Publications

24 Aug 2012
News

Something for the weekend

07 Dec 2011
News

Yelp is Leaving Chains Behind

November 2004
Case

Technology Commercialization at the Massachusetts General Hospital

The Department of Corporate Sponsored Research & Licensing (CSRL) at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) serves as the primary interface between the hospital and the private sector. Examines the range of issues related to the commercialization of MGH's... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Conflict of Interests; Commercialization; Higher Education; Health Care and Treatment; Education Industry; Health Industry; Massachusetts

Iavor Bojinov is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration and the Richard Hodgson Fellow at Harvard Business School. He is the co-PI of the AI and Data Science Operations Lab and a faculty affiliate in the Department of Statistics at Harvard University and... View Details

August 2010 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Leaders Who Make a Difference: Joel Klein Brings Accountability to NYC DOE: Day 1

By: Joseph L. Bower and Sonja Ellingson Hout

Joel Klein took over the NYC Department of Education in 2002 and radically transformed the strategy and organization remarkably with improvements in performance. Day 1 of the two case series focuses on the steps taken by Klein over his eight year tenure. Supplementary... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Corporate Strategy; Education; Performance Improvement; Public Administration Industry; Education Industry

April 1996 (Revised June 1999)
Case

NYPD New

By: James L. Heskett

Police Commissioner Bratten and his staff have led a process designed to create a results-oriented police department from one that previously emphasized and measured effort. With increasing budgeting pressures, the next phase of effort calls for increasing emphasis on... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Performance Productivity; Leadership Style; Budgets and Budgeting; Public Administration Industry

Laura Alfaro is the Warren Alpert Professor of Business Administration. At Harvard since 1999, she served as Minister of National Planning and Economic Policy in Costa Rica from 2010-2012, taking a leave from HBS. She is Co-Editor of the Journal of International... View Details

August 2017
Case

Infection Control at Massachusetts General Hospital (Abridged)

By: Robert S. Huckman and Nikolaos Trichakis

The case explores the challenges facing Massachusetts General Hospital concerning the adoption of a new infection control policy, which promises to improve operational performance, patient safety, and profitability. The new policy requires coordination between... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Integration; Health Care and Treatment; Policy; Health Industry; Boston

January 2021 (Revised June 2023)
Case

Biobot Analytics

By: Raymond Kluender, Joshua Krieger and Mitchell Weiss

In 2017, Newsha Ghaeli and Mariana Matus were deciding whether to leave their labs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, put other job opportunities aside, and dive full-time into founding a wastewater analysis start-up, Biobot. Ghaeli, an architect, and Matus,... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Information Technology; City; Analytics and Data Science; Personal Development and Career; Technology Industry; Utilities Industry; Health Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Industry; Biotechnology Industry; United States; Kuwait; Korean Peninsula

January 2014
Case

Tesco Group Food

By: Jose B. Alvarez, Damien P. McLoughlin and Mary Shelman

In 2010, the world's third largest retailer created a new centralized sourcing department for fresh food and store-brand grocery products in response to changes in global supply and to better meet the needs of a new multi-channel retail environment. The case, set in... View Details

Keywords: Food Retailing; Multichannel Retailing; Sustainable Supply Chains; Agribusiness; Food Marketing; Supply Chain Management; Marketing; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry; United Kingdom

26 Sep 2023
Cold Call Podcast

The PGA Tour and LIV Golf Merger: Competition vs. Cooperation

Keywords: Sports

February 2006 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Veridian: Putting a Value on Values

By: Rakesh Khurana, Joel Podolny and Jaan Margus Elias

David Langstaff, the CEO of Veridian, a defense company, struggles with the decision of selling the company. Langstaff has concerned himself with inculcalating his organization with the values necessary for superior achievement over the long term. But as a fiduciary,... View Details

Keywords: Cash; Corporate Governance; Financial Markets; Law; Leadership; Patents; Values and Beliefs; Service Industry; Aerospace Industry

September 2004 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Hedging Currency Risks at AIFS

By: Mihir A. Desai, Vincent Dessain and Anders Sjoman

The American Institute for Foreign Studies (AIFS) organizes study abroad programs and cultural exchanges for American students. The firm's revenues are mainly in U.S. dollars, but most of its costs are in eurodollars and British pounds. The company's controllers review... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Investment Funds; Financial Strategy; Forecasting and Prediction; Revenue; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Currency; Currency Exchange Rate; Education Industry; North and Central America

04 Dec 2015
News

Economist Stein Brings Crisis Experience to the Classroom

Summer R. Jackson

Summer Jackson is an Assistant Professor of Management in the Organizational Behavior unit at Harvard Business School. She teaches LEAD in the MBA required curriculum.

Professor Jackson is an organizational ethnographer and field researcher... View Details

July 2006
Case

Paul Chesler, Director, Quality Assurance

Introduces the systemic nature of product quality and the complexity of quality problems. A new director of quality assurance discovers an apparent quality problem. The actions of different departments and functions contribute to the problem. The new director must... View Details

Keywords: Quality; Production

March 2011
Background Note

Customer Loyalty Schemes in the Retail Sector

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Aldo Sesia

Customer loyalty schemes (or programs) are explicit efforts by retailers to gain long-term patronage from customers. Loyalty schemes are developed for a variety of reasons: to reward loyal customers, to generate more robust information about customer behavior, to... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Consumer Behavior; Business Strategy; Retail Industry; United Kingdom; United States