Publications

January 2015 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Trouble at Tessei

By: Ethan Bernstein and Ryan W. Buell

In 2005, Teruo Yabe is asked to revive Tessei, the 669-person JR-East subsidiary responsible for cleaning its Shinkansen ("bullet") trains. Operational mistakes, customer complaints, safety issues, and employee turnover are at or near all-time highs, even as the... View Details

Keywords: Service Management; Employee Engagement; Employee Motivation; Leadership And Managing People; Quality Improvement; Efficiency; Japan; Operational Transparency; Employee Coordination; Transparency; Leadership; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Employees; Quality; Transportation Industry; Japan

October 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Case

John Branca: Negotiating Michael Jackson's Thriller (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Alex Green

John Branca, attorney to pop musician Michael Jackson, must negotiate a series of deals on behalf of his client in order to safeguard his financial interests and creative license during a period of rising stardom. View Details

Keywords: Dealmaking; Negotiation; Entertainment; Music Entertainment

08 Apr 2014
News

KISS's Paul Stanley Overcame Deafness, Deformity And Bullying To Become A Rock Star

03 Apr 2007
First Look

First Look: April 3, 2007

and the Medici String Quartet Harvard Business School Case 607-083 Describes the approach to creative collaboration and leadership adopted by Paul Robertson as leader of one of the most highly regarded string quartets in recent history.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

September 1989 (Revised January 1990)
Case

Vinod Khosla and Sun Microsystems (A)

Describes how Vinod Khosla got Sun Microsystems started, and a critical marketing challenge the company faced at the end of the first year. Objective is to illustrate how bold creative thinking can make or break start-ups. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Business Startups; Innovation and Invention; Information Technology Industry; Computer Industry

07 Mar 2011
News

Unleash your inner genius

09 Dec 2019
News

What Science Can Tell Us About Building Great Teams

Dorothy A. Leonard

Dorothy Leonard*, the William J. Abernathy Professor of Business Administration Emerita, joined the Harvard faculty in 1983 after teaching for three years at the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has taught MBA courses in... View Details

Keywords: computer; consulting; education industry; electronics; federal government; high technology; information technology industry; software; venture capital industry

24 Aug 2018
Blog Post

Meet the MS/MBA: Engineering Sciences Class of 2020

"The MS/MBA program is an opportunity to expand my knowledge of engineering and design, while developing a strong foundation in business. I am most excited about becoming part of a creative and entrepreneurial community that I hope... View Details

10 Oct 2012
News

Building Innovation into the Business Plan

24 Oct 2011
News

Top 'Innovators' Rank Low in R&D Spending

1982
Article

Children's Artistic Creativity: Detrimental Effects of Competition in a Field Setting

By: T. M. Amabile

Girls whose ages ranged from 7 to 11 years made paper collages during 1 of 2 residential parties. Those in the experimental group were competing for prizes, whereas those in the control group expected that the prizes would be raffled off. Artist-judges later rated each... View Details

Keywords: Creativity; Early Childhood Education; Motivation and Incentives; Situation or Environment; Competition; Teaching

Find at Harvard

27 Mar 2019
Blog Post

From SNL to Showtime: Pursuing a Career in Entertainment

and all of the people I met at HBS. I'm excited to go back for my five-year reunion this spring! Anything else you would like to add? It can be extremely scary to go for the career you want, especially if it's an uncommon path. It took me a long time to take the plunge... View Details

September 2004 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Sapient Corporation

By: Rakesh Khurana and Joel Podolny

Describes the start-up, growth, organizational design, and operations over the first 10 years of a professional services firm. Focuses on the creative use of organizational purpose and values as an integral part of strategy and alignment of organizational activities. View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Operations; Knowledge Management; Strategy; Service Industry

Research Summary

Contentment with Professor Roy Chua

Middle-Way is one of the core principles of Buddhism-it promotes a moderate lifestyle that is self-sufficient and void of excesses or extremes in any life domains. People with this type of lifestyle live a "content" life. However, could life... View Details

November 2004 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Launching the New MINI

By: Douglas B. Holt and John A. Quelch

Focuses on how strategy is transformed into creative branding materials. Reports on the development of a wide variety of brand communication materials produced to support the MINI launch in the United States. MINI USA executives worked with their ad agency Crispin... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Creativity; Auto Industry; United States