Publications

11 Dec 2019
News

How AI shifts enterprise decision-making into self-driving mode

August 2016 (Revised June 2017)
Supplement

InsideSales.com (B)

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Keywords: Business Organization; Customer Relationship Management; Marketing Strategy; Organizational Design; Salesforce Management; Talent; Talent Management; Sales; Growth and Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Entrepreneurship; Technology Industry; United States

January 2013
Case

Zappos.com 2009: Clothing, Customer Service, and Company Culture (MM)

By: Frances X. Frei and Robin J. Ely

On July 17, 2009, Zappos.com, a privately-held online retailer of shoes, clothing, and other soft-line retail categories, learned that Amazon.com, a $19 billion multinational online retailer, had won its Board of Directors' approval to offer to merge the two companies.... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Internet and the Web; Mergers and Acquisitions; Organizational Culture; Growth and Development Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry

Julie Battilana is the Joseph C. Wilson Professor of Business Administration in the Organizational Behavior unit at Harvard Business School and the Alan L. Gleitsman Professor of Social Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School, where she is also the founder and faculty... View Details

June 1995
Case

Northern Telecom and Tong Guang Electronics (B): Building Success

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Pamela A. Yatsko

This case continues the story of the joint venture in China between Northern Telecom (Nortel) of Canada and Tong Guang Electronics of China. It shows how North Americans learned to operate in a very different cultural environment in China and provides an opportunity to... View Details

Keywords: Mobile and Wireless Technology; Joint Ventures; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Leadership; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Culture; Telecommunications Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Canada; China

July 2005 (Revised September 2016)
Case

24 Hour Fitness (A): The Rise, 1983–2004

By: John R. Wells, Elizabeth A. Raabe and Gabriel Ellsworth

In October 2004, Mark S. Mastrov, CEO of 24 Hour Fitness, reflected on how far his company had come in just over 20 years. From humble beginnings in 1983 in San Leandro, California, 24 Hour Fitness had grown to become the largest privately-owned health-club chain in... View Details

Keywords: 24 Hour Fitness; Mark Mastrov; Health Clubs; Fitness; Gyms; Chain; Weight Loss; Exercise; Personal Training; Retention; Sales Force Compensation; Incentive Systems; Buildings and Facilities; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Private Equity; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Nutrition; Business History; Employees; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Human Capital; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing; Operations; Service Operations; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Salesforce Management; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet; Technology Platform; Web; Web Sites; Capital Structure; Performance; Organizational Structure; Organizational Culture; Health Industry; United States; California; San Francisco

01 Mar 2016
News

Alumni and Faculty Books for March 2016

approaches to solve technological and organizational problems. This view of innovation counters the dominant paradigm, which casts firms’ profit-seeking incentives as the main... View Details

29 Mar 2023
News

Supporting Earthquake Victims in Turkey and Syria

in the area. The product had been in development for years prior to the disaster, says Polatoğlu, developed to address a rise in natural disaster–related emergencies caused by climate change. “Moreover, we have designed a special supply-chain management View Details

August 2020
Article

A History of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs in the United States: Political Appeal and Public Health Efficacy

By: A Jay Holmgren, Alyssa Botelho and Allan M Brandt

Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) have become a widely embraced policy to address the US opioid crisis. Despite mixed scientific evidence on their effectiveness at improving health and reducing overdose deaths, 49 states and Washington, DC have adopted... View Details

Keywords: Health Disorders; Information Technology; Programs; Technology Adoption; History; Government and Politics; Policy; United States

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January 2025
Supplement

Go Mobile: Aligning District Managers and Store Teams (B)

By: Tatiana Sandino and Samuel Grad

In January 2025, Modi reflects on the past decade of Go Mobile and looks ahead to new growth strategies. View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth Management; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Salesforce Management; Motivation and Incentives; Management Practices and Processes; Growth and Development Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; India

15 Dec 2008
Research & Ideas

The Surprisingly Successful Marriages of Multinationals and Social Brands

systems and capabilities that are needed for going to and operating at scale that would take the social icon years to build. So structured correctly, an acquisition strategy... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Consumer Products; Food & Beverage

15 Aug 2024
Op-Ed

Post-CrowdStrike, Six Questions to Test Your Company's Operational Resilience

crisis is just as crucial as the response.” Over 60 percent of tech outages result in at least $100,000 in total losses, and 15 percent cost upward of $1 million, according to the Uptime Institute, a View Details

Keywords: by Hise Gibson and Anita Lynch

February 2010 (Revised January 2013)
Case

The Dabbawala System: On-Time Delivery, Every Time

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Mona Sinha

Describes the Mumbai-based Dabbawala organization, which achieves very high service performance (6 Sigma equivalent or better) with a low-cost and very simple operating system. The case explores all aspects of their system (mission, information management, material... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Logistics; Alignment; Management Systems; Human Resources; Innovation and Invention; Mumbai

January 1995 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Charlotte Beers at Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide (A)

By: Herminia M. Ibarra and Nicole Sackley

Examines Beer's actions on assuming leadership of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, the world's sixth largest advertising agency, during a period of rapid industry change and organizational crisis. Focuses on how Beers, the first outsider CEO, engages and leads a senior team... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Advertising; Organizational Structure; Advertising Industry

20 Aug 2024
Blog Post

Alumni and Students in Climate Networking Series: Boston

Commonwealth Fusion Systems use of magnets to build smaller and lower-cost fusion systems to Sagewell’s use of data analytics to deliver solutions for energy efficiency to... View Details

January 1987 (Revised January 1988)
Case

Frito-Lay, Inc.: A Strategic Transition (A)

The setting is a food manufacturing company which has stumbled in terms of its historic growth and profit achievements. In trying to recapture its momentum, the president has used information technology as one element in his program of transition. The case focuses on... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Information Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry