Career Decisions - Publications - Faculty & Research

October 2023
Case

Shredder Setups or Straightlining into Risk?: Investing in What You Love

By: Lauren Cohen and Grace Headinger

Bob Hall, President of Green Gables Partners, evaluated whether to angel invest into an up-and-coming ski brand. As the son-in-law of the founder of Vera Bradley and having retired from a lengthy career on Wall Street, Hall was well-versed in both direct investing and... View Details

Keywords: Family Office; Angel Investors; Direct Investment; Family Business; Business Growth and Maturation; Small Business; Financial Strategy; Personal Finance; Investment Portfolio; Private Equity; Decision Choices and Conditions; Risk and Uncertainty; Consumer Products Industry; Montana; United States

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Article

Beacon and Warning: Sherman Kent, Scientific Hubris, and the CIA's Office of National Estimates

By: J. Peter Scoblic

Would-be forecasters have increasingly extolled the predictive potential of Big Data and artificial intelligence. This essay reviews the career of Sherman Kent, the Yale historian who directed the CIA’s Office of National Estimates from 1952 to 1967, with an eye toward... View Details

Keywords: National Security; Analytics and Data Science; Analysis; Forecasting and Prediction; History

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21 Dec 2023
Blog Post

Top 10 MBA Voices Blogs of 2023

to sustainability, cases share the story of a business leader (the case protagonist) making a key decision in a difficult situation. In the classroom, students discuss and debate potential solutions with fellow classmates, bringing their... View Details

TeachingInterests

MBA Elective Curriculum-- Competing Through Business Models

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell

The words “business model” are inescapable in our daily fare of business news. These two ubiquitous words seemed to effortlessly rise up to prominence during the dot-com boom of the late 1990s. When businesspeople, journalists, academics, and other... View Details

10 Apr 2007
First Look

First Look: April 10, 2007

http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=207019 CMM versus Agile: Methodology Wars in Software Development Harvard Business School Case 607-084 A CIO decides whether to adopt the "Capability Maturity Model" (CMM) within her IT... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

27 Jan 2020
Research & Ideas

Hard Work Isn't Enough: How to Find Your Edge

We’re told that the secret to success is hard work. But the truth is, hard work alone doesn’t always pay off. After all, career advancement isn’t always neatly tied to your skills, effort, or even the quality of your work. Some people... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

March 2021 (Revised August 2021)
Case

Nayana Mawilmada: Transforming Urban Development in Sri Lanka

By: Joshua D. Margolis and Mahima Rao-Kachroo

In February 2018, Nayana Mawilmada (Nayana), investment head for the Sri Lankan government’s ambitious $40 billion Megapolis project, must weigh an attractive job offer to move from the public sector to the private sector. A massive government project aimed at... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Decision Making; Public Sector; Experience and Expertise; Strategic Planning; Work-Life Balance; Transportation; Risk and Uncertainty; Power and Influence; Personal Development and Career; Real Estate Industry; Rail Industry; Transportation Industry; South Asia; Sri Lanka; Boston; Virginia; United States

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24 Oct 2018
Sharpening Your Skills

Startup or Established Company? Which Is Best for You?

executive teams can be world class or “legacy” leaders who can’t move with the times. There are many tradeoffs when factoring leadership into the decision process of startup versus mature. Startup founded by serial entrepreneurs. This can... View Details

Keywords: by Julia B. Austin

15 Oct 2008
First Look

First Look: October 15, 2008

Accepting this position would be a move back into mainstream media but also a career shift from line positions to a corporate staff role. The case profiles Fili-Krushel's media experiences, and her use of interpersonal influence and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

July 1989 (Revised October 1992)
Case

Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: MIS Reorganization (A)

As a part of the Management Information Services (MIS) Division's evolution, it was planned to distribute all systems development and applications (SD&S) activities and resources (assets and personnel) from the central MIS Division to the operating areas by October... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Decision Making

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28 Sep 2023
Blog Post

HBS Latino Student Association Spotlight: Jeffrey Arango (MBA 2025)

related to MBA Admissions, alumni engagement, career development, and more to advocate for and empower the Latino community on campus and beyond. In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we asked LASO members to tell us about what being part... View Details

Web

Harvard Business School Online Courses & Learning Platforms

hrs/week Pay by July 31 $1,850 Certificate New Strategic Financial Analysis Professor Suraj Srinivasan Explore the intersection of accounting, strategy, and finance, and learn how to evaluate a business’s performance, prospects, and value to make strategic investment... View Details

15 Apr 2015
HBS Seminar

Raymond Fisman, Columbia Business School

20 Aug 2021
Blog Post

Is the MBA Worth It? Hear What Recent HBS Grads Have to Say

everything important. However, it's also about taking the opportunity to "stare out of a window" and contemplate the bigger decisions using a keen sense of reflection and introspection. Zach Sarnoff (MBA 2018) is a Global Program Manager... View Details

28 Apr 2015
First Look

First Look: April 28

http://www.amazon.com/Strategy-Rules-Timeless-Lessons-Gates/dp/0062373951/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1427236936&sr=8-1 April 2015 Harvard Business Review Leaders as Decision Architects: Structure Your Organization's Work to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Program

Strategy for Health Care Delivery—Virtual

working with accomplished health care executives from various backgrounds, sectors, and countries across the globe Build relationships with a diverse group of peers who can provide wide-ranging insights into your business challenges and View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Health Care

27 Jul 2020
Book

Reflection: The Pause That Brings Peace and Productivity

whether to change career paths. At one point, he put his decision in a larger context: Life is surfing a wave. It carries you forward. You spend most of your time adjusting and trying to stay on the wave and... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

Web

Help - Alumni

Renewal Program (GCPCA) Harvard-Radcliffe Program in Business Administration (HRPBA) Industrial Administrator (IA) International Senior Management Program (ISMP) International Teachers' Program (ITP) Middle-Management Program (MMP) Mid-Officer Certificate (MOC) PhD in... View Details

14 Feb 2022
Research & Ideas

Curiosity, Not Coding: 6 Skills Leaders Need in the Digital Age

their actions. They must learn to see their decisions and actions as working hypotheses that they can only validate by collecting feedback on their impact as expeditiously as possible. Leaders will be blindsided if they rely only on their... View Details

Keywords: by Linda A. Hill, Ann Le Cam, Sunand Menon, and Emily Tedards; Technology

November 2013
Article

Simplification and Saving

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian

The daunting complexity of important financial decisions can lead to procrastination. We evaluate a low-cost intervention that substantially simplifies the retirement savings plan participation decision. Individuals received an opportunity to enroll in a retirement... View Details

Keywords: Retirement Savings; Simplification; Procrastination; Behavioral Economics; Saving; Motivation and Incentives; Retirement

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