Publications

10 Nov 2003
Research & Ideas

Globalization: The Strategy of Differences

extent. For a start, it's possible to apply different strategies to different elements of a business. CEMEX pursued a financial strategy of arbitraging capital cost differences even as it implemented a standardized operational strategy.... View Details

Keywords: by Pankaj Ghemawat

30 Jun 2021
In Practice

The Harvard Business School Faculty Summer Reader 2021

What’s on HBS faculty members’ reading list for summer 2021? Which books are most meaningful to them and why? Below, faculty share their top picks, ranging from biographies and memoirs to their colleagues’ latest works. Julia Austin: Social justice and the Obamas I... View Details

Keywords: by Kathryn Haviland

March 2021 (Revised August 2024)
Case

Hotwire.com: Navigating Through Turbulence

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Manny de Zarraga and Eric Levine

On September 10, 2001, after speaking at an industry conference at New York’s World Trade Center, Hotwire co-founder Spencer Rascoff boarded a flight from Newark to San Francisco. After returning home, Rascoff awoke the next morning to a phone call informing him that... View Details

Keywords: September 11; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Disruption; Decisions; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Growth Management; Digital Platforms; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Expansion; Internet and the Web; Leading Change; Leadership Style; Air Transportation Industry; Tourism Industry; San Francisco

22 Aug 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, August 23

reason to reject the moral approach and to adopt the institutional approach instead. The commentary highlights key questions that need to be addressed if human rights are to play a central role in framing the responsibilities of business... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 Feb 2013
Research & Ideas

Are the Big Four Audit Firms Too Big to Fail?

rules and thus on capital markets, observes Karthik Ramanna, an associate professor and Henry B. Arthur Fellow in the Accounting and Management unit at Harvard Business School, where he studies the political... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Accounting

October 2012
Case

Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (A)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Elena Corsi

Royal Dutch Shell has been among the early players to implement diversity and inclusion policies in the 1990s, first in the U.S. and then globally. In May 2009, Peter Voser, CFO and soon-to-be CEO, wants to adjust the company's business, headcount, and cost levels to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Managerial Roles; Restructuring; Resignation and Termination; Diversity; Financial Crisis; Energy Industry; Netherlands

September 2018
Case

Kevin Ryan Inc.

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Greg Marsh

The case focuses on the hiring process for a CEO. Kevin Ryan had a solid trajectory as a serial entrepreneur of well-known ventures like Gilt Group, DoubleClick, Business Insider, among others. Ryan tended to involve himself in all aspects of his ventures: ideation,... View Details

Keywords: Hiring; Team Building; Interviews; CEO; Human Resources; Selection and Staffing; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; United States; North America

December 2020 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Responsive Working at PepsiCo UK (A): Designing a Turnaround

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Nancy Boghossian Staples

Facing a significant decline in revenues in 2016, David Gwilliam, Head of Transformation at PepsiCo UK introduced a new way of working (“Responsive Working”), which encompasses a set of work practices and some new team structures. The work practices comprise a set of 9... View Details

Keywords: SLAM Teams; Turnaround; Groups and Teams; Employees; Training; Decision Making; Planning; Performance Improvement; Consumer Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United Kingdom; Europe

13 Feb 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, February 13, 2018

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53894 forthcoming Human Resource Management Review Developing Strategic Human Resource Theory and Making a Difference: An Action... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2012
Case

Building a Community at Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation

By: Christopher Marquis, Zucheng Zhou, Mo Chen and Heng Fan

Over the past decade, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) had developed a unique set of benefits and cultural amenities for its employees, including a beautiful residential campus, known as the Living Quarters (LQ), and an award winning... View Details

Keywords: Culture And Community; Cost vs Benefits; Civil Society or Community; Organizational Culture; Profit; Culture; Compensation and Benefits; Semiconductor Industry

Web

Debora L. Spar | About

Debora L. Spar Senior Associate Dean, Business in Global Society , Unit Head, General Management Unit General Management Contact Phone Bio Debora Spar is the Jaime and Josefina Chua Tiampo Professor of... View Details

22 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 22

Experimental Psychology: General The (Perceived) Meaning of Spontaneous Thoughts By: Morewedge, Carey K., Colleen E. Giblin, and Michael I. Norton Abstract—Much human thought arises unbidden, spontaneously intruding upon consciousness.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2021
White Paper

Hidden Workers: Untapped Talent

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Manjari Raman, Eva Sage-Gavin and Kristen Hines

Companies are increasingly desperate for workers. As they continue to struggle to find people with the skills they need, their competitiveness and growth prospects are put at risk.

At the same time, an enormous and growing group of people are unemployed or... View Details

Keywords: Hiring; Talent; Skills Gap; Selection and Staffing; Diversity; Talent and Talent Management; Competency and Skills

Read Now

01 Oct 2001
News

Guy de Chazal: Changing Focus

Guy de Chazal has arrived a bit behind schedule for his 25th Reunion interview. Trim and elegantly attired, he apologizes for being detained at an off-site meeting for Morgan Stanley & Co., where he is a managing director and president of... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg

June 2009 (Revised April 2017)
Case

Christian Dior: A New Look for Haute Couture

By: Geoffrey Jones and Veronique Pouillard

The case describes the foundation of Christian Dior, the leading Parisian fashion house, in 1946 and its subsequent globalization strategy. After explaining the historical origins of France's preeminence in upscale fashion, the case explores the challenges to this... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business History; Innovation Strategy; Luxury; Fashion Industry; France; New York (city, NY)