Publications

Editorial

Why CEOs Should Share Their Long-Term Plans with Investors

By: Christina Rehnberg, George Serafeim and Brian Tomlinson

Rather than requiring less short-term information, the key to combating short-termism is to encourage companies to share more information about their long-term plans. Analysis of companies that have done so suggests that long-term plans are not mere marketing... View Details

Keywords: CEO; Investor Relations; Disclosure; Long-term Growth; Investing; Business and Shareholder Relations; Strategy; Corporate Disclosure

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March 1998 (Revised June 1999)
Case

DigitalThink: Building a Sales Force

By: Michael J. Roberts, Joseph B. Lassiter III and Christina L. Darwall

A broad set of issues faces a young company in the Internet-based training business as it begins to sell its product to corporate customers. Issues include: profile of attractive candidates, compensation, definition of territory, definition of quotas, and role of... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Salesforce Management; Business Startups; Service Industry

Myra Hart's research focus is high potential entrepreneurship. She has taught MBA and executive programs, co-chaired the entrepreneurship unit, and led several HBS initiatives. As a founding memberView Details

Keywords: consumer products; e-commerce industry; education industry; real estate; retailing

August 1996 (Revised August 1997)
Case

TNT Limited's Logistics Services in Asia (A): The Strategy

By: Michael Y. Yoshino and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Meredith Hellicar's mission as general manager of corporate development is to make TNT Ltd. one of the biggest and most diverse transport and logistic companies in the world, with approximately $5 billion in turnover in 1993, a leading provider of logistics services in... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Managerial Roles; Distribution; Logistics; Mission and Purpose; Partners and Partnerships; Strategy; Diversification; Transportation Industry; Asia; China; Indonesia; Thailand

June 2018
Case

Verona Group

By: Robert L. Simons and Sarah Abbott

Are a salesperson's struggles her own fault or the result of a problematic job design? Anna George works as a salesperson at Verona Group, a company that designs and wholesales high-end women's apparel. She had spent nearly 20 years in sales with another fashion label... View Details

Keywords: Jobs and Positions; Design; Analysis; Performance; Measurement and Metrics; Salesforce Management; Organizational Design

February 2018
Case

Infrastructure in Nigeria: Unlocking Pension Fund Investments

By: John Macomber and Pippa Tubman Armerding

The so-called “infrastructure finance gap” was a problem in Nigeria as in many parts of the world. Infrastructure projects like power plants and dams were very large capital investments that could generate long-term consistent cash flows, but their financing and... View Details

Keywords: Pension Fund Investing; Infrastucture; Power/Energy; Credit Enhancement; Infrastructure; Project Finance; Investment Funds; Emerging Markets; Nigeria; Africa

March 2005 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Aguas Argentinas: Settling a Dispute

By: Louis T. Wells Jr. and Alexandra de Royere

The French-owned Aguas Argentinas faces a demand from the Argentine government that it renegotiate its concession to operate the Buenos Aires water and sewage services. The company must decide whether to continue with efforts to settle on a new contract or to exercise... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Contracts; Infrastructure; Privatization; Business and Government Relations; Conflict and Resolution; Business Strategy; Utilities Industry; France; Buenos Aires

May 2021 (Revised August 2021)
Case

Airbnb During the Pandemic: Stakeholder Capitalism Faces a Critical Test

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Allison Ciechanover

As the COVID pandemic spread in early 2020, global travel ground to a halt. For Airbnb, the San Francisco-based platform for renting accommodations, the impact was both swift and severe as revenues plummeted more than 70% over the prior year. Responding to the sudden... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Governance; Crisis Management; Leadership; Digital Platforms; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Value Creation; Decision Making; Goals and Objectives; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Travel Industry; Tourism Industry; Service Industry; United States

September 2015
Case

GovDelivery

By: Mitchell Weiss

Is government the biggest, worst customer in the world? And is that a reason for venture investors to back companies that sell to government or to stay away? It had been seven years since Scott Burns joined his friend Zach Stabenow to get a company called GovDocs off... View Details

Keywords: GovDelivery; Public Entrepreneurship; B2G; Business-to-Government; Scott Burns; Entrepreneurship; Government Administration; Venture Capital; Information Technology Industry; Public Administration Industry; Web Services Industry; Minnesota; United States

May 2008 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Tribune Company, 2007

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and Eric Seth Gordon

This case describes the proposed acquisition of Tribune Company by Sam Zell in 2007. Tribune Company is one of the largest newspapers and broadcasting companies in the United States. Zell's proposed acquisition is unusual in several respects. It is two-tiered, employs... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Markets; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Negotiation Offer; Journalism and News Industry; Publishing Industry

30 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 31, 2006

industry in the United States. Explores the interaction between the growth of a company and an overall industry. Purchase this case: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=406082 Fundamentals of Family View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2022
Chapter

Coordinating Marketing and Sales in B2B Organizations

By: Frank V. Cespedes

This Handbook is targeted at academics and graduate students who want an overview of the academic state of the business-to-business marketing domain and at B2B practitioners who want to be aware of the current state of knowledge in their domains. This chapter examines... View Details

Keywords: B2B Marketing; Marketing

15 Jul 2008
First Look

First Look: July 15, 2008

open up within them, giving companies a powerful mechanism for arbitrage across national financial markets. Managing these internal markets to build an advantage requires that CFOs must balance new financial... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

August 2021
Case

Wymsee

By: Julia Austin, Sarah Mehta and Tom Quinn

Wymsee was a company that aimed to develop a mobile application (app) that would allow television audience members to identify and purchase clothing or accessories worn by characters in the program they were watching, with the Wymsee founders taking a percentage of... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Plan; Business Startups; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Technological Innovation; Knowledge Acquisition; Product Positioning; Opportunities; Adaptation; Mobile Technology; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Technology Industry; United States; New York (city, NY)

07 Jun 2023
Blog Post

My One Case: MBA Class of 2023 Looks Back

management consulting. What case made an impact on you and why?“The Black List.” The case is about an entrepreneur who notices how easy it is for great movie scripts to be rejected or unnoticed, and begins... View Details

07 Oct 2011
Working Paper Summaries

What Environmental Ratings Miss

Keywords: by Auden Schendler & Michael Toffel

October 2011 (Revised July 2012)
Case

ATR KimEng Financial Corporation

By: Li Jin, Michael Shih-ta Chen and Dawn Lau

ATR KimEng is a Philippino asset management business. It is making an important decision on its own strategy going forward: should it stay independent, or be taken over by a large bank in the region. Through this case, we discuss the financial service industry in South... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Capital Markets; Investment; Financial Services Industry; Philippines

February 2014
Background Note

Furloughs: An Alternative to Layoffs for Economic Downturns

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Susan J. Winterberg

This note describes the practice of employee furloughs (also known as work sharing or short-time work) including their regulatory frameworks in different countries and the business and ethical implications of their use. View Details

Keywords: Work Sharing; Furloughs; Temporary Layoff; Short Time Work; Employee Relationship Management; Job Cuts and Outsourcing