Publications

January 2007 (Revised November 2007)
Case

Organic Growth at Wal-Mart

By: Jan W. Rivkin and Troy Smith

In 2005, an executive vice president at Wal-Mart must decide whether to expand the retailer's selection of organic food. The decision is made in the context of wider attempts to move the giant retailer slightly upscale and to focus on environmental sustainability. View Details

Keywords: Food; Growth and Development Strategy; Product; Business Processes; Environmental Sustainability; Expansion; Retail Industry; United States

October 1993 (Revised December 1998)
Supplement

Erik Peterson (D)

By: John J. Gabarro

Implicitly raises the question of what Peterson should do to extricate himself from his difficulties. Should he consider resignation, go directly to the company's president to seek relief, or clarify the situation within the company? A redisguised version of an earlier... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Resignation and Termination; Leadership

03 Apr 2020
News

Is Trump admin. doing enough to deal with 'unbelievably awful' unemployment?

Video

Dr. Silvia Gold

Dr. Silvia Gold, President of the Mundo Sano Foundation and co-founder of Grupo Insud, outlines her company’s experience with prior public health crises such as the H1N1 outbreak, which allowed them to rapidly license and start producing materials for the AstraZeneca... View Details

August 2007 (Revised July 2008)
Case

HCL Technologies (A)

By: Linda A. Hill, Tarun Khanna and Emily Stecker

When Vineet Nayar became president of HCL Technologies, a global IT services business, in April 2005, he knew the company needed drastic change. Since its founding as a hardware company in the 1970s, HCL had grown into an enterprise with $3.7 billion in revenues and a... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Employee Relationship Management; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competition; Information Technology Industry; Service Industry; India

March 2022 (Revised October 2022)
Case

John F. Kennedy: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Max Saffer

This case traces the rise of John F. Kennedy from a wealthy family in Boston to president of the United States. The case describes how Kennedy, as a young man, lived a privileged life in the shadow of his older brother, Joe. When Joe was killed in World War II, Jack... View Details

Keywords: Politics; Business And Government; Legacy; Leadership Development; Personal Characteristics; Business and Government Relations; Success; Power and Influence; Decision Making; Personal Development and Career; United States

Video

Moving the Eliot Table

March 1997 (Revised January 1999)
Case

Cambridge Technology Partners: Corporate Venturing (August 1996)

By: Paul A. Gompers and Catherine M. Conneely

Concerns the decision of Jim Sims, president and CEO of Cambridge Technology Partners (CTP) to form a corporate venture capital subsidiary. CTP is a fast-growing information technology consulting firm that has been presented with many investment opportunities from... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Venture Capital; Leadership; Information Technology; Investment; Opportunities; Customer Focus and Relationships; Business Startups; Business Subsidiaries; Information Technology Industry; Consulting Industry; Cambridge

Find at Harvard

09 Feb 2010
News

How to get Americans saving for retirement

17 Dec 2020
Video

Eva Arias

Eva Arias, President of Compañía Minera Poderosa, describes how she solved the debt crisis her company faced in the 1990s by engaging with a debt restructuring plan, regaining the trust of her creditors and suppliers, and reorganizing the mine’s operations. View Details

15 Jan 2020
Video

Antonio Celia

Antonio Celia, President of Colombia-based Promigas, speaks about the work of the Promigas Foundation and the work it does to improve the quality of public education. Promigas has been able to help over one... View Details

12 Nov 2013
News

Dead Letter Office: Have You Ditched Handwritten Notes?

09 May 2017
News

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke Is No Teddy Roosevelt

19 Feb 2015
Video

Chuck Davis, CEO of Swagbucks.com

Video

Amina Laraki Slaoui

Amina Laraki Slaoui, President of AMH Group, describes the organization's early days and how she coordinated a series of fundraisers to raise the capital needed to build a rehabilitation center (Noor Center for Physical and Functional Rehabilitation). View Details

December 2008
Case

Merrimack Tractors and Mowers: LIFO or FIFO?

By: William J. Bruns Jr., Sharon Bruns and Susan S. Hameling

At Merrimack Tractors and Mowers in 2008, product manufacturing costs are increasing faster than competitors' costs, and as a result earnings are likely to fall below those reported in 2007. The company president and the company controller have discussed this problem,... View Details

Keywords: International; Financial; Reporting; Standards; Inventory; Business Ethics; Assets; Valuation; Ethics; Taxation; Financial Reporting; Manufacturing Industry

April 2009 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Barack Obama: Organizing for America 2.0

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, Laura Winig and Aaron Smith

Less than a week before Barack Obama was due to be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, Obama for America (OFA), the president-elect's official campaign organization, announced the formation of a post-election organization, Organizing for America. The... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Political Elections; Marketing Communications; Power and Influence; Social and Collaborative Networks; Internet