Publications

February 2018
Case

Qualtrics (A)

By: Doug J. Chung and James M. Lattin

Qualtrics was an online survey research platform and since the beginning, the company had relied entirely on an inside sales model—sales done remotely without face-to-face contact with clients. The low-cost inside sales model, along with an emphasis on a strong sales... View Details

Keywords: Sales Strategy; Inside Sales Model; Sales; Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation

December 2013
Case

Yara International

By: Forest Reinhardt and James Weber

This case examines world fertilizer markets from the perspective of a large Norwegian producer. The global fertilizer industry is critical to food production and to food security, and hence is the object of numerous forms of government intervention. The case analyzes... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Regulation; Strategy; Business-government Relations; International Trade; International Strategy; Agribusiness; Food; Growth and Development; Government and Politics

October 1998 (Revised December 1999)
Case

Lockheed Martin IMS: Making a Contribution and a Profit

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Courtney Purrington

Examines Lockheed Martin's attempt to move from its traditional reliance on defense/aerospace contracts into providing outsourced government services in the social sector. The protagonist reflects on the past 24 years of rapid growth in the company and the myriad... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; Partners and Partnerships; Diversification; Performance Effectiveness; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Welfare; Private Ownership; Public Ownership; Privatization; Strategic Planning; United States

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2012
Discussion Paper

Labor Productivity and Quality Change in Singapore: Achievements in 1974-2011 and Prospects for the Next Two Decades

By: Koji Nomura and Tomomichi Amano

Labor productivity growth in Singapore that has grown at a rate of over 3.0 percent per year since 1970s considerably slowed down to 0.5 percent on average per annum in the latter half of the 2000s. The purpose of this paper is to ask, first, to what extent Singapore’s... View Details

Keywords: Labor; Performance Productivity; Quality; Economic Growth; Singapore

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April 2019 (Revised August 2020)
Case

Raksul

By: Scott Duke Kominers, Masahiro Kotosaka, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno

Raksul, 2018 Forbes Japan "Startup of the Year," ran an e-commerce platform drawing upon thousands of individual suppliers. Launched as a business-to-business printing services marketplace, Raksul had recently expanded to operate both a logistics/delivery marketplace... View Details

Keywords: Marketplace Design; B2B; Platform Strategy; Printing; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Logistics; Advertising; Growth and Development Strategy; Industry Structures; E-commerce; Web Services Industry; Japan

October 2017 (Revised August 2020)
Case

RB

By: Joshua Margolis, Vincent Dessain and Jerome Lenhardt

As 2016 was approaching its end, Rakesh Kapoor, CEO of RB, one of the world’s major fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies, envisioned the prospect of a major acquisition that would add a line of health-related products that promised growth in the developing... View Details

Keywords: Organization Behavior; Corporate Culture; Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Growth; Geographic Development; Mergers and Acquisitions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Growth and Development Strategy; France

2018
Chapter

The Strategic Imperative of Psychological Safety and Organizational Error Management

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Paul Verdin

Despite discussion in the management literature about agile organizations or learning organizations, many large organizations are top-down, slow to change, and fraught with obstacles to learning. We describe “strategy-as-learning” to contrast with the traditional... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Learning; Safety; Organizational Culture; Performance Consistency

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13 Feb 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, February 13, 2018

action. Instead, strategy formulation and execution develop from setting a direction and posing a set of questions to be defined, refined, View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2014 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Focus Financial Partners and the U.S. RIA Industry in 2014

By: Luis Viceira and Emily A. Chien

In the Spring of 2014, Rudy Adolf, CEO and founder of Focus Financial, and the two other co-founders of the firm are considering alternative growth strategies to solidify Focus Financial's position as a leading aggregator of independent wealth management firms in the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Financial Services Industry

09 Nov 2022
In Practice

COP27: What Can Business Leaders Do to Fight Climate Change Now?

The US government’s newly passed Inflation Reduction Act will direct $370 billion toward advancing renewal energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions—the country's largest investment in fighting climate change so far. As business and government leaders around the... View Details

Keywords: by Lynn Schenk and Danielle Kost

September 2020
Teaching Note

Miami's Tech Future (B): Building the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Joyce J. Kim

In 2017, Miami was rated #1 among U.S. cities for startups, but about 40th for “scale-ups” – growth companies. This case shows how leaders of incubators and accelerators supported startups and a culture of entrepreneurship, but also describes some factors limiting... View Details

Keywords: Scaling; Growth; Startup; Community Impact; Community Relations; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Information Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Business and Community Relations; Miami; Florida

August 1985 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Paul Volcker and the Federal Reserve: 1979-1982

Describes three years of the Volcker monetary policy experiment. The Federal Reserve changed the focus by its operating procedure from an interest rate instrument to a reserve instrument and it reaffirmed its commitment to hitting its preannounced monetary growth... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Financial Institutions; United States

22 Jun 2021
Research & Ideas

The COVID-19 Mutiny: When Teams Leave and Take Their Clients

which has employed team acquisition as a successful growth strategy for many years. The Quaker-founded firm’s compensation policies, strategic planning, consensus-based decision making, View Details

Keywords: by Robin Abrahams, Boris Groysberg, and Steven L. Manchel

Entrepreneurs, Managers, and Leaders

Entrepreneurs, Managers and Leaders examines the role that business leaders play in shaping industries and how evolving industries shape leaders. This co-evolutionary process of leadership and industry development is told through the dynamic story of the... View Details

April 1998
Case

Jim Lyons and GenRad

Lyons, currently CEO of Harry Gray Associates, a consulting and investment firm, had just been approached by an executive recruiter representing GenRad, a 78-year-old electronics company headquartered in Concord, MA. The company, which manufactured integrated software... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Management Succession; Personal Development and Career; Consulting Industry; Massachusetts

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23 Jul 2012
News

Companies and Investors Should See More of Each Other

October 2015 (Revised November 2024)
Case

A Challenger's Strategy: Pinar Abay at ING Bank Turkey

By: Paul Healy, Gautam Mukunda and Esel Çekin

In 2013, Pinar Abay was appointed as the CEO of ING Bank Turkey. At 34, she was the youngest bank CEO in Turkey's history. Her appointment raised eyebrows because of her youth and because her career at McKinsey had given her no day-to-day bank management experience.... View Details

2010 - 2010
Conference Presentation

Teams at the Top: Revisiting the Structure and Effects of Strategic Work in Top Management

By: James R. Dillon

This paper examines the usage and effects of small work groups by top management in the course of guiding an organization's strategy process. Reviewing evidence from research literatures on strategy process, strategic leadership, and small groups, I propose that a... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Strategy; Leadership; Practice; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques