Publications

September 2010
Case

Bush Brothers & Company

By: Lena G. Goldberg and Chad Carr

The chairman and CEO of Bush Brothers grapples with leading and managing changes in strategy, governance and board composition, as well as succession, compensation and ownership issues, as he takes the family owned/family operated business into its fourth generation.... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Change Management; Decision Making; Selection and Staffing; Leading Change; Management Succession; Governing and Advisory Boards; Wages; Values and Beliefs; Growth and Development Strategy

11 Sep 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, September 11, 2018

case describes how Google designed and launched an internal matching market to assign individual workers with projects and managers. The case evaluates how marketplace design considerations—and several alternative staffing models—could... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

June 2014
Case

Stock Options at Celia-Check

By: Brian Hall, Andrew Wasynczuk and Karen Huang

Describes issues facing three young founders of a high-tech start-up, including hiring an experienced CEO and negotiating with a potential VC investor. Focuses on the incentive and compensation aspects of negotiating with job candidates (e.g., what percentage of the... View Details

Keywords: Stock Options; Venture Capital; Selection and Staffing; Negotiation; Executive Compensation; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Business Startups; Management Teams; Technology Industry; United States

17 Aug 2010
First Look

First Look: August 17

and Lehman's failure would require skills, knowledge of financial services, and connections within the industry. ProPublica had been created only a year earlier as an independent, non-profit newsroom focused on investigative journalism. It was now fully View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

November 2003 (Revised February 2004)
Case

Richmond Events

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Kristin Lieb

The managers of British business forum planner, Richmond Events, are struggling to expand their conference offerings into new territories. At the same time, they are trying to decide how product managers, who are critical to event success, should be hired, trained,... View Details

Keywords: Conferences; Innovation and Management; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Conflict Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Marketing; Service Industry; United Kingdom; Asia

21 Mar 2004
Research & Ideas

Loyalty: Don’t Give Away the Store

customers shop at the deli counter, then make sure the deli counter is fully staffed at these times. The same goes for checkouts. Make sure plenty of checkout counters are open when best customers are shopping. It is crucial to find ways... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls; Consumer Products; Retail

February 2024 (Revised March 2024)
Teaching Note

X: The Foghorn Decision

By: Kyle Myers and Walter Frick

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 618-060. View Details

May 2019
Teaching Note

Gender and Free Speech at Google (A), (B), & (C)

By: Nien-hê Hsieh and Sarah Mehta

Teaching Note for HBS No. 318-085, 319-095, and 319-097. View Details

Keywords: Free Speech; Representation; Diversity; Gender; Race; Human Resources; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Labor; Employment; Lawsuits and Litigation; Organizational Culture; Technology Industry; United States; California

July 2009
Teaching Note

Targanta Therapeutics: Hitting a Moving Target (TN)

By: Arthur A. Daemmrich

Teaching Note for [709002]. View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Product Development; Business Strategy; Initial Public Offering; Mergers and Acquisitions; Policy; Selection and Staffing; Health Testing and Trials; Resource Allocation; Biotechnology Industry

September 2021
Case

Brown Capital Management

By: Luis M. Viceira, Emily R. McComb and Sarah Mehta

Set in July 2021, this case looks at several growth strategies under consideration at Brown Capital, the second-oldest Black-owned asset management firm in the U.S. Since its 1983 founding, Baltimore-based Brown Capital has specialized in small company growth... View Details

08 Dec 2008
Research & Ideas

Thinking Twice About Supply-Chain Layoffs

It's the most wonderful time of the year—or that's how the song goes. But this year's decline in retail sales has resulted in definitely uncheery employee layoffs and payroll cuts, a trend that is likely to continue. While the vicious cycle of declining sales and... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

30 Jan 2007
First Look

First Look: January 30, 2007

firms and reports on a survey of the structure and staffing of more than 600 headquarters in Europe, USA, Japan, and Chile. It explores the extent to which corporate headquarters are contingent on size of the company, corporate strategy... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

October 2019
Case

Engaging the Nationwide Workforce

By: Ethan S. Bernstein, Jessica Gover and Sarah Mehta

Nationwide is “on your side,” but did employees feel that way? CAO Gale King and CEO Steve Rasmussen, starting in 2008, invested heavily in a human capital strategy centered around “engagement” at the Ohio-based Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. Set in 2014, this... View Details

October 2018 (Revised April 2019)
Teaching Note

Kids & Company: Entering the U.S.

By: Boris Groysberg and Matthew G. Preble

Teaching Note for HBS No. 418-011. View Details

13 Oct 2015
First Look

October 13, 2015

Vegas, Nevada. The company will use the forecast to staff the front desk in the hotel. The staff is unionized and the company has little flexibility to change staffing levels on a short-term basis. The case is set in the context of... View Details

December 2012 (Revised October 2022)
Case

Plastiq

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Gaurav Jain, Liroy Haddad, Luke Langford and Matt Noble

The young CEO of a venture-backed startup needs to figure out his go to market strategy and the right profile for his first key sales hires. Should he develop partnerships with channels that would provide leverage or build out a direct sales force? And should the sales... View Details

Keywords: Payments; Sales; Channels; Credit Cards; Digital Platforms; Selection and Staffing; Cost vs Benefits; Salesforce Management; Marketing Channels; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Management Systems