Publications

12 May 2022
News

Why Digital Is a State of Mind, Not Just a Skill Set

13 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

Why Your Company Wants to be a 'Cognitive Referent' (Hint: SpaceX)

©iStock/maislam To find out, McDonald fixed his sights on the emerging market of online investing, studying five unnamed competitors at the beginning of their race to the top and following their actions and success as the market developed... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Aerospace; Food & Beverage; Retail

04 Nov 2015
What Do You Think?

Why Does Gender Diversity Improve Financial Performance?

Does Gender Diversity in Management Enhance Performance? Why? A variety of explanations for the positive correlation between gender diversity and better business performance found in a recent McKinsey study were advanced in responses to this month’s column. Possible... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

18 Feb 2019
Book

What’s Really Disrupting Business? It’s Not Technology

If women wanted to shake up their makeup regimen 10 years ago, Sephora was the place to go. Beauty product junkies loved Sephora’s candy store-like display of sample-size face creams, glittery lip glosses, and eyeshadows in every shade imaginable, allowing them to test... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Beauty & Cosmetics; Insurance; Service; Retail

March 2022 (Revised October 2022)
Case

Transforming Kimball International, Inc. (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

Kimball International, Inc. (KII), led by CEO Kristie Juster, and its board of directors, chaired by Kim Ryan, faced critical questions about KII’s future in the spring of 2021. Two years earlier, the board had appointed Juster as the new CEO of KII, a publicly traded,... View Details

May 2015 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Apple Inc. in 2015

By: David B. Yoffie and Eric Baldwin

At the end of 2014, Apple Inc. recorded the most profitable quarter of any firm in history, and its market capitalization soon topped $700 billion. 'Apple Inc in 2015' explores the history of Apple, its successes under Jobs, its continued growth under Tim Cook, and the... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Innovation; Market Positioning; Marketing Implementation; Planning; Products; Strategy; Strategic Positioning; Technology; Information Technology; Strategic Planning; Product Positioning; Leadership; Communication; Competitive Advantage; Product; Innovation and Invention; Computer Industry; Electronics Industry

Diverse hiring, deep research, and a collaborative culture have defined Brown Capital's successful investment approach. But would those qualities endure after its founder retires? A case study by Luis Viceira and Emily... View Details

August 1992 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Euro Disney: The First 100 Days

By: Gary W. Loveman and Leonard A. Schlesinger

The Walt Disney Co. theme parks historically have thrived on the basis of a formula stressing excellent customer service and a magnificent physical environment. The formula has proven successful in Japan, as well as the United States. With the controversial opening of... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Corporate Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Service Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Japan; France; United States

10 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

Do You Have Change Fatigue?

know-it-all leaders unnecessary for successful change, they often muck it up. Echoing Garvin, Rosabeth Moss Kanter notes that it's very difficult for leaders to spell out in advance precisely what the future state should look like—so many... View Details

Keywords: by Nick Morgan

29 Sep 2021
News

For Entrepreneurs, Blown Deadlines Can Crush Big Ideas

June 2023 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Sober Sidekick

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Kumba Sennaar

Case on the nascent business model of a mobile health IT startup. In particular, should they pivot away from their successful lead generation business model to charging health plans. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Operations; Business Startups; Business Model; Health Industry; United States

September 2018
Supplement

From Beirut With Love (B): The Last Judgment

By: Christina R. Wing, Esel Y. Cekin and Samer Al-Rachedy

2022
Working Paper

Transferable Skills? Founders as Venture Capitalists

By: Paul A. Gompers and Vladimir Mukharlyamov

In this paper we explore whether or not the experience as a founder of a venture capital-backed startup influences the performance of founders who become venture capitalists (VCs). We find that nearly 7% of VCs were previously founders of a venture-backed startup.... View Details

Keywords: Founders; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; Performance; Personal Development and Career; Success

Find at Harvard

Read Now

04 Jun 2012
Research & Ideas

The Business of Life

says. "The reality is that the only reason you're interested in either of these things is that you're interested in finding the truth. We spend most of our waking hours in our professions, but if we can't allow success in our professions... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

spring 1991
Article

Breaking the Cycle of Failure in Services

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and James Heskett

Most managers recognize that good service is a direct result of having effective, productive people in customer contact positions. However, most service companies perpetuate a cycle of failure by tolerating high turnover and expecting employee dissatisfaction. This... View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Service Delivery; Success; Failure; Management Skills; Service Industry

Find at Harvard

2019
Book

The Business of Platforms: Strategy in the Age of Digital Competition, Innovation, and Power

By: Michael A. Cusumano, Annabelle Gawer and David B. Yoffie

The Business of Platforms explores the strategic, economic, and technology management challenges of digital platform businesses. We have five major themes in the book: 1) The world’s most valuable companies are all platforms, in part because platforms have... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Technology; Platform; Internet and the Web; Management; Competitive Strategy; Digital Platforms

16 Jun 2017
News

Does Amazon’s Acquisition of Whole Foods Check Out?

09 Jan 2012
Research & Ideas

Location, Location, Location: The Strategy of Place

is whether the business can afford to spend the required resources—especially when it means siphoning time and attention away from an existing successful business. "When you open a new operation, it requires not only money but also... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

October 2002 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Emerging Giants: Building World-Class Companies in Emerging Markets

By: Tarun Khanna and Krishna G. Palepu

Presents a conceptual framework to examine successful companies in emerging markets and what enables them to avoid traditional emerging market obstacles. Examines those characteristics that allow these successful local companies to overcome market voids and become... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Emerging Markets; Success