Publications

November 2011 (Revised August 2012)
Background Note

Customer Discovery and Validation for Entrepreneurs

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Thomas Eisenmann and Steven G. Blank

Provides practical guidelines for conducting market research to explore and validate demand for entrepreneurial offering. Explains how the research objectives of entrepreneurs might differ from those relevant to managers evaluating product or service offerings to... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Entrepreneurship

September 2016 (Revised August 2018)
Case

State Street—The Development and Growth of SHE

By: Vikram Gandhi

State Street Global Advisors was the investment arm of State Street Corporation, one of the largest custodians and asset managers in the world with over $2.3 trillion in assets under management. Inspired by demand from a large pension fund client for better gender... View Details

Keywords: ETF; Asset Management; Financial Services Industry

March 2019 (Revised June 2019)
Case

Global Sourcing at Nike

By: Nien-hê Hsieh, Michael W. Toffel and Olivia Hull

This case explores the evolution of Nike’s global product sourcing strategy, in particular ongoing efforts to improve working conditions at its suppliers’ factories. When the case opens in July 2018, Vice President of Sourcing Amanda Tucker and her colleagues in Nike’s... View Details

Das Narayandas is the Edsel Bryant Ford Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. His academic credentials include a Bachelor of Technology degree in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IITB), a Post-Graduate... View Details

Keywords: management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting; management consulting

January 2002 (Revised June 2002)
Background Note

A Note on Building and Leading Your Senior Team

By: Linda A. Hill and Maria Farkas

As performance demands intensify in fast-moving global markets, more executives are coming to rely on senior teams for strategic and operational assistance. Team building with powerful senior executives presents special challenges, including competition for their boss'... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Selection and Staffing; Leadership; Management Teams; Operations; Organizational Culture; Rank and Position; Strategy

28 Jan 2021
News

'Degree inflation': How the four-year degree became required

March 2008 (Revised July 2010)
Case

China in Africa: The Case of Sudan

This case examines the relation between China's demand for resources and political risk. View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Business and Government Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Environmental Sustainability; Sudan; China

Earl Sasser is a Baker Foundation Professor at Harvard Business School and has been a member of the faculty there since 1969. He received a B.A. in Mathematics from Duke University in 1965, an MBA from the University of North Carolina in 1967, and a Ph.D. in... View Details

March 2021
Case

Dasra: From Strategic Philanthropy to Field Building

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Tanya Bijlani

Dasra, a pioneer in the Indian Strategic Philanthropy space founded by a husband and wife team, had grown and evolved with the fast changing philanthropy scene in India. By 2017 it had managed to raise nearly $100 million of new capital for NGOs and Nonprofits in... View Details

Keywords: Philanthropy; Impact Investing; Corporate Social Responsibility; Social Sector; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Entrepreneurship; Strategy; India

May 1993 (Revised December 1994)
Background Note

Geography of Competition and Strategy, The

Addresses the role of geographic scope in competition and strategy. Makes distinctions between the geographic scope of competition (or the effective area over which firms compete), the geographic scope of competitive advantage (or the geographic area from which a firm... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Geographic Scope

24 Oct 2023
HBS Case

From P.T. Barnum to Mary Kay: Lessons From 5 Leaders Who Changed the World

stories contain pearls of management wisdom for today’s executives looking to lead with excellence. “Without exception, all these people are opportunity seekers,” says Simons of the leaders profiled, which include former British Prime... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

January 2003 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Cat is out of the Bag, The: KANA and the Layoff Gone Awry (A)

By: Leslie A. Perlow and David Ager

Vicki Amon-Higa, vice president of KANA, a publicly traded, midsize development company, was working with Bryan Kettle, KANA's CFO, to plan a layoff in which KANA would reduce the size of its workforce by nearly 40%. Despite the best of intentions, news of the layoff... View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Employees; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Problems and Challenges; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Conflict Management

March 2025
Teaching Note

Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena: Ticket to a Greener Future

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jacob A. Small

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 325-110. CEO Tim Leiweke reviewed the process by which his newly formed Oak View Group had managed a major rebuild of a landmark arena in Seattle which attracted a National Hockey League franchise and major entertainers concerned about... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Leadership; Bids and Bidding; Standards; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Green Buildings; Construction; Partners and Partnerships; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Seattle

May 2012
Article

Adding Bricks to Clicks: Predicting the Patterns of Cross-Channel Elasticities over Time

By: Jill Avery, Thomas J. Steenburgh, John Deighton and Mary Caravella

The authors propose a conceptual framework to explain whether and when the introduction of a new retail store channel helps or hurts sales in existing direct channels. A conceptual framework separates short- and long-term effects by analyzing the capabilities of a... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Channels; Channels Of Distribution; Distribution; Retailing; Channel Management; Channel Migration; Multichannel Retailing; Framework; Customers; Marketing Channels; Sales; Internet and the Web; Demand and Consumers; Competency and Skills; Distribution Channels; E-commerce; Retail Industry; United States

SSRN

Find at Harvard

16 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

Is Your Workplace Biased Against Introverts?

Managers almost universally say they want to see passion in their employees. Yet sometimes, they can’t spot it when it’s right in front of them. Extroverted employees are more likely to be considered passionate compared to more... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

Teaching Interest

Launching New Ventures

By: Rembrand M. Koning

The early days of a new venture demand a combination of strategy, vision, and impeccable timing to capitalize on market opportunities and establish a successful business.

Launching New Ventures delves into the core elements of entrepreneurship and building... View Details

January 2012 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Hengdeli: The Art of Coexistence

By: Rohit Deshpandé and Nancy Hua Dai

In October 2011, Zhang Yuping, founder and chairman of Hengdeli, the largest Swiss watch retailer in the world, wondered how to work more closely with its key suppliers—Swatch Group, Richemont Group, LVMH Group, and Rolex Group—to maintain strong growth in the Greater... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry; China

2003
Article

Closing the Loop: Product Take-back Requirements and their Strategic Implications

By: Michael W. Toffel

In Asia, Europe, and North America, regulators are seeking to reduce waste disposal and develop recycling markets by requiring manufacturers to manage the end-of-life disposition of products they produce. Such policies attempt to "close the loop" for products ranging... View Details

Keywords: Wastes and Waste Processing; Energy Conservation; Product Development; Strategy; Policy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Manufacturing Industry; Asia; Europe; North and Central America

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2020
Working Paper

How Do Private Equity Fees Vary Across Public Pensions?

By: Juliane Begenau and Emil Siriwardane

We study how investment fees vary within private-capital funds. Net-of-fee return clustering suggests that most funds have two tiers of fees, and we decompose differences across tiers into both management and performance-based fees. Managers of venture capital funds... View Details

Keywords: Pension Funds; Fee Dispersion; Search And Negotiation Frictions; Private Equity; Investment Funds