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July 1993 (Revised April 1999)
Case

ABB's Relays Business: Building and Managing a Global Matrix

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Describes the development and management of the relays business area (BA) in ABB's global matrix organization. Focuses on three levels of management--corporate, BA, and operating company. Highlights the roles and responsibilities of individuals at each level as ABB... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Business or Company Management; Business Strategy; Organizational Structure; Managerial Roles; Management Practices and Processes; Employees; Organizational Culture; Success; Manufacturing Industry

2006
Chapter

Altruism, Cooperation and Reciprocity in the Workplace

By: Julio J. Rotemberg

Keywords: Working Conditions; Cooperation; Attitudes

01 Sep 2014
News

Alumni and Faculty Books for September 2014

thought experiments designed in his executive MBA classes, he challenges readers to explore their cognitive blind spots, identify any salient details they are programmed to miss, and then take steps to... View Details

Keywords: faculty research; Alumni Research

29 Mar 2008
Research & Ideas

Creativity, Entrepreneurship, and Organizations of the Future

littered with early failures. Study incentives and disincentives to creativity. Study novel business models. Study business-based, executable solutions to social and economic... View Details

Keywords: by Teresa M. Amabile & Mukti Khaire

01 Sep 2012
News

Alumni, Faculty, and Other Experts Offer Career Advice

executive; and Kevin Sheridan (MBA 1988) will explore strategies to manage mobile employees. Also presenting will be executive coach Patti Hunt Dirlam, HBS professors Joseph... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools

June 1991 (Revised May 1995)
Case

Jay Gould and the Coming of Railroad Consolidation

Concerns the role of Jay Gould in causing the creation of large regional rail systems after the Civil War in the United States. In class it will be used to show the inevitability of consolidation in that industry. View Details

Keywords: Rail Transportation; Industry Growth; Consolidation; Rail Industry; United States

June 1996
Case

Black Magic and the America's Cup: The Victory

Chronicles New Zealand's participation in successive America's Cup regattas, culminating in its decisive 1995 victory. Allows for discussion of how an organization from a small nation can beat the world's best in a technologically, organizationally, and managerially... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Sports; Business and Government Relations; Sports Industry; New Zealand

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02 Jun 2010
What Do You Think?

How Do You Weigh Strategy, Execution, and Culture in an Organization’s Success?

organization's execution of its strategy (the quality of our people, work, processes, decisions, etc.)? If your organization's strategy = 100%, roughly what proportion of its... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

November 2003 (Revised June 2004)
Case

Samsung and Daewoo: Two Tales of One City

By fiscal year 2000, Samsung had pulled far ahead of other "chaebols," Korean conglomerates. For example, the market value of Samsung affiliates listed on the Korea Stock Exchange exceeded the sum of the market value of listed affiliates of second, third, and fourth... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Business Conglomerates; Corporate Strategy; Emerging Markets; Crisis Management; Electronics Industry; South Korea

Blog

Inside the Learning: Sustainability—on Campus and Beyond

Harvard University has engaged its entire community in an effort to improve sustainability. Harvard Business School (HBS) is committed to Harvard's Sustainability and Climate Action Plan, which includes achieving a fossil fuel-free... View Details

May 2008 (Revised May 2010)
Background Note

Organizational Alignment, Performance, and Change in Professional Service Firms

By: John J. Gabarro

This note describes the relationship between organizational alignment and performance in professional service firms and how to use McKinsey 7S Alignment to diagnose a firm's or practice's alignment, identify misalignments and determine how to bring about the changes... View Details

Keywords: Organizations; Alignment; Performance; Change; Service Industry

July 2021
Article

Information Transparency, Multihoming, and Platform Competition: A Natural Experiment in the Daily Deals Market

By: Hui Li and Feng Zhu

Platform competition is shaped by the likelihood of multi-homing (i.e., complementors or consumers adopt more than one platform). To take advantage of multi-homing, platform firms often attempt to motivate their rivals’ high-performing complementors to adopt their own... View Details

Keywords: Platform Competition; Multi-homing; Information Transparency; Daily Deals; Groupon; LivingSocial; Digital Platforms; Information; Competition

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April 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Teaching Note

Gazelle in 2012

By: Andrei Hagiu

Keywords: Strategy; Technology; Multi-sided Platforms; Consumer Electronics; Technology Industry; United States

November 2017
Teaching Note

Reinventing Best Buy

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Teaching Note for HBS No. 716-455. On March 1, 2017, Best Buy Company, Inc., North America’s largest retailer of consumer electronics and appliances, announced a third year of comparable-store sales increases and a 20.8% increase in domestic comparable online sales.... View Details

November 2009 (Revised July 2011)
Case

International Lobbying and The Dow Chemical Company (A)

By: Arthur A. Daemmrich

This case explores company strategy, business-government relations, and collective action challenges associated with international and domestic lobbying regarding regulation of the chemical industry. In the fall of 2006, a five-year legislative process for a major new... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government Legislation; Business and Government Relations; Power and Influence; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Chemical Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Europe

November 1990 (Revised November 1991)
Case

Apple Computer (B): Managing Morale and Corporate Culture

Explores how the human resource function at Apple Computer can best support the company's strategy. Analyzes the culture and morale at Apple. Apple has a very unique culture. Moreover, morale within the company is at a low. The culture is powerful in aiding the company... View Details

Keywords: Attitudes; Organizational Culture; Employees; Business Strategy; Computer Industry; United States