Publications

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June 2024
Module Note

Value Creation Potential of New Business Models

By: David J. Collis

A business model is composed of three elements. These describe a generic way of creating value and identify the maximum potential value of that model for customers. The elements of a business model are the “job to be done” for the customer, the asset configuration, or... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Corporate Strategy; Mission and Purpose; Competitive Strategy; Value Creation

2016
Chapter

The Origins of High-Tech Venture Investing in America

By: Tom Nicholas

The United States has developed an unparalleled environment for the provision of high-tech investment finance. Today it is reflected in the strength of agglomeration economies in Silicon Valley, but historically its origins lay in the East Coast. Notably, immediate... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment; Information Technology; History; Financial Services Industry; United States

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March 1992 (Revised September 1996)
Case

ABB Deutschland (C1)

By: Hugo Uyterhoeven

ABB Germany faces some newly emerging strategic and organizational challenges resulting from Europe 1992 and German reunification. In terms of organization, ABB Germany has created a holding company and has separated operations and service activities into legally... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Organizations; Outcome or Result; Problems and Challenges; Opportunities; Corporate Strategy; Germany

November 2023 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Kickstarter: Crowdfunding for the Arts

By: Rohit Deshpandé and Alexis Lefort

Kickstarter was a virtual crowdfunding platform and community that allowed creators of all kinds to raise funding for creative projects. The executive team was wrestling with a tension in its business model: the organization earned the majority of its revenue from... View Details

Keywords: Fundraising; Mission; Crowdfunding; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Arts; Web Services Industry; United States

18 Nov 2008
First Look

First Look: November 18, 2008

http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/ b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=609043 New Century Financial Corporation Harvard Business School Case 109-034 After years of rapid growth and stock price appreciation, New Century... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

2016
Teaching Note

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Shelly London and Ethics Education

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Tessa Natanay Hamilton and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

Teaching Note for Case 313-028. Following a successful career as a Senior Vice President, Vice President, and Chief Communications Officer at two large corporate companies, Shelly London became a Harvard Advanced Leadership Fellow. During her fellowship she set out to... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Education; Moral Sensibility; Behavior; Decision Making; Leadership; Innovation and Management; Change Management; Social Enterprise; Service Industry; Service Industry; North and Central America

22 Sep 2008
Research & Ideas

The Silo Lives! Analyzing Coordination and Communication in Multiunit Companies

Although many companies aspire to promote easy interaction and coordination across departments, office locations, and pay scales, the "boundaryless" organization—like the paperless office—hasn't materialized. The corporate silo is alive... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

2017
Other Article

Designing an Agile Software Portfolio Architecture: The Impact of Coupling on Performance

By: Alan MacCormack and Robert Lagerstrom

The modern industrial corporation encompasses a myriad of different software applications, each of which must work in concert to deliver functionality to end-users. However, the increasingly complex and dynamic nature of competition in today’s product-markets dictates... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Design; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Effectiveness

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29 Nov 2010
HBS Case

United Breaks Guitars

Marketing Strategy and multiple Executive Education programs, the case depicts a new media era in which increasing numbers of people are spending as much time online as they are in front of the television and where one person can get the attention of a... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

November 2003 (Revised July 2006)
Case

STAR 2003

By: Thomas R. Piper

A shift in strategy from broadcasting standardized programs throughout its footprint to localized programming necessitates a review of STAR's organizational structure. Growing complexity and a need for local responsiveness point toward adoption of a country-based... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Organizational Structure; Management Teams; Decision Choices and Conditions; Organizational Design; Complexity; Service Industry; Service Industry

September 1998 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Sealed Air Taiwan (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Robert J. Crawford

The general manager for U.S.-based Sealed Air Corp.'s Taiwan subsidiary must decide whether he's hired the right person to bridge the gap between Sealed Air's corporate culture and Taiwan's business culture. This case details Bob Kayser's experiences in trying to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Relationships; Service Operations; Motivation and Incentives; Management Skills; Compensation and Benefits; Taiwan; United States

04 Oct 2011
First Look

First Look: October 4

knowing "who we are" might depend in part on repeatedly remembering to forget "who we were not." The Enabling Role of Social Position in Diverging from the Institutional Status Quo: Evidence from the U.K. National Health View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

03 Nov 2010
Working Paper Summaries

How Did Increased Competition Affect Credit Ratings?

Keywords: by Bo Becker & Todd Milbourn; Financial Services

23 Jun 2015
First Look

First Look: June 23, 2015

organizational units and corporations are likely to match the boundaries of underlying technological modules. (This correspondence is called "mirroring.") In this article, I explain the concept of modularity and describe how... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 1992 (Revised October 1996)
Case

CUC International, Inc. (A)

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Paul M. Healy

The case series examines the role of financial reporting and corporate finance policies as vehicles for communication between managers and outside investors. This case describes management's concern that the company's stock is undervalued because analysts viewed the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Stocks; Financial Management; Decisions; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Management Style; Management Practices and Processes; Business and Shareholder Relations; Value; Financial Services Industry

January 1998 (Revised February 1998)
Case

Sideco Americana S.A. (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Harold F. Hogan Jr

This case focuses on a decision the Sideco management team faces when customers of its newly acquired and privatized water and sewer company neglect to pay its bills. Describes the effort to transform an old-style Argentine construction and engineering company into a... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Transformation; Business or Company Management; Values and Beliefs; Argentina

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August 2010 (Revised November 2011)
Case

MindTree: A Community of Communities

By: David A. Garvin and Rachna Tahilyani

MindTree is a mid-sized Indian IT services company known for its knowledge management practices, its collaborative communities, and its strong culture and values. The CEO has set a goal of becoming a $1 billion company by 2014; to reach that goal, employees must create... View Details

Keywords: Learning; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Employee Relationship Management; Innovation and Invention; Knowledge Management; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Social and Collaborative Networks; Information Technology Industry; India

April 1998 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Hambrecht & Quist

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Nicole Tempest

Hambrecht & Quist (H&Q), an investment bank headquartered in San Francisco, has a very unique culture relative to its Wall Street counterparts. Firm members and even competitors describe the culture as entrepreneurial, team-driven, non-bureaucratic, and... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Investment Banking; Growth and Development Strategy; Emerging Markets; Organizational Culture; Competitive Advantage; Banking Industry; San Francisco