Publications

January 1989 (Revised February 1993)
Supplement

Warner Cable (B)

Describes the view of corporate officers regarding the changes made by General Manager Bruce McKinnon. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Telecommunications Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

22 Nov 2023
Research & Ideas

Humans vs. Machines: Untangling the Tasks AI Can (and Can't) Handle

Knowing when to use artificial intelligence and when to rely on the human mind is a shifting fine line, one delineated by new research that shows considerable benefit and speed from generative AI—if it’s applied to the right tasks. What... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Information Technology; Technology

September 1992
Background Note

Note on the Financial Perspective: What Should Entrepreneurs Know?

By: William A. Sahlman

Identifies concepts and tools of finance that are useful to general managers and critical to entrepreneurs: cash, risk, and value. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Cash; Financial Strategy; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Managerial Roles; Risk Management; Value

October 2004 (Revised January 2006)
Tutorial

Introduction to Responsibility Accounting Systems

By: David F. Hawkins, V.G. Narayanan, Jacob Cohen and Michele Jurgens

Responsibility accounting systems generate financial and related nonfinancial information about the actual and planned activities of a company's responsibility centers--organizational units headed by managers responsible for a unit's performance. The principal... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Cost Accounting; Governance Controls; Financial Reporting; Performance Evaluation; Budgets and Budgeting; Planning

October 2000 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Nick Fiore: Healer or Hitman? (A)

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Tara Donovan

Many general managers face this predicament at one time or another: if I don't deliver the numbers, senior management won't invest in our growth. But what it takes to deliver the desired numbers may include layoffs and other undesirable solutions. Is it better to back... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Strategic Planning; Decision Choices and Conditions

Profile

Cathy Zhou

I had to stop amassing more skills and just make the leap to doing what I wanted to do. What have you most enjoyed about your career thus far? As a general manager at Uber, I love that the work my team and I... View Details

Keywords: Technology

Rembrand M. Koning

Rem Koning View Details

Keywords: high technology; software; biotechnology

19 Sep 2023
HBS Case

How Will the Tech Titans Behind ChatGPT, Bard, and LLaMA Make Money?

The dizzying explosion of generative artificial intelligence platforms has been the big business story of the past year, but how they’ll make money and how smart companies can use them wisely are the questions that will dominate the next... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Technology; Information Technology

October 1997 (Revised March 1998)
Case

HansaBank AG

The top management of a prestigious German bank is trying to understand why it has failed to develop the next generation of management. View Details

Keywords: Leadership Development; Management Teams; Banking Industry; Germany

Find at Harvard

April 2017
Case

Yushan Bicycles: Learning to Ride Abroad

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Paul S. Myers

Yushan Bicycles, one of Taiwan's leading bicycle manufacturers, is pursuing an international expansion strategy by increasing demand for its range of traditional and electric bicycles and shifting its product mix toward higher-margin models sold through specialty... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Conflict Management; Learning; Bicycle Industry; Taiwan; Australia

April 2013
Case

Grupo RBS (A)

By: John A. Davis and Courtney Collette

This case reviews the two-generation history of the Brazilian media company, RBS, and examines how the second generation family CEO manages through a crisis facing the company. View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Family Ownership; Crisis Management; Management Teams; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Brazil

August 1979
Case

Claire McCloud

Describes the situation faced by a young MBA with an economics background who is offered the opportunity to manage a high technology fiber optics business. Designed to facilitate exploring the skills and knowledge that the general manager of a technology-based firm... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Management Skills; Technology Industry

September 1996 (Revised March 1999)
Case

EMDICO (A)

By: John A. Quelch

The general manager of Fuji Film's Saudi distributorship must decide on a relaunch strategy for Fuji film and cameras in Saudi Arabia. View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Emerging Markets; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Saudi Arabia

26 Aug 2013
Lessons from the Classroom

Built for Global Competition from the Start

Thanks to the Internet, entrepreneurs are no longer confined to a local geography when building a new business—the world can be their market from day one. But building a startup as a global business requires managers with skills and... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Education

October 1995 (Revised March 1996)
Case

Executive Shirt Company, Inc.

By: Janice H. Hammond and Sylvie Ryckebusch

The Executive Shirt Co. is contemplating a move into custom-made shirts. The company's general manager has charged two of his managers to come up with plans for incorporating production of custom shirts into the existing manufacturing process. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Production; Strategic Planning; Expansion; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States

February 2000 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Microsoft Latin America

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Alberto Ballve and Antonio Davila

Mauricio Santillan, regional vice president for the Latin American division of Microsoft, has introduced a new performance measurement system to help his country managers formulate and control strategy. Microsoft Latin America's priorities are rolling out of an... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Applications and Software; Emerging Markets; Crime and Corruption; Motivation and Incentives; Management Skills; Global Strategy; Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Latin America

September 2004 (Revised April 2005)
Background Note

Note on Individual and Corporate Liability

By: Lynn S. Paine

Answers some of the most common questions managers ask about potential corporate and individual liability for corporate misconduct under U.S. law. Describes a few general principles of liability that managers should be aware of. A rewritten version of an earlier note. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Accountability; Legal Liability

23 Jun 2016
Video

What is Your Best Self?

April 2005 (Revised January 2006)
Case

Protege Partners: The Capacity Challenge

By: Randolph B. Cohen

In February 2005, Jeffrey Tarrant (HBS '85) and Ted Seides (HBS '99) considered their strategy for Protege Partners, founded in July 2002 as a fund of hedge funds (FOHF) specializing in small hedge funds. Protege's assets under management had grown to $1.1 billion, and... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Growth and Maturation; Investment Funds; Financial Services Industry