Publications

March 2022
Teaching Note

Sawiris Foundation: Elevating Education in Egypt

By: Brian Trelstad and Alpana Thapar

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 322-023. Founded in 2001 by the Sawiris family, one of the wealthiest families in Egypt, the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development (SFSD) invested in human capital and provision of basic social services for the most marginalized... View Details

Keywords: Sustainable Development; Human Capital; Equality and Inequality; Education; Business Strategy; Social Enterprise; Social Issues; Partners and Partnerships; Growth and Development Strategy; Education Industry; Egypt

October 2023
Case

Making Progress at Progress Software (A)

By: Katherine Coffman, Hannah Riley Bowles and Alexis Lefort

In this case, the Human Capital team at Progress Software has identified that some employees have a hard time understanding how to advance within Progress. This realization leads the team to develop several major people-process innovations: the introduction of... View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; Organizational Culture; Performance Evaluation; Prejudice and Bias; Personal Development and Career; Human Capital; Employee Relationship Management; Technology Industry; Bulgaria

May 2011 (Revised December 2011)
Case

Redesigning a 401(k) Plan at Haley-Midland

By: Robert C. Pozen and Scott Eric Perl

Rose Adams, the CFO of Haley-Midland, Inc., dispensed with pleasantries and started right in on her questions for Jim Sweeney, the senior vice president of human resources, and Nancy Walters, Haley-Midland's vice president and treasurer, about the brewing crisis with... View Details

Keywords: Retirement; Crisis Management; Design; Planning; Human Resources

2020
Working Paper

Determinants of Early-Stage Startup Performance: Survey Results

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

To explore determinants of new venture performance, the CEOs of 470 early-stage startups were surveyed regarding a broad range of factors related to their venture’s customer value proposition, product management, marketing, technology and operations, financial... View Details

Keywords: Startups; Survey Research; Performance Analysis; Entrepreneurship; Performance; Analysis; Business Startups; Failure; Surveys

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November 2013
Teaching Note

A.J. Washington: Retaining an NFL Star

By: Andrew Wasynczuk and Karen Huang

A.J. Washington explores the early phase of a contract negotiation between a professional football team and its star quarterback. This case illustrates the challenges associated with negotiation for human capital. Specifically, it explores the tension between... View Details

Keywords: Compensation; Human Capital; Negotiation; Sports; Compensation and Benefits; Sports Industry; United States

July 2012
Case

Performance Management at Vitality Health Enterprises, Inc.

By: John Bingham and Michael Beer

Vitality Health Enterprises, a medium-sized firm that manufactures health and personal care products, has experienced six straight quarters of strong revenue growth. James Hoffman, the new Senior Vice President of Human Resources, fears that the chain of success is... View Details

Keywords: Performance Evaluation; Motivation and Incentives; Compensation and Benefits; Talent and Talent Management; Health Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States

May 2008
Article

Working in the Gray Zone

By: Michel Anteby

Supervisors often turn a blind eye when employees use company resources and time to work on personal projects. They realize that stamping out such behavior may do more harm than good. View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Management Practices and Processes; Performance Effectiveness; Behavior

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June 2001 (Revised May 2002)
Case

Spir-It, Inc. (B): Managing People

When Jack Sindler founded Spir-it, Inc. in 1934, he was the company's sole employee. By 1999, Sindler's firm more than survived its first 55 years. Employment was up to nearly 200, with facilities in two states and work done in three shifts. The product line--which had... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Production; Business Growth and Maturation; Interpersonal Communication; Logistics; Human Resources; Diversity Characteristics; Manufacturing Industry

07 Jun 2004
Research & Ideas

The Competition of Countries

rising real per capita income). Capital formation (investment) and the development of human resources are key to this process. Q: Were you surprised by anything you've discovered? A: I am constantly... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

17 Oct 2016
HBS Case

Business Solutions That Help Cut Food Waste

As much as 40 percent of food grown in the United States for human consumption is wasted. Source: Eivaisla After decades of wasteful food practices, where perfectly good food is discarded even as poverty keeps many families hungry, solutions are starting to come... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage

August 2012
Article

Dynamically Integrating Knowledge in Teams: A Resource-based View of Team Performance

By: H. K. Gardner, F. Gino and B. Staats

In knowledge-based environments, teams must develop a systematic approach to integrating knowledge resources throughout the course of projects in order to perform effectively. Yet, many teams fail to do so. Drawing on the resource-based view of the firm, we examine how... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Projects; Performance Effectiveness; Knowledge Sharing; Employees; Theory; Framework; Management Practices and Processes; Research

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October 2018
Case

Zenefits Board of Directors (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

In early 2018, the time seemed right for Zenefits investor and director Lars Dalgaard to reflect on whether Zenefits had the right board of directors to shepherd the company through its next stages of growth. For the company whose name combined the words “benefits,”... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Business Model; Corporate Accountability; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Crisis Management; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Leadership; Risk Management; Venture Capital; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States; California

27 Aug 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

Learning From Japan’s Remarkable Disaster Recovery

leadership in mobilizing people and resources in highly dynamic situations.” Each winter, 900 HBS students dispatch around the world to see businesses up close, learn what they can about how they are run, and share their own knowledge... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Energy; Utilities; Retail

August 2000 (Revised August 2018)
Case

The Atchison Corporation (A)

By: Joseph L. Bower

A new general manager uses a profit-center-based system to shake up an old line company. He then faces the task of placating a board member upset by the human consequences. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Profit; Human Resources; Change Management; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Organizational Design

February 1999 (Revised June 1999)
Case

Bloomberg L.P.

By: Clayton M. Christensen, Richard G. Hamermesh and Jeremy Dann

Michael Bloomberg founded his company to provide customers quick access to financial market data and analytical tools for understanding that data. As Bloomberg L.P. grew quickly,entered the ranks of "large, established companies," it grappled with a whole new range of... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Problems and Challenges

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2007
Chapter

Career Patterns and Organizational Performance

By: Monica C. Higgins and James R. Dillon

Traditional research on careers examines how organizations and individuals affect career outcomes. This chapter reviews several specific ways in which career histories have been found to influence organizational outcomes. While we incorporate both upper echelons... View Details

Keywords: Organizations; Personal Development and Career; Performance

02 Nov 2016
HBS Seminar

Antoinette Schoar, MIT Sloan School of Management

Jan W. Rivkin

Jan W. Rivkin is a Professor in the Strategy Unit at Harvard Business School. In the past, he has served as Faculty Chair of the MBA Program, Senior Associate Dean for Research, and head of the Strategy Unit. His research, course development, and teaching focus on... View Details

Keywords: airline; computer; internet; music; transportation

January 2009
Supplement

KPMG (B): Risk and Reform

By: Robert G. Eccles and Eliot Sherman

Under the leadership of Tim Flynn, Chairman and CEO of KPMG, the firm made a number of changes in compensation, governance, and culture in order to address the underlying reasons for actions that occurred prior to him becoming CEO that led to the accounting giant... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Ethics; Corporate Governance; Governance Compliance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Governing and Advisory Boards; Compensation and Benefits; Employee Relationship Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation