Publications

September 2011
Article

A Global Leader's Guide to Managing Business Conduct

By: Lynn S. Paine, Rohit Deshpandé and Joshua D. Margolis

An extensive global survey by three Harvard Business School professors finds that employees agree on core standards of corporate behavior. But meeting those standards will require new approaches to managing business conduct. The compliance and ethics programs of most... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Management; Ethics; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Globalized Firms and Management; Standards; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance

Register to Read

May 2013
Case

Altius Golf and the Fighter Brand

By: Robert J. Dolan and Sunru Yong

Altius Golf is the clear leader in the golf ball market despite a long-term decline in the number of golfers and a drop in sales following the financial crisis. The firm has maintained its position by introducing generations of advanced, super-premium golf balls that... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Competitive Advantage; Decision Choices and Conditions; Distribution Channels; Sports; Financial Crisis; Brands and Branding; Segmentation; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

Research Summary

Selling your Heritage: The Challenge of Legacy Divestitures

This paper studies companies that diversify away from and later divest their historical cores, or "legacy" businesses. There are many reasons a firm might undertake this strategy, including a concentration of the legacy business in a declining... View Details

18 Oct 2012
HBS Seminar

Julie Battilana, Harvard Business School

February 1998 (Revised January 1999)
Case

Rob Parson at Morgan Stanley (C)

A year after Rob Parson's manager decided to postpone Parson's promotion, Parson's new manager Gary Stuart faces the decision of promotion again. Stuart considers whether the efforts Parson had made were sufficient. Teaching purpose: To explore managerial problems... View Details

Keywords: Management; Personal Development and Career; Performance Evaluation; Financial Services Industry

2013
Chapter

Market Imperfections and Sustainable Competitive Advantage

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Dennis Yao

This chapter reviews the main theories in strategic management that seek to explain persistent differences in profitability across companies. We argue that these differences are ultimately explained by market imperfections. Studying differences in financial performance... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Management; Market Imperfections; Five Forces Framework; Competitive Advantage; Profit

Find at Harvard

27 Feb 2020
News

Psychological Safety Will Win You The Best Business Ideas

A Global Leader's Guide to Managing Business Conduct

An extensive global survey by three Harvard Business School professors finds that employees agree on core standards of corporate behavior; but meeting those standards will require new approaches to managing business conduct. The compliance and ethics programs of... View Details

March 2024
Teaching Note

Teaching Note: Transforming a Region: Gothenburg's path from Shipyards to E-Mobility

By: Christian H.M. Ketels and Orjan Solvell

This TN provides guidance on how to leverage the case on Gothenburg's economic evolution and the role of the regional economic development agency in this process. Gothenburg is an old industrial city that has been hit by a number of deep shocks in its history. Its core... View Details

Keywords: Regional Policy; Regional Growth; Cluster; Economic Development; Transition; Economy; Auto Industry; Green Technology Industry; Sweden

2017
Working Paper

Rainy Day Stocks

By: Niels Gormsen and Robin Greenwood

We study the good- and bad-times performance of equity portfolios formed on characteristics. Many characteristics associated with good performance during bad times – value, profitability, small size, safety, and total volatility – also perform well during good times.... View Details

Keywords: Performance; Stocks; Situation or Environment

Read Now

2008
Simulation

Strategic Innovation Simulation: Back Bay Battery

By: Willy C. Shih and Clayton Christensen

This online simulation allows students to play the role of a business unit manager at Back Bay Battery Company who faces the dilemma of balancing a portfolio of investment strategies across products in the rechargeable battery space. Players have to manage R&D... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Innovation and Management; Investment; Product Development; Research and Development; Battery Industry

October 2012 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Jim Johnson's Re-election to the Goldman Sachs Board

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Kelly Baker

The case presents the opposition by a leading institutional investor in Goldman Sachs to the re-election of Jim Johnson to the board of directors of the company. The investor, Sequoia Fund, opposes the re-election citing Jim Johnson's prior track record as the CEO of... View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Corporate Governance; Director Elections; Goldman Sachs; Reputation; Institutional Investing; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Accountability; Banking Industry; New York (city, NY)

April 2011
Supplement

Felipe Calderón: Leading with Light and Power (B)

By: J. Bruce Harreld and David Lane

This sequence of cases explores how leaders get their team focused on framing, analyzing, and ultimately acting upon complex decisions. The A case provides an inside look as President of Mexico, Felipe Calderon, works with his cabinet ministers to decide how to... View Details

Keywords: Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Decision Choices and Conditions; Cases; Crime and Corruption; State Ownership; Business or Company Management; Economics; Risk and Uncertainty; Finance; Performance; Management Teams; Strategic Planning; Energy Industry; Mexico City

Find at Harvard

September 2008
Case

Harrington Collection: Sizing Up the Active-Wear Market

By: Richard S. Tedlow and Heather Beckham

In the wake of slumping sales and sagging profit margins, a leading manufacturer and retailer of high-end women's apparel, Harrington Collection, must evaluate an opportunity to expand into the high-growth active-wear market. Sara Huey, Vice President of Strategic... View Details

Keywords: Breakeven Analysis; Product Introduction; Expansion; Consumer Behavior; Supply and Industry; Product Launch; Apparel and Accessories Industry

October 2002 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Dynatrol Corporation: Andover Assembly Division

By: H. Kent Bowen, Janice H. Hammond and Ramchandran Jaikumar

While grappling with glitches in the design and operation of its production system, Andover Assembly must also launch a new sensor product line to meet ultimatums issued by frustrated Signatron vice presidents. The financial returns of the division are not meeting... View Details

Keywords: Production; Product Development; Product; Performance Productivity; Problems and Challenges; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Manufacturing Industry; United States

November 2016 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Darby's Investment in Sirma: Professionalizing an Entrepreneurial Firm

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Eren Kuzucu

In March 2010, Burak Dalgın (HBS MBA 2004) led private equity firm Darby's investment in Sırma, a local Turkish water and beverage company. Sırma was owned and managed by members of two Turkish business families. The existing management, while being highly... View Details

Keywords: Control Systems; Variance Analysis; Emerging Markets; Debt; Family Ownership; Turkey; Valuation; Business or Company Management; Private Equity; Financial Reporting; Investment; Budgets and Budgeting; Food and Beverage Industry; Turkey

Forthcoming
Article

Subordinating Humanism: How Colliding Beliefs About a Living Wage Shape Personal Fulfillment and 'Professional-Class' Identities in Working-Class Jobs

By: Lumumba Seegars, Serenity S. Lee, Erin M. Reid and Lakshmi Ramarajan

In a society dominated by market-based ideology and management practices that prioritize financial considerations, some organizations are shifting toward humanistic ideology and practices that emphasize human welfare. To examine this transformation in pay-setting, we... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Moral Sensibility; Wages; Welfare; Performance Expectations; Identity; Employee Relationship Management; Management Practices and Processes

Find at Harvard