Publications

February 2021 (Revised September 2022)
Case

Marie Curie: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Shirley Sun

This case describes the rise of Marie Curie from a poor family in Poland to the pinnacle of scientific fame. The case describes how Curie, as a young woman interested in science, found a way to earn a doctorate at the Sorbonne and perform pathbreaking research on... View Details

Keywords: Legacy; Impact; Science; Research; Personal Characteristics; Mission and Purpose; Success; Work-Life Balance; Higher Education; Personal Development and Career

February 2010 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A)

By: Julie M. Wulf and Scott Waggoner

This case examines Millennium's strategic and organizational responses to the rapid evolution of the biopharmaceutical industry. In the early 2000s, as Millennium's competitive advantage in early-stage research slipped away and its losses mounted, founder and CEO Mark... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Leading Change; Management Succession; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

March 1996
Case

New Product Development at Canon: The Contact Sensor Project

By: Joseph L. Bower and Michael Partington

Canon is one of the leading innovators in the world. This case describes the processes by which Canon manages the flow of ideas from basic science to new products, and how it harnesses product innovation to a strategy of diversification. View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Strategic Planning; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Diversification; Success; Consumer Products Industry

20 May 2020
News

Quitting Mid-Crisis

Keywords: COVID-19

John T. Connor

Connor was a key leader in expanding Merck into international markets. He was an ardent supporter of research and development that enabled Merck to produce a series of successful pharmaceutical applications. His View Details

Keywords: Healthcare

November 2010
Article

Stress-Test Your Strategy: The 7 Questions to Ask

By: Robert Simons

An economic downturn can quickly expose the shortcomings of your business strategy. But can you identify its weak points in good times as well? And can you focus on those weak points that really matter? I identify seven questions all executives should ask in order to... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Creativity; Success; Customers; Employees; Business and Shareholder Relations; Performance; Risk and Uncertainty; Decision Choices and Conditions

Find at Harvard

March 2019
Case

Dabur India: Growing Professional Management from Family Roots

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Namrata Arora and Jonah Goldberg

The case opens in December of 2018, with Sunil Duggal, the CEO of Dabur India (a multinational consumer goods conglomerate with a focus in Ayurvedic products) contemplating who should succeed him at the head of the company. The new CEO will have been the first since... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Management Succession; Multinational Firms and Management; Business Growth and Maturation

15 Aug 2017
News

The Category Kingmaker

learning new successful concepts along the way with each successive company,” says Krach, who until recently was CEO and chairman of DocuSign. Early this year he handed the CEO reins to Dan Springer (MBA... View Details

Keywords: Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services; Information; Corporate Services

Berry Gordy, Jr.

Gordy’s Motown Records became the most successful African-American enterprise of its time with sales in the early 1970s of $50 million. Gordy’s first gold record came just one year after the founding of Motown - Smokey Robinson and the... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment & Broadcast Media

Harland Sanders

After running a successful café in Corbier, Kentucky, for 27 years, at the age of 66, Sanders started what would become the franchise business, Kentucky Fried Chicken. Capitalizing on the popularity of the simple fried chicken that had... View Details

Keywords: Restaurants & Lodging

January 2021 (Revised July 2022)
Case

Dwight D. Eisenhower: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Shirley Sun

This case describes the rise of Dwight (Ike) Eisenhower from a small town in Kansas to the pinnacle of power on the world stage. During his life, Eisenhower was leader of the Allied Forces in World War II, president of Columbia University, head of NATO, and president... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Development; Leadership; Values and Beliefs; Personal Characteristics; Leadership Style; Success; Work-Life Balance; Power and Influence

Through her company, Harpo Productions, Winfrey has created a multimedia empire. Beginning as an early morning talk show host in Chicago, Winfrey parlayed this success into one of the most enduring and View Details

Keywords: Entertainment & Broadcast Media

2000
Chapter

The Determinants of Corporate Venture Capital Success: Organizational Structure, Incentives, and Complementarities

By: Paul Gompers and Josh Lerner

Keywords: Venture Capital; Success; Organizational Structure; Motivation and Incentives; Business Ventures

Article

Naturals and Strivers: Preferences and Beliefs about Sources of Achievement

By: Chia-Jung Tsay and Mahzarin R. Banaji

To understand how talent and achievement are perceived, three experiments compared the assessments of "naturals" and "strivers." Professional musicians learned about two pianists, equal in achievement but who varied in the source of achievement: the "natural" with... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Perception; Judgments; Success; Competency and Skills

March 2008 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Ashdown Contracting

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Firas Alkhatib

Ashdown's "growth" plan called for Mustafa Khalaf to leave his job as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Ashdown Contracting and to focus his attention on the growth of a separate business entity, Ashdown Pipeline, where Ashdown believed the greatest potential for the... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Succession; Market Entry and Exit; Business Strategy

09 Jun 2015
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Social Media

different insights into developing and executing a successful social media strategy. Brand Manager's Guide to Losing Control Social media platforms have taken some of the marketing power away from companies and given it to consumers. Jill... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty; Advertising

01 Mar 2017
News

HBS Celebrates Launch of New Legacy Society

Beth (MBA 1984) and Mike (MBA 1982) Fascitelli, paid tribute to the life of Mr. Whitehead and illustrated the lasting impact of legacy gifts on HBS. As Dean Nitin Nohria said in his remarks, “Very few institutions in the world outlive us. HBS’s future — its View Details

Gordon E. Moore

Moore, with a Ph.D. in chemistry and physics, led Intel through the development of microprocessors. Under his leadership, Intel introduced its most successful inventions, the 32 and 64-bit chips, which could handle processing tasks in a... View Details

Keywords: Computers & Electronics

October 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Supplement

Dulcie Madden (C)—A Final Chance?

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai

This is part of a three-case series that follows Dulcie Madden's journey as a founder over five years. Case (A) is about managing growth and cash flow; Case (B) is about the exit decision and conditions on a sale; Case (C) shows Madden dealing with adversity and the... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Growth Management; Cash Flow; Success; Failure; Acquisition; Business Model; Technology