Publications

November 2005 (Revised November 2007)
Case

Meisterchef.com

By: Henry B. Reiling

Two underperforming companies are seeking to combine on terms that will preserve the net operating loss of one for use against their combined future profits or at least against the future profits of the company that generated the losses. The questions are whether the... View Details

Keywords: Code Law; Corporate Governance; Mergers and Acquisitions; Cost Accounting; Taxation; Corporate Strategy; Profit; Crisis Management; Financial Management; Legal Services Industry; Legal Services Industry; United States

June 1999 (Revised May 2017)
Teaching Note

Guidant Corporation: Shaping Culture Through Systems

By: Robert Simons and Antonio Dávila

Teaching Note for (9-198-076). View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Risk And Uncertainty; Service Industry; Service Industry

Research Summary

Overview

By: Gunnar Trumbull

My research focuses on how firms and governments interact to support decarbonization. How do firms approach climate change from a strategic perspective? How can government policies support and accellerate those efforts in ways that boost national competitiveness? View Details

Keywords: Decarbonization; Strategy And Leadership; Climate Change; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; Europe; China; India; Brazil

July 2021 (Revised August 2021)
Supplement

Airbnb Emerges from the Pandemic: Lessons for Stakeholder Governance (B)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Allison M. Ciechanover

As the COVID pandemic spread in early 2020, global travel ground to a halt. For Airbnb, the San Francisco-based platform for renting accommodations, the impact was both swift and severe as revenues plummeted more than 70% over the prior year. Responding to the sudden... View Details

Keywords: Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Governance; Crisis Management; Leadership; Two-Sided Platforms; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Value Creation; Decision Making; Goals and Objectives; Travel Industry; Travel Industry; Travel Industry; United States

31 Mar 2023
Blog Post

How to Come Out at Work

community, an ally will be there to support you as you begin the coming out process at work.” Wood echoed this point about seeking allies who will support you inside and outside of the organization. “When working in client service View Details

May 2025 (Revised May 2025)
Case

Humana Commits to Value-Based Care

By: V.G. Narayanan, Henry Eyring and David Lane

In late 2023, CEO Bruce Broussard reviewed health insurer Humana’s transformation into a value-based care ecosystem. Under its CenterWell brand, the several millions of members in Humana Medicare Advantage plans now had access to Humana-provided primary care, home... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Units; Financing and Loans; Innovation Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Operations; Mergers and Acquisitions; Insurance; Health Care and Treatment; Partners and Partnerships; Health Industry; Health Industry; United States

15 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

High Ambition Leadership

to study must have had a compounded annual growth rate in revenues, profits, and market capitalization that exceeded the 50th percentile of industry peers between 1997 and 2006 or for the CEO's tenure. Corresponding figures were used for... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

21 Dec 2022
News

HBS Community Comes Together in Wake of Ukraine Invasion

they have made, followed by Q&A. The panel were introduced by Svitlana Repina (MBA 2023). Panelists: Vanessa Broadhurst, Executive Vice President, Global Corporate Affairs, Johnson & Johnson; Liz Hilton Segel, Global Leader, Client View Details

December 2010 (Revised November 2014)
Case

Steven Carpenter at Cake Financial

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

After investing $9 million of venture capital, Cake Financial had failed to reach critical mass. In early 2010 Cake's assets were sold and the company was dissolved. Founded in 2006, the San Francisco-based Internet company allowed users to monitor their investments... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Internet; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

March 2007
Teaching Note

Understanding Customer Profitability at Charles Schwab (TN)

By: Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez

Teaching note to 106002. View Details

Keywords: Customers; Profit; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Decision Making; Cost; System; Transformation; Budgets and Budgeting; Performance Evaluation; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

11 Jul 2017
First Look

First Look at New Ideas and Research, July 11

their worth from their multisided platforms (MSPs), which facilitate interactions or transactions between parties. Many MSPs are more valuable than companies in the same industries that provide only products or services: For instance,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

12 Mar 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, March 12, 2019

causing them to place a lower value on the product or service being offered. To address this problem, managers should experiment with operational transparency—the deliberate design of windows into and out of the organization's operations... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

January 2014
Case

CleanSpritz

By: John A. Quelch and Alisa Zalosh

Sales of CleanSpritz all-purpose cleaning spray have been steadily declining for the past five years, and management believes the decline correlates to a growing environmental concern among U.S. consumers. CleanSpritz's management is considering several options to... View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Competition; Marketing Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance Improvement; Environmental Sustainability; Product Launch; Product Development; Consumer Products Industry