Publications

October 1991 (Revised July 1993)
Case

Bill Gates and the Management of Microsoft

In July 1991, Microsoft has achieved record growth and profitability in the PC software industry. The case focuses on Microsoft's founder and CEO, Bill Gates, and his top management team, as they seek to retain the innovation and spirit of a small company in a rapidly... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth Management; Organizational Culture; Personal Development and Career; Information Technology Industry; United States

05 Feb 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Stereotypes and Belief Updating

Keywords: by Katherine B. Coffman, Manuela Collis, and Leena Kulkarni

June 2020 (Revised September 2020)
Case

Shellye Archambeau: Becoming a CEO (A)

By: Tsedal Neeley and John Masko

With the economy in a freefall, MetricStream is losing customers, hemorrhaging cash and struggling to make payroll. Several board members are threatening to quit. Others are pressing to sell the company even at dismally low valuations. It’s 2008 and lightning has... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Race; Gender; Leadership Style; Risk and Uncertainty; Change; Prejudice and Bias; Decision Making; Personal Development and Career; Technology Industry; California

November 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Liz Claiborne and the New Working Woman

By: Anthony Mayo and Mark Benson

At age 47, with two decades of experience as a lead designer for a Fortune 500 fashion company, Liz Claiborne put her life savings on the line to form Liz Claiborne, Inc., a partnership that included her husband. A decade later, in 1986, Claiborne was CEO of her own... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Entrepreneurship; Business History; Leadership; Gender; Brands and Branding; Personal Development and Career; Apparel and Accessories Industry

July 2002 (Revised December 2002)
Case

Mercer Management Consulting (A)

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Michael Echenberg

Insurance giant Marsh & McLennan acquires management consulting firms Temple, Barker & Sloane (TBS) in 1987 and Strategic Planning Associates (SPA) in 1990 and sets out to merge the two. The merger proceeds slowly and painfully. Following the February 1990 merger,... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Model; Decision Making; Organizational Culture; Personal Development and Career; Horizontal Integration; Consulting Industry

December 2001
Case

Sarah Vickers-Willis: Career Decisions (A)

By: Myra M. Hart, Lynda M. Applegate, Sarah Harden and Susan Saltrick

Sarah Vickers-Willis, HBS MBA 1999, faces a critical career decision: Does she redirect the Internet start-up she helped found or join in shaping a for-profit firm with a social mission? Sarah, a young Australian business executive, has always strived to "find space"... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Leadership; Internet and the Web; Social Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Gender; Business Startups

August 1994
Background Note

World Pension Fund Markets

By: Jay O. Light and Jon Headley

Presents a comparative description and analysis of pension funds in different countries. There is a special focus on comparing the United States and the United Kingdom. View Details

Keywords: Retirement; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Investment Funds; United States; United Kingdom

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May 2025
Article

The Effects of Medical Debt Relief: Evidence from Two Randomized Experiments

By: Raymond Kluender, Neale Mahoney, Francis Wong and Wesley Yin

Two in five Americans have medical debt, nearly half of whom owe at least $2,500. Concerned by this burden, governments and private donors have undertaken large, high-profile efforts to relieve medical debt. We partnered with RIP Medical Debt (now Undue Medical Debt)... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Credit; Outcome or Result; Well-being; Personal Finance

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August 13, 2024
Editorial

Can AI Save Physicians from Burnout?

By: Susanna Gallani, Lidia Moura and Katie Sonnefeldt

Keywords: Well-being; AI and Machine Learning; Work-Life Balance; Health Industry

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2024
White Paper

Healthy Outcomes: How Employers' Support for Employees with Caregiving Responsibilities Can Benefit the Organization

By: Joseph B. Fuller

Keywords: Work-Life Balance; Performance Productivity; Employees; Human Capital

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August 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Three Vignettes of Early Careers in the Life Sciences

By: Satish Tadikonda, Jacqueline Grant and William Marks

The case showcases three vignettes of career choice scenarios facing new graduates. How one navigates and handles these situations can have a significant impact on careers overall, with each vignette representing a situation likely to be experienced by most students in... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Decision Choices and Conditions; Job Offer

July 2018
Teaching Plan

Joan Bavaria and Multi-Dimensional Capitalism

By: Geoffrey Jones and Valeria Giacomin

This Teaching Plan accompanies the case HBS No. 317-028, “Joan Bavaria and Multi-Dimensional Capitalism.” It provides guidelines for class discussion, as well as a board plan. The case traces the origins of sustainable finance and investor activism through the career... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Investment; Social Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career

March 2000
Case

Magdalena Yesil

By: Myra M. Hart and Mary Rotelli

Magdalena Yesil, investor and former entrepreneur, must decide whether to become a venture partner at US Venture Partners. This case discusses career progression, entrepreneurship, and deciding among career alternatives. Yesil's entrepreneurial experiences include... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Partners and Partnerships

October 1998 (Revised December 1998)
Case

CRA Managed Care, Inc. (B)

By: Myra M. Hart and Susan Harmeling

An entrepreneur's transition from chairman/CEO of a large privately held company, to chairman of a public company, to leadership in several large nonprofit organizations is chronicled. View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Nonprofit Organizations; Governing and Advisory Boards; Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career

September 1996
Case

Craig Parks (B)

By: David A. Thomas and Lisa J. Chadderdon

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Decision Making; Decision Choices and Conditions; Moral Sensibility