Publications

09 Mar 2009
Research & Ideas

How to Revive Health-Care Innovation

The patient is weak, the situation is serious, but a cure is on the horizon—if we think differently about the underlying problem. Specifically, we need to innovate in health care just the way it is done in any other industry, by tackling... View Details

Keywords: by Clayton M. Christensen, Jerome H. Grossman, M.D. M.D. & Jason Hwang; Health

11 Sep 2012
First Look

First Look: September 11

Churchill and Judah Folkman-and telling the stories of how they came to power and how they made the most important decisions of their lives, Indispensable reveals how, when, and where a single individual in the right place at the right time can save or destroy the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 Feb 2022
News

The ‘Do-Gooder’s Dilemma’: Why Purpose-Driven Companies Can’t Lose Focus On Profits

August 1989 (Revised January 1992)
Case

Prospect Hill

By: William J. Poorvu and Katherine Sweetman

Bill Hassett, a partner in the Nelson Companies, has to make some important decisions regarding the expansion of Prospect Hill Executive Office Park in Waltham, Massachusetts. The pre-development issues concerning him about the Hillside Building include how to position... View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Property; Decisions; Interest Rates; Urban Development; Organizational Structure; Real Estate Industry; Massachusetts

01 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

How Much Time Should CEOs Devote to Customers?

Harvard Business School professor John Quelch writes a blog on marketing issues, called Marketing KnowHow, for Harvard Business. It is reprinted on HBS Working Knowledge.Customers are the source of all cash flow. Organic growth depends on... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

21 Jan 2020
News

Journaling Isn't Just Good for Mental Health. It Might Also Help Your Physical Health.

10 Oct 2014
News

Ending Gender Discrimination Requires More than a Training Program

Program

Aligning Strategy and Sales

Summary A company's sales organization is a core vehicle for implementing business strategy—yet there's often a big gap between the company's strategic objectives and the way its sales organization actually... View Details

11 Mar 2020
News

Zooming into Remote Work: A Virtual Conversation

April 2025
Case

Thrivent: From Insurance Agents to Financial Advisors

By: Hubert Joly, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Tom Quinn

Thrivent, a midwestern financial services company with a centuries-long history rooted in Lutheranism, had reached $10 billion in revenue mostly by selling life insurance. In the 2020s, however, CEO Terry Rasmussen began a transformation process centered around the... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Talent and Talent Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Forecasting and Prediction; Employee Relationship Management; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Job Design and Levels; Human Capital; Leading Change; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Insurance Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States; Minneapolis

November 2013 (Revised August 2023)
Case

'These People are Fiduciaries...'

By: Lena G. Goldberg and Amy W. Schulman

The fiduciary duties of loyalty and care, the corporate opportunity doctrine and the business judgment rule are introduced in the context of three vignettes drawn from decided cases that explore: a classic test of loyalty when one partner elects to take advantage of an... View Details

Keywords: Fiduciaries; Fiduciary Duties; Management Practices and Processes; Ethics; Business Processes

2003
Book

When You Say Yes But Mean No: How Silencing Conflict Wrecks Relationships and Companies

By: Leslie Perlow

“Saying yes when you really mean no” is a problem that haunts organizations from start-ups to multi-nationals. It exists across industries, levels, and functions. And it’s exacerbated by a down economy, when the fear of losing one’s job is on everybody’s mind and the... View Details

Keywords: Conflict and Resolution; Relationships; Business Ventures

Find at Harvard

March 2010 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Whose Money Is It Anyway? (A)

By: V.G. Narayanan, Richard G. Hamermesh and Rachel Gordon

The Brigham and Women's Physician's Organization (BWPO) and its corporate parent disagree over who has jurisdiction over significant legacy funds. Are they controlled by the BWPO or do they belong to BWPO's corporate parent? The BWPO and its corporate parent must... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Investment Funds; Governance Controls; Agreements and Arrangements; Boundaries; Health Industry

November 2018 (Revised April 2019)
Case

Zespri Grows

By: David E. Bell and Natalie Kindred

Controlling about a third of global kiwifruit exports by volume and nearly half by value in 2018, Zespri was a grower-owned “corporatized cooperative” with the exclusive right to export New Zealand-grown kiwifruit (except to Australia). Zespri did not grow fruit but... View Details