Publications

January 2008 (Revised May 2008)
Case

Comcast New England: A Journey of Organizational Transformation

By: Michael Beer and Anita Arun

This case describes how Kevin Casey, Comcast's New England Region general manager, transformed a low commitment and performance organization. When he took charge of this Comcast region he inherited an organization that was bureaucratic, had low customer satisfaction,... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Interpersonal Communication; Customer Satisfaction; Employee Relationship Management; Management Teams; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Performance Improvement; Telecommunications Industry; New England

13 Mar 2023
Research & Ideas

The Power of Personal Connections: How Shared Experiences Boost Performance

referrals from primary care physicians to specialists using a medical licensing database to identify doctors who attended the same medical school or residency program. By doing so, the researchers could see when doctors completed programs to infer whether they might... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Health

28 Sep 2010
First Look

First Look: September 28, 2010

revolutionary functionality. We explore a second entry path that does not rely upon Schumpeterian innovation: platform envelopment. Through envelopment, a provider in one platform market can enter another platform market, combining its own View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Jul 2020
News

Minor League Baseball as we know it may be gone

February 2024
Case

FIGS: Scrubbing the Status Quo

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Nicole Tempest Keller

In October 2023, FIGS had revolutionized the medical scrubs industry with its fashionable and functional designs, but the venture was at a critical juncture. The digitally native vertical brand (DNVB) had gone public in a successful IPO in 2021 and reached $500 million... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Channels; Corporate Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Decision Choices and Conditions; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; United States; California; Los Angeles; Europe; Canada

In Fit In, Stand Out, McGarvie presents her breakthrough program that will help you become a more effective leader. She reveals how integration and transformation function as the yin and yang of business, working together and balancing each other to form... View Details

September 1997 (Revised October 1997)
Case

Bayer AG (A)

By: John A. Quelch

Bayer's senior executives convene in Germany to consider submitting a $1 billion bid that would recover the Bayer brand name and trademark cross in North America, both of which were confiscated by the U.S. government after World War I. The group also sets out to assess... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Brands and Branding; War; Communication; Trademarks; Acquisition; Government and Politics; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Germany; North America; United States

Find at Harvard

29 Feb 2000
Research & Ideas

Whence IT Value?

software. And many hardware vendors trumpet their ability to execute these algorithms or store their output quicker, faster and cheaper. New algorithms are seductive in exactly the same way features on a new car are seductive. But let's not forget that a car's real... View Details

Keywords: by Andrew McAfee

Career Coach

Crystal Yao

Crystal is particularly interested in helping students understand careers in Sports, Media, and Entertainment and Big Tech, as well as functional careers in General Management, Strategy Consulting, Business Development, and Sales &... View Details

October 1996 (Revised April 1998)
Case

Mobil USM&R (D): Gasoline Marketing

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Mobil US Marketing & Refining has shifted from a centralized staff-driven organization to decentralized business-units. Staff functions now must negotiate service agreements with a buyer's committee consisting of representatives from the profit-center business units.... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Management Teams; Human Resources; Agreements and Arrangements; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Customers; Situation or Environment; Business Units; Energy Industry; Mining Industry; United States

07 May 2015
Blog Post

Career Change: From the Military to Consulting

Exposed to new functions and industries through case studies, classmates, and the resources of our Career and Professional Development (CPD) Office, nearly 70% of HBS students will pursue ventures very different from the ones that led... View Details

March 2023 (Revised May 2023)
Supplement

OneTen At Delta Air Lines: Catalyzing Family-Sustaining Careers for Black Talent (B)

By: Linda A. Hill and Lydia Begag

In January 2023, Delta Air Lines (Delta) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ed Bastian and his team had just launched the third iteration of an internal skills-first apprenticeship program, designed to move frontline employees into "merit" positions in four job categories.... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Diversity; Race; Talent and Talent Management; Training; Human Resources; Air Transportation Industry; United States

September 2007 (Revised December 2008)
Case

Michael Fernandes at Nicholas Piramal

By: Michel Anteby and Nitin Nohria

Michael Fernandes, the Director of Custom Manufacturing Operations at the pharmaceutical company Nicholas Piramal India Limited (NPIL), schedules a meeting with three of his reports, whose interpersonal conflicts with one another are causing his business development... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Management Skills; Groups and Teams; Conflict Management; Cooperation; Pharmaceutical Industry; India; United Kingdom; Canada

May–June 2021
Article

Why Start-ups Fail

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

If you’re launching a business, the odds are against you: Two-thirds of start-ups never show a positive return. Unnerved by that statistic, a professor of entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School set out to discover why. Based on interviews and surveys with hundreds... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Problems and Challenges; Failure

Find at Harvard

September 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Supplement

BT Plc: The Broadband Revolution (B)

By: Michael L. Tushman, David Kiron and Adam M. Kleinbaum

In early 2003, CEO Ben Verwaayen and Chief Broadband Officer Alison Ritchie of BT Plc. are trying to transform the former British Telecom from a stodgy telephone company into a 21st century broadband company. Their efforts to focus the firm on broadband issues within... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Innovation and Invention; Management Teams; Problems and Challenges; Telecommunications Industry; United Kingdom

22 Mar 2016
First Look

March 22, 2016

Abstract—Many believe that the recent emphasis on enterprise risk management function is misguided, especially after the failure of sophisticated quantitative risk models during the global financial crisis. The concern is that top-down... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

13 Dec 2010
Research & Ideas

Managing the Support Staff Identity Crisis

waiting for the bosses to give you the magic wand saying you should be allowed to do this." GE, for its part, has transformed from a company that used to view marketing as a support function to a company that now requires all its... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

04 Feb 2019
Blog Post

Presenting…an Alternative to Company Presentations: Evercore Grabs Attention with Interactive Events

When it’s on-campus recruiting time, employers feel compelled to create presentations to talk about their mission and purpose. To talk about challenges and opportunities. To talk about functions and roles. For Joanna Walker, Evercore’s... View Details

September 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Case

BT Plc: The Broadband Revolution (A)

By: Michael L. Tushman, David Kiron and Adam M. Kleinbaum

In early 2003, CEO Ben Verwaayen and Chief Broadband Officer Alison Ritchie of BT Plc. are trying to transform the former British Telecom from a stodgy telephone company into a 21st century broadband company. Their efforts to focus the firm on broadband issues within... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Innovation and Management; Management Teams; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Behavior; Telecommunications Industry; United Kingdom