Publications

June 1991 (Revised June 1993)
Background Note

The Decline of the British Cotton Industry (Abridged)

Supplements the general argument concerning the decline of the British economy by showing how vertical specialization, horizontal competition, and entrenched job control combined to create incentives for management to adapt to changing international conditions by... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Business Cycles; Organizational Structure; Consumer Products Industry; Great Britain

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August 2001 (Revised April 2005)
Case

Surface Logix

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, Michael J. Roberts and Kim Slack

Describes a start-up in the field of nano technology--very small physical structures measured in the billionths of a meter. The company, Surface Logix, has assembled a portfolio of intellectual property and completed some of the R&D work required to develop actual... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Research and Development; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Product Development; Intellectual Property; Investment Portfolio

March 2004 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Salt Lake Organizing Committee, The: 2002 Olympics

By: H. Kent Bowen, Bryce LaPierre and Courtney Purrington

After two and a half years of effort, Fraser Bullock, COO of the 2002 Winter Olympics, faced projected deficits and post-9/11 security requirements only five months before the opening ceremony. Summarizes the organizational structure and processes put in place by... View Details

Keywords: Framework; Knowledge Dissemination; Business or Company Management; Managerial Roles; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Planning; Practice; Risk and Uncertainty; Safety; Sports; System

October 1988 (Revised December 1989)
Case

Siemens Electric Motor Works (B): Pricing Interdivisional Sales

Examines Siemens' policy for pricing products transferred between the manufacturing and sales divisions of their Electric Motor Works, where both are profit centers. It is unique in that the organizational linkage between the product costing system and the transfer... View Details

Keywords: Production; Price; Organizational Structure; Profit; Business Processes; Manufacturing Industry

Web

Faculty & Research

multi-year digital transformation under CEO Piyush Gupta in 2014. It was then that DBS also began experimenting with AI to drive value for the business and customers. As the bank scaled the use of AI, it developed an internal P-U-R-E... View Details

2011
Case

Founder's Group Diversification

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Donghong Li and Chuanjiang Mao

Founder Group's Chairman of the Board, Wei Xin, made adjustments to the company portfolio in 2010. Established in the mid-1980s, Founder is the industry leader for Chinese laser typesetting systems and was once the second largest PC manufacturer in China. It is also... View Details

Keywords: Strategy Management; China

May 2016
Background Note

Health Systems in the Developing World

By: Kevin Schulman, Muhammed Pate and Gary Carbell

This note offers an approach to the evaluation of health care markets globally. It prepares students with a set of questions about the organization of core elements of the health care system. The organization of these elements can vary across markets and can vary in... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Developing Countries and Economies; Public Sector; Private Sector; Opportunities; Analysis

09 Jan 2020
News

The Future of Everything: One Architect’s Radical Vision To Replace The Open Office

Web

JD/MBA Harvard Law School - MBA

JD/MBA Harvard Law School A joint degree with Harvard Law School The JD/MBA offered by Harvard Law School (HLS) and Harvard Business School (HBS) is the oldest MBA joint degree program at Harvard. Structured... View Details

January 15, 2019
Article

Is Your Company's Strategy Aligned with Your Ownership Model?

By: Josh Baron

The legacy of Vanguard founder John Bogle has brought attention to the transformative influence of ownership structures within the business world. Bogle's revolutionary insight into the limitations of active fund management led to the widespread adoption of index... View Details

Keywords: Ownership Type; Business Strategy; Organizational Structure; Strength and Weakness; Competitive Advantage

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12 Apr 2007
Working Paper Summaries

From Manufacturing to Design: An Essay on the Work of Kim B. Clark

Keywords: by Sylvain Lenfle & Carliss Y. Baldwin; Manufacturing

2009
Article

India Transformed: Insights from the Firm Level 1988–2007

By: Laura Alfaro and Anusha Chari

Using firm-level data, this paper analyzes the transformation of India's economic structure following the implementation of economic reforms. The focus of the study is on publicly listed and unlisted firms from across a wide spectrum of manufacturing and services... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Transformation; Economics; Ownership; Assets; Sales; Profit; Stock Shares; Private Sector; Investment Return; Manufacturing Industry; Service Industry; India

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06 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

Cheese Moving: Effecting Change Rather Than Accepting It

With more than 23 million copies in print, Spencer Johnson's allegorical tale Who Moved My Cheese? is one of the best-selling business books of all time. Even 13 years after its initial publication, the book, whose characters include mice... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

July 2003 (Revised October 2013)
Case

Model N Inc.

By: Marco Iansiti and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

The CEO of a Silicon Valley start-up needed to make organizational and product changes to deliver a new software solution to a Fortune 500 customer. He was wondering how he should structure the company to best meet the requirements for this particular customer, while... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Trends; Communication; Customer Focus and Relationships; Selection and Staffing; Time Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Strategy; Software; Computer Industry

September 2005 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Spyder Active Sports - 2004

By: Belen Villalonga, Dwight B. Crane and James Quinn

David Jacobs founded a high-end ski apparel company in 1978. He successfully built and grew the company, establishing a major international brand that appealed to ski racers and other active skiers. In 1995, he sought external financing to support further growth of the... View Details

Keywords: Private Ownership; Private Equity; Financial Liquidity; Business Exit or Shutdown; Valuation; Brands and Branding; Wealth; Family Business; Financing and Loans; Globalization; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sports Industry; Colorado

12 Sep 2018
News

Celebrating A Landmark Book on Gender in the Workplace

May 2003 (Revised June 2003)
Case

Revitalizing Philips (A)

Philips is a major science-based multinational that has been restructuring since the early 1970s. This case provides an historical perspective on earlier efforts as well as a detailed description of the one pursued under Cor Boonstra, CEO from 1996 to 2001, that... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Restructuring; Science-Based Business

11 Jul 2017
First Look

First Look at New Ideas and Research, July 11

July–August 2017 Harvard Business Review Finding the Platform in Your Product: Four Strategies That Can Reveal Hidden Value By: Hagiu, Andrei, and Elizabeth J. Altman Abstract—Five of the 10 most valuable companies in the world... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2008
Supplement

Finansbank 2006 (CW)

By: C. Fritz Foley and Linnea Meyer

How do financial policy requirements and benefits of ownership concentration affect the need for and process of corporate restructuring? This case provides students with an opportunity to analyze the restructuring of a Turkish multinational business group by way of a... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Restructuring; Financing and Loans; Policy; Compensation and Benefits; Growth and Development Strategy; Ownership; Business and Shareholder Relations; Banking Industry; Russia; Turkey; Romania; Switzerland; Ukraine