Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(3,475)
- Faculty Publications (1,142)
- April 2004 (Revised March 2008)
- Case
Precise Software
By: Paul A. Gompers and Sara Bergson
Yossi Sela, general partner at Gemini Venture capital, considers a new investment in Precise Software. The firm is at a crisis point, and Sela needs to decide whether he will fire the firm's chief executive officer. Conflicts between the American CEO and the Israeli... View Details
- April 2004
- Case
Case Vignette: The Salesman Saga
By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon
A venture capitalist faces a situation in which a struggling portfolio company has found a promising vice president of sales through a recruitment agency. The candidate would be an excellent fit for another one of the investor's companies--one that is doing much... View Details
- April 2004 (Revised May 2005)
- Case
Confronting a Necessary Evil: The Firing of Alex Robins (A)
A manager recounts his experience firing the person he was asked to replace and reflects on the challenges of the experience. Teaching Purpose: To role-play and reflect on tasks that entail harming other people to fulfill one's responsibility. View Details
- 2004
- Book
Birth of a Salesman: The Transformation of Selling in America
This book chronicles the remarkable metamorphosis of the American salesman from itinerant amateur to trained expert. From the mid-nineteenth century to the eve of World War II, the development of sales management transformed an economy populated by peddlers and... View Details
- March 2004
- Case
L.L. Bean: A Search for Growth
By: Rajiv Lal, Walter J. Salmon and James Weber
In mid-2003, CEO Chris McCormick felt L.L. Bean was in a good position to begin to grow again. For nearly 90 years, the company sold clothing and gear for outdoor enthusiasts through its catalogs and a single retail store in Freeport, Maine. In the three decades prior... View Details
- March 2004 (Revised March 2005)
- Case
Oscar de la Renta
By: Bharat N. Anand, Elizabeth Lea Carpenter and Samhita Patwardhan Jayanti
Over three decades, Oscar de la Renta (ODLR) had established itself as one of the premier luxury brands in America. Its mainstay business had always been producing and marketing high-priced, couture/ready-to-wear luxury goods. Now, in September 2003, it faced a series... View Details
- February 2004 (Revised May 2005)
- Supplement
Confronting a Necessary Evil: The Firing of Alex Robins (B)
A manager recounts his experience firing the person he was asked to replace and reflects on the challenges of the experience. Teaching Purpose: To role-play and reflect on tasks that entail harming other people to fulfill one's responsibility. View Details
Keywords: Resignation and Termination
- February 2004
- Case
New HP, The: The Clean Room and Beyond
By: Leslie A. Perlow and Elizabeth Kind
When the $19 billion merger of Silicon Valley legend Hewlett-Packard and Houston-based PC giant Compaq Computer Corp. legally closed on May 3, 2002, both companies had already devoted an immense amount of time preparing for the challenges that lay ahead. Chief among... View Details
- February 2004 (Revised January 2005)
- Case
Hewlett-Packard: Culture in Changing Times
By: Michael Beer, Rakesh Khurana and James Weber
HP had been a highly successful and respected company for decades. It was well known for its company culture and management practices--the HP way--which emphasized both profits and people. Changing markets, strong competitors, and the growth of its computer business,... View Details
- January 2004 (Revised July 2006)
- Case
Executive Remuneration at Reckitt Benckiser plc
Reckitt Benckiser plc has developed an executive compensation system. This case outlines the structure of the system, its emphasis on performance-based pay and a global outlook, and explains the role of the human resources department, the board of directors, and... View Details
- January 2004
- Supplement
Jack Welch General Electric-The People Factory at work: Picking My Successor at GE
By: Joseph L. Bower
Jack Welch describes the process by which Jeff Immelt was chosen. In doing so, he describes General Electric's People Factory. View Details
- December 2003 (Revised May 2004)
- Case
Sears Auto Centers (A) (Abridged)
By: Lynn S. Paine
In the early 1990s Sears faced and allegations by the California Department of Consumer Affairs that the company's auto repair centers had been overbilling customers and making unnecessary repairs. Top management must evaluate the problem and come up with a plan to... View Details
- December 2003 (Revised September 2004)
- Case
Managing Segway's Early Development
By: Richard G. Hamermesh and David Kiron
Describes the early development of the Segway Human Transporter and focuses on the organizational issues that arise between the parent company and the new company that is being spun out to produce and market the Segway. Key issues are the distribution of bonuses and... View Details
- November 2003 (Revised February 2004)
- Case
Richmond Events
By: Amy C. Edmondson and Kristin Lieb
The managers of British business forum planner, Richmond Events, are struggling to expand their conference offerings into new territories. At the same time, they are trying to decide how product managers, who are critical to event success, should be hired, trained,... View Details
- November 2003 (Revised March 2004)
- Case
Dewberry Capital
In 2003, key executives of Dewberry Capital, a fast-growing, Atlanta-based real estate company, are evaluating their growth strategy and the resultant organizational issues. John Dewberry, the entrepreneurial founder of the firm, has developed a portfolio of... View Details
- November 2003 (Revised August 2005)
- Case
First Commonwealth Financial Corporation
By: Robert S. Kaplan
First Commonwealth Financial Corp., a financial institution in central and southwestern Pennsylvania, implemented the Balanced Scorecard for describing and implementing its new customer-focused strategy. Its founder and chairman decided that the Balanced Scorecard also... View Details
- November 2003 (Revised March 2004)
- Supplement
GE's Talent Machine: The Making of a CEO
CEO Jeff Immelt, ex-CEO Jack Welch, and HR Chief Bill Conaty discuss how GE has made talent development a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Immelt describes GE's deeply embedded philosophy around its people and how it has allowed the company to add value... View Details
- October 2003 (Revised November 2006)
- Case
GE's Talent Machine: The Making of a CEO
By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Andrew N. McLean
GE believes its ability to develop management talent is a core competency that represents a source of sustainable competitive advantage. This case traces the development of GE's rich system of human resource policies and practices under five CEOs in the post-war era,... View Details
- October 2003
- Case
Henry Tam and the MGI Team
By: Jeffrey T. Polzer, Ingrid Vargas and Hillary Anger Elfenbein
Within a short time frame, seven diverse team members assemble to write a business plan for a new company and struggle to define their roles, make decisions together, and resolve conflict. Henry Tam, a second-year Harvard MBA student, who joins an aspiring start-up... View Details
- September 2003
- Case
Executive Compensation at Reckitt Benckiser plc
By: V.G. Narayanan, Krishna G. Palepu and Lisa Brem
Investors felt betrayed by the increasingly lucrative pay packages awarded to CEOs and other top executives at multinational companies. Yet, board members charged with adequately rewarding executives were forced to compete with rising packages of salaries and stock... View Details