Publications

Find at Harvard

12 May 2008
Research & Ideas

Accounting Information as Political Currency

downward earnings management, corporate donors to candidates in closely watched races exhibit significant evidence of downward earnings management in the second and third calendar quarters of 2004." Ramanna agreed to an e-mail... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

March 2011 (Revised June 2011)
Supplement

Arck Systems (C)

By: Ian Larkin

The Arck Systems series of cases describes the dilemmas faced by a senior sales manager in determining a sales compensation plan at an enterprise software company. The existing compensation plan is aggressive and highly rewards "star" performers. The cases track a... View Details

Keywords: Change; Framework; Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Management; Organizational Design; Outcome or Result; Performance Evaluation; Sales; Motivation and Incentives; System; Applications and Software

Research Summary

By: Srikant M. Datar

Datar's research interests are in the cost management and management control areas. He has published his research on activity-based management, quality, productivity, time-based competition, new product development, bottleneck management, incentives and ... View Details

March 2002 (Revised March 2005)
Case

Intevis: Brokering the Boundaryless Career

Illustrates technology strategy, knowledge management, and the challenges of managing temporary professionals in the increasingly modular semiconductor industry. View Details

Keywords: Technology; Knowledge Management; Employees; Semiconductor Industry

July 2018 (Revised March 2019)
Teaching Note

Hilti (A): Fleet Management?

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Jan Rivkin

This Teaching Note accompanies the case HBS No. 718-419, “Hilti (A): Fleet Management.” It provides guidelines for class discussion, as well as a board plan and transcripts of the associated videos, Hilti Fleet Management Video Supplements.
The associated case... View Details

03 Jun 2015
Video

Hakeem Belo-Osagie

Hakeem Belo-Osagie, former chairman of Nigeria-based United Bank for Africa, discusses the challenge, in African countries, of managing the government and regulatory agencies, as compared to in the United... View Details

April 2023
Case

Drive Capital: A New Road for Venture

By: Paul A. Gompers and Alicia Dadlani

Founded by two former Sequoia Capital partners, Columbus-Ohio-based Drive Capital’s mission was to build a world-class venture capital firm in the middle of the U.S., an area historically overlooked by VCs. Drive faced early challenges of attracting investors, sourcing... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Business Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Biotechnology Industry; United States; Ohio

August 2017 (Revised June 2018)
Case

Enpara.com: Digital Bank at a Crossroad

By: Sunil Gupta and Eren Kuzucu

In March 2017, Elsa Pekmez Atan (MBA 2004), was wondering about the future of Enpara.com, a digital-only banking platform of QNB Finansbank. Since its launch in October 2012, Enpara had been successful in attracting over 600,000 customers by appealing to digital savvy,... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Competition; Banks and Banking; Business Model; Product Launch; Competitive Strategy; Integration; Innovation and Invention; Decision Making; Strategy; Emerging Markets; Digital Transformation; Banking Industry; Turkey

December 1998 (Revised January 2001)
Case

Acer, Inc.: Taiwan's Rampaging Dragon

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Anthony St. George

Describes the strategic, organizational, and management changes that led Acer from its 1976 startup to become the world's second-largest computer manufacturer. Outlines the birth of the company, the painful "professionalization" of its management, the plunge into... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Competitive Advantage; Global Strategy; Transformation; Computer Industry; Taiwan

11 Apr 2019
HBS Seminar

Gabriel Szulanski, INSEAD

May 2009
Article

Authority versus Persuasion

By: Eric J. Van den Steen

This paper studies a manager's trade-off between using persuasion and using interpersonal authority to get an employee to 'do the right thing' from the manager's perspective (when the manager and employee disagree on the right course of action). It... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Managerial Roles; Projects; Motivation and Incentives; Power and Influence

Find at Harvard

Read Now

01 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

Retail Execs Underplay Current Performance to Investors--but Why?

Business School finance professor Kenneth A. Froot in the April working paper What Do Measures of Real-Time Corporate Sales Tell Us about Earnings Surprises and Post-Announcement Returns? “It’s startling to find that managers are not even... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Financial Services

August 2003 (Revised November 2003)
Background Note

Working Effectively with Counsel

Popular stereotypes of lawyers include "overhead," "Dr. No," "internal cop," "keep us out of trouble!" and "get us out of trouble!" Focus groups of business leaders queried in a survey by the Case Western Reserve University Law School associated the word "lawyer" with... View Details

Keywords: Law; Partners and Partnerships; Management Teams; Legal Services Industry

June 1992 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Hennessy and Harvey-Jones: Two Responses to the Crisis in Chemicals

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Responding to the crisis in chemicals in the early 1980's, Allied Chemical (U.S.) and ICI (U.K.) appoint new chairmen to revitalize each company's strategy, culture, and organization. Hennessy, an outsider with a background in managing conglomerates, has strong ideas... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Leading Change; Crisis Management; Management Style; Managerial Roles; Organizational Culture; Corporate Strategy

Find at Harvard

October 1976 (Revised October 1985)
Case

Washington Post (A)

Concerns the 1975 strike of the pressmen against the Washington Post. Illustrates the importance of past practices of both unions and management and collective bargaining. Also illustrates implementation problems associated with new technologies as well as problems... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Labor Unions; Journalism and News Industry; District of Columbia

14 Jun 2025
Video

Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well

June 2006 (Revised December 2006)
Case

Housatonic Partners - ArchivesOne, Inc.

By: Michael J. Roberts and Nabil N. El-Hage

Describes Housatonic Partners' investment in ArchivesOne, a records management company. The original investment was made in 1998, and subsequent investments are made by Housatonic. In 2005, as the life of the investment fund is coming to an end, Housatonic must work... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity Exit; Private Equity; Investment; United States

June 1987
Supplement

B-W Footwear: Interview with Robert Siff, President, and Lawrence Siff, Video

By: David B. Yoffie

B-W Footwear's CEO and his son discuss questions of management succession and recent moves to bolster their profitability. View Details

Keywords: Profit; Management Succession; Corporate Strategy