Publications

09 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

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

will provide transparency, visibility, and some stability. Communicate Your recovery strategy will need to include a detailed communication plan focused on all internal and external constituents. Internal communication is as important, if not more important, than... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Sarah Abbott

26 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

7 Leadership Principles for Managing in the Time of Coronavirus

vulnerable and medically challenged in our communities. If they want time off, if they want to work from home, if they need to have a little bit of space to look after their family members, please consider giving that to them. Compassion at a time of View Details

Keywords: by John A. Quelch; Health

February 2018
Case

Robert K. Steel at Wachovia (A)

By: Gautam Mukunda, Nien-hê Hsieh and David Lane

In September 2008, Robert Steel presided over the sale of Wachovia, a top U.S. bank, less than three months after becoming its CEO. Wachovia’s exposure to risky home loans led depositors and creditors to flee the bank on Friday, September 26, after the FDIC seized and... View Details

24 Feb 2021
Lessons from the Classroom

What History's Biggest Wars Teach Us About Leading in Peace

often begets aggression A political crisis sparked by the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand led to escalating mobilizations, trench warfare, the collapse of the Russian Empire, and a peace treaty that punished Germany.... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

February 1997 (Revised August 1997)
Case

Mexico (D): Stabilization and Retrenchment

By: Huw Pill

Describes the response of the Mexican authorities and the international community to the Mexican Peso crisis of 1994 and the banking, financial, and macroeconomic crisis that followed it. View Details

Keywords: Globalized Economies and Regions; Financial Crisis; Macroeconomics; Mexico

September 2014 (Revised May 2015)
Case

The United Kingdom and the Means to Prosperity

By: Laura Alfaro, Lakshmi Iyer and Hilary White

After struggling through the country's longest recession since 2008, the U.K. was expected to grow faster than any other G7 nation in 2014. Analysts wondered whether the return to growth was because, or in spite of, Prime Minister David Cameron's controversial £113... View Details

13 Oct 2009
Research & Ideas

7 Lessons for Navigating the Storm

It is tough to think positively in a crisis. Yet one overarching lesson in a new book by HBS professor Bill George, 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis (Jossey-Bass), is exactly that: See crisis as a chance to... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

October 1982 (Revised May 1992)
Case

Johnson & Johnson: The Tylenol Tragedy

By: Stephen A. Greyser

In October 1982, Johnson & Johnson was confronted with a major crisis when seven deaths were attributed to poisoned Tylenol. The case reviews the facts as known a week after the incident occurred, and raises a wide range of questions regarding consumer behavior,... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Competitive Strategy; Crisis Management; Health Care and Treatment; Pharmaceutical Industry

13 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

Small Businesses Are Worse Off Than We Thought

If the COVID-19 crisis lasts four months, 65 percent of small retailers say there’s a good chance they’ll be forced to close permanently by the end of the year. Among restaurants and bars, 70 percent expect to go out of business if... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Financial Services

08 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

Book Excerpt: A Sense of Urgency

analyze in advance exactly what would happen the day the article came out and what precisely he should do to channel fear, anger, and confusion into a determination to act fast and succeed. The day came. A full-blown crisis was created.... View Details

Keywords: by John P. Kotter

25 Jul 2023
Research & Ideas

Could a Business Model Help Big Pharma Save Lives and Profit?

With Hepatitis C running rampant in Egypt in 2012, Clifford Samuel, then of California-based Gilead Sciences, convened a series of urgent meetings with Egyptian government officials, doctors, and patients. His goal? To make Gilead’s lifesaving Hepatitis C drugs... View Details

Keywords: by Esther Schrader; Pharmaceutical; Health

October 2003
Case

Storm King Mountain

Describes the Colorado fire tragedy that resulted in 12 deaths. Examines leadership, decision making, and team dynamics in a high-stress, crisis situation. View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Decision Making; Crisis Management; Colorado

04 Apr 2019
Cold Call Podcast

Can Mark Zuckerberg Rebuild Trust in Facebook?

Professor Bill George about his case entitled, Facebook Confronts a Crisis of Trust. I'm your host, Brian Kenny, and you're listening to Cold Call. Bill George is an expert on leadership, a topic that he teaches and writes about... View Details

March 1998
Case

Collapse in Asia: 1997-1998

By: George C. Lodge and Anthony St. George

Discusses the Asian crisis and economists' opinions and solutions. View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Asia

September 2009 (Revised September 2009)
Case

The Termination of U.S. Auto Dealerships in 2009

By: Das Narayandas, Kerry Herman and Sarah Morton

The case chronicles the sudden termination of many U.S. autodealers in the wake of the economic crisis in the fall of 2008. View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Financial Crisis; Marketing; Distribution; Sales; Auto Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

Research Summary

Surviving the Global Financial Crisis: Foreign Ownership and Establishment Performance

By: Laura Alfaro

We examine the differential response of establishments to the recent global financial crisis with particular emphasis on the role of foreign ownership. Using a worldwide establishment panel dataset, we investigate how multinational subsidiaries around the world... View Details

06 Jun 2023
Cold Call Podcast

The Opioid Crisis, CEO Pay, and Shareholder Activism

Keywords: Re: Suraj Srinivasan; Health; Pharmaceutical; Distribution

April 2004 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Columbia's Final Mission

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer, Amy C. Edmondson, Michael Roberto, Laura Feldman and Erika Ferlins

Describes the 16-day final mission of the space shuttle Columbia in January 2003 in which seven astronauts died. Includes background on NASA and the creation of the human space flight program, including the 1970 Apollo 13 crisis and 1986 Challenger disaster. Examines... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Crisis Management; Management Skills; Organizational Culture; Groups and Teams; Behavior; Aerospace Industry

April 2013
Case

Grupo RBS (A)

By: John A. Davis and Courtney Collette

This case reviews the two-generation history of the Brazilian media company, RBS, and examines how the second generation family CEO manages through a crisis facing the company. View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Family Ownership; Crisis Management; Management Teams; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Brazil