Publications

February 2021 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Shopify: The Conquest for Chinese E-Commerce

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Avani Patel, Samantha Lin and Ariel Yang

In mid-2020, Tobias Lütke, CEO of Shopify, faced a critical decision on how to time potential expansion into the China market. Over the prior 15 years, his Canadian software-as-a-service company had grown from a small e-commerce solutions provider to a full service... View Details

November 1998 (Revised November 2001)
Case

BMW AG: The Digital Car Project (A)

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Ashok Nimgade

Describes how the German automotive firm BMW is trying to reduce its development time by half with the aid of computer-aided technologies. To leverage these technologies fully in the very competitive automotive industry, BMW is faced with the challenge of changing its... View Details

Keywords: Change; Competency and Skills; Management; Time Management; Product Positioning; Product Development; Business Processes; Performance; Problems and Challenges; Technology; Auto Industry

Blog

Lessons from Jazz in the Live Online Classroom

the many ways that HBS faculty incorporate program elements that prompt executives to think about business and their role as leaders in a new way. With colorful stories of jazz greats like Davis, Sonny... View Details

Web

Entrepreneurship - Recruiting

Salary $160,000 Industries Consumer Products 3% Entertainment / Media 3% Financial Services 7% Health Care 17% Manufacturing 8% Nonprofit / Government 2% Retail 2% Services 3% Technology 55% Functions Business Development 32% Finance 8%... View Details

07 Jun 2019
Book

Are You a Digital Manager?

likely to have several unique members, given its personal nature and purpose. Reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Review Press. Excerpted from Being the Boss, with a New Preface: The 3 Imperatives... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

24 May 2004
Research & Ideas

The Watsons: IBM’s Troubled Legacy

the International Business Machines Corporation and its indomitable leader, Thomas J. Watson Sr. As a demonstration of the latest device out of the I.B.M. research laboratories, a letter of congratulation was flashed through the air from... View Details

Keywords: by Richard S. Tedlow

July 2019 (Revised November 2022)
Case

Backstage at Boston Ballet

By: David G. Fubini, Ryan Raffaelli, Begum Agca Okutgen and Julia Kelley

This case asks students to consider how to prioritize goals when placed in a new leadership role. In August 2014, Meredith “Max” Hodges became the youngest Executive Director (ED) in the Boston Ballet’s 51-year history. In her first year, she was able to claim several... View Details

30 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Big Companies, Big Opportunities—Big Questions

later. Rather than retreat after the devaluation, however, the company became more aggressive. P&G raised its prices significantly to recover its devaluation losses, introduced new brands and began competing in View Details

Keywords: by Julie Jette

25 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

China’s Economic System has Difficult Road Overcoming its Political System

enormous upheaval in the Communist Revolution that firmly established the Chinese Communist Party in charge of all things political and economic. If China is to live up to its promise, argues the new book Can China Lead?: Reaching the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Person Page

Press / Media

By: Debora L. Spar

I'll have a girl, please

American Public Media [Marketplace], 12 September 2006

DR. DEBORAH SPAR: "The ability to choose gender is really only the first... View Details

29 Dec 2019
Research & Ideas

Read Our Most Popular Research Stories of 2019

performance of nontech firms adopting new digital technologies finds a persistent future increase in valuation. However, investors only slowly incorporate the value implications of digital activities into prices. [Image:iStock] What will... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

March 2017
Case

CIC: Catalyzing Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (A)

By: William R. Kerr, Sari Kerr and Alexis Brownell

CIC creates "entrepreneurial ecosystems," renting out office and co-working space to start-ups and related companies and providing basic business needs like Wi-Fi and legal advice. Founder Tim Rowe refers to the CIC as "innovation infrastructure," bringing together... View Details

Keywords: Start-ups; Boston; Cambridge; St. Louis; CIC; Cambridge Innovation Center; Co-working Space; Entrepreneurial Ecosystems; Innovation Ecosystems; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Business Offices; Innovation and Invention

Web

Enter Elton Mayo – The Human Relations Movement – Baker Library | Bloomberg Center, Historical Collections

HBS Home HBS Index Contact Us A New Vision An Essay by Professors Michel Anteby and Rakesh Khurana Introduction The Hawthorne Plant Employee Welfare Illumination Studies and Relay Assembly Test Room Next Enter Elton Mayo Enter Elton Mayo... View Details

12 Sep 2006
First Look

First Look: September 12, 2006

small open economy, final goods production is carried out by foreign and domestic firms, which compete for skilled labor, unskilled labor, and intermediate products. To operate a firm in the intermediate goods sector, entrepreneurs must develop a View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Web

The Women in the Relay Assembly Test Room – The Human Relations Movement – Baker Library | Bloomberg Center, Historical Collections

HBS Home HBS Index Contact Us A New Vision An Essay by Professors Michel Anteby and Rakesh Khurana Introduction The Hawthorne Plant Employee Welfare Illumination Studies and Relay Assembly Test Room Enter Elton Mayo Human Relations and... View Details

06 Jan 2021
Research & Ideas

Unexpected Exercise Advice for the Super Busy: Ditch the Rigid Routine

Author Danielle Kost is the editor-in-chief of Harvard Business School Working Knowledge. [Image: monkeybusinessimages] Related Reading 5 New Year's Resolutions You Can Keep 6 Ways to Support COVID-Weary... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

11 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

How Do You Grade Out as a Negotiator?

then at least in the fog” "We negotiate, if not in the dark, then at least in the fog," says Michael Wheeler, a senior fellow at Harvard Business School and retired MBA Class of 1952 Professor of Management Practice, who taught... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Web

Healthy Outcomes - Managing the Future of Work

Bundle Podcast Why Companies and Skilled Workers Are Turning to On-Demand Work Joseph Fuller and Allison Bailey 24 Nov 2020 | HBR IdeaCast Why a Blended Workforce May Be Key to Lasting Competitive Advantage Joseph B. Fuller 17 Nov 2020 | Harvard View Details

January 1992 (Revised March 2006)
Case

The DAG Group

Chris Hackett and Val Rayzman have spent six months after graduating from business school exploring the possibility of building a chain of upscale drycleaners. This fragmented industry looked ripe for an innovative new entrant. Chris and Val have researched the... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Market Entry and Exit; Entrepreneurship; Acquisition; Service Industry