Publications

To be competitive, companies must grow innovative new businesses. Corporate entrepreneurship, however, isn't easy. New ventures face innumerable barriers and seldom mesh smoothly with well-established systems, processes, and cultures. Nonetheless, success requires a... View Details

February 2001 (Revised February 2002)
Case

Estee Lauder and the Market for Prestige Cosmetics

By: Nancy F. Koehn

Opens with a brief history of the U.S. cosmetics market and its rapid development in the 1920s. Also recounts Lauder's initial involvement in the sector, making skin care products and selling them in Manhattan beauty parlors during the Great Depression. Pays particular... View Details

Keywords: Fluctuation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Market Entry and Exit; Entrepreneurship; Luxury; Business Strategy; Society; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; United States

03 Feb 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Accountability and Control as Catalysts for Strategic Exploration and Exploitation: Field Study Results

Keywords: by Robert L. Simons

10 Nov 2011
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Making Lincoln Center Cool Again

groups of constituents and board members, using technology wisely, and planning for a future in the digital world. It also shows that there are alternative paths for a CEO to take—and that a strong organizational leader can make up for... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Entertainment & Recreation

Program

Advanced Management Program

Summary Market volatility, digital transformation, and innovation are changing the way companies compete in every industry—and increasing the demand for business leaders who are global changemakers. Whether you are looking to move up to... View Details

July 2000 (Revised February 2001)
Case

alphaWorks: IBM's Technology Talent Agents

AlphaWorks has catalyzed IBM researchers and offered them a new path to take technology to market. With success, though, comes new organizational challenges. Should John Wolpert extend alphaWorks to all IBM labs, refocus, or shut down its operations? View Details

Keywords: Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Research and Development

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January 2023 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Zaoui & Co. (A): Consigliere for High Stakes M&A Transactions

By: Ashish Nanda, Alex Kitsberg and Zack Kurtovich

In September 2019, Zaoui & Co.’s close-knit team of professionals convened for their annual off-site. In its nine years of operation, the boutique investment bank founded by the brothers Michael (HBS ’83) and Yoel Zaoui (Stanford GSB ’88), had garnered a track record... View Details

Keywords: Professional Service Firm; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Strategy; Investment Banking; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth and Development Strategy; Europe; United Kingdom

June 2016 (Revised December 2017)
Case

Google to Alphabet: Ten Things We Know to Be True

By: Robert Simons and Annelena Lobb

Google’s founders wrote “10 Things We Know to Be True,” a document detailing founding principles and values, early in the company’s life. As the company expanded, added business units, and changed its name to Alphabet, were these principles and values still valid and... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Strategy; Organizational Design; Technology Industry

March 2018
Case

GiveDirectly

By: John Beshears, Joshua Schwartzstein, Tiffany Y. Chang and Brian J. Hall

How should nonprofits design compensation systems to attract and retain talent? GiveDirectly is a respected charitable organization with an unconventional approach. Instead of spending on traditional aid programs in areas such as health care and food access in... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofits; Charity; Effective Altruism; International Aid; Compensation; Goals; Bonuses; Incentives; GiveDirectly; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Goals and Objectives; Recruitment; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

March 2001 (Revised May 2001)
Case

Corning 1996-2000: Growing Corning

By: Michael J. Roberts and Michael L. Tushman

Focuses on Roger Ackerman's successful cultural change effort--growing Corning. Presents a detailed description of Ackerman's effort and the changes that transpired in the business, the culture, and the senior team. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Management Teams

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2012
Working Paper

Conflict Policy and Advertising Agency-Client Relations: The Problem of Competing Clients Sharing a Common Agency

By: Alvin J. Silk

What restrictions should be placed on advertising agencies with respect to serving accounts or clients that are competitors of one another in order to avoid conflicts in interest? In recent decades, the advertising and marketing services industry has undergone a number... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Service Delivery; Competition; Conflict of Interests; Policy; Practice; Advertising Industry; United States

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August 2014 (Revised May 2015)
Case

Teaming at Disney Animation

By: Amy C. Edmondson, David L. Ager, Emily Harburg and Natalie Bartlett

Jonathan Geibel, Director of Systems at Walt Disney Animation Studios (hereafter referred to as Disney Animation), walked through the workspace occupied by the group he had been tasked to lead. Geibel knew he was part of a creative and magical environment. The Disney... View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; Creativity; Organizational Structure; Animation Entertainment; Organizational Culture; Groups and Teams; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

07 May 2008
Research & Ideas

The Intellectual History of Harvard Business School

Leadership and Organizational Behavior. The key developments include the original teaching of scientific management by Frederick W. Taylor; the change in perspective from Taylorism to the Human Relations... View Details

Keywords: by Richard S. Tedlow; Education

23 Sep 2014
First Look

First Look: September 23

individuals, and a purely peer-based performance review and stack ranking. As customer demand and market forces draw Valve into hardware in 2013, Valve questions whether their organizational model will need to View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November–December 2024
Article

How to Avoid the Agility Trap

By: Jianwen Liao and Feng Zhu

Agility is all the rage in strategy circles these days. According to conventional wisdom, organizations should rapidly react to technological advances, new market dynamics, and shifting consumer preferences. But in practice this is nearly impossible to pull off,... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Advantage; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model

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22 Sep 2009
First Look

First Look: September 22

of SK Telecom's CSR efforts supports its strategy. The key dilemma he is faced with is whether to change the design of the CSR organization, or perhaps revise the CSR strategy to better match the existing View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

2019
Working Paper

The Impact of Professionals' Contributions to Online Knowledge Communities on Their Workplace Knowledge Work

By: Hila Lifshitz - Assaf and Frank Nagle

Knowledge work is becoming increasingly challenging as pace of change in the knowledge frontier is increasing. Organizations have created multiple mechanisms to minimize knowledge gaps and increase learning such internal training, mentorship programs as well as... View Details

Keywords: Open Source; Future Of Work; Software Development; Knowledge Work; Online Community; Learning; Knowledge Sharing; Applications and Software; Open Source Distribution; Performance Productivity