Publications

03 May 2021
Blog Post

Celebrating the First HBS African-American Mother-Daughter Duo

with the mission to inspire healthy lifestyles and unlock access to wellness for all. At SoHookd, we are committed to making wellness more desirable, accessible, and affordable, so that we can play our part in closing the health equity... View Details

24 Sep 2019
Blog Post

Launching a Career in Clean Energy

mission to help commercial & industrial customers get to zero net energy. From my experience in the energy industry, the commercial & industrial sector is a very hard nut to crack. Energy is a really complex world, and my... View Details

June 2020
Case

What IKEA Do We Want?

By: Juan Alcácer, Cynthia A. Montgomery, Emilie Billaud and Vincent Dessain

In 2018, Swedish furniture maker IKEA was undergoing a significant transformation. Challenged by the rise of online shopping and changing consumer behavior, and mourning the death of its founder, the Company's top executives knew they had to step out of their comfort... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Transformation; Leading Change; Mission and Purpose; Business Model; Emerging Markets; Customer Focus and Relationships; Organizational Culture; Disruption; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry; Europe; Netherlands; Sweden; China; India; United States

August 2021
Case

Danone S.A.: Becoming a Mission-Driven Company (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Emilie Billaud

Emmanuel Faber became CEO of Danone SA, the French food and beverage company, in 2014. Right from the start, he ran the company with a dual commitment to both profit and purpose (i.e., ESG objectives). In fact, in 2018, he said, “It’s time to make sustainable business... View Details

Keywords: Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Governance; Leadership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Environmental Sustainability; Goals and Objectives; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; France; Europe

Web

FAQs - Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning

fees for HBS faculty for any of our services. The Christensen Center is part of the Division of Research and Development (DRFD), whose mission is to provide unparalleled faculty support. The DRFD helps to build and develop the faculty,... View Details

07 Jun 2021
Blog Post

The Value of the HBS Case Method – Lessons from an SVMP Participant

program, I felt a sense of relief and spent the day thinking “mission accomplished.” However, the mission is just beginning. Coming from a non-traditional background, there was a sense of hesitation and I questioned if I would fit in.... View Details

January 2004 (Revised May 2008)
Case

Johnson & Johnson's Corporate Credo

By: Thomas R. Piper

No corporate credo is better known than that of Johnson & Johnson. Describes the history of the credo, including the credo challenge initiated by the CEO, James Burke, in 1975 and the role the credo played during the Tylenol poisoning crisis. View Details

Keywords: History; Mission and Purpose; Goals and Objectives; Corporate Accountability; Reputation; Crisis Management; Corporate Governance; Management Teams

November 2020
Case

The 1,000-Year Plan: Lee Kum Kee and Sustaining a Family Culture

By: Lauren Cohen, Dawn H. Lau and Billy Chan

The Lee family, whose Hong Kong-based Lee Kum Kee company has established itself as a legend within the Chinese and Asian sauce world, sets out to create a daring new vision of what family legacy means. With the family business having been established in 1888, and by... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Mission and Purpose; Values and Beliefs; Business and Community Relations; Organizational Structure; Strategic Planning

03 Oct 2007
Research & Ideas

Dealing with the ‘Irrational’ Negotiator

consortium of nonprofit organizations whose mission it was to lobby for an increase in food aid to disadvantaged countries! What explains such seemingly irrational and self-defeating behavior? Why would this group oppose legislation that... View Details

Keywords: by Deepak Malhotra & Max H. Bazerman

April 2021 (Revised December 2023)
Case

The Mahindra Group: Leading with Purpose

By: Ranjay Gulati and Rachna Tahilyani

India headquartered Mahindra Group is a multibillion-dollar federation of companies operating across the globe. It is ahead of its time in articulating its purpose and mapping its values, something it had first done at inception and then refreshed yet again as ‘Rise’... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Change Management; Communication Strategy; Family Ownership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Revenue; Auto Industry; Financial Services Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Technology Industry; Asia; India; Mumbai; South Korea; Italy; United States

03 Dec 2021
Blog Post

Physicians Off the Beaten Path

(Physician, Entrepreneur, Co-founder and CEO of Arctoris) Recalling my experience at university, I asked them how they manage the tension between a strong lack of exposure to the outside world and their mission to expand that exposure.... View Details

09 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

When Benchmarks Don’t Work

information technology and applications. If customized analytic and decision-support services and IT partnerships are part of the mission of the IT organization, it will by necessity be spending much more on IT than a supposedly... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan; Service

January 2023 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Elon Musk at Tesla

By: George Serafeim and Amram Migdal

This case gives an overview of Elon Musk’s career arc through the lens of the 2003 founding of Tesla and its growth through 2022. Background information is included on Tesla’s unique strategic decisions, its operational and reputational struggles and successes, and the... View Details