Publications

01 Mar 2010
News

Islam’s Great Culture Is Dying

In the early 1970s, as Ali Allawi (MBA ’71) graduated from HBS, Islam was flexing both religious and political muscles that had long been dormant. It came to a head with Iran’s 1979 revolution, an uprising against the ruling political elite and Western-inspired... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Publishing Industries (except Internet)

June 2021
Teaching Note

Michael Phelps: 'It's Okay to Not Be Okay'

By: Boris Groysberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Michael Norris

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 421-044. In 2020, Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, with 28 medals in various swimming events, was now retired. As he looked back on his 20+ year athletic career, he considered what had gone into making him the... View Details

Keywords: Mental Health; Talent and Talent Management; Training; Health; Success; Performance Improvement; Personal Development and Career; Family and Family Relationships; Sports; Competition; Sports Industry; United States; Baltimore; Arizona; Sydney; Athens; Beijing; London

April 2017 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Wal-Mart Update, 2017

By: David B. Yoffie and Eric Baldwin

In 2017 Wal-Mart was still the world’s largest company, with over $480 billion in annual revenue and operations in 28 countries. Although it had mostly vanquished its rival discount retailers in the U.S., it was struggling to find the right growth strategy. Facing a... View Details

Keywords: E-Commerce Strategy; Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Growth and Development Strategy; Global Range; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; E-commerce; Retail Industry

September 1996 (Revised November 1999)
Case

GLSTN 1996

By: James E. Austin, Willis M. Emmons III and David Maue

The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Teachers Network (GLSTN), which aims to create respect for all within schools regardless of sexual orientation, faces significant challenges stemming from its rapid growth into a 30-chapter national organization. Issues include... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Leadership; Networks; Policy; Change Management; Nonprofit Organizations; Leadership Development; Growth Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Education Industry

Find at Harvard

May 2024
Teaching Note

The Meteoric Rise of Skims

By: Ayelet Israeli, Jill Avery and Leonard A. Schlesinger

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 524-023, "The Meteoric Rise of Skims." View Details

March 2000 (Revised April 2001)
Case

eFrenzy, Inc. (A)

By: Marco Iansiti and Nicole Tempest

Details how to design, launch, and scale a rapidly growing Internet venture. Focuses on the challenges and opportunities involved in leveraging a network of partners. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Internet and the Web; Product Development; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Information Technology Industry; United States

December 2016
Case

Public Mission, Private Funding: The University of California, Berkeley

By: William C. Kirby and Joycelyn W. Eby

UC Berkley, long known as one of the leading public universities in both the U.S. and the world, has seen turbulent times recently. While student enrollment and costs have increased steadily in recent years, the school, which has been fiercely proud of its public... View Details

December 2004 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Levenger Company

By: Myra M. Hart, Kristin Lieb and Victoria Winston

The Leveens started a high-end catalog business as a small home-based venture in 1987. It grew into a nationally recognized, $60 million company, offering products that ranged from unique pens and pencils to leather briefcases and fully furnished offices. In 1999, it... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Financial Liquidity; Business Exit or Shutdown; Expansion; Business Growth and Maturation; Value; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Globalization; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; United States

12 May 2015
Blog Post

Just Starting to Recruit?

alumni and students for your hiring needs or to get started on your recruiting strategy for the coming year. -Hillary Mann, HBS Career & Professional Development View Details

Keywords: All Industries

August 2023
Technical Note

Two Ways of Pursuing a Calling

By: Leslie Perlow and Hannah Weisman

Work can be a means to a financial end, a stepping stone to higher-level jobs, or a meaningful end in itself: a calling. The technical note provides an overview of two different ways people can pursue a calling: with an internal focus or external focus. View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Job Search; Job Design and Levels; Happiness; Identity; Well-being; Motivation and Incentives; Human Needs; Satisfaction; Mission and Purpose; Health Industry; Health Industry; Health Industry; Health Industry; Health Industry

September 2008 (Revised September 2018)
Case

Traversing a Career Path: Pat Fili-Krushel (A)

By: Kathleen L. McGinn, Deborah M. Kolb and Cailin B. Hammer

Pat Fili-Krushel, CEO and president of WebMD and past president of ABC Network, contemplates accepting Richard Parson's offer to become the first executive vice president of administration at AOL Time Warner. Accepting this position would be a move back into mainstream... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Job Offer; Managerial Roles; Negotiation Tactics; Personal Development and Career; Power and Influence; Media and Broadcasting Industry

July 2011
Teaching Note

Addleshaw Goddard LLP (TN)

By: Robert G. Eccles and Penelope Rossano

Teaching Note for 409056. View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Corporate Strategy; Leadership Development; Business Units; Price; Contracts; Training; Competency and Skills; Partners and Partnerships; Competitive Advantage; Mission and Purpose; Legal Services Industry; United Kingdom

September 2016 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Angie's List: Ratings Pioneer Turns 20

By: Robert J. Dolan and Ayelet Israeli

In 1995, before people “googled” or “yelped,” Angela Hicks (HBS, 2000) was establishing her Angie’s List as a pioneer in the accumulation and dissemination of consumer rating information. Hicks focused on the home repair and maintenance market and, as she put it,... View Details

December 2010 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Growing Pains at Stroz Friedberg

By: David A. Garvin and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In late spring 2009, Stroz Friedberg co-presidents Edward Stroz and Eric Friedberg had to set growth targets for 2010. The leading global consulting firm they had built specialized in managing digital risk and uncovering digital evidence and had grown very rapidly.... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Change Management; Transition; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Consulting Industry

May 2010 (Revised September 2013)
Case

Friend Bank: The Time for Hope

By: Clayton S. Rose and Aldo Sesia

In 2010, Friend Bank was entering the fifth year of Hope Harris Johnson's ambitious 20-year growth plan to transform her family's one branch community bank into an institution with a substantial presence in southeastern Alabama. Harris Johnson was pleased, so far, with... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Financial Crisis; Banks and Banking; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk Management; Family Ownership; Competitive Advantage; Banking Industry; Alabama

01 Sep 2007
News

Riding It Out

have a strong team and had already developed a recall procedure in the event that something like the melamine incident happened,” says Gisholt. “It’s one of those instances that’s challenging as a parent and as an entrepreneur — you don’t... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; dog food; pets; Food Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Food and Beverage Stores; Retail Trade

December 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Ebro Puleva

By: David E. Bell, Antonio Garcia de Castro, Rocio Reina Paniagua and Mary Louise Shelman

Once Spain's largest sugar company, Ebro Puleva has been transformed through a series of international acquisitions into the world's largest package rice company and second largest pasta company. In 2009, Chairman Antonio Hernandez Callejas must decide how to proceed... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Crisis; Globalized Firms and Management; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Consumer Behavior; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Spain

June 2000 (Revised September 2000)
Case

Amazon.com: Exploiting the Value of Digital Business Infrastructure

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Meredith Collura

Enables a thorough analysis of Amazon.com and the company's value proposition, in terms of its business concept, digital business capabilities, and community and shareholder value. Examines the company's complex set of business models and web of business relationships,... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Asset Pricing; Capital; Financial Management; Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Relationships; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry