Publications

20 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Activist CEOs Are Rising Up—and Their Customers Are Listening

When former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced earlier this year he was thinking about running for president of the United States, it wasn’t a new idea. Past CEOs seeking the White House have included Carly Fiorina, Ross Perot, Herman Cain, Steve Forbes, Mitt... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

06 Jun 2013
Op-Ed

How to Do Away with the Dangers of Outsourcing

Staffing, risks, benefits, and regulatory compliance are all increasingly externalized, most often to parts of the world where need routinely trumps prudence. Rather than manage their own corporate assets, CEOs and other top executives of... View Details

Keywords: by Ranjay Gulati; Manufacturing; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion

August 1999 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Millennium Media, Inc. and John Voorenberg

By: David A. Thomas

Millenium Media's CEO reviews the company diversity report and considers the challenges of maintaining a diverse workforce in light of the news that three individuals, two of whom are people of color, are leaving for opportunities with a competitor. View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Employee Relationship Management; Resignation and Termination; Retention; Leadership Style; Problems and Challenges; Competition

02 Jan 2007
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Articles of 2006

In the six-year history of Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge, some types of articles have always been popular with our readers. Want to generate a lot of reader buzz? Then write about negotiation strategy, managing IT,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

September 1991 (Revised March 2005)
Case

WPP Group and Its Acquisitions

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

WPP Group acquired J. Walter Thompson and Ogilvy & Mather, paying high premiums in relation to earnings. In each acquisition the goodwill acquired was immediately charged off against owners' equity. Then, WPP Group established a value for the brand names of the two... View Details

Keywords: Goodwill Accounting; Accounting; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Market Transactions; Equity; Private Equity; Relationships; Mergers and Acquisitions; Management Style; Consumer Products Industry; United States; United Kingdom

01 Mar 2012
News

In Charge

Rogers: An opportunity to be in charge. After serving as the Obama administration’s social secretary for some 18 months, Desirée Rogers (MBA 1985) left that post in 2010 in the wake of a security breach in which two uninvited guests View Details

Keywords: Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support; Government; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

December 1999 (Revised January 2000)
Case

Agrochemicals at Ciba-Geigy AG (B)

By: Michael L. Tushman, Wendy Smith and Daniel Radov

Focuses on Pierre Urech's efforts to change the division structure at Ciba-Geigy to facilitate the marketing of the new product. Details the relationships Urech cultivates and the strategy he pursues as "product champion." Also describes the restructuring of the... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Research and Development; Marketing Strategy; Goods and Commodities; Product Development; Pharmaceutical Industry; Switzerland

26 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

Women Entrepreneurs Use Springboard for Funding

Venture Partners and investors such as Nobel Laureate (and HBS professor) Robert C. Merton, as well as individual angels, family, friends, and the founders themselves. The rules for applying to the Springboard forum were simple. Each company must have a woman in a key... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

07 Jul 2003
Research & Ideas

The Organizational Model for Open Source

of the hacker style of programming with the need to be more predictable and coordinated in managing software releases. Projects that are more closely coupled with commercial firms have experienced direct... View Details

Keywords: by Mallory Stark

January 2008
Article

Where Will We Find Tomorrow's Leaders?

By: Linda A. Hill

Unless we challenge long-held assumptions about how business leaders are supposed to act and where they're supposed to come from, many people who could become effective global leaders will remain invisible, warns Harvard Business School professor Hill. Instead of... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Globalization; Innovation Leadership; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Situation or Environment; Personal Characteristics