Publications

12 Mar 2021
News

My Favorite Case

difference between sitting in a classroom and pontificating about what the CEO should or should not have done versus the real-world challenges I was facing. I reflected back on J&J’s lessons on proactive communication, public engagement, View Details

Keywords: Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

Web

HBS - Financials | Supplemental Financial Information

endowment is crucial to providing HBS with sufficient liquidity to finance ongoing campus renewal and expansion projects and to capitalize on emerging strategic opportunities through economic cycles over the long term. Continuing its View Details

December 2023 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Research In Motion: Launching and Scaling the World's First Smartphone Empire (A)

By: Tatiana Sandino and Samuel Grad

In 2005, Research In Motion’s (RIM) BlackBerry smartphone was a sensation. After its launch in 1999, the groundbreaking BlackBerry had captured the hearts and minds of corporate America through its secure wireless email service. The device was so addictive and... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Innovation and Management; Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Management Style; Product Development; Managerial Roles; Growth and Development Strategy; Technology Industry; United States; Canada

10 Oct 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, October 10, 2017

highlights the key insights from the rich firm-level literature on MNCs. We then focus on how financial conditions in host countries affect the extent of FDI-related capital inflows, shape the operations of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

15 Mar 2017
Lessons from the Classroom

More Than 900 Examples of How Climate Change Affects Business

This word cloud is composed of blog posts by more than 900 students describing how individual organizations are likely to be affected by climate change. Image by Patrick Clapp Last fall, first-year MBA students at Harvard Business School received a new assignment in... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Green Technology

October 2021 (Revised January 2022)
Supplement

Michael Ku and Global Clinical Supply at Pfizer Inc.: Bringing Hope to Patients (C)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

This case is the third installment in a series about the 10-year cultural and digital transformation of Pfizer’s Global Clinical Supply organization. In 2011, Michael Ku became Pfizer’s Vice President of Global Clinical Supply (GCS) after the company had undergone... View Details

Keywords: Clinical Supply Chain; COVID-19; Vaccine; Agile; Innovation and Invention; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Transformation; Leadership; Corporate Strategy; Health Pandemics; Crisis Management; Mission and Purpose; Health Care and Treatment; Supply Chain Management; Digital Transformation

August 1992 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Euro Disney: The First 100 Days

By: Gary W. Loveman and Leonard A. Schlesinger

The Walt Disney Co. theme parks historically have thrived on the basis of a formula stressing excellent customer service and a magnificent physical environment. The formula has proven successful in Japan, as well as the United States. With the controversial opening of... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Corporate Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Service Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Japan; France; United States

09 Oct 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, October 9, 2018

the brand portfolio and operational model. Tsujiguchi asked himself these questions: How can I orchestrate these efforts? Can I continue to rely on the diversification model that has led me to success so far, or should I be more focused?... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

01 Dec 2019
News

Bridging the Gap

investment in the city’s human capital, requiring work that is much more subtle, nuanced, and difficult to see. This is Chattanooga’s, and the nation’s, toughest challenge to date—one that will require the collaborative focus of leaders... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; illustration by Josh Cochran; photographed by Melissa Golden; cross sector collaboration; local government; nonprofits; education; leadership; Administration of Economic Programs; Government

04 Sep 2019
Blog Post

A Guided Experience into the World of Entrepreneurship

This blog is a repost from the HBS Recruiting blog. An engineer by training, Stan Chang, MS/MBA 2020 candidate in the SEAS/HBS joint degree program, came to Harvard to “balance a business curriculum with an advanced engineering education. When I saw the curriculum here... View Details

31 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

From SpinPop to SpinBrush: Entrepreneurial Lessons from John Osher

the vendors are established and the corporate focus is on growth. But when the economy begins to slow down, he said, companies start looking for ways to streamline operations and save money, and that can be... View Details

Keywords: by Dennis Fisher; Consumer Products

July – August 2008
Article

Should You Invest in the Long Tail?

By: Anita Elberse

The blockbuster strategy is a time-honored approach, particularly in media and entertainment. When space is limited on store shelves and in traditional distribution channels, producers tend to focus on a few likely best sellers, hoping that one or two big hits will... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Distribution Channels; Sales; Marketing Strategy; Online Technology; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Retail Industry

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June 2003
Case

In-N-Out Burger

By: Youngme E. Moon, Lucy Cummings, Sonali Sampat, Sam Thakarar and Kerry Herman

In-N-Out Burger is a fast-food chain with 171 company-owned locations in three states--California, Nevada, and Arizona. It has an extremely hardcore customer base and the company appears to be in good financial health. The primary issue in this case concerns expansion:... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Profit; Leadership Development; Brands and Branding; Product Marketing; Distribution; Expansion; Food and Beverage Industry; Arizona; California; Nevada

01 Feb 1999
News

Too Much of a Good Thing?

result of a "third industrial revolution" whose origins in the United States, he says, can be traced to the leaner and meaner approach to corporate operations that was spurred by the tenfold increase in energy prices during the 1970s.... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons

February 2010
Case

Shurgard Self-Storage: Expansion to Europe (Abridged)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh

Shurgard, a U.S.-based firm that rents storage facilities to consumers and small businesses, is considering financing options for rapid expansion of its European operations. Five years after entering Europe, Shurgard Europe has opened 17 facilities in Belgium, France,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Growth and Maturation; Multinational Firms and Management; Logistics; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Trade; Equity; Corporate Finance; United States; Europe