Publications

February 2014
Background Note

Raising Startup Capital

By: Jeffrey Bussgang

Entrepreneurs typically focus their full energies on business-building. But raising capital is a core part of building a valuable business. Developing expertise in raising capital is more than a necessary evil, it is a competitive weapon. Master it and you will be in a... View Details

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

August 2012 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Colorscope, Inc. (Abridged)

By: V.G. Narayanan

A small company in the graphic design business faces severe price competition. The company must respond by cutting costs and making process improvements. View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Price; Business Processes; Performance Improvement; Competition; Fine Arts Industry

September–October 2017
Article

Why Do We Undervalue Competent Management?: Neither Great Leadership Nor Brilliant Strategy Matters Without Operational Excellence

By: Raffaella Sadun, Nicholas Bloom and John Van Reenen

A recurring message in business education is that you can’t compete on the basis of management processes because they’re easily copied. Operational effectiveness is table stakes in the competitive universe, it is often assumed, and thus cannot serve as a sustainable... View Details

Keywords: Management; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Management Practices and Processes; Performance Effectiveness

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Ting Zhang is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration in the Organizational Behavior Unit at Harvard Business School, where she teaches the Leadership and Organizational Behavior course (LEAD) in the Required Curriculum.

Professor Zhang’s research... View Details

March 2001 (Revised February 2004)
Case

International Profit Associates

By: Ashish Nanda, Thomas J. DeLong and Monica Mullick

Describes the work environment, systems, and processes that allow International Profit Associates (IPA) to follow a systematic four-step approach to providing advisory service to small business owners. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Business Processes; Business Model; Consulting Industry

2013
Book

Judgment in Managerial Decision Making

By: Max Bazerman and Don A. Moore

Is your judgment influenced by personal biases? In situations requiring careful judgment, we're all influenced by our own biases to some extent. But, with Judgment in Managerial Decision Making, you can learn how to overcome those biases to make better... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Judgments; Management Practices and Processes; Management Skills; Managerial Roles; Performance Improvement; Prejudice and Bias

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May 2002 (Revised January 2006)
Case

SG Cowen: New Recruits

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Vineeta Vijayaraghavan

Chip Rae, director of recruiting at SG Cowen, must decide which recruits to keep after the final interview process for new outside associate hires. Along with team captains assigned to each school, he reviews the criteria used to make hiring decisions. Their new... View Details

Keywords: Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Decision Making; Management Practices and Processes; Service Industry

16 Apr 2020
Blog Post

Am I Eligible for the 2+2 Program?

admission application process for current students, who are either in college or a full-time master’s degree program. It is comprised of at least two years of professional work experience (maximum of four years) in the public, private, or... View Details

November 2009 (Revised January 2010)
Case

Zara: Managing Stores for Fast Fashion

By: Zeynep Ton, Elena Corsi and Vincent Marie Dessain

Pablo Isla, the CEO of Zara, wanted to improve operational efficiencies in managing its store network. In particular, he wanted to improve labor productivity at the stores. He considered outsourcing certain store operations to third parties, changing the way store... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Managerial Roles; Service Operations; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Efficiency; Performance Productivity; Retail Industry

For many CEOs, particularly those running startups, hiring the right people is the single biggest determinant of whether a new business survives. And so it makes sense that the chief executive should be View Details

08 Sep 2020
Blog Post

2+2 Where Are They Now Spotlight: Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes (MBA 2017)

to work in industry in order to develop my competence as an engineer, but I also knew that I wanted to transition out of big business after achieving that competency and found a company. The HBS 2+2 process... View Details

July 2020
Case

Applying Data Science and Analytics at P&G

By: Srikant M. Datar, Sarah Mehta and Paul Hamilton

Set in December 2019, this case explores how P&G has applied data science and analytics to cut costs and improve outcomes across its business units. The case provides an overview of P&G’s approach to data management and governance, and reviews the challenges associated... View Details

Keywords: Data Science; Analytics; Analysis; Information; Information Management; Information Types; Innovation and Invention; Strategy; Analytics and Data Science; Consumer Products Industry; United States; Ohio

June 1991 (Revised March 1995)
Case

Becton Dickinson (D): Strategic Human Resource Management Profiling

By: Michael Beer

Describes a strategic human resource management process applied at the business unit and corporate level. The purpose of the process is to provide a means for aligning human resource management policies and practices with strategy and to hold managers accountable for... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Human Resources; Business or Company Management; Strategic Planning; Corporate Strategy; Health Industry

July 2001 (Revised March 2003)
Background Note

Running and Growing the Small Company: Project-Paper Writing Recommendations

Students are required to do a team project. During the project, they are to do a benchmarking study of a business process to determine best practice or to study a single business process for the purposes of discovering improvement opportunities. The student teams are... View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Business Processes; Management Skills

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01 Oct 2021
News

Inside the Taiwan Firm That Makes the World’s Tech Run

Alison Wood Brooks

Alison Wood Brooks is the O'Brien Associate Professor of Business Administration and Hellman Faculty Fellow in the Negotiation, Organizations & Markets Unit at Harvard Business School. She teaches a cutting-edge course in the MBA elective curriculum called "How... View Details

26 Jul 2023
Research & Ideas

STEM Needs More Women. Recruiters Often Keep Them Out

prospects more often and having longer conversations with them than similarly qualified women, according to Harvard Business School assistant professor Jacqueline Ng Lane. These outside recruiters appear to rely on gender stereotypes even... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

April 2010
Case

A Giant Among Women

By: Willy C. Shih, Ethan S Bernstein, Maly Hout Bernstein, Jyun-Cheng Wang and Yi-Ling Wei

Few CEOs successfully manage the evolution of their companies from OEM outsourcer to branded manufacturer to expert consumer marketer as well as Tony Lo, CEO of Giant Manufacturing Co. Ltd., now the largest bicycle manufacturer in the world. In the mid-1980s, Giant... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Customer Focus and Relationships; Global Strategy; Gender; Customer Satisfaction; Product Development; Bicycle Industry; Taiwan