Publications

Article

Agility Hacks

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Ranjay Gulati

In the past 20 years, the agile approach to improving products, services, and processes has swept the business world. Rooted in software development, agile has spread to many other functions, and some companies have turned much of their organization, including the... View Details

Keywords: Agile Practices; Agile Project Management; Projects; Management Practices and Processes; Groups and Teams; Innovation Strategy

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2020
Working Paper

Overcoming the Cold Start Problem of CRM Using a Probabilistic Machine Learning Approach

By: Eva Ascarza

The success of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) programs ultimately depends on the firm's ability to understand consumers' preferences and precisely capture how these preferences may differ across customers. Only by understanding customer heterogeneity, firms can... View Details

Keywords: Customer Management; Targeting; Deep Exponential Families; Probabilistic Machine Learning; Cold Start Problem; Customer Relationship Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Consumer Behavior; Analytics and Data Science; Mathematical Methods; Retail Industry

SSRN

October 2016 (Revised April 2018)
Case

JCPenney: Back in Business

By: Elie Ofek, K. Shelette Stewart and Christine Snively

In 2016, JCPenney was in the midst of a multi-year turnaround after coming dangerously close to bankruptcy. Under CEO Marvin Ellison, the company had identified three strategic objectives—a focus on omnichannel, private label goods, and increasing revenue per... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Customer Management; Omnichannel; Turnarounds; Private Label; Promotions; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Customer Relationship Management; Goals and Objectives; Competition; Retail Industry; United States

September 2015 (Revised July 2016)
Case

Turkish Airlines: Widen Your World

By: Juan Alcácer and Esel Çekin

This case tracks Turkish Airlines' transition from regional player to global powerhouse. With an order for 212 aircraft in the first half of 2013, the airline had moved to double its size and become one of the industry's top-ten players. Growing its fleet would allow... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Operational Complexity; Capacity Constraints; Profitable Growth; Subsidiary Management; Externalities; Emerging Market; Globalized Firms and Management; Competition; Air Transportation; Alliances; Corporate Strategy; Emerging Markets; Growth and Development Strategy; Air Transportation Industry; Turkey

November 1993 (Revised October 1995)
Case

Erik Peterson (A)

By: John J. Gabarro

Describes the problems facing a recent MBA graduate in his job as general manager of a mobile cellular company owned by a parent corporation. Raises issues of corporate divisional relationships and the difficulties facing an inexperienced manager who seems to be... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Managerial Roles; Organizational Design; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Mobile Technology

December 2020 (Revised June 2021)
Case

France Télécom (A): A Challenging Restructuring

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery and Ashley V. Whillans

These cases explore the impacts of industry shocks, resulting corporate actions that had a devastating impact on employees, and the legal conviction of corporate leaders for “institutional harassment."

This case series follows the evolution of France... View Details

June 2024 (Revised August 2024)
Case

Hospital for Special Surgery: Returning to a New Normal? (A)

By: Robert S. Huckman, Michael Lingzhi Li and Camille Gregory

Early on the morning of April 27, 2020, Justin Oppenheimer stood outside the entrance to the lobby of the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) Pavilion Building with mixed emotions. On one hand, Oppenheimer, HSS’ Enterprise Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy... View Details

Keywords: Operations Management; Scheduling; Optimization; COVID-19; Health Care and Treatment; Operations; Customer Focus and Relationships; Disruption; Health Industry; United States

August 2017 (Revised May 2019)
Case

Hilti (A): Fleet Management?

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Oliver Gassmann and Roman Sauer

This case explores the strategic decision-making process of premium power tools manufacturer Hilti in 1999, when the company was considering implementing a fleet management system in the construction industry. Fleet management would involve a shift from selling power... View Details

01 Apr 2002
News

Professorship Brings Brierley's HBS Connection Full Circle

to meet Hal and learn what it takes to live on the frontier of marketing practice for three decades." "John Deighton's passion for marketing and the art of managing customer relationships makes him the... View Details

Keywords: Charles M. Williams; Epsilon Data Management; Computer Systems Design and Related Services; Professional Services

November 2009
Teaching Note

RL Wolfe: Implementing Self-Directed Teams (Brief Case)

By: David A. Garvin and Elizabeth Collins

Teaching Note for 4063 View Details

Keywords: Work Force Management; Employee Empowerment; Motivation; Motivation and Incentives; Employee Relationship Management

May 2020 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Michael Ku and Global Clinical Supply at Pfizer Inc.: Bringing Hope to Patients (A)

By: Linda A. Hill, Allison J. Wigen and Emily Tedards

Michael Ku joined Pfizer in 2011, after the company had undergone three large-scale mergers and acquisitions. His mission was to drive the digital transformation of the company’s clinical supply chain, but he knew he had to start with the culture. Over the next eight... View Details

November 2016 (Revised December 2017)
Case

Blake Sports Apparel and Switch Activewear: Bringing the Executive Team Together

By: Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly Baden

Cameron (Cam) Barker, founder and CEO of Blake Sports Apparel and Switch Activewear, manufacturers and distributers of sports apparel and accessories, was facing a challenge with his executive team. Their inability to work together on seemingly simple issues was a... View Details

Keywords: Team Dynamics; Team Management; Team Effectiveness; Team Performance; Executive Leadership; Groups and Teams; Leadership; Performance Effectiveness; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United Kingdom

17 Jan 2011
Research & Ideas

Being the Boss

future—that managing isn't all about today, it's also about managing your team for tomorrow. Q: You include a chapter called "Don't Forget Your Boss." Managers often... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

September 2023
Case

The Meteoric Rise of Skims

By: Ayelet Israeli, Jill Avery and Leonard A. Schlesinger

Since its founding in 2019 by Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede, Skims, a solutions-oriented brand creating the next generation of underwear, loungewear, and shapewear with an eye toward body-type and skin-tone inclusivity, has experienced a meteoric rise. Kardashian, who... View Details

March 2015
Case

Transforming Care at UnityPoint Health – Fort Dodge

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Ashley-Kay Fryer and Morten T. Hansen

This case details the transformation of a health care delivery system, UnityPoint Health – Fort Dodge, into a Pioneer Accountable Care Organization (ACO) after the passage of health reform in the United States. The case explores in detail how the hospital CEO and staff... View Details

Keywords: ACO; Health Care; Health Care Industry; Health Reform; Change Leadership; Change Management; Coordination; Health Care and Treatment; Leading Change; Health Industry; United States

October 1986 (Revised July 2010)
Case

Karen Leary (A)

By: Linda A. Hill

Describes the evolution of the working relationship of Karen Leary, a new manager of a Merrill Lynch retail branch, and Ted Chung, a new financial consultant in the branch. Leary has some concerns about her working relationship with Chung and with his performance.... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Employee Relationship Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Personal Development and Career; Performance Evaluation; Diversity; Financial Services Industry

May 2013 (Revised May 2014)
Case

Innovation at the Boston Consulting Group

By: Robert G. Eccles, Das Narayandas and Penelope Rossano

This case is about how the Boston Consulting Group has approached innovation from its founding to the present day. It discusses the role of the firm's talent market and client market in developing these innovations. View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Strategy Consulting; Professional Service Firm; Knowledge Management; Client Management; Product Development; Leadership; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Independent Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Value Creation; Consulting Industry

Article

181 Top CEOs Have Realized Companies Need a Purpose Beyond Profit

By: Claudine Gartenberg and George Serafeim

On August 19, 2019, the Business Roundtable (BR) issued a memo entitled “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation.” The Business Roundtable, one of the most preeminent business lobbies in the United States, includes 192 CEOs of leading U.S. companies from Apple to... View Details

Keywords: Purpose; Corporate Purpose; Stakeholder Management; CEO; Mission and Purpose; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Strategy