Publications

November 2019
Case

Edita: Making Choices in Uncertain Times

By: Caroline M. Elkins, Juan Alcácer, Alpana Thapar and Youssef Abdel Aal

After 15 years of steady growth and expansion, Edita, a leading Egyptian snack producer, faced a series of challenges in the wake of the Arab Spring. In January 2011, the Egyptian Revolution sparked political and economic turmoil that reflected the waves of protest and... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Developing Countries and Economies; Economy; Business or Company Management; Price; Crisis Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Distribution; Risk and Uncertainty; Business Strategy; Expansion; Currency; Food and Beverage Industry; Egypt; Africa; Middle East

August 1994 (Revised May 1995)
Case

Engineering Inspection & Insurance Company

By: Robert H. Hayes

Engineering Inspection & Insurance Co. (EIIC) is a small but highly successful company that offers machinery and boiler inspection and insurance services. After years of above-average growth and profits, both are retreating toward the industry average, policy delivery... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Business Strategy; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Insurance; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Insurance Industry; United States

March 2025
Supplement

Rose Electronics Distributing Company (B)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Pre-abstract: Instructors should consider the timing of making videos available to students, as they may reveal key case details. View Details

June 2020 (Revised July 2023)
Case

Time Out: The Evolution from Media to Markets

By: Kate Barasz and Eva Ascarza

In February 2020, Time Out’s chief executive officer Julio Bruno is evaluating the strategic direction of the company. Over the span of five decades, Time Out — the global media and entertainment brand — had gone from a self-published counterculture publication in... View Details

Keywords: Branding; Media Businesses; Hospitality; Hospitality Industry; Digital; Brands and Branding; Media; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategy; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United Kingdom; United States

September 2024
Supplement

Red Hen Baking Company (B)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Pre-abstract: Instructors should consider the timing of making videos available to students, as they may reveal key case details.

Abstract: This (B) case supplement is designed for use by faculty only to support classroom instruction in conjunction with "Red... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Financial Strategy; Financial Management; Buildings and Facilities; Finance; Food; Risk Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Growth and Development Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Vermont

01 Mar 2004
News

Reforming Company Boards

Senior executives have taken most of the heat for the headline-grabbing scandals that have rocked corporate America over the past few years. Scott C. Newquist (MBA ’75), president of Board Governance Services, wants to shift some of that scrutiny to View Details

Keywords: Corporate Services

17 Feb 2022
Book

When Employees Feel a Sense of Purpose, Companies Succeed

employees first, and then everything else will fall into place.” Book Excerpt Deep Purpose: The Heart and Soul of High-Performance Companies Ranjay Gulati Chapter 6: Be Yourself, Be Candid, Be Kind Generations of scholars have seen... View Details

Keywords: by Ranjay Gulati

11 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

Adding Time to Activity-Based Costing

definite advance over the arbitrary overhead allocations done by traditional standard cost systems, many companies abandoned ABC or updated their model only infrequently, because of the high time and cost... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

01 Dec 2001
News

Navigating Success in Volatile Times

attendees that their most important "customers" are the people in their lives, and Saturday evening's keynote speaker, New York Times managing editor Gerald Boyd, underscored the need for courage, strength, and deeper self-knowledge in... View Details

Keywords: Mary Ellen Gardner; Finance

20 Aug 2014
News

With No Time to Lose

business students to turn the tide on a deadly disease. “[Avi’s] ultimate dream was to become a CEO of a company that was doing something meaningful,” says Prize4Life cofounder Nate Boaz (MBA 2006). “The fact that he’s living out his... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

31 Jan 2018
Research & Ideas

American Idle: Workers Spend Too Much Time Waiting for Something to Do

Brodsky. “With idle time, the organization is often hurt by it, and it’s not enjoyable for employees either.” Involuntary idle time can have a variety of causes, including built-in excess capacity, in which a View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

22 Feb 2024
News

GCC Crossroads Aims for a Bright Future; Seattle Alumni Talk Leadership in Tech; Italy Preps for European Alumni Summit

HBS Club of Seattle and the Harvard Club of Seattle to present Leadership in Tech: Innovation, Disruption, and Opportunity at the Columbia Center in Seattle on February 8. The... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

April 1993 (Revised June 1998)
Case

Time Inc.'s Entry into the Entertainment Industry (A)

Richard Munro, Time Inc.'s chairman and CEO, must respond to a hostile tender offer from Paramount Communications. Paramount conditioned its bid on cancellation of Time's plans to merge with Warner Communications. Several months before the hostile Paramount bid, Time... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Market Entry and Exit; Mergers and Acquisitions; Global Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

01 Sep 2015
News

The Protagonist Goes Prime Time

classmate working at IDEO connected him with the company. Unlike traditional case writing where a scenario can often be re-created, however, a multimedia case is most compelling when a company is in the midst of a project or challenge—and... View Details

Keywords: April White

28 Oct 2016
News

AT&T, Time Warner, and What Makes Vertical Mergers Succeed

November 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

CNOOC: Building a World-Class Energy Company

By: Joseph L. Bower, Nancy Hua Dai and Michael Shih-ta Chen

Fu Chengyu is the fifth CEO to lead China National Offshore Oil Company - an SOE founded in 1982 to exploit Chinese offshore deposits. In 2010 he is trying to decide how to drive further growth in a company that has grown 556 times in less than 30 years, with profits... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Leadership Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Resource Allocation; Organizational Culture; State Ownership; Competitive Strategy; Energy Industry; China

10 Nov 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

Research News and Tips: Innovating Across Time Zones

zones As companies expand operations across the globe, they must grapple with time gaps during which employees cannot collaborate (i.e., lost productivity). To study this phenomenon, a research team studied... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Blog

Why Does Your Company Exist?

When was the last time you thought about your company's mission statement? Maybe it appears on a slide deck that employees see in their onboarding process, or spotlighted in the annual report. Or perhaps your company's website features... View Details

May 13, 2024
Article

What Companies Get Wrong About Skills-Based Hiring

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Matthew Sigelman

In recent years companies have removed college-degree requirements from many of their job postings. They’ve done this for good reason: Talent is scarce, and requiring degrees eliminates almost two-thirds of workers from consideration, a disproportionate number of them... View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Recruitment; Talent and Talent Management