Publications

August 2014
Case

Netflix in 2011

By: Willy Shih and Stephen Kaufman

Reed Hastings founded Netflix to provide a home movie service that would do a better job satisfying customers than the traditional retail rental model. But as it encountered challenges it underwent several major strategy shifts, ultimately developing a business model... View Details

January 1990 (Revised March 1991)
Case

American Red Cross Blood Services: Northeast Region

By: Robert L. Simons

Recounts the financial difficulties and management changes experienced by American Red Cross Blood Services: Northeast Region (NER) during the 1980s. After summarizing industry-wide changes in the collection, testing, and distribution of blood and blood products, the... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Budgets and Budgeting; Financial Management; Restructuring; Health; SWOT Analysis; Social Enterprise; Marketplace Matching; Management Style; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Health Industry; North and Central America

August 2002 (Revised May 2003)
Case

New Wachovia (B), The

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and Jeremy Swinson

On August 3, 2001, after a hotly contested proxy fight, Wachovia Corp.'s shareholders voted to merge with First Union Corp. The managers of the two banks then turned to face the challenges of integrating the two organizations. Their task was to implement a "merger of... View Details

Keywords: Integration; Mergers and Acquisitions; Problems and Challenges; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; North Carolina

October 2019
Case

Kaspi.kz IPO

By: Victoria Ivashina and Esel Çekin

This case follows Kaspi.kz, a private equity (Baring Vostok) co-owned retail bank in Central Asia that evolved into a fintech, payments and e-commerce company. It provides insights into private equity financing, portfolio company management, and initial public offering... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Private Equity; Initial Public Offering; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Central Asia

October 2011 (Revised July 2012)
Case

ATR KimEng Financial Corporation

By: Li Jin, Michael Shih-ta Chen and Dawn Lau

ATR KimEng is a Philippino asset management business. It is making an important decision on its own strategy going forward: should it stay independent, or be taken over by a large bank in the region. Through this case, we discuss the financial service industry in South... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Capital Markets; Investment; Financial Services Industry; Philippines

09 Mar 2023
Blog Post

Where Will You Be in 30 Years: Behind the Scenes of the 5 Big Life Decisions Documentary

View CPD's presentation panel of 5 Big Life Decisions from February 28, 2023. Imagine yourself back in your section classroom during RC year at HBS. Look to your left and look to your right. Where do you think these classmates will be in 30 years? Consider what View Details

June 2021
Case

Modern Endowment Management: Paula Volent and the Bowdoin Endowment

By: Luis M. Viceira, Emily R. McComb and Dean Xu

This case examines modern endowment investment management through the lens of a leadership transition between Chief Investment Officers (CIOs). In March 2021, Paula Volent is about to step down as the CIO of the endowment of Bowdoin College after twenty-one years, and... View Details

Keywords: Investment Portfolio; Investment Banking; Growth Management; Investment Return; Capital Markets; Interest Rates; Competition; Cost Management; Risk Management; Financial Liquidity; Performance Evaluation

21 Oct 2019
News

Solving for Climate Change’s Impact on Urban Water: Flooding, Sea Rise, and Drought?

How Leaders Kill Meaning at Work

In this article, authors Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer seek to help C-suite managers understand the traps that can impair the productivity of their workforce. By identifying the issues that regularly challenge the efficiency and creativity of employees, the... View Details

Research Summary

Cultural Entrepreneurship and the Business of the Arts

By: Rohit Deshpande

A more recent research program focuses on creating and managing ventures connected with the arts and culture. This research extends the concept of Customer-Centricity into the context of Audience Engagement. This primarily case-based work explores how successful... View Details

06 Apr 2011
News

'More leaders are made than born'

08 Oct 2020
Research & Ideas

Keep Your Weary Workers Engaged and Motivated

making a difference. Managers meet the drive to comprehend by: Empowering team members Giving team members challenging assignments Helping team members learn and grow. Do “office hours” on videoconferencing... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

17 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 17, 2006

across their internal corporate departments lead their facilities to prioritize different institutional pressures and thus adopt different management practices. Specifically, we argue that external constituents who interact with... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 1995 (Revised January 1998)
Case

Transformation of Pratt & Whitney North Haven (B)

By: H. Kent Bowen, Linda A. Hill, Andrew P. Burtis, Sylvie Ryckebusch and John Schiavone

As part of the restructuring effort underway at the Pratt & Whitney North Haven plant, Ed Northern and a group of Japanese consultants are transforming the manufacturing process from a batch process to a single-piece flow, and are organizing the machines and workers in... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Business Processes; Production; Machinery and Machining; Human Resources; Product; Connecticut

Article

The Evolution of Science-Based Business: Innovating How We Innovate

By: Gary P. Pisano

Science has long been connected to innovation and to business. As early as the late 19th century, chemical companies, realizing the commercial potential of science, created the first industrial research laboratories. During much of the 20th century, large-scale... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Governance; Innovation and Management; Risk Management; Research and Development; Science-Based Business; Commercialization

Find at Harvard

Read Now

December 13, 2022
Article

What Elon Musk Can Learn from Steve Jobs’s Return to Apple

By: Andy Wu and Goran Calic

Changing the strategic direction of an existing company is among the hardest management challenges out there. Most attempts fail. In trying to remake Twitter, Elon Musk has a daunting task ahead of him. There’s precedent, however, for dramatically reimagining a major... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Corporate Strategy; Change Management; Transformation

2003
Casebook

Professional Services: Text and Cases

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Ashish Nanda

DeLong and Nanda's Professional Services: Text and Cases is the first casebook to be published on the management of professional service firms (law firms, architecture, financial services, consulting). It includes a comprehensive selection of case studies that... View Details

Keywords: Professional Service Firms; Management; Cases

Find at Harvard

January 1997
Background Note

Conducting a Performance Appraisal Interview

By: Michael Beer

Discusses typical problems experienced by managers in conducting performance appraisal interviews. The underlying causes of these problems are analyzed and ideas are presented that might help managers overcome these problems. A rewritten version of an earlier note. View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Managerial Roles; Performance Evaluation; Problems and Challenges

January 1994 (Revised April 2011)
Background Note

Note on Private Equity Partnership Agreements

By: Josh Lerner

Venture capital by necessity is a long-run investment. Consequently, since the mid-1960s virtually all venture financing has been raised through private partnerships with a ten-year or longer life span. To govern these investments, complex contracts have sprung up... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Investment; Governance; Contracts; Partners and Partnerships