Publications

23 Mar 2020
Working Paper Summaries

The Effects of Hierarchy on Learning and Performance in Business Experimentation

Keywords: by Sourobh Ghosh, Stefan H. Thomke, and Hazjier Pourkhalkhali

2010
Working Paper

Reversing the Queue: Performance, Legitimacy, and Minority Hiring

By: Andrew Hill and David A. Thomas

Studies of minority hiring have found that poor-performing firms or firms in highly competitive contexts are more likely to hire minority candidates. However, most work has examined hiring for entry and mid-level positions, not senior management. Management positions... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Selection and Staffing; Leadership; Managerial Roles; Performance Effectiveness; Sports Industry; United States

Read Now

August 1998 (Revised July 2002)
Case

Innovation at 3M Corporation (A)

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Ashok Nimgade

Describes how 3M Corp. introduces and learns a new and innovative methodology called Lead User research to understand future customer and market needs. A team from 3M's Medical-Surgical Markets Division applies the Lead User methodology to the field of surgical... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Managerial Roles; Marketing Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Market Timing; Product Development; Problems and Challenges; Business Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

January 1998 (Revised February 1998)
Case

Sideco Americana S.A. (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Harold F. Hogan Jr

This case focuses on a decision the Sideco management team faces when customers of its newly acquired and privatized water and sewer company neglect to pay its bills. Describes the effort to transform an old-style Argentine construction and engineering company into a... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Transformation; Business or Company Management; Values and Beliefs; Argentina

Find at Harvard

May 2022
Case

Executive Decision-Making at Zola

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Michael Roberto

In April 2020, Rachel Jarrett, President and COO of wedding technology company Zola, called a meeting with the organization’s key decision-makers. The company had previously launched three business expansions: a vendor marketplace, a wedding apparel division, and a... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Voting; Decision Choices and Conditions; Management Skills; Management; Management Style; Organizations; Organizational Culture; Technology Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

29 Jan 2020
News

Study: How Schmoozing Helps Men Get Ahead

15 Apr 2019
News

How Companies Should Prepare Their Forecasts

October 2013 (Revised April 2015)
Case

Myomo: Getting Sales in Motion

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Shikhar Ghosh and Matthew Preble

In late 2012, the management team of Myomo, a startup which had designed a unique myoelectric arm brace for patients with dysfunctional arms, was deciding which of the three sales models the company had tested to pursue as its sales strategy going forward. Each model... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Marketing Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Health Care and Treatment; Business Startups; Sales; Growth and Development Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Health Industry

27 Mar 2018
News

HBS Announces New Venture Competition Semifinalists in Student Business and Social Enterprise Tracks

January 1976 (Revised June 1984)
Case

Megalith, Inc. -- Hay Associates (A)

By: John P. Kotter

In 1969, Megalith centralized its financial and control functions. John Boyd, senior vice president for finance, hired four brilliant young managers to "bring the group out of the stone age." By 1975, this management team had created a near-perfect finance office of... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Problems and Challenges

01 Jan 2006
News

14 Apr 2019
Interview

How to Build Psychological Safety, with Amy Edmondson

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Dave Stachowiak

Amy Edmondson is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School. She has been recognized by the Thinkers50 global ranking of management thinkers for many years and was honored with their Talent Award in 2017. Amy is the author of... View Details

Keywords: Psychological Safety; Organizational Culture; Groups and Teams; Performance Effectiveness

April 2020
Teaching Note

Glossier: Co-Creating a Cult Brand with a Digital Community

By: Jill Avery

Teaching Note for HBS No. 519-022. Flush with cash from its Series C fundraise, cult beauty brand Glossier considers its next phase of growth, facing critical decisions on how to allocate its capital to support various marketing communications and distribution... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Crowdsourcing; CRM; Startup; Direct-to-consumer; DTC; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Consumer Behavior; Customer Relationship Management; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Social Media; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; United States

6 PM – 8 PM EDT, 11 Mar 2015

Boston Alumni: Determine Your Career Elements & Connect with HBS

Kristen Fitzpatrick, Managing Director of HBS Career and Professional Development, and other members of the CPD team will share resources available to you and guide you through a quick exercise to see what elements are most essential in your career. View Details

August 2015 (Revised March 2017)
Supplement

Planters Nuts (B): The Power of the Peanut

By: Robert J. Dolan and Donald K. Ngwe

This case picks up from the events in Planters Nuts and describes how the new management team for Planters turned the brand around in 2013 by implementing a new brand positioning accompanied by a multimillion dollar marketing campaign. View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Marketing; Transformation; Food and Beverage Industry

March 2010 (Revised August 2010)
Case

Systems Infrastructure at Google (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Stecker

This case describes how a senior vice president of engineering at Google, Bill Coughran, leads a high-performing engineering organization. The case focuses specifically on Coughran's encouraging two teams of engineers to develop competing solutions for application... View Details

Keywords: Independent Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Leadership Development; Product Design; Groups and Teams; Creativity; Motivation and Incentives; Competitive Strategy; Technology Industry; United States

September 2006 (Revised March 2012)
Case

Fritidsresor Under Pressure (A): The First 10 Hours

By: Joshua D. Margolis, Vincent Marie Dessain and Anders Sjoman

When a tsunami hit Southeast Asia on December 26, 2004, the leadership team at a Swedish tour company must manage a devastating crisis affecting thousands of its customers and employees in Thailand. Documents the challenges the company faced in the first ten hours of... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Leadership; Crisis Management; Natural Disasters; Tourism Industry; Thailand; Sweden

April 18, 2013
Article

Leading Clinicians and Clinicians Leading

By: Richard Bohmer

More effective models of care delivery are needed, but their successful implementation depends on effective care teams and good management of local operations (clinical microsystems). Clinicians influence both, and local clinician leaders will have several key tasks. View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Performance; Leadership; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry