Publications

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01 May 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Better Deals Through Level II Strategies: Advance Your Interests by Helping to Solve Their Internal Problems

Keywords: by James K. Sebenius

September 2008 (Revised October 2008)
Supplement

Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A2)

By: V.G. Narayanan, Fabrizio Ferri and James Weber

The A1 and A2 versions of the “Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A)” split the original A case into two parts. The A1 case ends as activists Sardar Biglari and Phil Cooley prepare to meet with CEO Don Smith at Friendly's headquarters in September 2006. The... View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Business and Shareholder Relations; Governing and Advisory Boards; Conflict and Resolution; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business or Company Management; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

May 2025 (Revised June 2025)
Supplement

Michael Ku and Global Clinical Supply at Pfizer Inc.: Bringing Hope to Patients (D)

By: Linda A. Hill and Lydia Begag

This fourth installment in the Pfizer Global Clinical Supply (GCS) transformation case series highlights how over a decade of cultural and digital evolution positioned GCS to meet unprecedented global challenges. In 2011, Michael Ku became the Vice President of GCS and... View Details

September 2023 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Going Mobile-First? The Digital Transformation of Davivienda Bank in Colombia

By: Jorge Tamayo and Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago

Set in 2017, this case describes the digital transformation strategy of Davivienda—a leading player in Colombia’s commercial banking and one of the companies belonging to Grupo Bolívar, a major Colombian financial conglomerate. The case also describes the pioneer role... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Information Technology; Digital Strategy; Digital Transformation; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Banking Industry; Latin America; Central America; South America; Colombia

February 2018
Supplement

Qualtrics (C)

By: Doug J. Chung and James M. Lattin

Qualtrics was an online survey research platform and since the beginning, the company had relied entirely on an inside sales model—sales done remotely without face-to-face contact with clients. The low-cost inside sales model, along with an emphasis on a strong sales... View Details

Keywords: Inside Sales Model; Sales; Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation

February 2016
Case

Debt and Democracy: The New York Constitutional Convention of 1846

By: David Moss and Dean Grodzins

On September 23, 1846, delegates to New York State's constitutional convention prepared to vote on a proposal that its principal proponent, Michael Hoffman, conceded would be “a serious change in our form of government.” The proposal would place tight restrictions on... View Details

Keywords: Sovereign Finance; Governance; Laws and Statutes; Government and Politics; History; New York (state, US)

March 2014 (Revised February 2015)
Case

Loki Capital Management

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Shikhar Ghosh and Matthew Preble

In December 2013, Michael Kane was preparing to launch his start-up's first hedge fund. While pleased with the development of the business, he wanted to address a few lingering issues before going any further. He debated whether or not to fire the company's chief... View Details

Keywords: Hedge Fund; Hedge Funds; Equity Split; Fundraising; Investor Clientele; Team Building; Human Resource Management; Human Capital; Human Resources; Equity; Financial Services Industry; United States

May 2011
Article

Extreme Productivity

By: Robert C. Pozen

A veteran top executive at two giant mutual fund companies, the author has also been an attorney, a government official, a law school professor, and a business school professor-sometimes simultaneously. Over the years, he has devised a number of principles and... View Details

Keywords: Managerial Roles; Time Management; Performance Capacity; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Productivity; Personal Development and Career

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06 Jun 2016
Research & Ideas

Skills and Behaviors that Make Entrepreneurs Successful

Entrepreneurial Leader: Peer Assessment.” Both are being prepared for launch in summer 2016. The team included Applegate; Janet Kraus, entrepreneur-in-residence; and Tim Butler, Senior Fellow and Senior Advisor to Career and Professional... View Details

Keywords: by HBS Working Knowledge

09 Jun 2022
HBS Case

From Truck Driver to Manager: US Foods’ Novel Approach to Staff Shortages

When COVID-19 swept across the world in 2020, more than 110,000 restaurants and bars closed at least temporarily, so demand fell for the company’s pre-chopped vegetables, prepared cheesecakes, and other products. US Foods sales dropped 12... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

04 Sep 2013
What Do You Think?

How Relevant is Long-Range Strategic Planning?

have to be applied more selectively, depending on such things as the industry, the nature of competition, and the speed with which a particular organization's environment is changing. And there is a question about whether a sufficient cadre of managers is being View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

September 2021 (Revised December 2021)
Case

STARZPLAY: Shooting for the Stars

By: Elie Ofek, Marco Bertini and Alpana Thapar

In mid-2021, Maaz Sheikh, cofounder and CEO of STARZPLAY, a Dubai-based subscription video on demand (SVOD) provider that catered to the Middle East and North Africa region, was wrestling with how to find the right balance between continued subscriber growth and... View Details

February 2021
Case

Enterprise Agility at Komerční Banka

By: Euvin Naidoo, Suraj Srinivasan and Sarah Gulick

In 2017, Jan Juchelka, the new CEO of Komerční Banka, identified the need for the bank to start an enterprise wide agile transformation. He started by working to create a sense of urgency to kick-start a process to enable the level of service delivery to customers he... View Details

Keywords: Agile; Agility; Transformation; Organizational Structure; Business Headquarters; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Management Systems; Banking Industry; Czech Republic

July 2016 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Banking on Change: Aligning Culture and Compensation at Morgan Stanley

By: Malcolm S. Salter

This case study was prepared as part of a research project on Culture, Conduct, and Governance in Financial Firms. The objective of this project is to compare and contrast the efforts of U.S. and European banks to induce changes in organization culture in the aftermath... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Corporate Accountability; Ethics; Organizational Culture; Corporate Governance; Banks and Banking; United States; Europe

2016
Working Paper

Innovating in Science and Engineering or 'Cashing In' on Wall Street? Evidence on Elite STEM Talent

By: Pian Shu

Using data on MIT bachelor's graduates from 1994 to 2012, this paper empirically examines the extent to which the inflow of elite talent into the financial industry affects the supply of innovators in science and engineering (S&E). I first show that finance does not... View Details

Keywords: Higher Education; Engineering; Personal Development and Career; Science; Finance

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27 Jan 2020
Research & Ideas

Hard Work Isn't Enough: How to Find Your Edge

a balance between preparing and staying spontaneous in the moment. “If you over-prepare, it can immobilize you and prevent you from bobbing and weaving,” Huang says. “You don’t want to be tethered to a script that feels forced. You want... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

08 Sep 2022
Book

Gen Xers and Millennials, It’s Time To Lead. Are You Ready?

But, frustrated Gen Xers and Millennials need not give up—their time will come, and they need to prepare now. “We desperately need this generation to learn how to manage diverse people, and manage through our crises.” In the new book True... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

March 2025 (Revised June 2025)
Case

Designing the Future of Work: Atlassian's Distributed Work Practices

By: Ashley Whillans and Gabriel Rondón Ichikawa

In early 2020, the software company Atlassian made a bold commitment: employees could work from anywhere—forever. While many tech peers reversed course on remote work, Atlassian worked to optimize their fully distributed model across 13 countries. This case follows... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Working Conditions; Management Practices and Processes; Product Development; Organizational Culture; Business Strategy; Employees; Technology Industry

April 2021
Case

Codecademy: Where to Next?

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Max Mailman and Sarah Ascherman

In March 2020, Zach Sims, co-founder and CEO of online education platform Codecademy, prepared for a meeting with his Chief of Staff Kunal Ahuja to discuss the company’s goals. Codecademy billed itself as the largest online resource for computer science literacy and... View Details

Keywords: Monetization Strategy; Business Model; Change Management; Venture Capital; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Teams; Marketing Channels; Product Marketing; Network Effects; Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; United States