Publications

April 2009
Case

GSK's Acquisition of Sirtris: Independence or Integration?

By: Toby E. Stuart and James Weber

An executive from pharmaceutical company GSK must choose how much to integrate a recently acquired biotechnology firm, Sirtris. Moncef Slaoui, GSK's global head of R&D, championed the acquisition of Sirtris to gain access to its potentially revolutionary science.... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Resource Allocation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Research and Development; Science-Based Business; Integration

29 May 2001
Research & Ideas

Howard Stevenson on the Lessons of the Internet Era

partnerships—because no company can do it all in-house anymore. In addition to developing new competencies, Stevenson said companies internally must emphasize responsibility, not authority. Responsibility-based corporate cultures are very... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

04 Dec 2012
First Look

First Look: December 4

PublicationsWhen Does a Platform Create Value by Limiting Choice? Authors:Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Hanna Hałaburda Publication:Journal of Economics & Management Strategy (forthcoming) Abstract We present a theory for why it... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

15 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

High Ambition Leadership

aspires to develop commitment from employees? If the company strategy calls for rapid growth, can this be done without diluting the higher-ambition culture? If you are trying to develop such a culture, rapid growth makes it harder to find... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

17 Nov 2011
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Organizational Design

resources. But for other types of tasks, cultural heterogeneity had no effect on creative performance. The research is relevant to business practitioners because creating a multicultural workplace is often touted as a View Details

Keywords: Re: Ranjay Gulati & Raffaella Sadun

March 2024
Case

Nomad: A License to Bank

By: Paul A. Gompers and Pedro Levindo

In late 2023, Lucas Vargas, CEO and co-founder of Nomad, a fintech that offered financial services in the United States for Brazilian residents, had to decide what to do to ensure the company’s continued expansion. Nomad launched its first product, a U.S. digital bank... View Details

10 Aug 2010
First Look

First Look: August 10

Frank V. Cespedes, and Kerry HermanHarvard Business School Case 709-441 In 2008, concert producer and promoter Live Nation faces a decision about its strategy in light of the tumultuous changes in the music industry and the increasing... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

23 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Partnering and the Balanced Scorecard

Often overlooked in essays on leadership is the role of the organization's measurement and management system. Effective leaders, however, know that measurement and management systems play a critical role in communication; in establishing the View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton

01 Nov 2024
In Practice

Layoffs Surging in a Strong Economy? Advice for Navigating Uncertain Times

companies laying off employees to acknowledge the fact that they made a historic mistake. Something went wrong in your internal forecasting, either the demand you over-confidently predicted or the strategy you assumed would work. That... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology; Information Technology

08 Aug 2017
First Look

First Look at Research and Ideas, August 8, 2017

characteristic-based portfolio strategy that requires relatively low annual turnover. This is a continuum, with small size (a very persistent characteristic) at one end of the spectrum and high frequency reversal at the other. Unlike... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

What It Takes: Minorities in the Executive Suite

a culture that fosters and makes the most of diversity, "creating an enabling organizational context, ensuring that opportunity exists, and making certain that development takes place." In the corporations employing the... View Details

Keywords: by Judith A. Ross

27 Jul 2015
Research & Ideas

The ‘Promotion’ That Makes You Feel Bad

Companies change strategy, operational processes, and policies all the time, each shift creating a new group of winners and losers. When Steve Jobs became CEO of Apple for the second time, the culture shifted, with designers enjoying... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland

July 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Salary Finance

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In April 2019, Asesh Sarkar, co-founder and chief executive of Salary Finance Limited, a London-based FinTech, faced tough choices. Sarkar had founded Salary Finance with Dan Cobley and Daniel Shakhani in 2015. The company’s value proposition was quite simple: partner... View Details

Keywords: Credit; Financing and Loans; Wages; Innovation and Invention; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Services Industry

05 Apr 2011
First Look

First Look: April 5

Scorecard to accomplish a turnaround and cultural change after eight consecutive years of financial losses and market share declines. The team uses the strategy map to align financial and project resources... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

28 Aug 2007
First Look

First Look: August 28, 2007

superior innovation performance. Yet despite this need, there is little guidance on how to develop or deploy this ability. This article describes the results of a study to understand the strategies and practices used by firms that achieve... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

02 Jan 2012
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Articles of 2011

School professor Benjamin G. Edelman discusses the paper's findings Teaching a 'Lean Startup' Strategy (24,997) http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6659.html Published: April 11, 2011 Most startups fail because they waste too much time and money... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

April 2025
Supplement

Lisa Su and AMD (B)

By: Joshua D. Margolis, Matthew Preble and Dave Habeeb

This multimedia case study focuses on CEO Lisa Su’s turnaround and subsequent transformation of the technology company Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD). When Su accepted the top position in 2014, AMD was on the verge of collapse. Su focused on the company’s culture,... View Details

Keywords: Turnaround; Leading Change; Transformation; AI and Machine Learning; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Organizational Culture; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business Strategy; Semiconductor Industry; Computer Industry; United States; California; Texas