Publications

February 2001 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Describes the evolution of Dialpad, a voice-over-Internet-protocol telephony company. Set in September 2000, CEO Brad Garlinghouse faces a dilemma: what to do about the large number of international users who use Dialpad to call the United States for free. He must also... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Organizational Design; Competitive Strategy; Investment; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Venture Capital; Telecommunications Industry; California

October 1994
Case

ABRY Communications (A)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

June 1978 (Revised August 1991)
Case

Williamstown Community Hospital

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Keywords: Health Industry

summer 1974
Article

Communes in Cities

By: R. M. Kanter

Keywords: Relationships

April 2009 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Lawson: Becoming the Community Store of 9,000 Japanese Communities

By: Linda A. Hill, Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez, Masako Egawa, Emily Stecker and Mayuka Yamazaki

Keywords: Retail Industry; Japan

2019
Working Paper

The Impact of Professionals' Contributions to Online Knowledge Communities on Their Workplace Knowledge Work

By: Hila Lifshitz - Assaf and Frank Nagle

Knowledge work is becoming increasingly challenging as pace of change in the knowledge frontier is increasing. Organizations have created multiple mechanisms to minimize knowledge gaps and increase learning such internal training, mentorship programs as well as... View Details

Keywords: Open Source; Future Of Work; Software Development; Knowledge Work; Online Community; Learning; Knowledge Sharing; Applications and Software; Open Source Distribution; Performance Productivity

January 2025
Article

Communication Within Firms: Evidence from CEO Turnovers

By: Stephen Michael Impink, Andrea Prat and Raffaella Sadun

This paper uses novel, firm-level communication measures derived from communications metadata several months before and after a CEO transition for 102 firms to study whether and how this organizational event is reflected in employees’ communication flows. We find that... View Details

Keywords: Information; Communication; Management Succession; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Alignment

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September 1975 (Revised August 1991)
Case

King Community Hospital

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Keywords: Health Industry

October 2010 (Revised January 2011)
Case

Charter Communications Bankruptcy

By: Paul A. Gompers and Emily Weisburst

Charter Communications' bankruptcy presents an opportunity for some of its creditors to convert their debt holdings into equity. A mutual fund manager must determine how to maximize his debt investment in Charter given the restructuring and decide whether to... View Details

Keywords: Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Private Equity; Borrowing and Debt; Investment; Financial Strategy; Financial Services Industry

April 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Southern States Communications

By: Constance E. Bagley and Michael B. Keating

Managers receiving letters claiming that their products or services violate the intellectual property rights of another sometimes have a tendency to ignore them after their technical staff advises them that the claims have no merit. Illustrates the perils of that... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Patents; Lawsuits and Litigation

May 2018
Exercise

Data Visualization & Communication Exercise

By: Srikant M. Datar and Caitlin N. Bowler

This exercise uses the 1986 Challenger shuttle disaster to explore the relationship between data visualization, effective communication, and decision-making. Students review and analyze excerpts from the 13 charts engineers presented to NASA executives the night before... View Details

Keywords: Visualization; Data; Analytics and Data Science; Communication; Performance Effectiveness; Decision Making; Analysis

January 2004 (Revised February 2005)
Case

Timberland and Community Involvement (Abridged Version)

By: James E. Austin and James Quinn

When Jeffrey Swartz became the third generation in his family to lead the Timberland Co., he made community involvement an integral part of the company's strategy. Under Swartz's leadership, Timberland formed a close partnership with City Year, the national corps of... View Details

Keywords: Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business and Community Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Strategy; Manufacturing Industry

October 2007 (Revised February 2010)
Case

Adelphia Communications Corp.'s Bankruptcy

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Belen Villalonga

In 2002, a massive accounting fraud and corporate looting scandal involving the founding Rigas family made Adelphia the 11th largest bankruptcy case in history, and the third-after WorldCom and Enron-among those triggered by fraud. Set in 2005, when Adelphia is... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Restructuring; Crime and Corruption; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Family Ownership

2019
Working Paper

Why Do User Communities Matter for Strategy?

By: Sonali K. Shah and Frank Nagle

User communities represent a unique organizing structure for the exchange of ideas and knowledge. They are organizations composed primarily of users working collaboratively, voluntarily, and with minimal oversight to freely and openly develop and exchange knowledge... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Management; Knowledge Sharing; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Organizations; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Strategy

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Web

LGBTQ+ Community | MBA

LGBTQ+ Community The LGBTQ+ community has historically been underrepresented in MBA programs and in business, but with each passing year, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals continue to... View Details

23 Apr 2020
Video

The Program for Leadership Development Community

24 Oct 2017
Blog Post

The Latin American Community at HBS

Latin American is a state of being, not a regional denomination. Or at least that is what I learned at Harvard Business School. Upon arriving at HBS, members of the Latin American community took conscious steps to get acquainted with... View Details

Web

Campus & Community | About

Campus & Community Take A Tour A Vital Residential Community A Campus Built on Philanthropy A Commitment to Sustainability 1927 Harvard Business School campus constructed 270 + Full-time faculty and 1,450+... View Details

June 1994 (Revised August 1994)
Case

Cunard Line Ltd.: Managing Integrated Marketing Communications

By: Stephen A. Greyser

Cunard, the world's oldest luxury line company, is confronted with several key issues involving its marketing and marketing communications strategy. One concerns the balance between image/positioning advertising and short-term-oriented promotional... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Consumer Behavior; Organizational Structure; Identity; Balance and Stability; Shipping Industry