Publications

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19 Sep 2018
Sharpening Your Skills

Say Again? Uncommon Advice for Common Business Problems

Excellence Comes From Saying No Why it's better to be excellent at one thing than good at everything. Introverts: The Best Leaders for Proactive Employees Think effective leadership requires gregariousness and charisma? Think again.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Surviving Success: When Founders Must Go

At some point, a start-up's founder usually cedes CEO responsibilities to a seasoned manager. But what roles does the founder assume next? Professor Noam Wasserman discusses a recent case study and what students learn from it in the classroom. View Details

11 Sep 2020
Video

James Mwangi

James Mwangi, CEO of Kenya’s Equity Bank, which has one of the largest customer bases of any bank in Africa, discusses how the Equity Bank model evolved through learning both from Asian companies and from the bank’s own customers. View Details

February 2015 (Revised August 2016)
Case

Nokia's Bridge Program: Redesigning Layoffs (A)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Susan J. Winterberg

"Not another Bochum." Nokia Board Chairman Jorma Ollila was clear in the goals he set for the 2011 restructuring that Nokia's new CEO, Stephen Elop, had decided was necessary to address the dramatically changed competitive environment the company faced in smartphones... View Details

Keywords: Layoffs; Plant Closure; Outplacement; Shared Value; Business or Company Management; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Restructuring; Employee Relationship Management; Telecommunications Industry

September 2019 (Revised November 2019)
Case

Pinduoduo

By: Feng Zhu, Krishna G. Palepu, Bonnie Yining Cao and Dawn H. Lau

Founded in 2015 by serial entrepreneur, Colin Huang, Pinduoduo Inc. (PDD) had become China’s fastest-growing e-commerce platform in history. PDD pioneered a new approach to online shopping that allowed shoppers to share products, invite friends to form shopping teams,... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Competitive Advantage; Expansion; Strategy; E-commerce

06 Oct 2023
Book

Yes, You Can Radically Change Your Organization in One Week

showing how these companies have solved their toughest problems, Frei and Morriss say other leaders can learn to move quickly to strengthen their organizations. Here, Frei and... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

May 1997 (Revised July 1997)
Case

Vermeer Technologies (F): FrontPage 97

By: Ashish Nanda

Vermeer engineers work at the breakneck pace of "Internet time" to develop the next version of their software product, winning accolades from Microsoft management. Even before this version ships, however, they are faced with another punishing development schedule for... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Product Development; Information Technology Industry

January 2007 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Procter & Gamble: Organization 2005 (A)

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski and Alessandro L. Spadini

In response to a huge crisis in 2000, the new CEO of Procter & Gamble has to decide whether to continue with an unusual organizational design or to revert to the old matrix organization. Describes all the organizational designs used by Procter & Gamble from the 1920s... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure

November 1997 (Revised December 2000)
Case

Corn Products International, Inc.

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Tom Clay

A firm that started in corn processing and moved up the value-added food chain decides to spin-off the original commodity part of the business. How does the new spin-off survive and how does it develop a strategy? Firms in the food system are separating out their... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Development; Service Delivery; Vertical Integration; Food and Beverage Industry

September 2019
Supplement

Legal Time Case – Video Short 1

By: Christine L Exley, Katherine B. Coffman and Joshua Schwartzstein

Legal Time is a two-party dynamic negotiation simulation. Students take the role of either the prosecution or the defense in a case that centers on a client who has been accused of spear-heading a conspiracy to commit wire fraud. This conflict-resolution scenario gives... View Details

Keywords: Conflict Resolution; Time Stress; Negotiation; Conflict and Resolution; Fairness; Learning

Program

Leading in the Digital Era

best addresses your learning and development goals. Contact a program advisor via email or call 1.800.427.5577 (outside the U.S., call +1.617.495.6555). Application Submission... View Details

August 1999 (Revised February 2000)
Background Note

Introduction to Islamic Finance, An

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Fuaad Qureshi and Mathew M Millett

Provides a basic introduction to the principles of Islamic finance. Examines the religious background and legal foundations of Islamic finance. Also discusses the development of Islamic financial institutions and the financial instruments they use. Concludes with a... View Details

Keywords: Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Globalization; Growth and Development; Lawfulness; Problems and Challenges; Religion; Financial Services Industry

Professor WILLIAM E. FRUHAN, JR. is George E. Bates Professor, Emeritus at the Harvard Business School. He received his BS degree from Yale University, and his MBA and DBA degrees from Harvard University. He has served as Senior Associate Dean and Director of... View Details

Keywords: aircraft; airline; chemical; electronics; grocery; medical supplies; oil ＆ gas; pharmaceuticals; retailing; steel

18 Jun 2007
Op-Ed

Leveling the Executive Options Playing Field

Harvard Business School professor Mihir A. Desai argues that investors and regulators are served poorly by the U.S. corporate financial reporting system, which allows companies to declare different profit figures to the IRS than they... View Details

Keywords: by Mihir Desai

Rohit Deshpande

Rohit Deshpandé is a Baker Foundation Professor and Sebastian S. Kresge Professor of Marketing, Emeritus at Harvard Business School, where he has been teaching in the Advanced Management Program,... View Details

Keywords: advertising; agribusiness; airline; banking; beauty products; beverage; financial services; home video games; marketing industry; pharmaceuticals; telecommunications; tourism; video games

Article

The Pitfalls of Pricing Algorithms: Be Mindful of How They Can Hurt Your Brand

By: Marco Bertini and Oded Koenigsberg

More and more companies are relying on pricing algorithms to maximize profits. The use of artificial intelligence and machine learning enables real-time price adjustments based on supply and demand, competitors’ activities, delivery schedules, and so forth. But... View Details

Keywords: Algorithmic Pricing; Dynamic Pricing; Price; Change; Information Technology; Brands and Branding; Perception; Consumer Behavior

Find at Harvard

30 Mar 2020
News

How Building Wellness Certifications are Adapting to COVID-19

October 2014
Supplement

Quiet Logistics (B)

By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred

This two-part case focuses on how to identify and manage strategic uncertainties in an innovative, entrepreneurial start-up company. In the (A) case, students learn about Quiet Logistics, an e-commerce fulfillment company working with high-end apparel retailers such as... View Details