Publications

March 2002 (Revised June 2005)
Case

AOL Time Warner, Inc.

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Erin Sullivan

AOL Time Warner, which has been billed as the "first fully integrated media and communications company of the Internet Century," raises the fundamental question of how value will be created and captured by the merger of AOL and Time Warner. This case describes just how... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Internet and the Web; Value Creation; Organizational Culture; Consolidation; Change Management; Telecommunications Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

09 May 2017
What Do You Think?

Should Management Be Primarily Responsible to Shareholders?

But the ascendancy of agency theory—the idea that shareholders are owners of the corporation and managers their agents in a quest to maximize shareholder value—need not be one View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

21 Jun 2018
Blog Post

Living in a Dorm at HBS

I wanted to live on campus in a dorm for a couple of reasons. It was cheaper than an apartment but still on campus, and the lease is only for 9 months. Since I already knew I wouldn’t be applying for jobs in Boston, I didn’t want to deal... View Details

02 Aug 2023

JD/MBA Information Session with Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School

Join us for a virtual information session to learn about the JD/MBA joint degree program. HLS and HBS admissions staff will provide an overview of the program and application process. A panel View Details

26 Sep 2023
Book

Digital Strategy: A Handbook for Managing a Moving Target

ever-increasing number of sectors, to the point that the digital-based economy will soon become the new normal (Adner et al., 2019; Cennamo et al., 2020; Dagnino & Resciniti, 2021). Concepts such as big... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Information Technology; Technology

12 Dec 2023
Research & Ideas

COVID Tested Global Supply Chains. Here’s How They’ve Adapted

chains will have on US businesses and consumers, with worrying signs that it could result in higher costs and prices, say Alfaro and her coauthor Davin Chor, an associate professor at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis

May 1997
Teaching Note

Introduction and Overview: Managing Product Development, Instructor's Note

By: Marco Iansiti

The first module, comprising three cases and a team exercise, provides an impressionistic look at all the issues raised in greater detail in subsequent classes. It thus enables students, who come to the course with a range of experience and skills, to get up to speed... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Product Development; Projects; Groups and Teams

December 1996 (Revised July 1997)
Case

Parker's Biscuits, Inc.: Venturing into China

Carol Wittenberg's first major task as president of the Asia/Pacific business for Parker's Biscuits is to set up a joint venture to manufacture biscuits in China. The team that Wittenberg has put together to find a joint venture partner has narrowed the choice down to... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Decision Choices and Conditions; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; China

12 Nov 2021
News

The Psychology Behind Meeting Overload

August 2013
Teaching Note

Nutricia Middle East: Measuring Sales Force Effectiveness

By: F. Asis Martinez-Jerez

Nutricia's Middle East and African region is transitioning from a trading to a customer focus. CEO Ernest Vandenbussche must decide how to market infant milk formula most effectively in a region where the information environment is much less rich than in other... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Customer Relationship Management; Commercialization; Management Practices and Processes; Salesforce Management; Nutrition; Performance Evaluation; Information Management; Health Industry; Africa; Middle East

April 2006
Case

Nutricia Middle East: Measuring Sales Force Effectiveness

Nutricia's Middle East and African region is transitioning from a trading to a customer focus. CEO Ernest Vandenbussche must decide how to market infant milk formula most effectively in a region where the information environment is much less rich than in other... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Salesforce Management; Customer Relationship Management; Emerging Markets; Nutrition; Performance Effectiveness; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Health Industry; Middle East; Africa

2008
Working Paper

How Can Decision Making Be Improved?

By: Katherine L. Milkman, Dolly Chugh and Max H. Bazerman

The optimal moment to address the question of how to improve human decision making has arrived. Thanks to fifty years of research by judgment and decision making scholars, psychologists have developed a detailed picture of the ways in which human judgment is bounded.... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Judgments; Performance Improvement; Research; Strategy

Read Now

Web

Research Computing Services

for Monday, June 2, 8 am–12 pm ET . This will be a full shutdown for the HBSGrid compute cluster, MariaDB, and Globus data transfer nodes, for which ALL jobs and sessions will be terminated. Please plan... View Details

May 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

The Robin Hood Foundation

By: Alnoor Ebrahim and Cathy Ross

Created by hedge fund and financial managers, the Robin Hood Foundation fights poverty through grants to nonprofit organizations. As the global financial crisis continues to impact the poor disproportionately, the Foundation needs to ensure that its funds are being... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Poverty; Organizational Design; Performance Effectiveness; Financial Crisis; Programs; Measurement and Metrics

March 2010 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Dassault Systemes

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Daniela Beyersdorfer

Dassault Systèmes, a leader in product lifecycle management software, has enjoyed a very profitable business model in 3D engineering design. In the past, it has successfully managed market disruptions and opportunities through acquisition and organic innovations. Its... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Product Development; Product Marketing; Technology Industry

February 2003 (Revised July 2005)
Case

British Broadcasting Corporation (B): Making it Happen

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Douglas A Raymond

Greg Dyke, the new director general of the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC), has launched an ambitious change program, called Making It Happen, with the objective of unlocking creativity, building a sense of common purpose, and encouraging collaboration throughout the... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Media; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Leadership Development; Competition; Creativity; Relationships; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United Kingdom

2022
Chapter

Crises and International Business

By: Geoffrey Jones

This chapter uses the intellectual journey of the author to suggest that crises have been the norm rather than the exception in the history of international business. Over the last 100 years world wars, regional conflicts, the Great Depression, and decolonization are... View Details

Keywords: Crisis; Multinational Companies; International Business; Emerging Market; Business History; Multinational Firms and Management; System Shocks; War; Emerging Markets; Crisis Management

February 2011 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Product Development at OPOWER

By: Thomas Eisenmann and Rob Go

OPOWER, a software startup that helps utilities engage their customers in ways that reduce energy consumption, is scaling rapidly. The company's new head of product management has designed a system to address a point of constant tension: whether to build custom... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Customer Relationship Management; Entrepreneurship; Growth Management; Product Development; Sales; Customization and Personalization; Energy Conservation; Environmental Sustainability; Information Technology Industry; Utilities Industry