Publications

August 2023
Case

Beamery: Using Skills and AI to Modernize HR

By: Boris Groysberg, Alexis Lefort, Susan Pinckney and Carolina Bartunek

Unicorn human relationships startup Beamery evaluates it's growth versus depth strategy as its strategic partners and customers could become future competitors in a quickly changing AI based human resources and talent management industry View Details

18 Dec 2019
Book

6 Skills That Wise Companies Harness for World-Changing Innovation

social media editor for Harvard Business School Working Knowledge. [Image: iStockphoto] Related Reading For Better Ideas, Bring the Right People to the Brainstorm What Machine Learning Teaches Us about CEO Leadership Style What’s Really View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

11 Mar 2021
News

Leading with Heart

this? How deep is this going to be? And how disruptive will this be?" There is no playbook for the pandemic. But I'll tell you what. I, in some ways, felt inspired. And maybe it is the experiences that I had with my daughters and dealing... View Details

01 Mar 2018
News

Every Trick in the Book

Borders is gone. So are B. Dalton, Waldenbooks, and Crown Books. Barnes & Noble, headed by CEO Demos Parneros (AMP 178, 2010), now has about 630 physical bookstores—down from more than 700 in 2011. But the number of independent bookstores, a breed declared endangered... View Details

Keywords: April White

04 Aug 2011
What Do You Think?

How Dangerous Is Common Sense to Managers?

valid, Watts argues, why wouldn't we be able to predict the success of a strategy, a new disruptive technology, a product, or an advertisement? The reasons he gives are that these phenomena are too complex, involving so many variables... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

Web

Launching Tech Ventures | HBS Online

Disruptive Strategy Professors Rory McDonald & Clayton Christensen Strengthen your capacity to create winning strategies and bring innovations to market by discovering customer jobs to be done and aligning your business’s resources,... View Details

09 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Why Entrepreneurs Should Go Work for Government

service Uber, which has disrupted the highly regulated and often inefficient taxi industry, and expanded to hundreds of cities worldwide. At the same time, the company has been criticized for "surge pricing" that jacks up rates... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

28 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Coronavirus Could Create a 'Bankruptcy Pandemic'

vendors could disrupt supply chains, further hurting the business and destroying value. This potential problem is troubling to a number of bankruptcy scholars, including my colleague Mark Roe at Harvard Law School. So, is this bleak... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Financial Services; Banking

January 2021 (Revised April 2022)
Case

Best Buy's Corie Barry: Confronting the COVID-19 Pandemic

By: William W. George and Amram Migdal

This case examines the leadership of Corie Barry, the new CEO of Best Buy, with a focus on actions the company took in 2020 to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. The case includes a history of Best Buy’s strategy and leadership, including the transitions between the... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Change; Disruption; Volatility; Communication; Competency and Skills; Customers; Decision Making; Ethics; Fairness; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Finance; Cash Flow; Financial Condition; Financial Liquidity; Goods and Commodities; Corporate Governance; Health Pandemics; Human Resources; Executive Compensation; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Resignation and Termination; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Innovation and Invention; Jobs and Positions; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Job Design and Levels; Job Interviews; Job Offer; Labor; Employment; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Law; Leadership; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Management; Business or Company Management; Crisis Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Management Style; Management Succession; Management Systems; Management Teams; Risk Management; Operations; Distribution; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Logistics; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Supply Chain; Organizations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Outcome or Result; Personal Development and Career; Retirement; Work-Life Balance; Planning; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Business and Community Relations; Labor and Management Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Safety; Science; Strategy; Retail Industry; North and Central America; United States; Minnesota

October 2019
Case

Leading Bank Leumi into the Future

By: Joshua D. Margolis, Allison M. Ciechanover, Nicole Keller and Danielle Golan

An unlikely but highly effective leader of a traditional bank, Rakefet Russak-Aminoach, simultaneously leads a classic change effort and an unconventional effort to innovate. She focuses her initial energy on making the bank more efficient in the face of industry... View Details

21 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

The Pandemic Conversations That Leaders Need to Have Now

is far cheaper, better informed, and more trustworthy than outreach from a representative less attached to the company. Pay attention to, develop, and reward internal expertise. Such talent will naturally begin to surface as a result of the processes outlined here and... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Robin Abrahams, and Katherine Connolly Baden

24 Feb 2020
Research & Ideas

The Hidden Vulnerabilities of Open Source Software

Reading The Hidden Benefit of Giving Back to Open Source Software The Surprising Right Fit for Software Testing 6 Ways That Emerging Technology Is Disrupting Business Strategy What's your take on the vulnerability of open source software?... View Details

Keywords: by Frank Nagle and Jenny Hoffman; Computer

22 Feb 2024
News

GCC Crossroads Aims for a Bright Future; Seattle Alumni Talk Leadership in Tech; Italy Preps for European Alumni Summit

Clubs News Clubs News Crossroads Forum Explores Future of Gulf Region More than 1,300 public and private leaders convened in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on January 30 and 31 for the Crossroads GCC Future Impact Forum, co-hosted by the HBS Club of the Gulf Cooperation Council... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

30 Jan 2020
Research & Ideas

The Upside of Highlighting a Product's Downsides

the positive effects of transparency—highlighting a possible tension between promotion-based strategies designed to influence and transparency-based strategies designed to inform. Competitive advantage through transparency Putting it all out there has long helped View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

September 2021 (Revised December 2023)
Case

On the Bubble: Startup Bootstrapping

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Tom Quinn and Annelena Lobb

Bubble was a software company in the low-code/no-code market, making tools that allowed users without traditional programming backgrounds or technical skills to build software. The case covers cofounder Joshua Haas’s engineering background, as he experienced a high... View Details