management principles for new product development: clarifying strategy, aggregating project planning, accommodating the number... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Product Development; Health; Technology; Change Management; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States

January 2006 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Hewlett-Packard: The Flight of the Kittyhawk (A)

By: Clayton M. Christensen

Hewlett-Packard decided that, to grow more rapidly, it needed to design a revolutionary disk drive product that would create an entirely new market or application for magnetic recording technology. The company followed most of the "rules" good managers follow in such... View Details

Keywords: Management; Information Infrastructure; Innovation and Management; Product Development; Computer Industry; United States

Alan MacCormack is the MBA Class of 1949 Adjunct Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, a member of The Digital, Data, and Design (D^3) Institute at Harvard, and a core faculty member... View Details

Keywords: automotive; communications; computer; e-commerce industry; electronics; high technology; information technology industry; internet; semiconductor; software; telecommunications; venture capital industry

February 1999 (Revised August 2000)
Case

InterGen and the Quezon Power Project: Building Infrastructure in Emerging Markets

Examines InterGen's breakthrough Quezon power project, located in the Philippines. Explores how InterGen evaluates and manages project risk through partner selection, the use of operating contracts, and project finance techniques. View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Emerging Markets; Infrastructure; Utilities Industry; Philippines