Publications

24 Jan 2024
Op-Ed

Why Boeing’s Problems with the 737 MAX Began More Than 25 Years Ago

corporate executives from its engineering and product decisions and alienated its Seattle-based engineers. Leader turnover, ethical lapses, and buybacks After Condit resigned in 2003 following an ethics scandal, Boeing’s board convinced... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Air Transportation; Transportation; Aerospace

September 2013
Case

United Rentals (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch, Kathleen Durante and Emily McTague

In December 1997 United Rentals (URI) went public on the NYSE. Ten years later, during the peak of the economic meltdown, the company's performance was in decline. United Rentals had experienced its share of problems in the prior years and was still struggling to... View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Board Dynamics; Accounting Fraud; Governance; Board Committees; Merger; Corporate Governance; Construction Industry; United States

June 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Hennes & Mauritz, 2000

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

In 2000, Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) was the second-largest and most global player in the fashion retail business. It operated 682 stores, 80% of them outside its home country of Sweden, and achieved revenues of $3.0 billion and operating profits of $375 million. In 1999,... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Strategy Alignment; Strategic Planning; Fashion; Risk Management; Competition; Problems and Challenges; Management Teams; Globalized Firms and Management; Expansion; Distribution Channels; Retail Industry; Fashion Industry; Sweden

January 2024 (Revised February 2024)
Case

OpenAI: Idealism Meets Capitalism

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai

In November 2023, the board of OpenAI, one of the most successful companies in the history of technology, decided to fire Sam Altman, its charismatic and influential CEO. Their decision shocked the corporate world and had people wondering why OpenAI had designed a... View Details

Keywords: AI; AI and Machine Learning; Governing and Advisory Boards; Ethics; Strategy; Technological Innovation; Leadership

June 2012 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Best Buy in Crisis

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

In June 2012, Best Buy was in crisis. In 1996, Best Buy overtook Circuit City as the world's leader in consumer electronics retailing; however, 18 years later, Best Buy now found this position threatened. With $51 billion in revenues, it was still the biggest CE... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Forecasting and Prediction; Competitive Strategy; Ethics; Management Teams; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry; Retail Industry

June 2005 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Coach Roy Williams: What Next? (A)

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Christoper Chang and Scott Schweitzer

Roy Williams, head coach of the Kansas University Men's Basketball Team, was facing a major decision. The recent resignation of the coach at the University of North Carolina (UNC) had lead to speculation that Williams, a UNC alumnus, would be named as its new coach.... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Resignation and Termination; Job Offer; Leading Change; Management Succession; Performance Improvement; Personal Development and Career; Sports; Kansas; North Carolina

Find at Harvard

17 Jan 2023
In Practice

8 Trends to Watch in 2023

As 2023 begins, businesses and employees face an uncertain economy and labor market, as the twin dilemmas of inflation and interest rates weigh on forecasts. Harvard Business School faculty share the top trends that they believe will shape the workplace and markets... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

26 Sep 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, September 26, 2017

cascading series of scandals surrounding that same workplace culture led a group of powerful investors to seek Kalanick's resignation to protect their investment. This case presents an overview of the growth of Uber, the impact of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2012
Teaching Note

Qingdao TGOOD Electric Corporation (TN)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Zheng Xiaoming, Chen Hao and Hong Zhang

Founded in 2004, TGOOD is now the largest specialized developer and producer of cubicle-type transformation and distribution equipment in China, with the main products of outdoor cubicle-type power equipment supplemented by indoor switchgear cabinets, offered mainly to... View Details

Keywords: Human Resource Management; China; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Strategy; China

05 Jul 2023
HBS Case

What Kind of Leader Are You? How Three Action Orientations Can Help You Meet the Moment

While Johnson’s prescription might have been strategically correct, JCPenney wasn’t ready for such dramatic changes. Johnson never got the buy-in he needed from employees, requiring a more relational action orientation, and resigned after... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

2012
Case

Qingdao TGOOD Electric Corporation

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Zheng Xiaoming, Chen Hao and Hong Zhang

Founded in 2004, TGOOD is now the largest specialized developer and producer of cubicle-type transformation and distribution equipment in China, with the main products of outdoor cubicle-type power equipment supplemented by indoor switchgear cabinets, offered mainly to... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Human Resource Management; Strategy; China; China

March 2015
Case

Clifford Chance: Women at Work

By: Boris Groysberg, Katherine Connolly and Stephanie Marton

It was October 2013, and global law firm Clifford Chance was coming under fire for the second time in less than a year for reputedly failing to provide a supportive work environment for its female associates. A memo entitled "Speaking Effectively" was just issued to... View Details

Keywords: Women; Law; Fairness; Employee Relationship Management; Retention; Human Capital; Organizational Culture; Performance Expectations; Work-Life Balance; Public Opinion; Problems and Challenges; Legal Services Industry; United States

23 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

How to Keep Employees Productive: Support Caregivers

caregiver-support benefits company Wellthy over an almost two-year period to arrive at the conclusions. Overall, he found fairly modest reductions in resignation and absentee rates yielded a very attractive return on investment for... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

13 Mar 2023
Op-Ed

How Leaders Should Leave

Even the most loyal, long-serving employee may consider resigning from a job once or twice in a career in order to reboot or get ahead. Large organizations can offer more lateral opportunities to further your development, but the higher... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

07 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

Innovation Corrupted: How Managers Can Avoid Another Enron

irregularities related to the off-balance-sheet partnerships. This forced Lay—who returned as CEO after Skilling resigned that August—to announce a $544 million charge against earnings, and a $1.2 billion write-down in shareholders'... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Energy; Utilities

October 2023
Teaching Note

Timnit Gebru: 'SILENCED No More' on AI Bias and The Harms of Large Language Models

By: Tsedal Neeley and Tim Englehart

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 422-085. Dr. Timnit Gebru—a leading artificial intelligence (AI) computer scientist and co-lead of Google’s Ethical AI team—was messaging with one of her colleagues when she saw the words: “Did you resign?? Megan sent an email saying that... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Employment; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Technological Innovation; AI and Machine Learning; Diversity; Prejudice and Bias; Technology Industry

August 2015 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Amazon.com, 2021

By: John R. Wells, Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth and Galen Danskin

In February 2021, Amazon announced 2020 operating profits of $22,899 million, up from $2,233 million in 2015, on sales of $386 billion, up from $107 billion five years earlier (see Exhibit 1). The shareholders expressed their satisfaction (see Exhibit 2), but not all... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Internet; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Digital Platforms; Competition; Internet and the Web; Corporate Strategy; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Price; Applications and Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle