Publications

January 2015 (Revised April 2015)
Case

Zeal: Launching Personalized and Social Learning

By: John J-H Kim and Christine S. An

Set in 2014, this case follows John Danner and his team at Zeal as they consider their product development strategy. In February 2013, serial entrepreneurs John Danner and Sanjay Noronha co-found Zeal, an education technology start up providing a web-based, mobile... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Education Technology; MVP; Product Development; Product Market Fit; Monetization Strategy; SaaS Business Models; Education; Personalized Learning

2010
Book

Seven Strategy Questions: A Simple Approach for Better Execution

By: Robert L. Simons

To stay ahead of the pack, you must translate your organization's competitive strategy into day-to-day actions that will enable your company to win in the marketplace. This means channeling resources into the right efforts, striking a balance between innovation and... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Innovation and Management; Resource Allocation; Business Processes; Organizational Culture; Competitive Strategy

Find at Harvard

February 2009 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Shanghai Diligence Law Firm (A)

By: Robert G. Eccles and Catherine Zhang

Shanghai Diligence Law Firm, started in January 2006, is a rapidly growing law firm in China's burgeoning legal services market. In addition to the usual challenges facing all professional service firms (picking and retaining talent and building a desired client... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Compensation and Benefits; Retention; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Operations; Motivation and Incentives; Legal Services Industry; China

Teaching Interest

Leading Difference

By: Frances X. Frei

Leading Difference fundamentally challenges our view of the type of leadership that is needed in a world that is increasingly divided and in organizations that are increasingly diverse. Inclusion, in such a world, is an organizational advantage that is fundamental... View Details

14 Jan 2019
Op-Ed

These 4 CEOs Created a New Standard of Leadership

how food and beverages were impacting consumer health. In early 2007, she launched PepsiCo’s new mission, “Performance with Purpose.” She committed to reduce the sugar and sodium in PepsiCo’s core snacks and sodas, which generated most of... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Health; Banking; Food & Beverage; Consumer Products

07 Apr 2022
Blog Post

Product Management at HBS: Roll Up Your Sleeves and Learn by Doing

helped me to develop a new vernacular, get my “hands dirty” with product management, and grow the confidence to explore new horizons in the video game industry. My key takeaways: Coming to Terms with Terms. Clarity in communication was a View Details

02 Oct 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Bitcoin

Keywords: by Rainer Böhme, Nicolas Christin, Benjamin Edelman & Tyler Moore; Banking

16 Jul 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Visualizing and Measuring Enterprise Architecture: An Exploratory BioPharma Case

Keywords: by Robert Lagerstrom, Carliss Baldwin, Alan MacCormack & David Dreyfus

15 Jun 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Reaching for Yield in the Bond Market

Keywords: by Bo Becker & Victoria Ivashina

Research Summary

Growing as a Purposeful Leader

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger

Leaders today have to lead in the context of extraordinary changes and challenges. The demands of today's stakeholders have risen significantly, and what is expected of senior leaders is quickly evolving in terms of their mission (more than profit),... View Details

2019
Article

Overcoming Cultural Resistance to Open Source Innovation

By: John Winsor, Jin Hyun Paik, Michael Tushman and Karim R. Lakhani

Purpose: This article offers insight on how to effectively help incumbent organizations prepare for global business shifts to open source and digital business models.
Design/methodology/approach: Discussion related to observation, experience and case studies... View Details

Keywords: Open Source Innovation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Model; Technological Innovation; Collaborative Innovation and Invention

2012
Report

Sweden's Position in the Global Economy

By: Christian H.M. Ketels

In the spring of 2012, the Swedish economy is, as many of its peers, facing a difficult and uncertain economic environment. While these challenges are real, the Swedish economy looks much better prepared to deal with them than many of its peers. Following its own... View Details

Keywords: Economy; Financial Crisis; Government and Politics; Policy; Globalization; Competitive Advantage; Sweden

Read Now

Web

Research - Private Capital Project

Victoria Ivashina Revolving credit is at the core of the banking business. Corporate revolving credit lines are demandable claims; thus, similar to a traditional bank run on deposits, sudden widespread drawdowns on credit lines can be... View Details

16 Jun 2020
Research & Ideas

Your Customers Have Changed. Here's How to Engage Them Again.

services. Firms whose customer demand for their core products and services has decreased need to find new customers for new products and services in segments experiencing steep increases in demand. Thus, Dyson, GM, Ford, Volkswagen, and... View Details

Keywords: by Rohit Deshpandé, Ofer Mintz, and Imran S. Currim; Retail; Service

12 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

New Research Explores Multi-Sided Markets

the best decisions on what new functionalities and services to build and enhance. They should always look first for those functionalities/services that enhance and enrich the core functions they already perform as they offer the highest... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology

Web

Research - Behavioral Finance & Financial Stability

core propagation mechanism of the Great Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007–2009. What are the long-lasting effects of the GFC on small business credit supply? The authors find that banks affected by the decline in real estate prices... View Details

March 2024 (Revised July 2024)
Case

WeightWatchers: Promoting Weight Health

By: Ranjay Gulati, Cynthia A. Montgomery, Ashley Whillans, Allison Ciechanover and Emily Grandjean

In December 2023, the 60-year-old weight management industry stalwart WeightWatchers announced the launch of WeightWatchers Clinic, which incorporated GLP-1s , a new class of prescription weight-loss medications, into the company’s portfolio of products and mobile app... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Resource Allocation; Diversification; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Technology Industry; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States; New York (city, NY)

2008
Working Paper

Concentration Levels in the U.S. Advertising and Marketing Services Industry: Myth vs. Reality

By: Alvin J. Silk and Charles King III

This paper analyzes changes in concentration levels in the U.S. Advertising and Marketing Services (A&MS) industry using publicly released data that have been largely ignored in past discussions of the industrial organization of this industry, namely those available... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Mergers and Acquisitions; Revenue; Analytics and Data Science; Surveys; Marketing; Measurement and Metrics; Rank and Position; Competition; Advertising Industry; Service Industry; United States