Publications

October 2002 (Revised May 2004)
Case

Intuit's New CEO: Steve Bennett

By: William A. Sahlman and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

Describes the transition to a new CEO at Intuit, a successful software and financial services firm in California. The new CEO must decide what to change and how fast. He must also navigate within a culture everyone believes to be successful but he envisions can be... View Details

Keywords: Management Succession; Entrepreneurship; Organizational Culture; Applications and Software; Management Teams; Information Technology Industry; Financial Services Industry; California

March 2006 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Banco Hipotecario S.A.

By: Daniel Baird Bergstresser, Arthur I Segel and Alexandra de Royere

In 2003, the chairwoman and controlling shareholder of Argentina's leading residential mortgage lender are considering how to bring the bank's restructuring to a successful conclusion as the country's economy continues to suffer from the impact of the 2001-2002... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Currency; Banks and Banking; Mortgages; Crisis Management; Competition; Argentina

November 2003 (Revised August 2006)
Case

Union Corrugating Company (B)

By: Paul W. Marshall and Julia Stevens

Lauri Union, president of Union Corrugating Co., has successfully transformed her family's corrugated steel roofing and siding manufacturer into a successful enterprise. Reviews how Union turned the struggling company around and also considers the management structure... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Competition; Work-Life Balance; Success; Change Management; Management Systems; Construction Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Steel Industry; Boston; North Carolina

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July 2018
Case

Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution

By: Boris Groysberg and Naoko Jinjo

Hironobu Tsujiguchi, a Japanese chocolatier, had chosen an unusual path to success as a pastry chef. Instead of spending most of his time in his kitchen and focusing on one or two confectionery categories like most pastry chefs, he chose to work on diverse projects and... View Details

Keywords: Relevance; Entrepreneurship; Diversification; Personal Development and Career; Decision Making; Food and Beverage Industry; Japan

2007
Chapter

Creativity in Product Development

Managing new product development is a key area of management, straddling strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship and macro-organizational behaviour. All of the contributors in the Handbook of New Product Developmet Management are well-known and leading exponents to... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Product Development; Problems and Challenges; Research; Creativity

31 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

From SpinPop to SpinBrush: Entrepreneurial Lessons from John Osher

told the audience of HBS alumni and Executive Education participants. "He hated having to manage employees, so he built a big company with very few employees." Dr. John's was the third major venture that Osher built from the... View Details

Keywords: by Dennis Fisher; Consumer Products

19 Jun 2023
Blog Post

The Road to Impact

When he turned 50, David Offensend (MBA 1977) decided to make a change. He’d had a successful career in finance, but ever since his undergraduate days of studying public and international affairs at Princeton, Offensend planned that, one... View Details

November 1991 (Revised January 1995)
Case

Teradyne Japan

By: Michael Y. Yoshino

Describes a parent-subsidiary relationship in the high technology industry. The subsidiary, located in Japan, has been expanding its activities throughout the 1980s in the face of stiff local competition. Examines the dilemma facing corporate and country management as... View Details

Keywords: Relationships; Mergers and Acquisitions; Expansion; Competition; Business or Company Management; Communication; Buildings and Facilities; Business Subsidiaries; Japan

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November 2001 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Taking Charge at Dogus Holding (A)

By: Rakesh Khurana, Gina Carioggia and Simon Johnson

Describes 37-year-old Ferit Sahenk's challenges in taking over his father's traditionally managed $14 billion Turkish conglomerate in a period of economic instability. Leading the large holding company into the 21st century will require the establishment of a more... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Trade; Competitive Strategy; Decision Making; Leadership; Performance Effectiveness; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Family Business; Change Management; Turkey

February 2011 (Revised December 2012)
Case

The Ford Fiesta

By: John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

Executives at Ford wondered if social media could be the marketing solution for the launch of the youth-oriented 2010 Fiesta. But with social media came a ceding of control. Some at the company believed that if Ford was going to move beyond its conservative brand image... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Digital Marketing; Leadership; Goals and Objectives; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Standards; Auto Industry

August 1983 (Revised March 2011)
Supplement

Honda (B)

Describes the history of Honda Motor Company from its beginning through its entry into and subsequent dominance of the U.S. market as seen through the eyes of Honda executives. The history of Honda's successful entry into the U.S. market is viewed as highly adaptive... View Details

Keywords: Management; Business History; Auto Industry; Japan; United States

2019
Working Paper

Why Has Strategy Become Irrelevant? Understanding the Complete Strategy Landscape

By: David J. Collis

Developing the firm’s strategy was once seen as the most important task facing a CEO. Yet in the last 20 years, the practice of strategy has been relegated to a routinized function—part of the annual planning process, like performance management and succession planning... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Value Creation; Organizational Change and Adaptation

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05 Feb 2008
First Look

First Look: February 5, 2008

consumer electronics company. The portfolio company was exceeding key financial targets and Berkshire Partners was confident that it would be another successful investment. Holmes' management team then... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

December 2004 (Revised December 2005)
Case

Nectar: Making Loyalty Pay

By: John A. Deighton

Loyalty Management UK (LMUK) manages British supermarket chain Sainsbury's frequent-shopper card program, called Nectar. LMUK uses Sainsbury's sponsorship as the magnet to attract other retailers into a profitable, multisponsor loyalty network. Examines the economics... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Business or Company Management; Supply Chain Management; Marketing Strategy; Networks; Marketing Channels; Advertising Campaigns; Outcome or Result; Growth and Development; Retail Industry; Great Britain

10 Jul 2007
What Do You Think?

How Much of Leadership Is About Control, Delegation, or Theater?

excites, and pushes the team or, you could say, choreographs an output that (moves) the company towards the vision." The mix of control, delegation, and theater employed by successful leaders depends on the timing and circumstances... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

March 2015 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Shanghai: GDP Apostasy

By: George Serafeim

Balancing economic growth alongside environmental sustainability and social inclusion was becoming increasingly important in China. The case describes Shanghai's decision to abandon growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as its primary metric of measuring success.... View Details

Keywords: China; Gdp; Measurement; Measurement Problems; Accountability; Sustainability; Sustainable Development; Strategy Execution; Strategy; Balanced Scorecard; Strategy Map; Macroeconomics; Measurement and Metrics; Corporate Accountability; Accounting; Environmental Sustainability; Development Economics; Corporate Governance; Shanghai

April 2012
Case

Bella Healthcare India

By: Dorothy Leonard and Sunru Yong

Bella Healthcare India was originally established in Bangalore as a low-cost manufacturing facility for a U.S.-based cardiology equipment developer. Under country manager Joseph Cherian it evolved considerably, developing its own research and development capabilities.... View Details