Publications

January 2025 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Mercado Libre: The Best Is Yet to Come

By: Krishna G. Palepu, Fernando Fragueiro, Carla Larangeira and Mariana Cal

In 2024, Marcos Galperín, CEO and co-founder of Mercado Libre, reflected on its 25-year rise as Latin America’s largest marketplace, fintech leader, and most valuable public company. With operations spanning 18 countries and a robust ecosystem combining e-commerce,... View Details

January 2006 (Revised February 2015)
Case

Innovation at Timberland: Thinking Outside the Shoe Box

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Ryan Raffaelli

Innovation was linked to Timberland's heritage. In 2005, CEO Jeff Swartz and COO Ken Pucker hoped the Invention Factory, an advanced concept lab, would develop new breakthrough products and reinvigorate the company's culture of innovation. Since the 1960s, Timberland... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Organizational Culture; Change Management

2002
Book

Searching for a Corporate Savior: The Irrational Quest for Charismatic CEOs

By: Rakesh Khurana

Corporate CEOs are headline news. Stock prices rise and fall at word of their hiring and firing. Business media debate their merits and defects as if individual leaders determined the health of the economy. Yet we know surprisingly little about how CEOs are selected... View Details

Keywords: Managerial Roles; Selection and Staffing; Personal Characteristics; Experience and Expertise; Investment Activism; Corporate Strategy

Find at Harvard

17 Dec 2012
Research & Ideas

Teaming in the Twenty-First Century

is the engine of organizational learning," says Edmondson. From Theory To Practice In the book, Edmondson makes the case for managers to shift from holding a static view of teamwork to this dynamic one. Real-world examples drawn from her research illustrate the... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish

January 2016 (Revised March 2016)
Case

Whither the Weather (Company): Forecasting 2016

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen

CEO David Kenny led the transformation of the Weather Company from a television business to a Big Data technology company from 2012 until 2016, when IBM acquired its digital assets. This case discusses major decisions taken by Kenny starting in 2014 as he sought to... View Details

Keywords: Weather Company; IBM; Digital; Technology; David Kenny; Television; Weather Channel; Legacy Business; Mainstream; Newstream; Reorganization; Acquisitions; Transformation; Information Technology; Television Entertainment; Acquisition; Consolidation; Change; Leadership

Program

Compensation Committees

governmental rules, and navigate public sentiment Ensure that the compensation structure promotes the desired corporate culture Address external factors influencing compensation strategies Compete... View Details

02 Sep 2015
What Do You Think?

What's Wrong With Amazon’s Low-Retention HR Strategy?

This past month, a New York Times report on Amazon’s personnel strategies prompted several days of intense debate. A number of questions can be raised about the article itself, given the fact that much of it was based on interviews with... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Web Services; Retail; Apparel & Accessories; Consumer Products; Fashion

09 Jun 2015
First Look

First Look: June 9, 2015

Aligning Strategy and Sales By: Cespedes, Frank V. Abstract— Much current opinion asserts that strategy is less important (and may, in fact, be an impediment) in an era of constant change. This publication... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2023
Case

The Business of Campaigns

By: Vincent Pons and Mel Martin

In 2022, the U.S. Congress examined the Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act, the latest in a long series of campaign finance reforms. According to its authors, the law would be the “most consequential overhaul of federal... View Details

Keywords: Political Elections; Government Legislation; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; United States

11 Apr 2023
Op-Ed

The First 90 Hours: What New CEOs Should—and Shouldn't—Do to Set the Right Tone

email discussions about strategy and personnel matters. If the culture is toxic, you may receive emails critiquing some of your top team selections. Ignore all such communications. If necessary, invite the... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

2019
Working Paper

From Know-It-Alls to Learn-It-Alls: Executive Development in the Era of Self-Refining Algorithms, Collaborative Filtering and Wearable Computing

By: Mihnea Moldoveanu and Das Narayandas

We examine the future of executive education on a technological and cultural landscape that is imminent but different to the one we are accustomed to. We show how the contextualization, socialization and personalization of learning—avowed but distal goals of current... View Details

Keywords: Executive Education; Leadership Development; Technological Innovation; Customization and Personalization; Management Skills; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Sharing

Read Now

Web

Podcast - Business & Environment

circular economy through capital management, innovation initiatives, and operating companies like Circular Services. She shares how their private equity, venture capital, and catalytic credit strategies are helping scale recycling, reuse,... View Details

Malcolm S. Salter

Malcolm Salter has been a member of the Harvard Business School faculty since 1967. His teaching and research focus on issues of corporate strategy, organization, and governance.

In addition to teaching at HBS, he has held faculty positions at the Harvard... View Details

Keywords: arts; automobiles; energy; investment banking industry; retailing; venture capital industry

Program

Advancing Women of Color in Leadership

company culture that not only allows for, but celebrates authenticity. Details Prepare for greater leadership responsibility Develop a personal leadership style that works for you and your organization Communicate more effectively—with... View Details

November 2004 (Revised September 2007)
Case

The Mitchell Family and Mitchells/Richards

By: Amy C. Edmondson, John A. Davis, Corey B. Hajim and Kelly Mulderry

Describes a small, luxury retail chain's operational sophistication achieved through the use of technology and "high-touch" customer service. A family-run business, Mitchells has built its success with a customer service strategy known internally as "hugging." The term... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Customer Relationship Management; Knowledge Management; Service Delivery; Organizational Culture; Expansion; Information Technology; Retail Industry

23 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 23, 2008

employed marketing and marketing strategies to diffuse products and brands internationally, despite business, economic, and cultural obstacles to globalization. The process was difficult and complex. The... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

20 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Creating a Positive Professional Image

conforming to the dominant workplace culture while being careful not to draw attention to identity group differences and one's unique cultural background. Rather than adopting one View Details

Keywords: by Mallory Stark

16 May 2023
HBS Case

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

and antipathy, having bounced from one private equity owner to another four times, ran deep. The strategy demanded that Stavros deeply engage with the operations to discover pain points, like inefficient delivery routes and wasted scrap... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

October 2011
Supplement

An Interview with Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar

By: David A. Garvin

Zensar is a rapidly growing, mid-sized Indian IT services company with a collaborative management philosophy and innovative HR policies. One of its practices, Vision Communities, is an inclusive forum for innovation and strategy formulation. As the company grows,... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Human Resources; Employees; Leadership Style; Management; Organizational Culture; Information Technology Industry; India