Publications

27 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Horrible Boss Workarounds

On film, few characters are more obviously villainous than the extremely bad boss. There's Star Wars' Darth Vader (who manages a disrespectful underling by strangling him with his mind), Katharine Parker in Working Girl (who shamelessly... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

March 2015 (Revised December 2016)
Case

American Well: The DTC Decision

By: Elie Ofek and Natalie Kindred

In late 2013, telehealth company American Well, which developed a digital platform that allowed patients to conduct online medical consultations with physicians, is considering pursuing a direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategy. Founded in 2006, American Well had, to date,... View Details

May 2025
Case

Community First! Village: Scaling Goodness?

By: Jan Rivkin and Coelin P. Scibetta

The nonprofit organization Mobile Loaves & Fishes has devised an innovative way to address chronic homelessness: their Community First! Village provides tiny homes, recreational vehicles, and facilities that bring community, housing, support, and work opportunities to... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Social Issues; Texas

13 Apr 2010
First Look

First Look: April 13

expectations are impossible to meet, either approach sets up the firm and its managers for failure, and in the process, value is destroyed. Download the paper: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1583563 Fluid Teams... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2008 (Revised February 2011)
Case

Rubbish Boys

By: Noam Wasserman and Rachel Galper

It looked like founder-CEO Brian Scudamore might not be able to pursue franchising as a growth option for his junk-removal business after all. Over the years, he had overcome many hurdles, including buying out his "too-fiery" co-founder, firing all of his employees so... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Problems and Challenges; Brands and Branding; Business Model; Partners and Partnerships; Business Growth and Maturation; Franchise Ownership; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Industry; Canada; North America

13 Dec 2004
Research & Ideas

Sharing News That Might Be Bad

This scenario, inspired by a Harvard Business School case, may ring familiar. It raises an increasingly prevalent, and difficult, management issue: how much information to share and when to share it. You look View Details

Keywords: by Paul Michelman

27 Aug 2019
News

New US Trademark Rules Raise Concerns About Immigration Enforcement

May 2013
Supplement

Transport Corporation of India (C): Dealing with Shortcomings in Service Quality

By: V.G. Narayanan and Saloni Chaturvedi

Transport Corporation of India was a logistics company that provided multi-modal transport solutions to its customers. Set up in 1958, TCI had grown from a 'one man, one truck, one office' set-up to a company with revenues of $400 million in half a century. TCI's... View Details

Keywords: Transportation; Transportation Industry; India

June 2009 (Revised February 2010)
Case

Cirque du Soleil -- The High-Wire Act of Building Sustainable Partnerships

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Maxime Aucoin

The case describes the history and business model of Cirque du Soleil (CdS). The case allows for a rich discussion and analysis of Cirque du Soleil's business model with an emphasis on how it interacts with that of MGM Mirage. Le Cirque and MGM's business models... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Investment; Profit; Globalized Markets and Industries; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Partners and Partnerships; Trust; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

04 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: January 4

not be taken into account or even noticed-as a strategy for managing diversity and intergroup relations. Despite research demonstrating that race is perceived automatically (and thus, the seeming improbability of actual colorblindness),... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

23 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 23, 2008

mode of governance in the American economy: business schools became essential sites for the development of tools and methods for the management of the new large, diversified conglomerates (input-output approaches, linear programming,... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

October 2021 (Revised October 2022)
Case

The Opioid Settlement and Controversy Over CEO Pay at AmerisourceBergen

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan Ni

In 2020, AmerisourceBergen Corporation, a Fortune 50 company in the drug distribution industry, agreed to settle thousands of lawsuits filed nationwide against the company for its opioid distribution practices that critics alleged had contributed to the nationwide... View Details

June 2007 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Bert Twaalfhoven: The Successes and Failures of a Global Entrepreneur

Bert Twaalfhoven (70; HBS '54) is faced with two offers to acquire the manufacturing holding company he had built up over 40 years. Despite the attractive price, which would net Twaalfhoven and his family $70 million, he is reluctant to sell the company because his... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Family Business; Entrepreneurship; Globalization; Management Succession; Manufacturing Industry

23 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

How to Keep Employees Productive: Support Caregivers

Ostensibly, Shah was trying to refocus employees. New research from Harvard Business School Professor Joseph B. Fuller offers a different take. When workers feel tension between their work and private lives, they’re likely to quit or be less productive. Fuller’s latest... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

March 1988
Case

Debi Coleman and Apple Computer, Inc.

A companion case to Donna Dubinsky and Apple Computer (A) and (B). In a conflict with Dubinsky over the introduction of a new just-in-time distribution system, this case provides Coleman's side of the story. Coleman's perception of the issue is quite different and her... View Details

Keywords: Conflict and Resolution; Management Teams; Computer Industry

28 Mar 2018
HBS Seminar

Tim O’Reilly, O’Reilly Media

December 2017 (Revised January 2018)
Case

Alltech

By: David E. Bell and Natalie Kindred

Alltech was a Lexington, Kentucky–based producer of supplements for animal feed, with revenues of over $2 billion (projected to reach $3 billion in 2018), sales in 120 countries, 5,000 employees, and 100 manufacturing plants worldwide. For nearly four decades, Alltech... View Details

Program

Leading and Building a Culture of Innovation

take risks, experiment, and learn from failures Unleash the diverse talent in your organization to create "collective genius" Manage your network of relationships with colleagues, employees, and other stakeholders to break down barriers... View Details

August 1996 (Revised February 2000)
Exercise

Decision-Making Exercise (A)

By: David A. Garvin and Michael Roberto

Provides questionnaires so students can compare their experiences with different decison-making processes. Students read "Growing Pains," a Harvard Business Review (HBR) case study, and then work in teams to come up with recommendations using a consensus approach to... View Details

Keywords: Conflict Management; Decision Making; Management Skills