Publications

June 2005 (Revised May 2006)
Case

Vidient (A)

Vidient, a young company, is in the process of being spun out of a much larger, established Japanese business. Vidient is in the business of analyzing the feeds from security cameras and catches security breaches automatically, without human assistance. The parent... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Business Growth and Maturation; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Business Startups; Service Industry; Japan

Find at Harvard

02 Mar 2010
First Look

First Look: March 2

corporate directors' fiduciary duties in that state. This change limited incentives to take actions favoring equity over debt. We show that, as predicted, this increased the likelihood of equity issues, increased investment, and reduced... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

August 2012 (Revised October 2015)
Case

LinkedIn Corporation, 2012

By: David Yoffie and Liz Kind

Since its inception in 2003, LinkedIn had become a leading Silicon Valley institution with a brand name that was recognizable throughout the U.S. and in many countries overseas. As of March 2012, LinkedIn was the world's largest professional network on the Internet... View Details

Keywords: Social Networking; Media; Technology; Strategy; Growth Management; Internet and the Web; Corporate Strategy; Social and Collaborative Networks; Brands and Branding; Social Media; Service Industry; Service Industry; California

22 Mar 2010
Research & Ideas

One Strategy: Aligning Planning and Execution

deep culture of direct sales to corporate customers, the company was slow to take advantage of a rapidly emerging consumer market—at least until founder Michael Dell returned to shake things up. "Our past is littered with firms that... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Web Services; Web Services

February 2007 (Revised March 2007)
Case

UBS and Climate Change--Warming Up to Global Action?

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Forest L. Reinhardt and Elizabeth Raabe

Marco Suter, Executive Vice-Chairman, UBS Board of Directors, carefully studied the chart on his desk. It showed the public commitment of major financial institutions to help mitigate global warming. Evidently, UBS lagged behind its competitors. The graph was part of a... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Energy Conservation; Cost vs Benefits; Law; Financial Institutions; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Accountability; Financial Services Industry

March 2013 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Indonesia's OJK: Building Financial Stability

By: Lakshmi Iyer and David Lane

In 2013, a new financial services authority, the Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK), took over responsibility for regulating capital markets and non-bank financial institutions in Indonesia. OJK was scheduled to take over bank regulation and supervision from the central... View Details

Keywords: Monetary Policy; Bank Regulation; Financial Market Regulation; Corruption; Bureaucracy; Central Bank Independence; Indonesia; Crime and Corruption; Central Banking; Ethics; Emerging Markets; Financial Markets; Corporate Governance; Financial Crisis; Financial Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Indonesia

11 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

The High Risks of Short-Term Management

themselves and their investors. There's another surprise in the research: short-termism might not be as widespread as we think, and a substantial number of corporations are rising to the challenge. "One important takeaway is that firms... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Financial Services

January 2014
Case

Steven Carpenter at Cake Financial (Abridged)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Joseph B. Fuller and Shikhar Ghosh

Steven Carpenter reflects on the successes and failures of his recent venture, Cake Financial. Carpenter had just sold the four-year-old startup and was at work on a new business plan. But first, he wanted to understand why Cake Financial, a service that allowed users... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Internet; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

01 Nov 2017
What Do You Think?

What Are the Real Lessons of the Wells Fargo Case?

several years ago to encourage frontline employees to develop “deeper” relationships—defined by the number of the bank’s services utilized--with existing customers. However, the goals on which the incentives were based were so daunting... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Banking

April 2018
Teaching Note

InsideSales.com (A) and (B)

By: Frank Cespedes

Teaching Note for HBS Nos. 817-018 and 817-042. InsideSales.com (ISC) has been successful selling its software to small- and medium-sized businesses (SMB). But for various reasons, the founders see “the next stage of growth” as building a scalable sales and service... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Customer Relationship Management; Growth Management; Marketing Strategy; Salesforce Management; Talent and Talent Management; Technology Industry

04 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 4

capitalist Shibusawa Eiichi in a global historical perspective. The chapter reviews the similarities and differences over time and between countries of proponents of corporate responsibility, including Andrew Carnegie and Robert Anderson... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

22 Jun 2010
First Look

First Look: June 22

Chapman Wood, George Westerman, and Charles A. O'Reilly III Publication:Industrial and Corporate Change (forthcoming) Abstract This article empirically explores the relations between alternative organizational designs and a firm's ability... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

06 Aug 2013
First Look

First Look: August 6

during the class period. Named directors receive more negative recommendations from Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), a proxy advisory firm, and significantly more negative votes from shareholders than directors in a benchmark... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

January 2014
Case

Anglo American: Implementing a 'Social Way' for Global Mining

By: Christopher Marquis, David Plumb, Tom Blathwayt and Zoe Yang

The mining giant Anglo American attempts to differentiate itself through its social performance, yet public expectations are still growing. Maintaining a "social license" to operate was increasingly challenging and critical to business success.

The case... View Details

Keywords: Global Mining; Localization; Socioeconomic Issues; Procurement; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Supply Chain Management; Globalization; Reputation; Emerging Markets; Mining Industry; South Africa

14 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 14

founded Netflix to provide a home movie service that would do a better job satisfying customers than the traditional retail rental model. But as it encountered challenges it underwent several major strategy shifts, ultimately developing a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2010 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Google Inc. (Abridged)

By: Benjamin Edelman and Thomas R. Eisenmann

Describes Google's history, business model, governance structure, corporate culture, and processes for managing innovation. Reviews Google's recent strategic initiatives and the threats it poses to Yahoo, Microsoft, and others. Asks what Google should do next. One... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Governance; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Competitive Strategy; Search Technology; Web Services Industry