Publications

December 2010
Case

Leadership, Culture, and Transition at lululemon

By: Michael Tushman, Ruth Page and Tom Ryder

The case examines leadership and organizational change within a strong culture context through a multimedia study of lululemon, a specialty retailer of high-end athletic apparel. Video segments trace the company's history from its founding in 1998 as a single retail... View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Transition; Growth Management; Management Teams; Organizational Structure; Governing and Advisory Boards; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry; Vancouver; United States

29 Nov 2022
Research & Ideas

Is There a Method to Musk’s Madness on Twitter?

and even foolhardy. Some in tech suggest there’s more of a “move fast, break things” strategy to it than perhaps meets the eye. How does it look to you? Wu: We shouldn’t be surprised by the management style that Musk is taking to Twitter.... View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette; Technology

Anthony Mayo

Tony Mayo is the Thomas S. Murphy Senior Lecturer of Business Administration and C. Roland Christensen Distinguished Management Educator in the Organizational Behavior Unit of Harvard Business School (HBS). He currently teaches and serves as the course head for... View Details

Keywords: advertising; airline; education industry; nonprofit industry; publishing industry; service industry

September 1993 (Revised January 1994)
Case

Habitat for Humanity International

Habitat for Humanity, a not-for-profit, volunteer-based home builder, is coping with years of rapid growth and success. They now face a series of options to continue their successful course and must make corresponding organizational adjustments. Teaching objectives... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Nonprofit Organizations; Growth Management; Housing; Service Industry; United States

March 2008 (Revised October 2009)
Case

Crossing Borders: MTC's Journey through Africa

By: Tarun Khanna and Ayesha Khan

This is the story of MTC, a Kuwaiti telecom company that has grown from a sleepy, state monopoly to become one of the fastest growing telecom companies in the world, with the largest regional footprint across the Middle East and Africa. The CEO of the company, Dr. Saad... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Emerging Markets; Telecommunications Industry; Africa; Kuwait

March 2008 (Revised August 2009)
Case

Linden Lab: Opening Second Life

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

In early 2008, managers in Linden Lab, creator of the virtual world Second Life, faced decisions about the company's strategy. Despite profound initial skepticism about demand for a user-generated virtual world that was not a traditional game, Second Life had achieved... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Open Source Distribution; Partners and Partnerships; Software

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September 2020
Teaching Note

TransDigm in 2017: The Beginning of the End or the End of the Beginning?

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 720-422. TransDigm was a highly acquisitive company that manufactured a wide range of highly engineered aerospace parts for both military and commercial customers. Over the ten years ending in 2016, its stock price had increase ten times,... View Details

07 May 2019
News

Managers: Are You Prepared to Handle Religion in the Workplace?

November 1989 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Automation Consulting Services

By: Robert Simons and Hilary Weston

Illustrates the management control challenges that are associated with rapid growth and geographic expansion. Situated at an offsite Executive Committee Retreat. The three founding partners of a specialized consulting firm are grappling with several difficult questions... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Governance Controls; Policy; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Expansion; Consulting Industry

April 2005 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Monster Networking

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and David Andrew Vivero

The management at Monster.com, the leading U.S. provider of online recruitment services, must decide how to proceed with Monster Networking (MN), a new business launched in late 2003. MN helps users identify other individuals who can offer career advice. Monster.com... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Social and Collaborative Networks; Recruitment; Service Industry; Employment Industry; United States

April 1999 (Revised May 2005)
Case

GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Jack Welch's Leadership

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Meg Wozny

GE is faced with Jack Welch's impending retirement and whether anyone can sustain the blistering pace of change and growth characteristic of the Welch era. After briefly describing GE's heritage and Welch's transformation of the company's business portfolio of the... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Global Strategy; Leadership Development; Goals and Objectives; Six Sigma; Management Succession; Service Operations; Quality; Corporate Strategy

November 2008 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Nestle

By: David E. Bell and Mary Louise Shelman

In April 2008, Paul Bulcke took over as CEO of the world's largest food and beverage company. His predecessor, Peter Brabeck, had delivered 12 years of outstanding results while moving the company toward a new vision of health, nutrition, and wellness. Bulcke's... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Leadership Style; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Organizational Culture; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

25 Aug 2014
HBS Case

Starbucks Reinvented

untested arenas that define the company as it exists today. "This case distills 20 years of my thinking about the most important lessons of strategy, leadership, and managing in turbulence in the frame of a very relevant... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Food & Beverage

18 Mar 2013
HBS Case

HBS Cases: LEGO

It turns out that LEGOs promote lifelong learning. While the bricks themselves teach children the fundamentals of construction and creativity, the company's almost century-old history of management change has important lessons for... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Entertainment & Recreation

March 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Case

The Parisian Revival

By: Rajiv Lal and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In mid-2005, George Jones had two jobs: head of Saks Inc.'s 41-store Parisian department store chain as well as president and CEO of the Saks Department Store Group (SDSG), an umbrella for seven chains with a total of 182 stores across the United States. In 2003 Jones... View Details

Keywords: Profit; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Improvement; Sales; Retail Industry; United States

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August 2019 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Lemonade: Disrupting Insurance with Instant Everything, Killer Prices, and a Big Heart

By: Elie Ofek and Danielle Golan

Launching its first products in the fall of 2016 in New York, insurtech startup Lemonade was on a mission to disrupt the insurance market by using AI and behavioral economics principles. The company offered renters, homeowners, and condo insurance and mainly targeted... View Details

Keywords: AI; Business Startups; Insurance; Technological Innovation; Business Model; Disruption; Brands and Branding; Growth and Development Strategy; Global Strategy; Decision Making; Insurance Industry; Technology Industry

13 Dec 2022
Interview

Why Some Start-Ups Fail to Scale

By: Jeffrey Rayport and Curt Nickisch

Managing rapid growth is a huge challenge for young businesses. Even start-ups with glowing reviews and skyrocketing sales can fail. That’s because new ventures and corporate initiatives alike have to sustain profitability at scale, according to Harvard Business School... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Growth Management; Outcome or Result; Transition