Publications

01 Mar 2016
First Look

March 1, 2016

with subsidies alone, but the subsidies have been too small to solve the “last-mile problem,” and so most poor households remain unconnected to the water and sewer system. In nineteenth-century New York, subsidies also proved insufficient... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2012
Case

BoldFlash: Cross-Functional Challenges in the Mobile Division

By: Michael Beer and Rachel Shelton

Roger Cahill has spent less than a year as head of the Mobile Division of BoldFlash, a flash memory component maker. On the corporate level, BoldFlash has adapted to an evolving and difficult marketplace, but the Mobile Division is struggling. The four groups within... View Details

Keywords: United States; Massachusetts; Morale; Human Resource Management; Technology; Leadership; Opportunities; Organizational Design; Conflict and Resolution; Product Development; Change Management; Information Infrastructure; Business Processes; Manufacturing Industry; Electronics Industry; Massachusetts

April 2008
Case

A Day in the Life of Alex Sander: Driving in the Fast Lane at Landon Care Products

By: Larry E. Greiner and Elizabeth Collins

Alex Sander is a new product manager whose drive and talents are attractive to management, but whose intolerant style has alienated employees. This tension is presented against the backdrop of a 360° performance review process. Sander works in the Toiletries Division... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Conflict Management; Behavior; Management Practices and Processes; Talent and Talent Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Problems and Challenges; Consumer Products Industry; United States; Europe

February 2011
Case

Jamie Turner at MLI, Inc.

By: John J. Gabarro and Colleen Kaftan

The case describes the evolution of an interpersonal mismatch between a previously successful manager, Jamie Turner, and his new boss, Pat Cardullo. Turner, a 32-year-old MBA graduate, has been recruited by Cardullo to be vice president of marketing and sales at Modern... View Details

Keywords: Communication; Interpersonal Relations; Superior ＆ Subordinate; Micro Organizational Behavior; Performance Management; Personal Strategy ＆ Style; Management Style; Conflict Management; Interpersonal Communication; Employee Relationship Management; Rank and Position; Performance; Communication Strategy; Personal Development and Career; Acquisition; Distribution Industry; Consumer Products Industry; San Diego; Chicago

08 Feb 2010
HBS Case

Looking Behind Google’s Stand in China

"do no evil" philosophy. Add to this the business fact that only 1 percent of their revenues come from China. There is no reason to suppose that they were going to do any better by being cooperative with the Chinese government. Interestingly, a View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology

November 2013 (Revised June 2014)
Case

E-Cigarettes: Marketing Versus Public Health

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) were heralded by some as a healthcare game changer, enabling smokers to switch to a new product which carried lower risk of cancer. However, there were concerns about the public health risk of e-cigarettes, particularly the chance... View Details

Keywords: Public Health; Tobacco; Smoking; Cigarettes; Electronic Cigarettes; Cancer; Lung; Lorillard; Philip Morris; Safety; Technological Innovation; Conflict of Interests; Market Entry and Exit; Marketing; Health; Advertising; Consumer Products Industry; Health Industry

02 Jan 2001
Research & Ideas

Gurus in the Garage

interim president. For example, Zalisk held a two-day planning session focused on the next year's objectives. Malaney learned from watching how Zalisk got "team members on the same page," working through priorities and budgets.... View Details

Keywords: by Dorothy Leonard & Walter Swap

June 2003 (Revised September 2004)
Exercise

The Pacific Sentinel: Role for Chris Coleman

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Dina R. Pradel

A new publishing company has just purchased the Pacific Sentinel, a fictional West Coast newspaper. The new publisher is willing to invest $1 million in the future success of the paper and has asked the executive editor and advertising manager to develop a joint plan... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Conflict of Interests; Decision Making; Publishing Industry

April 2017
Case

Yushan Bicycles: Learning to Ride Abroad

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Paul S. Myers

Yushan Bicycles, one of Taiwan's leading bicycle manufacturers, is pursuing an international expansion strategy by increasing demand for its range of traditional and electric bicycles and shifting its product mix toward higher-margin models sold through specialty... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Conflict Management; Learning; Bicycle Industry; Taiwan; Australia

19 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Rupert Murdoch and the Seeds of Moral Hazard

illegally. The 1993 Council of Europe's Resolution 1003 on the ethics of journalism clearly states that "In the journalist's profession the end does not justify the means; therefore information must be obtained by legal and ethical... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Journalism & News; Journalism & News

22 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

Master the One-on-One Meeting

important meetings with your direct reports, be thoughtful about how these sessions play out. Below is the guidance I give to new managers on conducting 1:1’s. Be thoughtful about how your one-on-one meetings sessions might play out.... View Details

Keywords: by Julia B. Austin

March 2013
Case

Robin Ash and Printzhof Press

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Lynda St. Clair

Robin Ash has just been promoted to Chief Operating Officer of Printzhof Press and Vice President of its parent company, Education and Entertainment Holdings, Inc. Her first objective is to create an action plan that will achieve two seemingly contradictory corporate... View Details

Keywords: United States; Organizational Change; Management Styles; General Management; Change Management; Morale; Communication; Human Resource Management; Book Publishing; Information Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Conflict Management; Leading Change; Competitive Strategy; Organizational Culture; Planning; Education Industry; Publishing Industry

09 Feb 2024
HBS Case

Slim Chance: Drugs Will Reshape the Weight Loss Industry, But Habit Change Might Be Elusive

Year after year, millions of people make a new year’s resolution to lose weight. But because success traditionally depends on making major lifestyle changes, like eating healthier and exercising more, many... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Health; Pharmaceutical

19 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

The 10 Most Popular Articles of 2022

collaboration. 1. Scrap the Big New Year's Resolutions. Make 6 Simple Changes Instead. Self-improvement doesn't need to be painful. Rather than set yet another gym goal, look inward, retrain your brain, and... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

April 2009 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Sermo, Inc.

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Lars Peter Christian Nielsen

Sermo operates the leading online professional network for physicians in the United States. Doctors use Sermo free of charge to post surveys regarding diagnostic and treatment concerns and to discuss these concerns, as well as challenges with managing their practices.... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Knowledge Sharing; Two-Sided Platforms; Conflict and Resolution; Social and Collaborative Networks; United States

May 1995 (Revised May 1998)
Case

Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A-1)

By: Michael A. Wheeler

Rhone-Poulenc wished to acquire a new permit, but local residents who were concerned about health issues threatened to block the permit. View Details

Keywords: Health; Rights; Negotiation; Conflict of Interests; Social Issues; Chemical Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

January 2008 (Revised March 2008)
Supplement

Mayhem on Madison (B)

By: A. Eugene Kohn and David Lane

Explains the approvals and construction process for a building to be constructed against neighborhood opposition above an operating bank branch in New York City. View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Development Economics; Business and Community Relations; Conflict and Resolution; Urban Development; Real Estate Industry; New York (city, NY)