Future Focus - Publications - Faculty & Research

21 Oct 2022
Research & Ideas

People Trust Business, But Expect CEOs to Drive Social Change

Public trust in business remains relatively unshaken amid economic turbulence and a lingering pandemic, even as faith in the media and government falters, but leaders could do more to address social issues, a new global opinion survey shows. However, not everyone... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis

Web

Clubs - Business & Environment

MBA Experience Clubs 1ms Student-led clubs and activities give students the opportunity to become better informed about and engaged in issues and possible career paths. A number of clubs focus on the link between business and environment... View Details

April 2006 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Best Buy Co., Inc.: Customer-Centricity

By: Rajiv Lal, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Irina Tarsis

With FY2005 sales of $27.3 billion, Richfield, Minn.-based Best Buy Co., Inc. was the leading retailer of consumer electronics, home-office products, and related services in North America. Its operations included the distinct store formats Best Buy, Future Shop in... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Service Operations; Business Earnings; Financial Crisis; Failure; Business Model; Leadership; Segmentation; Value Creation; Electronics Industry; United States; Canada; Mongolia

Citation

Educators

Purchase

07 Nov 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas: November 7, 2017

contemplates the future of IPG, he must evaluate two exciting opportunities, and students are asked to consider where Nadauld should focus IPG’s resources: should IPG partner with Intermountain’s behavioral... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

15 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 15

weighing options for growth. CTCA was entirely cancer focused and specialized in treating patients with complex and advanced-stage cancers, who were reached through advertising its integrative, team-based approach to care. CEO Stephen Bonner needed to decide whether to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Reforming New Orleans Schools After Katrina

good education entrepreneurship case is the same as with any case—is there a decision point or managerial tension that students can struggle through together in the class discussion? NSNO developed a strategy to focus on a subset of... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Education

16 Oct 2023
HBS Case

Advancing Black Talent: From the Flight Ramp to 'Family-Sustaining' Careers at Delta

Business School, who wrote a series of three case studies about the company’s focus on DE&I. For Bastian, the strategy is about providing more equitable opportunity for all Delta employees, including Black employees, to move “from the... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Air Transportation

20 Nov 2017
Research & Ideas

How Independent Bookstores Have Thrived in Spite of Amazon.com

Click HereIndependent bookstores provide a story of hope by focusing on core values that include community, curation, and convening. (Video by Amelia Kunhardt) When Amazon.com burst onto the nascent online retail scene in 1995, the future... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel (with video by Amelia Kunhardt); Retail

01 Dec 2023
News

The Exchange: Help Wanted

Image by John Ritter The path to a job in the C-suite isn’t what it used to be. For many years, companies could lean on financial expertise and industry connections when recruiting candidates, but HBS professors Raffaella Sadun and Joseph Fuller say that so much has... View Details

Keywords: Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

15 Jun 2010
First Look

First Look: June 15

identifying the effects of bank credit supply. First, we focus on firms' choice between two close forms of external financing: bank debt and public bonds. By conditioning the sample of firms raising new debt, we can rule out a demand... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

20 Apr 2011
Research & Ideas

Blind Spots: We’re Not as Ethical as We Think

work presentation or exams, may help you focus on concrete details of the future situation that you might otherwise overlook. In her book Giving Voice to Values, Mary Gentile offers a framework to help... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

2009
Chapter

Creating Superior Customer Value in a Connected World

By: Ranjay Gulati

"In the early twenty-first century, customers are more demanding than ever, and difficult economic times make them all the more so. As customers tighten their wallets and increase their demands, firms face greater pressure to provide superior customer value. Reducing... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Customer Value and Value Chain; Consumer Behavior; Product Design; Social and Collaborative Networks; Value Creation

Citation

07 Mar 2023
Blog Post

Deconstructing LEGO’s Decarbonization

recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) thermoplastic for some LEGO pieces, which was impressive given the challenges associated with rPET that we had learned about through our preliminary research. Further, there was a unique focus on... View Details

20 Jul 2010
First Look

First Look: July 20

data. The third section also provides recent data on infrastructure investments and public-private partnerships. The final section discusses current and likely future trends. Purchase this... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

09 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

It’s Time to Reset Decision-Making in Your Organization

ensure the organization’s preparedness for future crises. Information gathering The flow of high-quality information is more important than ever. A United States military framework for thinking about the external environment that has... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Sarah Abbott

Web

Faculty & Research - Leadership

made inroads to this end, including adjusting the... January 2025 Case Reimagining the Employee Experience at the LEGO Group By: Amy Edmondson , Mark Mortensen and Elisabeth Powell In 2024, the LEGO Group faced a decision about the future... View Details

16 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Restaurant Revolution: How the Industry Is Fighting to Stay Alive

future may need to see more of it. It puts a lot of emphasis on the quality of the space itself. An old building looks dirty, no matter how clean it is. Design is going to be a big focus going forward; how... View Details

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

01 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

How To Make Restructuring Work for Your Company

strategic focus from a declining labor-intensive business to a more promising but less labor-intensive business. Ultimately this shift may necessitate downsizing the workforce. However, if the firm's current business is still profitable,... View Details

Keywords: by Stuart C. Gilson

Web

Careers Blog

2025 How Risk Can Be the Key to a Sustainable Future with Sophie Levin (MS/MBA: Engineering Sciences 2022 Sophie Levin Author tag Alumni Interviews Transitions & Paths As a design engineer and project manager, Sophie Levin (MS/MBA:... View Details

TeachingInterests

Decision Making Under Uncertainty

By: David E. Bell

Many of the decisions we face are made complicated by having uncertain consequences: how should I set my inventory when I don’t know what demand will be, should I refinance my mortgage when rates might go lower, how big a bet shall I make in a new business, and so... View Details

Publications