Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(13,383)
- Faculty Publications (3,382)
- July 2020
- Supplement
Instabeat—Crossing the Finish Line
By: Shikhar Ghosh, Nicole Tempest Keller and Alpana Thapar
Lebanese entrepreneur Hind Hobeika was just 21 years old when she launched her startup, Instabeat, which had developed the first real-time bio-feedback device for swimmers to monitor and improve their performance. It had been an extremely testing 10-year journey to... View Details
- July 2020 (Revised November 2020)
- Case
Gera Developments: Leadership at a Crossroads
By: Christina R. Wing and John Masko
For decades, Gera Developments (Gera) was a boutique family-owned real estate development firm in Pune, India. But since 2000, managing director Rohit Gera had turned the company into a dynamic innovator in housing solutions for urban Indian families. Over the 2010s,... View Details
Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Business Growth and Maturation; Construction; Geographic Location; Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Housing; Leadership Style; Management Succession; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Family Ownership; Family and Family Relationships; Urban Development; Customization and Personalization; Real Estate Industry; Maharashtra; India; United States
- July 2020 (Revised November 2020)
- Case
Pricing at Netflix
By: Elie Ofek, Marco Bertini, Oded Koenigsberg and Amy Klopfenstein
Since its launch in 1998 as “the Amazon.com of DVDs,” Netflix had evolved from a DVD rental company to a video streaming platform and producer of original films and television shows. As the company matured, it regularly increased prices and adjusted its product... View Details
Keywords: Pricing; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Finance; Price; Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Business Strategy; Adaptation; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; Customers; Customer Satisfaction; Customer Value and Value Chain; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; North and Central America; United States
- July 2020
- Case
Amanda and Kristen: Mented Cosmetics
By: Steven Rogers, Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Alterrell Mills
The co-founders (Black HBS alumnae) of an e-commerce beauty startup explore the unmet needs within the beauty industry. This case study examines the entrepreneurial opportunities that come from identifying an underserved market, specifically within the Black community... View Details
Keywords: Brands and Branding; Competition; Customers; Disruption; Disruptive Innovation; Distribution Channels; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Macroeconomics; Marketing; Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Product Design; Product Development; Product Positioning; Sales; Social Issues; Social Marketing; Business Startups; Strategic Planning; Strategy; Supply Chain Management; Venture Capital; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; North and Central America; United States; New York (city, NY); New York (state, US)
- Article
Forgoing Earned Incentives to Signal Pure Motives
By: Erika L. Kirgios, Edward H. Chang, Emma E. Levine, Katherine L. Milkman and Judd B. Kessler
Policy makers, employers, and insurers often provide financial incentives to encourage citizens, employees, and customers to take actions that are good for them or for society (e.g., energy conservation, healthy living, safe driving). Although financial incentives are... View Details
- July 2020 (Revised January 2021)
- Case
Pattern Brands
By: Sunil Gupta, Elie Ofek and Julia Kelley
In March 2020, direct-to-consumer (DTC) company Pattern Brands needed to decide how to allocate resources across its different brands. Pattern Co-Founders Nick Ling and Emmett Shine hoped to avoid the pitfalls faced by some DTC companies—such as inability to scale and... View Details
Keywords: Direct-to-consumer; Brands and Branding; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Business Model; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Business Strategy; Diversification; Competitive Advantage; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry; North and Central America; United States; New York (city, NY); New York (state, US)
- July 2020 (Revised September 2020)
- Case
The Honor Foundation: Accessing Special Operations Talent
By: Boris Groysberg and John Masko
In 2020, The Honor Foundation (THF), a nonprofit dedicated to helping U.S. military special operators to transition into civilian careers, was facing a series of strategic challenges. THF had been founded in 2013 by former Navy SEAL trainee Joe Musselman, who observed... View Details
Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Talent and Talent Management; Curriculum and Courses; Executive Education; Social Entrepreneurship; National Security; Recruitment; Retention; Job Interviews; Job Search; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Crisis Management; Mission and Purpose; Retirement; Nonprofit Organizations; War; Education Industry; San Diego; Virginia
- July 2020 (Revised January 2021)
- Case
Vineet Nayar and Sampark Foundation: Frugal Innovation at Scale (A)
By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards
In 2005, Vineet Nayar, the former CEO and Vice Chairman of HCL Technologies, and his wife, Anupama Nayar, committed $100 million of their personal wealth to found Sampark Foundation — a grant-making philanthropy with a mission to transform learning outcomes for 20... View Details
Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Cultural Change; Digital; Innovation; Experimentation; Metrics; Education Reform; Non-profit; Frugal Innovation; Scale; Ecosystem; Government; Education; Social Enterprise; Leadership; Leading Change; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Innovation Leadership; Nonprofit Organizations; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology; Digital Transformation; India
- July 2020 (Revised January 2021)
- Case
Vineet Nayar and Sampark Foundation: Frugal Innovation at Scale (A) (Abridged)
By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards
In 2005, Vineet Nayar, the former CEO and Vice Chairman of HCL Technologies, and his wife, Anupama Nayar, committed $100 million of their personal wealth to found Sampark Foundation—a grant-making philanthropy with a mission to transform learning outcomes for 20... View Details
Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Organizational Alignment; Culture Change; Digital; Innovation; Experimentation; Metrics; Education Reform; Non-profit; Frugal Innovation; Scale; Ecosystem; Government; Education; Social Enterprise; Leadership; Leading Change; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Alignment; Innovation Leadership; Nonprofit Organizations; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology; Digital Transformation; India
- July 2020 (Revised January 2021)
- Case
Rosalind Fox at John Deere
By: Anthony Mayo and Olivia Hull
Rosalind Fox, the factory manager at John Deere’s Des Moines, Iowa plant, has improved the financial standing of the factory in the three years she’s been at its helm. But employee engagement scores—which measured employees’ satisfaction with working conditions and... View Details
Keywords: Agribusiness; Change Management; Experience and Expertise; Talent and Talent Management; Diversity; Gender; Race; Engineering; Geographic Location; Globalized Markets and Industries; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Management Style; Management Teams; Organizational Culture; Personal Development and Career; Prejudice and Bias; Power and Influence; Status and Position; Trust; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States
- June 18, 2020
- Article
What CEOs Still Haven't Said about Race and Policing
By: Aaron K. Chatterji and Michael W. Toffel
While many CEOs have spoken out to share their thoughts on race and police misconduct in America, they have yet to advocate for policy solutions for police reform, focusing instead on their own corporate and personal values. But lasting change must also involve ... View Details
- July 2020
- Case
Driving Transformation at the Majid Al Futtaim Group
By: Suraj Srinivasan and Esel Çekin
The case opens with Alain Bejjani, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) Holding, anticipating on the Group’s next phase in the multi-year transformation journey and reflecting on the initiatives he implemented to create the Group’s growth-oriented culture. Founded in 1995,... View Details
- July 2020 (Revised October 2020)
- Case
Valentina Tereshkova: Conquering Space
By: Boris Groysberg and Annelena Lobb
On June 13, 1963, Valentina Tereshkova of the USSR became the first woman to fly in space on Vostok 6. Soviet leaders publicly espoused gender equity, but also sent Tereshkova on her mission in order to be the first country to send a woman to space, a milestone they... View Details
- July 3, 2020
- Article
Delivery Apps Need to Start Treating Suppliers As Partners
By: Scott Duke Kominers and Ian Macomber
Home delivery has shifted from a luxury service aimed at young urban professionals to a core part of many businesses, which is used by almost everyone. That upheaval has strained capacity of many delivery services and changed how they relate to the suppliers that they... View Details
- 2020
- Working Paper
Older People Are Less Pessimistic About the Health Risks of COVID-19
By: Pedro Bordalo, Katherine B. Coffman, Nicola Gennaioli and Andrei Shleifer
A central question for understanding behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic, at both the individual and collective levels, is how people perceive the health and economic risks they face. We conducted a survey of over 1,500 Americans from May 6–13, 2020, to understand... View Details
- 2022
- Working Paper
Optimal Illiquidity
By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, Christopher Clayton, Christopher Harris, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian
We calculate the socially optimal level of illiquidity in an economy populated by households with taste shocks and naive present bias. The government chooses mandatory contributions to accounts, each witha different pre-retirement withdrawal penalty. Collected... View Details
Keywords: Illiquidity; Commitment; Flexibility; Savings; Social Security; Retirement; Government Legislation; Taxation; Saving
- July–August 2020
- Article
Sarcasm, Self-Deprecation, and Inside Jokes: A User's Guide to Humor at Work
By: Brad Bitterly and Alison Wood Brooks
Humor is widely considered essential in personal relationships, but in leaders, it’s seen as an ancillary behavior. Though some leaders use humor instinctively, many more could wield it purposefully.
Humor helps build interpersonal trust and high-quality work... View Details
- June 2020
- Case
Jill Draeger
By: Howard H. Stevenson and Michael J. Roberts
The Jill Draeger case is designed as an introduction to a general course on entrepreneurship. It is appropriate for many levels of students. It attempts to portray the archetype of opportunity-focused, resource-constrained behavior that is the hallmark of... View Details
- 2020
- Other Teaching and Training Material
Leading the Charge: A Podcase about Product Management at Opower
By: Jeffrey Rayport and John J. Lafkas
The Opower podcase materials contain audio from professor Jeffrey Rayport's interview with Ben Foster, the former vice president of product management at Opower, and more recently the co-founder of Prodify. In the podcase, Ben discusses how product management works in... View Details
- June 2020
- Case
Recovering Trust After Corporate Misconduct at Wells Fargo
By: Suraj Srinivasan and Jonah S. Goldberg
The case describes widespread misconduct at Wells Fargo Community Bank in the period leading up to 2017 and the company’s subsequent attempts to improve internal controls, company culture, and corporate governance. The case examines the potential causes of large scale... View Details