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By: Rohit Deshpande

Rohit Deshpandé is Sebastian S. Kresge Professor of Marketing at Harvard Business Schoolwhere he currently teaches in the Owner/President Management Program and in other executive education offerings. He has also taught global branding, international marketing, and... View Details

16 Jan 2019
Research & Ideas

What Football Firings Teach Managers About Staying Relevant

Before his third year, however, Kelly convinced Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie to give Kelly full control of personnel decisions. It turned into a disaster. Kelly executed a series of poor trades and the team... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Evan M.S. Hecht, and Abhijit Naik; Sports

16 Aug 2016
First Look

August 16, 2016

drives wealthy and powerful people to white-collar crime? I draw from extensive personal interaction and correspondence with nearly fifty former executives as well as research in psychology, criminology, and economics to investigate how... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2017 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Sales Razor Technologies

By: Paul Gompers and Noam Wasserman

Describes the issues facing a founder-CEO regarding building a board of directors, assembling an executive team, managing tension between co-founders, and outsourcing system development work. View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Conflict Management; Governing and Advisory Boards; Employees; Management Teams; Product Development; Technology Industry

2015
Chapter

Leading Proactive Punctuated Change

By: Michael Tushman, Charles O'Reilly and Bruce Harreld

This chapter focuses on leading proactive punctuated change. Based on the institutional and organizational change literatures and our extended involvement with IBM between 1999 and 2008, we suggest that proactive punctuated change can be effectively managed through an... View Details

December 2005 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand within Unilever

By: James E. Austin and James Quinn

In the months after Ben & Jerry's was acquired by Unilever, Ben & Jerry's head social mission faces challenges and opportunities unique in the company's history, including: how to manage employee morale; whether to include synthetic ingredients to meet consumer... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Problems and Challenges; Mergers and Acquisitions; Mission and Purpose; Social Enterprise; Management Teams; Governing and Advisory Boards; Value Creation; Corporate Governance; Employee Relationship Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Retail Industry; United States

August 2011 (Revised February 2012)
Supplement

Ockham Technologies (B): Building the Board

By: Noam Wasserman

Describes the issues facing a founder-ceo regarding building a board, assembling an executive team, managing tension between co-founders, and outsourcing development work. View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Management Teams; Groups and Teams

November 1989 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Automation Consulting Services

By: Robert Simons and Hilary Weston

Illustrates the management control challenges that are associated with rapid growth and geographic expansion. Situated at an offsite Executive Committee Retreat. The three founding partners of a specialized consulting firm are grappling with several difficult questions... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Governance Controls; Policy; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Expansion; Consulting Industry

January 2000 (Revised November 2000)
Case

Lucent Technologies New Ventures Group

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Michelle Heskett

Lucent Technologies' successful New Ventures Group must present company executives with a strong case for continuing corporate venturing activities despite a troubled financial performance in difficult market conditions. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Management Teams; Business Ventures; Venture Capital; Financial Condition; Change Management; Wireless Technology; Financial Services Industry; Computer Industry; New Jersey

02 Apr 2007
Lessons from the Classroom

Making the Move to General Manager

this transition into general management." For new general managers—or just as likely in companies these days, senior functional managers who operate as part of an executive team or who have important... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

Mihir A. Desai

Mihir A. Desai is the Mizuho Financial Group Professor of Finance at Harvard Business School and a Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. He received his Ph.D. in political economy from Harvard... View Details

June 2013 (Revised September 2016)
Supplement

Governance and Sustainability at Nike (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Nien-he Hsieh and Lara Adamsons

Two members of Nike's executive team must decide what sustainability targets to propose to Nike's CEO and to the corporate responsibility committee of Nike's board of directors. Set in 2012, the case traces the evolution of Nike's approach to environmental and social... View Details

Keywords: Nike; Hannah Jones; Mark Parker; Phil Knight; Philip Knight; Eric Sprunk; Jill Ker Conway; Phyllis Wise; Don Blair; Sustainable Business And Innovation; SB＆I; Flyknit; DyeCoo; Footwear; Athletic Footwear; Apparel; Athletic Apparel; Sustainability; Greenpeace; Detox Campaign; Dirty Laundry; Water; Water Use; Water Pollution; Water Resources; Corporate Responsibility Committee; Judgment; Board Of Directors; Board Committees; Environmental And Social Sustainability; Footwear Industry; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Ethics; Fairness; Globalized Firms and Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Governance; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance; Alignment; Supply Chain; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Judgments; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Asia; China; United States; Oregon; Portland

28 Sep 2010
First Look

First Look: September 28, 2010

Octone Records to Universal Music Group and relaunching the label as A&M/Octone Records, president and CEO James Diener is facing a new challenge. Diener and his executive team have trouble convincing a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Blog

Crossing the Bridge from Program Learning to Practical Application

When you attend an HBS Executive Education program, you never know what opportunities the experience may present. In fact, you could even find yourself becoming part of the teaching team. Ask Deb Barnes, Senior Managing Director of Fund... View Details

Program

Competing in the Age of AI—Virtual

and benefit from network effects and learning effects Expand your personal and professional network Extend your network by connecting and working with accomplished executives from various backgrounds, industries, and countries around the... View Details

Program

General Management Program

accelerates this leadership transition by blending full-time on-campus learning and virtual learning with practical application on the job—maximizing your learning and your return on investment. Key Benefits GMP's four highly integrated modules offer flexibility for... View Details

November 2018 (Revised June 2022)
Teaching Note

AirFox (A): Embracing the Blockchain and an ICO

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Nathaniel Schwalb

Teaching Note for HBS No. 818-097. In summer 2017, Victor Santos, CEO of AirFox, considered whether to pivot his startup towards a new product built with blockchain—a quickly growing technology at the time. AirFox was an early stage startup that sold... View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Cryptocurrency; Initial Coin Offering; ICO; Business Startups; Finance; Currency; Strategy; Decision Making; United States

February 2017 (Revised May 2017)
Case

Rapid7

By: Mitchell Weiss, Paul Gompers and Silpa Kovvali

That Corey Thomas, vice president at Boston-based Rapid7, Inc., was about to enter his investor’s boardroom to negotiate a potential acquisition of Metasploit, LLC, was already an unlikely achievement of sorts. After all, Rapid7 was a venture-backed, corporate... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Computer Hacking; Open-source; Corey Thomas; Rapid7; Exploit Testing; Mergers and Acquisitions; Cybersecurity; Computer Industry; North and Central America; Boston