Publications

August 1994 (Revised May 1995)
Case

Engineering Inspection & Insurance Company

By: Robert H. Hayes

Engineering Inspection & Insurance Co. (EIIC) is a small but highly successful company that offers machinery and boiler inspection and insurance services. After years of above-average growth and profits, both are retreating toward the industry average, policy delivery... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Business Strategy; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Insurance; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Insurance Industry; United States

April 2004 (Revised June 2004)
Case

Neeley University Investment Management Company

This case analyzes the problem of a university looking to reduce its private equity exposure in its endowment. The university hires Cogent Partners, a small investment bank specializing in private equity secondary trading. View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Private Equity; Higher Education; Financial Services Industry; Education Industry

August 2001 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Operations at the Donner Company

By: H. Kent Bowen

A small manufacturer of circuit boards faces product and operations-management problems. This case analyzes the production capacity at various stages and examines bottlenecks and product flow decisions. A detailed look at the problems and a discussion of the tools and... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Production; Performance Capacity; Business Processes; Logistics; Electronics Industry; Manufacturing Industry

September 2018 (Revised January 2019)
Teaching Note

Gemini Investors

By: Richard S. Ruback, Royce Yudkoff and Ahron Rosenfeld

Teaching Note for HBS No. 211-066. Gemini Investors was a private equity firm that targeted equity investments of between $4 million to $6 million per firm. In the period from 2000 to 2015, Gemini had successfully deployed four funds, all licensed as Small Business... View Details

Keywords: Small ＆ Medium-sized Enterprises; Small Business; Private Equity; Investment Funds; Decision Making; Financial Services Industry; United States

06 Feb 2006
What Do You Think?

Should CEOs of Public Companies Offer Earnings Guidance?

for shareholders." Perhaps with this in mind, a small but growing number of public company CEOs are electing not to provide earnings guidance, risking reduced interest on the part of analysts and... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Financial Services

August 1996 (Revised June 2007)
Case

Nicholson File Company Takeover (A), The

By: Thomas R. Piper

The financial vice president must decide the value and form of an acquisition offer to be made to a small hand tool company. View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Preparation; Valuation; Negotiation Participants; Negotiation Offer; Acquisition; Manufacturing Industry

29 Apr 2020
Book

The Key to Powerful Social Change: Small Villages

Who will solve the great problems facing humanity, a list of critical issues that only begins with the current pandemic? In the interview below, Rosabeth Moss Kanter discusses her recent book, Think Outside the Building, and her view that solutions are most likely to... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

07 Feb 2019
Book

How Big Companies Can Outrun Disruption

obviously the most challenging. Lagace: What are common errors when companies try to create innovative cultures? Pisano: Big companies too often try to emulate startup cultures, and that’s misguided. First... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

December 1997 (Revised February 2000)
Case

Hewlett Packard: Creating, Running, and Growing an Enduring Company

By: H. Kent Bowen and Courtney Purrington

Traces the development of Hewlett-Packard Co. from a small start-up company in 1938 to a world-class manufacturer of electronic instruments and computer products. Examines the challenges of starting and running a small company, including financing, human resources... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Product Positioning; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Brands and Branding; Computer Industry; Electronics Industry

12 Dec 2012
Research & Ideas

Power to the People: The Unexpected Influence of Small Coalitions

in the United States and Europe. Within this new scenario, three groups play unique roles: policymakers who identify and use groups for support; companies that understand the interests of diffuse groups and tap them to reap larger profits... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard

08 Apr 2015
What Do You Think?

Are Technology Companies Ripe for Disruption?

can actually use." Paul Hamilton-Smith opined that software companies "mostly subsist from their renewal revenue stream. That stream is generated by 'new and improved' software versions." And Julian Lowe commented that... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Computer; Technology

02 Aug 2021
What Do You Think?

Can Companies with Remote Management Succeed?

Fifth Third’s employees back to the office he remarked that, “We can’t be a great company working remotely We can get the job done, but it’s tough to flourish.” The comment refers to Fifth Third’s management core. Like many service... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

2011
Book

The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Steve J. Kramer

The most effective managers have the ability to build a cadre of employees who have great inner work lives-consistently positive emotions; strong motivation; and favorable perceptions of the organization, their work, and their colleagues. The worst managers undermine... View Details

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August 1994 (Revised November 1994)
Case

Saturn: A Different Kind of Car Company

Saturn was General Motors' (GM) response to Japanese companies' dominance of the small car market during the mid-1980s. In the three-and-a-half years since its first sedan rolled off the assembly line, the Saturn Corp. had accumulated an impressive list of... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Auto Industry; Retail Industry

13 Sep 2012
Research & Ideas

Why Public Companies Underinvest in the Future

easier time going to his investors, a small group of people, many of whom sit on the company board," Farre-Mensa says. "He will be able to convey information to them and openly discuss whether an... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish

07 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Fail—and How Their Founders Can Bounce Back

Most companies fail. It's an unsettling fact for bright-eyed entrepreneurs, but old news to start-up veterans. But here's the good news: Experienced entrepreneurs know that running a company that eventually... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

17 Feb 2022
Book

When Employees Feel a Sense of Purpose, Companies Succeed

also draw people out, so that they can feel accepted and their coworkers can get to know them more deeply. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company ended every meeting by inviting participants to discuss “moments of joy” in their lives.... View Details

Keywords: by Ranjay Gulati

23 May 2012
Research & Ideas

Five Ways to Make Your Company More Innovative

In a hypercompetitive global economy, creativity has never been more important for success . But how do you create a company that unleashes and capitalizes on innovation? For answers, writers at the HBS Alumni Bulletin turned to five HBS... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons, Julia Hanna & Roger Thompson

March 27, 2025
Article

How One Company Used AI to Broaden Its Customer Base

By: Sunil Gupta and Frank V. Cespedes

The software company SAP successfully leveraged AI tools to begin selling to the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) market, which had previously been uneconomical for its in-person sales approach. By mapping the customer journey and deploying over 40 AI tools, SAP... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Sales; Business Strategy; Market Entry and Exit

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