Publications

March 2023
Case

Innovation at Google Ads: The Sales Acceleration and Innovation Labs (SAIL) (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2018, Ana Owczarzak was appointed to lead Google Ads' new innovation and accelerator team - the Sales Acceleration and Innovation Labs (SAIL). The purpose of SAIL was to offer testing and incubation services for individuals within Google Ads who were developing new... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Organizational Design; Technology Industry; Advertising Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States

07 Dec 2016
Blog Post

Marketing Reimagined: A Recap of the 2016 Marketing Innovation Conference

On Sunday November 6, over 350 people flocked to the Harvard Business School campus to attend the Marketing Innovation Conference. This year’s theme, “Marketing Reimagined”, drew a wide range of attendees from top marketing professionals to students from 15+ View Details

Keywords: Entertainment / Media / Sports

07 Feb 2005
Research & Ideas

How “Career Imprinting” Shapes Leaders

new book, Career Imprints: Creating Leaders Across an Industry, is scheduled to be published in April by Jossey-Bass. Mallory Stark: What is career imprinting? Monica Higgins: Career imprinting refers to the process by which individuals... View Details

Keywords: by Mallory Stark

2005
Article

The Rise in Firm-Level Volatility: Causes and Consequences

By: Diego Comin and Thomas Philippon

We document that the recent decline in aggregate volatility has been accompanied by a large increase in firm level risk. The negative relationship between firm and aggregate risk seems to be present across industries in the US, and across OECD countries. Firm... View Details

Keywords: Volatility; Risk Management; Relationships; Research and Development; Financing and Loans; Industry Growth; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Economy; Outcome or Result; United States

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February 2005 (Revised November 2006)
Case

InfoVision (A): Technology Transfer at Georgia Tech

InfoVision illustrates university technology transfer through the choices of a graduating doctoral student. Also explores the challenges of working across the scientific, business, and legal disciplines in the Georgia Tech transfer program. View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Problems and Challenges; Transformation; Higher Education; Science-Based Business; Commercialization; Research and Development; Education Industry; Georgia (state, US)

Ethan Bernstein (@ethanbernstein) is an associate professor in the Organizational Behavior unit at Harvard Business School. He has spent his career researching novel talent management practices and their effect on employee behavior, collaboration, and performance.... View Details

July 1997
Case

We've Got Rhythm! Medtronic Corporation's Cardiac Pacemaker Business

By: Clayton M. Christensen

Illustrates how a new management team at Medtronic's Cardiac Pacemaker business reversed a steep decline in market share by adopting certain management principles for new product development: clarifying strategy, aggregating project planning, accommodating the number... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Product Development; Health; Technology; Change Management; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States

September 2013
Teaching Note

Trader Joe's

By: David L. Ager and Michael A. Roberto

Based on a variety of metrics, Trader Joe's ranked as one of the most successful grocers in the United States in 2013. Experts estimated that the company had the highest sales per square foot of any major grocery chain, even significantly higher than top performer... View Details

Keywords: Comparative Advantage; Core Competencies; Growth Strategy; Strategic Positioning; Industry Analysis; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Organizational Culture; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

George Serafeim is the Charles M. Williams Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He co-leads a Lab, within Harvard's Digital, Data, Design Institute, and serves on the faculty steering commitee of Harvard University's Salata Institute. He... View Details

Keywords: asset management; insurance industry; automobiles; industrial goods; fashion; food; green technology

Career Coach

Kevin Dolan

large-scale performance improvement and as a manager and engineer. While at McKinsey, Kevin served clients across logistics, travel, retail, consumer, health care, and industrial sectors, and built on his experience with Procter &... View Details

March 2020 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Wachtell Lipton: Focused Excellence

By: Ashish Nanda and Margaret Cross

For years, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz—a small, New York City law firm—has consistently boasted the highest profits per partner and one of the highest “prestige” ratings among U.S.-based law firms. The firm has remained loyal to a distinctive strategy ever since its... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Law; Mergers and Acquisitions; Legal Services Industry; New York (city, NY)

2015
Working Paper

Banks' Risk Exposures

By: Juliane Begenau, Monika Piazzesi and Martin Schneider

This paper studies U.S. banks' exposure to interest rate and credit risk. We exploit the factor structure in interest rates to represent many bank positions in terms of simple factor portfolios. This approach delivers time varying measures of exposure that are... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Interest Rates; Credit; Banks and Banking; United States

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September 2011 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Sykué Bioenergya

By: Shon R. Hiatt

Sykué Bioenergya (Sykué) was formed in April 2006 with the goal of building four 30 megawatt (MW) bioelectricity power plants in Brazil's Bahia province, 1,500 kilometers north of Sao Paulo. Bahia's savannah-like conditions were perfect for growing elephant grass, a... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Entrepreneurship; Energy Industry; Brazil

28 Apr 2020
Blog Post

A Crash Course in Saving a Family Business

return home to Queens, NY, to both complete her first-year MBA studies online, and launch an e-commerce site to help her parents’ small business, Bean&Bean Coffee Roasters, stay afloat. “It’s been surreal. This morning, I had a... View Details

February 2024 (Revised December 2024)
Case

Best Buy Health: Enabling Care at Home

By: Robert S. Huckman, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Antonio Moreno, Bradley Staats and Sarah Mehta

This case explores retailer Best Buy’s decision to enter health care. Best Buy Health aims to enable care at home across three prongs: consumer health, active aging, and virtual care. A key pillar of Best Buy Health's strategy is leveraging the Geek Squad—the company's... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Invention; Business Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Electronics Industry; Health Industry; Retail Industry; United States; Minnesota

19 Nov 2014
HBS Case

Marketing Marijuana

experiment in selling smoke is already under way. Marijuana for recreational use officially went on sale in Denver and across Colorado in January 2014. As states continue to decriminalize its use, marijuana is increasingly available to... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Food & Beverage

November 2023
Case

Nourishing Communities: Brighter Bites Approach to Childhood Nutrition

By: David E. Bell, Forest Reinhardt and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

In September 2023, Brighter Bites, a Houston-based non-profit that distributed fresh produce and nutrition education in underserved communities across 11 cities and 5 states, grappled with identifying the best path forward for continued growth. Brighter Bites proved... View Details

Keywords: Nutrition; Growth and Development Strategy; Logistics; Nonprofit Organizations; Human Needs; Poverty; Houston