Publications

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December 2005 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Leerink Swann & Co.: Creating Competitive Advantage

By: Boris Groysberg and Andrew N. McLean

In the spring of 2005, CEO Jeff Leerink has called a meeting of the executive committee to formulate Leerink Swann's growth strategy over the next five years so that it accomplishes three goals: expand into a new business, reinforce the firm's legacy businesses, and... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Human Resources; Leadership Style; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Alignment; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Expansion

14 Aug 2024
Video

2024 BiGS Global Leadership Roundtable in Washington, D.C.: A conversation with changemakers

October 2016 (Revised November 2018)
Case

Indigo Agriculture

By: Marco Iansiti, Michael W. Toffel and Christine Snively

Indigo Agriculture had successfully developed and launched its first commercial product, microbe-enhanced cotton seeds, on an accelerated product development timeline. In late 2016, as the company was about to launch its second product, winter wheat, the management... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Agribusiness; Science-Based Business; Operations; Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Technology Industry

10 Nov 2011
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Making Lincoln Center Cool Again

When Reynold Levy took over as president of New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in 2002, he faced a classic challenge for any nonprofit leader navigating a complex environment: staying relevant to the next generation. Levy... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Entertainment & Recreation

04 Feb 2021
Research & Ideas

Inside CEOs' Pandemic Worries: Uncertainty, Employees, and Kids

ever-changing regulations and policies.” “Complexity was high,” especially early on, one CEO noted, adding: “It was not easy to keep up with [changing regulations and new policies].” Customer behavior also... View Details

Keywords: by Gamze D. Yucaoglu, Robin Abrahams, and Boris Groysberg

March 2011
Case

Insight Communications

By: Rajiv Lal and Natalie Kindred

After undertaking a multi-year, metrics-driven operational and cultural overhaul, in April 2010 Insight Communications was planning the next phase of its development. Insight was a New York-based provider of cable, landline phone, and high-speed Internet service to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Competitive Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Performance Improvement; Growth Management; Management Systems; Business Processes; Measurement and Metrics; Employees; Telecommunications Industry; New York (state, US)

March 2016 (Revised August 2018)
Case

JPMorgan Chase after the Financial Crisis: What Is the Optimal Scope of the Largest Bank in the U.S.?

By: David Collis and Ashley Hartman

When Jamie Dimon took over as CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPMorgan Chase) in 2005, he reaffirmed the commitment to pursue a "universal bank" strategy—providing a full range of products and services to both retail and wholesale clients. Yet the merits of the universal... View Details

Keywords: Scope; Regulatory Reforms; Universal Banking; Synergy; Optimization; Simplification; Finance; Strategy; Business Strategy; Financial Crisis; Consolidation; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry

25 Oct 2011
First Look

First Look: October 25

stores are multi-sided platforms (MSPs). We propose a definition that provides a more precise notion of MSPs by requiring that they enable direct interactions between the multiple customer types that are affiliated with them. Several important implications of this... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

12 Aug 2019
Research & Ideas

How Scale Changes a Manager's Responsibilities

but at this stage, if you don’t have the confidence and the right people to do things without you, it will be a rough ride. In fact, when founding CEOs don’t learn to step up into their roles and empower their leaders, investors and board... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

March 2008 (Revised March 2009)
Case

Transforming AMFAM

By: Rakesh Khurana, Rajiv Lal and Cathy Ross

On a winter day in December 2007 at the American Family Mutual Insurance Company (AMFAM) headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin, Dave Anderson and Jack Salzwedel remained in the conference room after the senior management meeting had concluded. Anderson, CEO of AMFAM since... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Governing and Advisory Boards; Marketing; Mission and Purpose; Strategic Planning; Insurance Industry; United States

30 Sep 2019
Book

6 Steps to Building a Better Workplace for Black Employees

false illusion of a post-racial society, where many people thought we had transcended issues of race,” he says. “But that was not the case at all.” It certainly wasn’t the experience for many of the black business executives included in the book Race, Work, and... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

September 2020 (Revised December 2021)
Case

Building India's 2.0: PayNearby

By: Lauren Cohen and Spencer C. N. Hagist

Headquartered in Mumbai, India, FinTech startup Nearby Technologies has seen its flagship brand, PayNearby, rapidly flourish across most of its target market within just four years. The unprecedented success of its payment app, which allows users to access banking... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Developing Markets; Payments; Financial Inclusion; Finance; Entrepreneurship; Emerging Markets; Competitive Strategy; Banking Industry; India

The a2 Milk Company (a2MC) became the most valuable company listed on the New Zealand stock exchange in 2018 by capitalizing on a biochemical discovery related to the protein composition of cow’s milk--cows naturally produce two types of beta casein proteins (A1 and... View Details

September 2018 (Revised May 2021)
Teaching Plan

Eastern Bank: Innovating Through Eastern Labs

By: Karen Mills, Dennis Campbell and Aaron Mukerjee

Eastern Bank is a 200-year-old New England mutual bank with a community focus. Eastern specializes in small business lending, having made strategic investments to become the top SBA lender in New England in the midst of the Great Recession, when other banks were... View Details

Keywords: Banks; Fintech; Innovation; Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Innovation And Strategy; Technological Change; Technology And Innovation Management; Entrepreneurial Management; Intrapreneurship; Banks and Banking; Innovation and Invention; Entrepreneurship; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Management

25 Aug 2014
HBS Case

Starbucks Reinvented

comfort, connection, and respect for its product and the communities Starbucks serves. CEO Howard Schultz has reignited Starbucks with innovative new offerings and by refocusing workers on the company's core... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Food & Beverage

February 2017 (Revised June 2017)
Case

ExxonMobil: Business as Usual? (A)

By: George Serafeim, Shiva Rajgopal and David Freiberg

Climate change was becoming an important societal and business issue as more governments were introducing climate change related regulations and investors became increasibly worried about stranded assets within oil and gas firms. In September 2016, the U.S. Securities... View Details

Keywords: Oil ＆ Gas; Oil Prices; Oil Companies; Asset Impairment; Predictive Analytics; Sustainability; Environmental Impact; Innovation; Disclosure; Accounting; Valuation; Climate Change; Renewable Energy; Environmental Sustainability; Financial Reporting; Energy Industry

August 2019 (Revised April 2020)
Case

BlueVine Capital: Growth Factors

By: Marco Di Maggio and Nathaniel Schwalb

The start-up, BlueVine Capital Inc. (BlueVine), used data and technology to help finance small businesses via factoring and lines of credit. The case explains the small business financing market in mid-2010s, how CEO Eyal Lifshitz identified the opportunity for... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Business Startups; Small Business; Financing and Loans; Innovation Leadership; Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry

29 Sep 2015
First Look

September 29, 2015

CEO Tim Cook knew that Apple, despite its phenomenal success, needed to continue to innovate in new product areas in order to continue its momentum into the future. This case explores three View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2014 (Revised May 2016)
Case

Husk Power

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Sid Misra

In late 2013, Husk Power Systems found itself falling further and further behind plan. The founding CEO had decided to resign. His co-founder is faced with the decision of quitting his corporate job in the US to head to India and help form a new management team. Husk... View Details