Publications

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September 1989
Background Note

Vision Thing

Describes the challenge of creating, communicating, and committing to a "vision" for an organization. Visions are characterized as a critical building block for stimulating a successful major change in an organization. Considers characteristics of a good vision, an... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mission and Purpose

Article

Believe in Vaccine Bets Like Bill Gates's

By: Scott Duke Kominers

Commitment of public or private funds upfront speeds development, production, and distribution. View Details

Keywords: Coronavirus; Vaccine; Financing; Health Pandemics; Health Care and Treatment; Product Development; Production; Distribution

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24 May 2023
News

Harvard Business School Announces 2023-24 Leadership Fellows

August 2012
Case

ARISE: A Destination-for-a-Day Spa

By: Michael Beer and Lynda St. Clair

A new Dallas-based health and beauty spa aims to use a highly distinctive human resource system as the foundation of its competitive strategy. By encouraging employees to act as "personal wellness coaches" (PWCs) with high commitment and broad responsibilities, the... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Organizational Design; Organizational Culture; Service Delivery; Competitive Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Health Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Service Industry; Texas

January 1991 (Revised March 1991)
Case

Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A)

In response to escalating cost pressures throughout the hospital industry, the management of Beth Israel Hospital (BI) decided to implement a productivity plan to cut their operating costs. They chose the Scanlon Plan, an employee participation and incentive program... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Cost Management; Employees; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

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February 1997
Background Note

Errors in Social Judgment: Implications for Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, Part 1

For the past quarter-century, the field of social cognition has documented a number of ways in which individuals and groups are prone to make characteristic errors when judging others. This note examines the ways in which these tendencies pose difficulties for... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Negotiation; Conflict and Resolution

August 2024
Case

Coca Cola İçecek—Managing a Sudden Turbulence

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Namrata Arora and Gizem Cihan Dincsoy

In November 2021, Kerem Kerimoğlu, Coca Cola İçecek (CCI) Group Supply Chain Development Director, is alarmed by a news headline revealing a shortage of Turkish truck drivers impacting Europe. This crisis quickly affects CCI's distribution as third-party logistics... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Logistics; Supply Chain Management; Crisis Management; Distribution; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Turkey; Central Asia; Middle East

October 1994 (Revised March 1999)
Case

Ritz-Carlton: Using Information Systems to Better Serve the Customer

By: W. Earl Sasser, Thomas O. Jones and Norman Klein

Explores the interface of an information system that keeps track of guests and their preferences, and the people systems that deliver multiple services at Ritz-Carlton hotels. The luxury hotel chain's unique service credo and commitment to quality principles are... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Customer Satisfaction; Training; Recruitment; Service Delivery; Supply Chain Management; Luxury; Balance and Stability; Information Technology

Research Summary

How to Manage Customers for Increased Profits and Customer Satisfaction

By: Frances X. Frei

For many service firms, the customer plays an important role in contributing to the cost and/or quality of the service. This is very different than many manufacturing contexts, for example, where the firm has virtually complete control over product cost and quality. ... View Details

2008
Book

Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns

By: Clayton M. Christensen, Michael B. Horn and Curtis W. Johnson

According to recent studies in neuroscience, the way we learn doesn't always match up with the way we are taught. If we hope to stay competitive—academically, economically, and technologically—we need to rethink our understanding of intelligence, reevaluate our... View Details

Keywords: Learning; Teaching; Disruptive Innovation; Competitive Advantage; Technology Adoption

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September 2001 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Ocean Carriers

By: Erik Stafford, Angela Chao and Kathleen Luchs

In January 2001, Mary Linn, vice president of finance for Ocean Carriers, a shipping company with offices in New York and Hong Kong, was evaluating a proposed lease of a ship for a three-year period, beginning in early 2003. The customer was eager to finalize the... View Details

Keywords: Cash Flow; Forecasting and Prediction; Cost of Capital; Leasing; Corporate Strategy; Valuation; Shipping Industry; New York (city, NY); Hong Kong

Web

Bringing Together Entertainment, Media, and Sports

Picture Yourself In the Program The Business of Entertainment, Media, and Sports program at Harvard Business School Executive Education, brings together an exciting mix of global perspectives to explore the... View Details

Web

GMP Reinvents the Experience by Going Virtual

The General Management Program (GMP) is about shaping the future of outstanding leaders. During these extraordinary times you're facing extraordinary challenges, and GMP will provide the skills you need now more than ever. We look forward... View Details

08 Dec 2021
Blog Post

The Drive to Succeed: Silvio Memme (MBA 2020) of OMERS Ventures and His Career Switch into Venture Capital

at analyzing companies. While it was tempting to broaden his geographic focus, Memme also remained committed to returning to Toronto and dedicated his time to networking with HBS alumni in the area. By spring View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital

30 Mar 2023
Blog Post

Breaking Barriers and Building Community: Get to Know the HBS Women’s Student Association (WSA)

personally. Our mission is to connect, empower, and celebrate the next generation of women leaders. We feel it's our responsibility to ensure the women in our campus community have the resources and allies they need to thrive, both as HBS... View Details

June 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Betting on Green Steel

By: George Serafeim and Sofoklis Melissovas

'Betting on Green Steel' traces the innovative journey embarked upon by a group of MBA students who have set out to conceive a novel steelmaker that pioneers the production of green steel. The ensemble is confronted with a series of critical choices that will shape the... View Details

Keywords: Decarbonization; Sustainability Management; Technology; Industrialization; Climate Risk; Energy; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Sustainability; Technology Adoption; Climate Change; Innovation and Invention; Business Strategy; Family Business; Steel Industry; Middle East; India

Web

Teaching with the Case Method—A Panel Discussion

Rohit Deshpandé, Harvard Business School professor and co-chair of the Global Colloquium on Participant-Centered Learning (GloColl), leads a special panel during the 20th anniversary of the program, and the... View Details

04 Nov 2019
Video

Patrick Chalhoub

Patrick Chalhoub, CEO of Dubai-based luxury retailer Chalhoub, describes his group's commitment to improving education in the region.

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January 1988 (Revised January 2007)
Background Note

Leading Change

By: Michael Beer

Presents a conceptual framework for understanding the process of leading organizational change. Change leaders must create dissatisfaction with the status quo, develop a vision of the future state, and manage a process that sequences and orchestrates events and changes... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Leading Change