Publications

Find at Harvard

13 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

Managing the Family Business: Leadership Roles

Editor's note: This is part of a series of occasional columns on managing the family business written by Senior Lecturer John A. Davis. In this article, Davis discusses leadership roles. Part Two: View Details

Keywords: by John A. Davis

May 1992 (Revised August 1993)
Case

Forest Policy in Malaysia

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

The governments of Malaysia and the Malaysian State of Sarawak need to assess possible changes in forest policy. Environmentalist pressure threatens traditional market relationships and patterns of business-government interaction. Harvest regulations, subsidies, trade... View Details

Keywords: Natural Environment; Policy; Government and Politics; Environmental Sustainability; Trade; Business and Government Relations; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Forestry Industry; Forest Products Industry; Malaysia

June 2014
Teaching Note

Andreessen Horowitz

By: Thomas Eisenmann

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), a venture capital firm launched in 2009, has quickly broken into the VC industry's top ranks, in terms of its ability to invest in Silicon Valley's most promising startups. The case recounts the firm's history; describes its co-founders'... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Venture Capital; Disruption; Organizational Structure; Entrepreneurship; Industry Structures; Service Industry; United States

October 2011 (Revised September 2014)
Case

Paddle8: Painting a New Picture of the Art Market

By: Mukti Khaire

The Paddle8 case is a short case that presents the idea for a new business in the global art market and asks students to evaluate whether it will work, given the structure and unique workings of the art market. Paddle8 is a New York-based startup that partners with... View Details

Keywords: Arts; Business Plan; Business Startups; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Trade; Fine Arts Industry; New York (city, NY)

March 2023 (Revised September 2023)
Case

Patagonia: 'Earth Is Now Our Only Shareholder'

By: Brian Trelstad, Nien-hê Hsieh, Michael Norris and Susan Pinckney

In September 2022, Yvon Chouinard, the iconoclastic founder of outdoor apparel company Patagonia, announced a new ownership model for his company. Chouinard and his family had held complete control of the company's voting and non-voting stock since its founding 50... View Details

June 1991 (Revised May 1992)
Case

Lithonia Lighting

By: Nitin Nohria

In early 1991, Lithonia, the U.S.'s largest manufacturer of lighting fixtures, faced a major slump in the construction business that threatened to cause its first decline in revenues after over a decade of strong growth. With financial pressures from its parent company... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Industry Growth; Decision Making; Information Technology; Financial Crisis; Investment; Business Growth and Maturation; Electronics Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

May 2002
Case

Venture Capital Fund Restructuring Vignettes (Abridged)

By: Paul A. Gompers

This case examines the changes in fund structures proposed by four venture capital firms in 2002: Accel Partners, Battery Ventures, Charles River Ventures, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The venture capital market has experienced a major downturn, and these... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Restructuring; Financial Crisis; Motivation and Incentives; Business and Shareholder Relations; Investment Funds; Financial Services Industry

30 Nov 2010
Working Paper Summaries

The New Face of Chinese Industrial Policy: Making Sense of Anti-Dumping Cases in the Petrochemical and Steel Industry

Keywords: by Regina Abrami & Yu Zheng; Manufacturing; Chemical

15 Nov 2006
Research & Ideas

Lessons Not Learned About Innovation

observes Rosabeth Moss Kanter in a new Harvard Business Review article, "Innovation: The Classic Traps." Kanter, who holds the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professorship at Harvard Business School,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

November 2013
Case

GlaxoSmithKline in China (A)

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

Four GlaxoSmithKline employees were accused of bribing Chinese health care workers to prescribe the company's drugs. The accusations brought to light the questionable incentive structures of the Chinese health care system and the pressure on companies to adhere to... View Details

08 Feb 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Platform Systems vs. Step Processes—The Value of Options and the Power of Modularity

Keywords: by Carliss Y. Baldwin

October 14, 2019
Article

The Truth About Open Offices: There Are Reasons Why They Don't Produce the Desired Interactions

By: Ethan Bernstein and Ben Waber

It’s never been easier for workers to collaborate—or so it seems. Open, flexible, activity-based spaces are displacing cubicles, making people more visible. Messaging is displacing phone calls, making people more accessible. Enterprise social media such as Slack and... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Interpersonal Communication; Communication Technology; Design; Human Resources; Performance Productivity; Organizational Design

Find at Harvard

Register to Read

08 Aug 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Managing Governments: Unilever in India and Turkey, 1950–1980

Keywords: by Geoffrey G. Jones

07 Jan 2022
News

Ask Help Desk: Creating Community and Safety at Work While Omicron Surges

01 Mar 2023
What Do You Think?

How Much Does 'Deep Purpose' Matter to the Bottom Line?

before purpose, you get an Enron. Ranjay Gulati, the Paul R. Lawrence MBA Class of 1942 Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, recently identified this quest as a search for “deep... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

2011
Teaching Note

UFIDA (D) (TN)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Ping He, Xiohua Wu and Lijuan Liu

This case describes the financing decisions of a software company at difference stages of its development. Started from 1988 as an individual business, along with the "Reform and Open" policy of China, the firm has experienced tremendous growth, and has become a... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Computer Software; Emerging Markets; Financial Strategy; IPO; Investments; China; Applications and Software; China