Publications

Blog

What Can You Do to Foster Gender Equity?

outside work is important too. By disrupting stereotypical expectations, you can help shift your company culture to a more equitable one for everybody. Get to the root of the problem. If your group or... View Details

02 Mar 2016
Blog Post

HBS FIELD - A Sneak Peek Into Retail

how unique the FIELD experience is. It was the first time that I, or the rest of my group, had total control over the development and presentation of a company defining strategy. Most people do not get that... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail

May 1985 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Comdisco, Inc.

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and Rita J. Seymour

Comdisco, the largest independent dealer and lessor of computers and peripheral equipment, needs financing in order to match its market's growth of 20-30% per year. The company has access to two types of risk capital, but there are substantial costs and risks... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Strategy; Cost vs Benefits; Capital Structure; Financing and Loans; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance; Growth and Development Strategy; Computer Industry; Distribution Industry

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December 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Goldman Sachs: A Bank for All Seasons (A)

By: Lena G. Goldberg and Tiffany Lynne Obenchain

Facing the worldwide financial crisis, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein considered his options including whether his company could avoid a forced marriage and what steps Goldman Sachs should take to try to restore confidence in financial services companies. View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Crisis; Commercial Banking; Investment Banking; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Crisis Management; Business Strategy; Banking Industry

24 Apr 2012
First Look

First Look: April 24

review can help researchers identify high-quality teamwork surveys. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/11-116.pdf The Flattened Firm—Not as Advertised Author:Wulf Abstract For decades, management consultants and the... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

September 1994 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Hamilton Test Systems, Inc.

By: William A. Sahlman and Norman Klein

The protagonists must decide whether to invest in an auto emissions testing company as the first investment in the leveraged buyout fund they recently formed. Issues of how to raise the needed equity capital and how to structure the acquisition are emphasized. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Leveraged Buyouts; Environmental Sustainability; Investment; Service Industry; Auto Industry

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February 1997 (Revised December 2012)
Case

Jim Sharpe: Extrusion Technology, Inc. (B)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Barbara Feinberg

Jim Sharpe, 11 years after receiving his MBA from Harvard and working for others, has finally become his own boss and 100% owner of manufacturer of aluminum extrusions. After 10 months of an unfunded search, he acquires the business in an LBO and prepares to face his... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Entrepreneurship; Business Ventures; Business or Company Management; Competency and Skills; Management Teams; Risk and Uncertainty; Manufacturing Industry; United States

29 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 29

http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/bgjs13_84709dcc-425f-4fe2-8600-0f8cbb50be16.pdf August 2013 The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management The Case Method By: Bower, Joseph L. Abstract—The case method was developed... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2023
Teaching Note

CMA CGM: Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Container Shipping

By: Willy Shih

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 623-006. Marine transport is the most cost-effective way to move large volumes over long distances, and container shipping is the backbone of international trade in goods. Yet shipping contributed 3% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions,... View Details

Keywords: Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Ship Transportation; Environmental Sustainability; Environmental Regulation; Trade; Energy Conservation; Transportation Industry; Shipping Industry; Europe

29 Jun 2009
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Leading Change

markets, business processes, and organizational structure—and to improve them to achieve growth. Success will depend on leaders who are able to stabilize the company as they identify and exploit... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

Career Coach

Jim Warner

Jim (HBS ’80, Yale ‘75) is a board member and advisor to technology and services companies in marketing and media and a veteran of the media and entertainment business. He guides students and alums interested in careers in entertainment,... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment / Media; Publishing / Communications / Advertising; Technology

July 2019 (Revised November 2022)
Case

Momofuku Ando and the Globalization of Noodles

By: Geoffrey Jones and Megumi Takada

This case examines the entrepreneurial career of Momofuku Ando, the Taiwanese-born Japanese entrepreneur who pioneered instant boodles with his Chicken Ramen (1958) and Cup Noodle (1971) products. It begins by reviewing his many previous unsuccessful ventures,... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Failure; Success; Globalization; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Food and Beverage Industry; Japan

March 2008
Case

Patel Food and Chemicals Private Limited (A)

By: Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

Alok Patel, the founder and chairman of a Gujarat-based, privately held edible oils processor, must decide whether to hire a CFO candidate. Previously, his company's book-keeping has been done by an uncle, who has mentioned that he may retire soon. Patel could hire his... View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Family Business; Managerial Roles; Emerging Markets; Diversity; Finance; Food and Beverage Industry; Gujarat

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29 Jan 2018
Book

How 'Teaming' Saved 33 Lives in the Chilean Mining Disaster

is in process. Teaming, she says, is essential to organizational learning. In her new book Extreme Teaming: Lessons in Complex, Cross-Sector Leadership, Edmondson, the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard View Details

Keywords: by Amy C. Edmondson; Mining

06 Jul 2023
News

Lessons from Major League Baseball's Game-Changing Innovations

either to compensate or just to generate value in new avenues, in new ways beyond the product on-field itself? CM: On the business side, we're continually innovating. There's a little bit of that that went... View Details

23 Aug 2010
Research & Ideas

The Drive to Acquire’s Impact on Globalization

as when a U.S. auto company builds a parts plant in Mexico, has come into prominence only in the past few decades. Cutting costs is fair enough, unless it is done by paying less-than-living wages, creating unsafe working conditions, View Details

Keywords: by Paul R. Lawrence

15 Apr 2013
Research & Ideas

Solving the Search vs. Display Advertising Quandary

The dirty little secret of advertising agencies is that much of their work is pure guesswork. Companies spread out their advertising budgets across channels—a little bit of TV, some print media, a few billboards—and wait for customers to... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Advertising

10 Feb 2022
Research & Ideas

Why Are Prices So High Right Now—and Will They Ever Return to Normal?

Edgerley Family Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Prices in the United States rose at the fastest pace in four decades in January, adding pressure to the Federal... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

March 2008 (Revised March 2009)
Case

The Home Depot, Inc.

For its first 20 years, Home Depot was known for its entrepreneurial spirit and focus on customer service. Merchandising, purchasing, and store operations were all decentralized. When the company hit $45 billion in sales, many believed that a more disciplined approach... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Profit; Leading Change; Six Sigma; Service Operations; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Retail Industry