Publications

12 Mar 2014
News

Managing the Family Business: Firing the CEO

Keywords: Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management

01 Dec 2003
News

Christine Fairchild to Head External Relations

528150a8b80a2637fd6896e3fe5228e5 Christine Fairchild, who has played a key role in HBS alumni relations for the past fifteen years, has been appointed executive director of External Relations, with overall responsibility for alumni outreach, communications, and... View Details

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

November 2016 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Lynda Bussgang's Stages

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Lynda Bussgang is getting ready for her 25th Harvard College reunion and for the first time she is actually looking forward to it. Unlike some of her classmates she has charted her own course to happiness. This path took her from musical theater, to non-profit work to... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Success

October 1997 (Revised July 1998)
Case

Graham Family and the Washington Post Company, The

The Washington Post is now headed up by its fourth family member in three generations. The Graham family has somehow transcended the problems and pitfalls that overtake so many family-owned and operated businesses. View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Success; Journalism and News Industry; District of Columbia

2014
Chapter

Reaching Your Potential: Know Yourself—and Find Fulfillment

By: Robert Steven Kaplan

Despite racking up impressive accomplishments, you feel frustrated with your career—convinced you should be achieving more. You may even wish you had chosen a different career altogether. These feelings often stem from a common error: buying into others' definitions of... View Details

Keywords: Fulfillment; Leadership; Satisfaction; Personal Development and Career; Success

June 2007 (Revised October 2009)
Case

Les is More, Times Four

By: Noam T. Wasserman and Rosy Fynn

"I've had enough! I've decided that I need to resign," read the email from the founder of Webpoint to the company's board of directors. Les Trachtman, the CEO of Webpoint, has to figure out how to react to the founder's "it's Trachtman or me" ultimatum. Webpoint was... View Details

Keywords: Conflict Management; Management Succession; Entrepreneurship

March 2004
Article

How to Negotiate Successfully Online

By: Michael Wheeler

Keywords: Negotiation; Internet and the Web; Success

October 1984
Teaching Note

NIKE (F): The Apparel Division, Teaching Note

Teaching Note for (9-385-039). View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Management Succession; Strategy; Business Divisions; Apparel and Accessories Industry

December 7, 2016
Article

Is Your Client’s Generational Transition Stuck?: How Changing the Ownership Model Can Create Traction

By: Josh Baron

Keywords: Family Ownership; Organizational Structure; Management Succession; Transition

Read Now

Article

Avenues of Attainment: Occupational Demography and Organizational Careers in the California Civil Service.

Keywords: Demographics; Jobs and Positions; Personal Development and Career; Organizations; Success; California

17 Sep 2024
Research & Ideas

Advice for the New CEO: Talk to Your Employees Early and Often

CEOs have never had so many ways to communicate with their employees. But despite the availability of Slack, internal newsletters, and virtual town hall meetings, organizations can still go quiet. One of the most common culprits: Major leadership transitions, according... View Details

Keywords: by Ami Albernaz

2002
Chapter

Management Turnover and Financial Distress

By: S. C. Gilson

Keywords: Management Succession; Management Teams; Financial Condition; Financial Crisis

April 2019
Case

Boxed

By: Laura Huang, Andy Wu and Jiayi Bao

Boxed.com (“Boxed”) is an ambitious e-commerce retailer start-up, founded by visionary CEO Chieh Huang in 2013. From starting in Huang’s garage in 2013, to winning Emerging E-Retailer of the Year in 2016, to having 4 operational distribution centers in 2018, Boxed used... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Management; Business Startups; Leadership; Strategy; Success; E-commerce; Retail Industry

December 1996 (Revised June 1997)
Case

Trinity College (A)

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Jaan Elias

Trinity College was an elite, private, liberal-arts college of some 1,800 students located in Hartford, CT. When Tom Gerety was chosen as Trinity's 17th president in 1989, he pledged to stay for ten years. Now less than five years at the job, Gerety announced he was... View Details

Keywords: Higher Education; Crisis Management; Management Succession; Planning; Social Enterprise; Education Industry; Connecticut

Fall 2021
Article

When to Go and How to Go? Founder and Leader Transitions in Private Equity Firms

By: Josh Lerner and Diana Noble

Leadership transition in private equity firms is an understudied field, despite the important, albeit controversial, role such firms play in developed economies. We analyzed 260 firms in an empirical study, supplemented by qualitative interviews with a small sample of... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Transition; Private Equity; Leadership; Management Succession; Analysis

February 2018
Case

The Golden Triangle: Back in Business (A)

By: Joseph Fuller, William Kerr, Manjari Raman and Donald Maruyama

The Golden Triangle Region (GTR) is a three-county area in rural Mississippi that suffered a steep decline as manufacturing companies faced pressures from automation and overseas competition. Between the mid 1980s and late 1990s, several textile, toy, and tubing... View Details

Keywords: Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Development Economics; Change; Leadership; Success; Mississippi

January 2016
Case

Die Mannschaft: How Germany Won the 2014 FIFA World Cup

By: Boris Groysberg, Sascha L. Schmidt, Arjun Thomke, Kerry Herman and Michael Norris

After years of ups and downs, Germany won its fourth World Cup Championship in 2014. This case examines the national team's recent history and the changes they made to set themselves up for success. View Details

Keywords: Football; Soccer; ＂World Cup,＂ Germany; Germany; Organizational Behavior; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Success; Sports; Sports Industry; Germany; Brazil

2009
Chapter

Managing the CEO's Succession: The Challenge Facing Your Board

By: Joseph L. Bower

Keywords: Management Succession; Governing and Advisory Boards; Problems and Challenges

March 2007
Article

Gender Effects and Stock Market Reactions to the Announcement of Top Executive Appointments

This study uses Kanter's token status theory to link announcements of top executives to shareholder reactions, highlighting possible gender effects. Using a sample of top executive announcements from 1990 to 2000, our results show that investor reactions to the... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Management Succession; Gender; Management Teams