Publications

February 2018 (Revised May 2018)
Case

Haier: Incubating Entrepreneurs in a Chinese Giant

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Nancy Hua Dai

CEO Zhang Ruimin must plan how to accelerate the growth of self-managed microenterprises. Platforms were Haier’s business platforms operating in five major sectors: white goods transformation, investment and incubation, financial holdings, real estate, and cultural... View Details

Keywords: China; Microenterprise; Appliances; Platform; Change; Innovation; Opportunities; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Transformation; Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; China

September 2009
Case

One South: Investing in Emerging Markets (A)

By: Nicolas P. Retsinas and Justin Seth Ginsburgh

A United States private equity fund, The Saboput Group, must decide whether to invest in a new technology park development in Chennai, India. The case provides the reader with a detailed investment memorandum from the local Indian operating partner, and the reader must... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Investment; Emerging Markets; Partners and Partnerships; Urban Development; Real Estate Industry; Chennai; United States

27 Jan 2015
News

Shaping His Genius to Transform Everyday Life

28 Jul 2014
Blog Post

Mid-summer Update

operating companies. For others, it was a valuable mid-course correction on project scope and impact. For all, it was an opportunity to meet senior executives including Danaher’s enigmatic CEO Larry Culp... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing

05 Sep 2023
Book

Failing Well: How Your ‘Intelligent Failure’ Unlocks Your Full Potential

In the 1990s, after drugmaker Eli Lilly spent more than a decade and millions of dollars developing the new drug Alimta to treat lung cancer, the medication came up short in effectively treating cancer in expanded trials. While the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Web

Admissions & Financial Aid | MBA

the Master of Science will be hosted in the HBS application system. Admissions Process 1. Written Application Create an HBS account and start an application . This HBS account will be the single source of... View Details

2023
Working Paper

No Mask, No Service: Customer Reaction to Walmart’s 2020 National Mask Mandate

By: Innessa Colaiacovo

Multi-location firms face a complex series of economic tradeoffs when deciding whether to implement standard processes or allow processes to vary across establishments. One element of this tradeoff is customer response. This paper explores customer reaction to a... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Geographic Location; Policy; Health Pandemics; Retail Industry; United States

Read Now

October 1979 (Revised January 1983)
Background Note

IBM Corp., Background Note

Describes some aspects of how the senior managers of IBM conducted its affairs. Much of this note is a factual description of the design of the organization and of the formal process by which members of the organization worked together. Also contains excerpts from... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Management Teams; Computer Industry; United States

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09 Nov 2020
Video

Muhammad Musa

Muhammad Musa, the Executive Director of the BRAC International since 2015, explains that the NGO does not make all its operations in one country financially self-sustaining as it considers outside funding can be a source of new knowledge. For the same reason BRAC... View Details

October 2011 (Revised August 2017)
Case

PunchTab, Inc.

By: Ramana Nanda, William R. Kerr and Lauren Barley

PunchTab was a Silicon Valley startup, founded in 2011, that was developing an Internet-based turnkey customer loyalty program for website owners, mobile applications developers, and brands. Founder/CEO Ranjith Kumaran must make strategic decisions about how to fund... View Details

Keywords: Financial Strategy; Investment; Investment Funds; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; San Francisco

February 2013
Case

New Earth Mining, Inc.

By: William E. Fruhan and Wei Wang

New Earth Mining is one of the largest producers of precious metals in the U.S. While the firm operates mines primarily in the U.S. and Canada, it has also made substantial investments in gold exploration projects in Australia and Chile. New Earth has been very... View Details

Keywords: South Africa; Capital Budgeting; International Business; Return On Investment; Mining; Risk and Uncertainty; Risk Management; Valuation; Investment; Diversification; Mining Industry; Australia; South Africa; Chile; Canada; United States

2014
Working Paper

Learning from the Kursk Submarine Rescue Failure: the Case for Pluralistic Risk Management

By: Anette Mikes and Amram Migdal

The Kursk, a Russian nuclear-powered submarine, sank in the relatively shallow waters of the Barents Sea in August 2000 during a naval exercise. Numerous survivors were reported to be awaiting rescue, and within a week, an international rescue party gathered at... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Groups and Teams; Crisis Management

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13 May 2021
News

Paying with Cash? Retailers Must Take Your Dollars in These States

Web

Summer Venture in Management

learned that each person has a unique and valuable background to offer, and it is through the active process of sharing perspectives that allows the classroom to come alive. I... View Details

August 2001 (Revised August 2005)
Case

Guinness PLC: Managing Negotiations

By: Michael A. Wheeler

Describes an initiative by Guinness, LLP to revise the process by which it centrally authorizes, supports, and reviews negotiations that are undertaken worldwide on its behalf. Senior managers wished to give regional officers enough discretion to respond to local... View Details

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Negotiation; Acquisition

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April 2017
Case

The Future of Patent Examination at the USPTO

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Tarun Khanna and Sarah Mehta

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the federal government agency responsible for evaluating and granting patents and trademarks. In 2015, the USPTO employed approximately 8,000 patent examiners who granted nearly 300,000 patents to inventors. As of April... View Details

Keywords: Machine Learning; Telework; Collaborating With Unions; Human Resources; Recruitment; Retention; Intellectual Property; Copyright; Patents; Trademarks; Knowledge Sharing; Technology Adoption; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Productivity; Performance Improvement; District of Columbia

Program

Investment Management Workshop

facilitate your growth. Your learning will take place on your own, in your living group, and in the larger classroom, driven by the renowned HBS case method. Review Our Campus Health & Safety Protocols Admissions Criteria View Details

October 2009 (Revised July 2010)
Case

Roshan: Light at the end of the tunnel in Afghanistan

By: Herman B. Leonard and Qahir Dhanani

Roshan is a highly successful telecommunications company founded by the Aga Khan fund for economic development in Afghanistan during an ongoing civil conflict. Company leaders must now decide financial and market strategy for the next phase of development of the... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Financial Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; War; Telecommunications Industry; Afghanistan