Publications

January 2003 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Office Depot, Inc.: Business Transformation (A)

By: James L. Heskett, Dan Maher, Daniel F. OBrien, Thomas Watson and Jeffrey F. Rayport

The company's management is considering the possibility of launching a rebranding campaign around the promises "What you need. What you need to know." The questions are whether and when to launch the campaign in view of the large number of training efforts and... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Advertising Campaigns; Brands and Branding; Business Strategy; Technology Adoption; Transformation; Market Timing; Growth and Development; Training; Retail Industry

02 Jan 2008
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Stories 2007

accelerate this transition, as professor and program chair Benjamin C. Esty explains. What's to Be Done About Performance Reviews? What can we do to make performance reviews more productive and less... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

29 Sep 2020
Blog Post

New Life for Old Tech: Startup Provides Network Security Solutions for Obsolete Devices

device-specific representation of each device on the network, and our generalizable machine learning approach and software-based installation allows us to scale to all legacy... View Details

01 Dec 2011
What Do You Think?

Thinking Slow: An Argument for Bureaucracy?

type of thinking Shalia commented: "I think the growth rate of large organizations slow(s) down precisely for this reason-not being able to separate decisions which need deliberations vs. quick decisions." Phillippe Gouambe was... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

21 Jan 2014
First Look

First Look: January 21

avoid information about their relative ability. August 2013 NBER Volume on African Economic Successes Evaluating the Effects of Large Scale Health Interventions in Developing Countries: The Zambian Malaria Initiative By: Ashraf, Nava,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2018
Supplement

Abe on Womenomics, part 3: International Efforts & Conclusions: Excerpt from Opening Address to the World Assembly of Women, Tokyo, August 28, 2015

By: Boris Groysberg

This video supplement is a lightly edited excerpt of a 2015 speech by Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe in which he describes Womenomics--policies and aspirations to promote greater economic participation by Japan's women, thereby promoting economic growth, greater... View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; Gender; Business and Government Relations; Employment; Growth and Development; Working Conditions; Japan

21 Apr 2008
Research & Ideas

The New Math of Customer Relationships

Loveman, has led a remarkable period of growth by installing service profit chain concepts throughout the organization. These organizations have been able to achieve what we might call SPC.2 by creating "owners" out of both... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

August 1983 (Revised June 1986)
Case

Johnson & Johnson (B): Hospital Services

By: Francis Aguilar

The main issue has to do with the lack of fit or incompatibility between the early environmental requirements for strategy and the cultural constraints on the organization. Describes the internal resistance to the proposed changes and top management's efforts to... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Health Care and Treatment; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Industry

21 Aug 2019
Blog Post

Leveraging Academic Opportunities to Attain My Post-HBS Job

leverage two opportunities during my final semester. One was an Independent Project (IP), and the other was the final project for the Scaling Technology Ventures course. Career Exploration Using... View Details

13 Nov 2006
Research & Ideas

Science Business: What Happened to Biotech?

radical restructuring of the environment, as you suggest is necessary? A: It is starting to happen. I can't say who will win and who will lose. Firms that have some existing scale are better positioned to do... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Biotechnology

2012
Book

Strategic IQ: Creating Smarter Corporations

By: John R. Wells

In today's world, only the smartest survive. The competitive landscape is littered with graves of well-known firms whose revenues, profits and stock prices rose for decades until they suddenly imploded.
In fast-changing business environments, firms must adapt... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Competition; Business Growth and Maturation; Adaptation; Corporate Strategy; Decision Making; Innovation and Invention

07 Nov 2014
News

The First Five Years: Tiffany Pham (MBA 2012)

potential to create a lasting impact on women, worldwide. As the lead developer at MOGUL, I coded the first version myself, using Ruby on Rails. It has been an incredible journey, to achieve significant user traction upon launch and... View Details

Keywords: News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services

23 Dec 2008
First Look

First Look: December 23, 2008

so the happiness gains that they experience, whilst not permanent, can still be relatively long-lasting. Finally we study a cross section of nations in 2005 from the World Gallup Poll and find that the past 45 years of economic View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

July 1993
Case

Richardson Hindustan Limited (Abridged)

By: Hugo Uyterhoeven

Deals with the problems of a country manager building and balancing a constituency relationship. Explicitly examines the demands and responsiveness of four major constituencies: corporate headquarters; the national organization; the Indian government; and the public... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Business and Government Relations; Adoption; Multinational Firms and Management; Business Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Business and Shareholder Relations; India

Find at Harvard

October 2005 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Reactivity: A Case of Re-Invention

By: Myra M. Hart and Sylvia Sensiper

By the time Glenn Osaka joined Reactivity as its new CEO in January 2001, the Internet bubble had burst, the financial markets had turned, and the company's core businesses were drying up. He was not hired to lead a turnaround, but Osaka found that the firm's future... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Venture Capital; Organizational Culture; Applications and Software; Leadership Style; Product; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Consulting Industry