Publications

21 Jan 2021
Blog Post

How I Used the HBS Community to Hone My Professional Goals

I had some idea early on in my career that I wanted to get my MBA, but to be honest I did not have a plan or roadmap for when I wanted to pursue this goal. I graduated from the University of Michigan with degrees in Psychology and... View Details

13 Mar 2019
Blog Post

There's No Quick Shortcut to Success: Zorpads Takes Off

It all started with a smell. Taylor Wiegele and Sierra Smith (both MBA 2017) met with a group of classmates for their FIELD III course, trying to come up with a problem to fix. The course, now an elective, tasks first-year students with creating a View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail; Consumer Products / Retail

16 May 2023
HBS Case

How KKR Got More by Giving Ownership to the Factory Floor: ‘My Kids Are Going to College!’

The incentives were not aligned: Companies wanted faster, more productive work, while workers sought more hours and a chance to earn overtime pay. “My colleagues and I actively tried to hamper the success of the firm because we were so... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

23 Jun 2023
HBS Case

This Company Lets Employees Take Charge—Even with Life and Death Decisions

care teams after experiencing firsthand as a nurse, and then a decade as a senior leader of two large health care organizations, how the health care system managed quality and productivity in ways that required counterproductive layers of... View Details

Keywords: by Annelena Lobb; Health

22 Nov 2006
Research & Ideas

CEO Succession: The Case at Ford

it's very much an owner saying, "I'm not doing this job well, I'm going to find someone who can do it right." Q: You've been doing a lot of work recently I know, Joe, on succession planning and the CEO succession in general.... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner; Auto; Employment

19 Jan 2011
First Look

First Look: Jan. 18

710-464 In January 2010 Mark Pincus is deciding how to double the number of Zynga games' players to 500 million without sacrificing profitability. These ambitious growth plans required changes to product, corporate strategy, and customer... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2001 (Revised September 2022)
Case

Le Petit Chef

By: Alan D. MacCormack, Sandra J. Sucher and Suraj Rangashayi

Brigitte Gagne, Le Petit Chef's director of microwave R&D, is deciding on the product development agenda for next year. She has to decide which of the available projects to fund, and evaluate the overall portfolio of projects currently under development. The recent... View Details

Keywords: Production; Product Development; Projects; Planning; Research and Development; Performance; Problems and Challenges; Management Teams; Resource Allocation

17 Dec 2012
Research & Ideas

Teaming in the Twenty-First Century

work done," says Edmondson, the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management. “Teaming is the engine of organizational learning.” The problem: Stable teams that plan first and execute later are increasingly infeasible in the... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish

October 2002 (Revised April 2005)
Case

Jinwoong: Financing an Entrepreneurial Firm in the Wake of the Korean Financial Crisis

Describes T.P. Lee, the founder and CEO of Jinwoong, a 19-year-old entrepreneurial company in Korea that has grown to become the world's largest manufacturer of camping tents. Labeled by Fortune as one of the most promising entrepreneurs in Asia in 1993, Lee faces some... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Financial Crisis; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; South Korea

07 Jul 2022
HBS Case

How a Multimillion-Dollar Ice Cream Startup Melted Down (and Bounced Back)

way. We’ve got to do this.’” They invested their entire life savings—$225,000—into opening the store. The store sold all of its products within four days of opening, forcing it to temporarily close. Earning $1 million in total sales, the... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Rapid Response: Inside the Retailing Revolution

knowledge of what sells and what doesn't, flexible manufacturing capabilities that can respond appropriately to demand, lean rather than fat and costly inventories, and the rapid replenishment of stock. "The old way was to gear planning... View Details

Keywords: by James E. Aisner; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

Web

FAQs - Alumni

climate change and sustainability, and how is HBS engaging in this critical work? Harvard's Sustainability Action Plan focuses on climate, equity and health and pledges to achieve a fossil fuel free future. HBS has made significant... View Details

June 2022
Case

The SAH Group: The Time is Right

By: Juan Alcacer and Alpana Thapar

In January 2021, Jalila Mezni, cofounder and CEO of the SAH Group, was preparing to present the company’s future growth plans to its board of directors. The Tunisian company was a leading producer and distributor of personal care and packaged hygiene products. In 2019,... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Expansion; Business Divisions; Product Positioning; Brands and Branding; Competition; Presentations; Consumer Products Industry; Tunisia; Kenya