Publications

TeachingInterests

Product Management

By: Sara McKinley Torti

A Product Manager is obsessed with the problem their product tries to solve and works to both define the product’s functional requirements and lead cross-functional teams to develop, launch and improve their product over time. Taught by an experienced former Google... View Details

01 Dec 2008
News

The CEO and the Functions of Leadership

In a working paper presented at the June colloquium, HBS professors Michael Porter and Nitin Nohria consider the CEO’s role in the large, complex organization that is typical in today’s global economy. An excerpt follows: “CEOs must ensure that the View Details

March 2000 (Revised April 2017)
Teaching Note

The Cross Country Group: A Piece of the Rock (A) and (B)

By: Robert Simons and Indra A. Reinbergs

Teaching Note for (9-199-044) and (9-100-044). View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Strategy And Execution; Compensation; Performance Measures

September 1990 (Revised March 1993)
Case

General Electric Plastics: Organizing the Marketing Function

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Describes the rapid growth of General Electric Plastics for over the last decade to a $5 billion (sales) company. The accompanying organizational transitions are described. The task is to design a marketing organization for the coming decade given the anticipated... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Marketing Strategy; Organizational Design; Growth and Development Strategy

01 Oct 1999
News

Culture Clash: Exploring Cross Cultural Conflicts in Business

"As different cultural traditions meet in the marketplace and inside organizations, managers face tough choices about the values that they and their organizations will live by," HBS professor Lynn Sharp Paine told participants at an HBS... View Details

Keywords: Judith A. Ross

17 Mar 2015
News

Future Management

Blog

Crossing the Bridge from Program Learning to Practical Application

When you attend an HBS Executive Education program, you never know what opportunities the experience may present. In fact, you could even find yourself becoming part of the teaching team. Ask Deb Barnes, Senior Managing Director of Fund... View Details

Summer 2013
Article

Strategic Management of Intellectual Property: An Integrated Approach

By: William W. Fisher III and Felix Oberholzer-Gee

In many organizations, the R&D, strategy, and legal functions are poorly integrated. As a consequence, firms miss opportunities to create and exploit the value of intellectual property. Functional silos are one reason for the lack of integration. More important,... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Management; Strategic Management; Legal Aspects Of Business; Licensing; Law; Innovation and Management; Knowledge Management; Intellectual Property; Business Strategy

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14 Aug 2023
Blog Post

Crossing the Bridge: A Reflection on the HKS/HBS Joint Degree Program

Business Administration and Political Science. Prior to my return to academia at Harvard, I was a management consultant advising clients in the financial services industry and a residential real estate broker primarily serving first-time... View Details

13 Nov 2019
Research & Ideas

Don't Turn Your Marketing Function Over to AI Just Yet

learning leverages Big Data, giving managers new tools to help unravel complex marketing puzzles and understand consumer behavior like never before. Tomomichi Amano, assistant professor in the Marketing Unit at Harvard Business School, is... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

November 2017 (Revised June 2019)
Case

JOE & THE JUICE Crosses the Atlantic (with video link)

By: Ethan Rouen and Suraj Srinivasan

As JOE & THE JUICE began its rapid U.S. expansion in 2017, its founder and CEO, Kaspar Basse, fretted about how he could keep his employees feeling like they were doing meaningful work. Founded in 2001, JOE & THE JUICE had always focused on making healthy juices,... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Employees; Retention; Expansion; Growth Management

January 2019 (Revised July 2019)
Case

New Balance: Managing Orders and Working Conditions

By: Michael W. Toffel, Eileen McNeely and Matthew Preble

New Balance Athletics, Inc., a major U.S.-based athletic footwear and apparel brand, sources most of its footwear products from independent suppliers whose factories are located in China, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Monica Gorman, vice president of responsible leadership... View Details

Keywords: Footwear; Athletic Footwear; Manufacturing; CSR; Sustainability; Quality Management; Supply Chains; Operations; Management; Production; Working Conditions; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Labor and Management Relations; Supply Chain Management; Supply Chain; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Consumer Products Industry

January 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System

By: Ranjay Gulati

In response to the 2001 market downturn, Cisco Systems implemented a major restructuring that transformed the company from a decentralized to centralized organization. While recognizing that a centralized, functional structure was necessary to avoid product and... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Customer Focus and Relationships; Governing and Advisory Boards; Resource Allocation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Corporate Strategy; Technology Industry

The goal of MANAGEMENT: AN INTEGRATED APPROACH, 2nd Edition, is to prepare students for leadership positions in 21st century companies by addressing the many facets involved in answering one key question: How are leaders successfully managing competitive... View Details

December 2011 (Revised January 2015)
Background Note

The Product Manager

By: Jeffrey Bussgang, Thomas Eisenmann and Robert Go

Describes the role of product manager (PM) in technology companies, detailing 1) PMs' responsibilities; 2) different ways to organize the product management function; 3) how PMs interact with other functions within technology companies (e.g., engineering, product... View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Product Development; Product Design; Information Technology; Entrepreneurship

April 1993 (Revised May 1994)
Case

General Dynamics and Computer Sciences Corporation: Outsourcing the IS Function (A)

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Katherine Seger

Designed to generate discussion on the issues of outsourcing from the perspective of a firm thinking about turning over its IS activities to a third-party vendor. View Details

Keywords: Management Systems; Management Style; Information Technology; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Business Strategy; Economic Systems; Business or Company Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Processes; Employment; Emerging Markets; Activity Based Costing and Management; Information Technology Industry; Consulting Industry

April 1993 (Revised December 2001)
Case

General Dynamics and Computer Sciences Corporation: Outsourcing the IS Function (B)

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Katherine Seger

Designed to look at outsourcing from the perspective of a major computer services company trying to get into the business. View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Business Startups; Business Plan; Business Strategy; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Financial Management; Management Teams; Communication Strategy; Organizational Design; Product Design; Accounting; Activity Based Costing and Management; Computer Industry; Information Technology Industry

April 2012
Article

Retail Doesn't Cross Borders: Here's Why and What to Do about It

By: Marcel Corstjens and Rajiv Lal

Most companies assume that the easiest way to grow is by investing overseas and that the developing world offers the best opportunities for boosting revenues and profits today. However, success abroad varies widely, and research shows that it's often tough to... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Growth and Development Strategy; Globalization; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Local Range; Retail Industry