Publications

TeachingInterests

Senior Executive Leadership Program—China

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee

Today's global business environment offers many exciting prospects for talented executives and ambitious organizations. To take full advantage of emerging opportunities in China and beyond, businesses need exceptional leaders—forward-thinking executives who are... View Details

June 1987 (Revised August 1988)
Case

American Bank

By: Robert S. Kaplan

American Bank is developing a new system to compute product costs. The deregulated, more competitive environment for commercial banks has created both problems and opportunities for banking operations. In order to price existing products and assess the desirability of... View Details

Keywords: System; Consolidation; Commercial Banking; SWOT Analysis; Fair Value Accounting; Cost Management; Price; Banking Industry; North and Central America; United States

August 1992
Case

Otis Pacific Asia Operations (A): National Challenges

By: Michael Y. Yoshino

Describes the elevator market and Otis's competitive position in four markets: Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, and Japan. The student is asked to evaluate the strategic and competitive challenges in each market, especially in light of strong Japanese competition across the... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Network Effects; Problems and Challenges; Global Strategy; Goals and Objectives; Service Delivery; Competitive Advantage; Competition; Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; India; Japan; Malaysia; Hong Kong

October 2022
Case

Weapons of Self Destruction: Zak Pym Williams and the Cultivation of Mental Wellness

By: Lauren Cohen, Ronnie Stangler and Grace Headinger

Zak Pym Williams, mental health advocate, grappled with the question of how to create a proactive mental health family environment for his children. Having witnessed how mental health challenges such as addiction and depression had impacted the past four generations of... View Details

Keywords: Family; U.S.; Mental Health; Family Business; Entertainment; Values and Beliefs; Ethics; Leading Change; Family and Family Relationships; Well-being; Social Issues; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States; California

August 2017 (Revised February 2023)
Case

Managing Diversity and Inclusion at Yelp

By: Michael Luca, Joshua Schwartzstein and Gauri Subramani

This case explores the industry-wide lack of employee diversity in the technology sector and Yelp’s decision to take a leadership position in identifying strategies to increase diversity. The goal of the case is to provide an opportunity for students to develop a... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Employees; Leading Change; Strategy; Organizational Culture; Technology Industry

July 2018 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Project Helios: Harvesting the Sun

By: Mark Egan and E. Scott Mayfield

Aware of the impact that modern society was having on the environment, Ashley Telkes had always tried to be cognizant of her own impact on the environment and to take reasonable steps to mitigate her own effects. Having already implemented a number of passive measures... View Details

Keywords: Renewable Energy; Personal Finance; Decision Making; Environmental Sustainability

November 2015 (Revised August 2016)
Case

Unilever's New Global Strategy: Competing through Sustainability

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

In January 2009, when Paul Polman was appointed CEO of Unilever, he inherited a company in long-term decline at the beginning of a major global financial crisis. As the first outsider ever recruited to lead the company, Polman lost little time in challenging the... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Competitive Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Consumer Products Industry

Juan Alcacer is the James J. Hill Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He joined HBS in 2007 and has taught the required MBA strategy course, an elective on Global Strategy and PhD courses in Strategy and International Business. Within... View Details

Keywords: consulting; management consulting; telecommunications

September 1991 (Revised December 1991)
Case

USA Today Decision, The: Making Headlines Across the Nation (A)

This two-part case series describes how the option of launching USA Today was defined and evaluated by the Gannett Corp. This case supports a broad discussion of whether the concept of a national, general interest daily fits with the changing external environment and... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Decision Making; Product Launch; Product Development; Journalism and News Industry; Publishing Industry; United States

April 1991 (Revised April 1992)
Case

Hospital Sector in 1992

Examines the major issues facing the hospital sector in 1992. The environment surrounding the industry is one of great uncertainty and rapid change, and involves significant public policy questions. Describes recent trends, issues and new types of competitors that... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Nonprofit Organizations; Competition; Health Care and Treatment; Policy; Change; Health Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

07 Feb 2011
News

Spotlight on the international

23 Feb 2011
News

The Traits of Advanced Leaders

02 Jun 2020
News

Risking Authenticity in the Digital Age

How Women Interns are Making a Major Impact on Boston's Tech Scene this Summer

Tech startups are often associated with Silicon Valley and men. To contrast that perception, we went on a quest to find some of the women interning at Boston startups this summer; to talk to some of the people hiring them; and explore how these companies are... View Details

03 Sep 2013
Working Paper Summaries

How the Zebra Got Its Stripes: Imprinting of Individuals and Hybrid Social Ventures

Keywords: by Matthew Lee & Julie Battilana

March–April 1979
Article

Choosing Strategies for Change

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and John P. Kotter

"From the frying pan into the fire," "let sleeping dogs lie," and "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" are all well-known sayings born of the fear of change. When people are threatened with change in organizations, similar maxims about certain people and departments... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategy; Change Management

Find at Harvard

June 2014 (Revised September 2014)
Case

Johnson & Johnson: The Promotion of Wellness

By: John A. Quelch and Carin-Isabel Knoop

To create the world's healthiest workforce, diversified health care giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) mandated participation in its "Culture of Health" program globally, customized by location, culture, and specific health needs to offer prevention-focused education,... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Employee Motivation; Transformation; Ethics; Health; Human Resources; Leadership; Management; Personal Development and Career; Problems and Challenges; Strategy; Health Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; North and Central America; Middle East; Latin America; Europe; Asia