Publications

December 2004 (Revised August 2005)
Exercise

Orientation to the Public Image Assessment Exercise

By: Robin J. Ely

The Public Image Assessment exercise acquaints students with the ideal images they hold of themselves, the actions they engage in to convey these images, and the benefits and costs of these behaviors to themselves and to others. Social psychologists call this process... View Details

Keywords: Reputation; Perception

January 2014 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Henry Schein: Doing Well by Doing Good?

By: Rebecca Henderson, Raffaella Sadun, Aldo Sesia and Russell Eisenstat

Henry Schein Inc., a distributor of supplies to dentist, physician, and veterinary practices, had sales approaching $9 billion and employed nearly 16,000 people. The company had experienced impressive growth under the leadership of Stanley Bergman and his executive... View Details

February 2015
Teaching Note

Eataly: Reimagining the Grocery Store

By: Sunil Gupta and Michela Addis

Within a few years of its operations, the Italian-based supermarket Eataly created a lot of buzz and excitement among consumers and media. Eataly's initial success was even more impressive in an industry known for its intense competition and low margins. How did Eataly... View Details

Keywords: Customer Engagement; Innovation; Retailing; Supermarkets; Agribusiness; Entrepreneurship; Food; Customers; Innovation and Invention; Marketing; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Europe; North and Central America; Asia

11 Dec 2021
News

The Best-Managed Companies of 2021—and How They Made It to the Top

January 2007 (Revised December 2007)
Case

PSI: Social Marketing Clean Water

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Nava Ashraf and Marie Bell

Senior management at PSI, arguably the world's largest and most successful social marketer with impressive achievements in the field of family planning, HIV/AIDS, and malaria prevention must determine what to do about their slow-to-take-off clean water initiative.... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Health Care and Treatment; Social Marketing; Natural Environment; Social Enterprise; Business Strategy

January 2017 (Revised March 2017)
Case

SIN Capital and the Fullerton Health IPO

By: Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

In early 2016, David Sin, founder of the Singapore-based private equity group SIN Capital and chairman of its primary holding, Fullerton Health, was deeply involved in preparations for taking Fullerton public on the Singapore stock exchange. Three years after SIN... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Asia; IPO; Financing; Singapore; Growth; Health Care and Treatment; Private Equity; Initial Public Offering; Financing and Loans; Strategy; Value Creation; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Industry; Singapore

August 2007
Case

Manila Water Company

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, David Wheeler and Jane Comeault

In 1997, the Philippines government privatized its water utility in the metropolitan Manila area. The East Zone concession was won by Manila Water Company and the West Zone concession by Maynilad Water Services. Over the next decade, Manila Water turned in an... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Framework; Business or Company Management; Bids and Bidding; Privatization; Performance Improvement; Utilities Industry

February 2003
Background Note

Identity Issues in Teams

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer and Hillary Anger Elfenbein

This note explains how identity dynamics underlie many of the observable interpersonal problems that team members encounter, ranging from lack of participation and low involvement to misunderstandings and dysfunctional emotional conflict. It provides a framework for... View Details

Keywords: Framework; Managerial Roles; Outcome or Result; Performance Effectiveness; Groups and Teams; Conflict and Resolution; Emotions; Identity

Blog

What's the Right Fit for You–An In-Person or Virtual Program?

When Hitoshi Yamasaki of Mitsubishi applied to the HBS Executive Education Advanced Management Program (AMP) in 2020, he already knew something about the learning experience at HBS. Several years earlier, he had attended the General View Details

December 1984
Case

Expense Tracking System at Tiger Creek

By: Shoshana Zuboff

Mill manager Carl Adelman learns that a group of senior managers is soon to visit the Tiger Creek mill to learn more about the success of the newly implemented Expense Tracking System. The System had been installed on two paper machines to give workers real time cost... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Success; Cost Management; Technology; Pulp and Paper Industry

November–December 2022
Article

Number One in Formula One: Leadership Lessons from Toto Wolff and Mercedes, the Team behind One of the Greatest Winning Streaks in All of Sports

By: Anita Elberse

Toto Wolff, the team principal for Mercedes-AMG Petronas—arguably the most impressive team in F1 racing history—has led his organization to unparalleled success. Mercedes earned the Constructors’ Championship (for best overall team performance) every year from 2014... View Details

Keywords: Formula One; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Management Style; Success

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04 Oct 2022
Cold Call Podcast

Cold Call: Corporate Governance and Growth Strategy at Capital SAFI

Keywords: Re: V.G. Narayanan; Financial Services

March 2010 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Equitas Microfinance: The Fastest-Growing MFI on the Planet

By: V.G. Narayanan and V. Kasturi Rangan

Founded as a for-profit microfinance company, Equitas had acquired nearly a million clients in the short two years since it was founded. The founder, Vasu, and his management team wished to accelerate the already impressive spurt to three million clients in the next... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Microfinance; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Enterprise; Financial Services Industry; India

February 2008 (Revised November 2015)
Case

Danaher Corporation

By: Bharat Anand, David J. Collis and Sophie Hood

Between 1985 and 2007, Danaher has been one of the best-performing industrial conglomerates in the U.S. This case examines the corporate strategy of this diversified, global corporation. It describes the firm's portfolio strategy and the Danaher Business System—a... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Corporate Strategy; Value Creation

05 Nov 2018
News

Using Experiments to Launch New Products

22 Sep 2016
Cold Call Podcast

Innovation Under Constraint: Constructing a Turnaround at Lego

Keywords: Re: Jan W. Rivkin & Stefan H. Thomke; Entertainment & Recreation

November 2008 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Youth Villages

By: Allen S. Grossman, Cathy Ross and William Foster

Tennessee-based nonprofit Youth Villages had an impressive record of serving emotionally and behaviorally troubled youth and their families, with higher success rates and lower costs than most child services providers. Yet expanding to offer its services on a broader... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Service Operations; Business and Government Relations; Nonprofit Organizations; Expansion; Tennessee

May 2022 (Revised May 2024)
Case

The Freedom Fund (A): Ending Modern Slavery

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Courtney Han

The Freedom Fund founded in 2013 to end modern slavery had raised more than half its intended target (by 2025) of $200 million. In 2021, impressed by its decentralized-partnering style of operations, philanthropist MacKenzie Scott awarded the Fund a gift of $35 million... View Details

Keywords: Social Issues; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Spending; Decisions; India; Thailand; Ethiopia