Publications

January 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System

By: Ranjay Gulati

In response to the 2001 market downturn, Cisco Systems implemented a major restructuring that transformed the company from a decentralized to centralized organization. While recognizing that a centralized, functional structure was necessary to avoid product and... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Customer Focus and Relationships; Governing and Advisory Boards; Resource Allocation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Corporate Strategy; Technology Industry

Most managers today understand the value of building a learning organization. Their goal is to leverage knowledge and make it a key corporate asset, yet they remain uncertain about how best to get started. What they lack are guidelines and tools that transform abstract... View Details

03 Nov 2015
News

Lean In to Be Stretched Thin?

08 Oct 2019
Blog Post

Balancing Act: Kate Eberle Walker’s Action Plan for C-suite Diversity

In a snapshot of the PresenceLearning leadership team taken this spring, CEO Kate Eberle Walker (MBA 2005) stands, smiling, just right of center. She’s flanked by three other women and four men—the gender-balanced C-suite she had been... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship

Program

Rising Generation in the Family Enterprise

appropriate for: Executives raised in business families who are preparing for new leadership roles within their family business, family office for wealth management, or family foundation, or engaging in... View Details

18 Apr 2022
HBS Case

Dick’s Sporting Goods Followed Its Conscience on Guns—and It Paid Off

hadn’t purchased his AR-15 assault-style rifle at a Dick’s Sporting Goods store. But he had legally bought a different shotgun months earlier at a local Dick’s outlet—and that hit close enough to home for Stack. “I don’t want to be part of the story anymore,” Stack... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

22 May 2012
First Look

First Look: May 22

introducing change on your team-by establishing a collective goal, encouraging open dialogue, ensuring leadership support-and then spreading change to the rest of your firm. If you and your colleagues are grappling with the "always... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Career Coach

Layla A. Ramirez

Layla A Ramirez has more than 7 years of experience leading global, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) initiatives and coaching C-Level executives as they navigate their DEIB journeys. She is well known for coaching the... View Details

Keywords: Education; Entrepreneurship; Financial Services (All); Social Enterprise; Technology

26 Apr 2024
HBS Case

Deion Sanders' Prime Lessons for Leading a Team to Victory

subordinates accountable, but they have no clue how to do that,” says Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer Hise Gibson in explaining what drew him to study Sanders’ sometimes-controversial leadership style. Gibson, who played football... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Sports

March 2002 (Revised August 2006)
Case

September 11th Fund, The: The Creation

By: Jane Wei-Skillern

Describes the entrepreneurial process through which the September 11th Fund was created, developed, and operated, focusing primarily on the furst seven weeks of the fund. This case details the genesis of the fund as a partnership between the United Way of New York City... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Partners and Partnerships; Social Entrepreneurship; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

January 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Runa

By: Paul Gompers and Carla Larangeira

In early 2022, Courtney McColgan, founder and CEO of Runa, a human resources and payroll Software-as-a-Service platform, faced an unexpected tech market downturn. Founded in 2018, Runa catered to small and medium-sized businesses in Mexico, offering an affordable and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Volatility; Entrepreneurship; Decision Making; Leadership; Management; Venture Capital; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Growth and Maturation; Latin America

March 2021
Case

Founders Factory

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and James Barnett

In January 2020, Founders Factory (FF) Executive Chairman Brent Hoberman and CEO Henry Lane Fox were considering FF’s expansion strategy. FF operated as a venture capital (VC) fund built around an accelerator and incubator, and organized around sectors within... View Details