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February 2021 (Revised June 2023)
Case

Henry Ford: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Max Saffer

This case traces the rise of Henry Ford from a small farm in Michigan to the controlling shareholder of the Ford Motor Company. The case describes how Ford, as young man, acquired engineering skills and the risks he took as he built and marketed one of the first... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Entrepreneurship; Personal Characteristics; Business Startups; Management; Success; Values and Beliefs; Technological Innovation; Personal Development and Career; Auto Industry; United States; Michigan

December 2023
Case

Robert McNamara: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Shirley Sun

This case traces the life of Robert McNamara from Harvard Business School to Ford Motor Company to the U.S. Department of Defense. McNamara excelled in every job along the way: becoming the youngest-ever professor at Harvard Business School, the first non-family... View Details

Keywords: Performance Measurement; Military; Leadership Development; Values and Beliefs; Personal Characteristics; Leadership Style; Success; Business and Government Relations; Power and Influence; Business Education; War

05 Oct 2009
News

The World Bank must fix its business model

07 Apr 2003
Research & Ideas

How the U.S. Army Develops Leaders

knowledge (KNOW) and skills (DO) are highly perishable. If you don't use them today, they're gone tomorrow. And, with the world changing at breakneck speed, the knowledge and skills we learn today may be irrelevant tomorrow. Hence, our... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

16 Mar 2023
Research & Ideas

Why Business Travel Still Matters in a Zoom World

Nonstop flights generally make traveling more pleasant—but can they lead to innovation, too, especially in the global context? Research suggests that they can, with important takeaways for managers reinstating business travel in a world... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin; Air Transportation

March 2006
Module Note

Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World

By: Alan D. MacCormack

Describes the second module of the 30-session Harvard Business School elective course Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World. The course helps students understand the challenges that uncertainty implies for innovation and how to overcome these challenges. The course... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Problems and Challenges; Business Processes; Perspective; Opportunities; Risk and Uncertainty; Managerial Roles; Product Design; Business Startups; Organizational Design

January 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Generation Investment Management

By: Vikram S. Gandhi, Michael Norris and David Allen

In September 2021, the sustainable investment firm Generation Investment Management (Generation) considered whether to add Schneider Electric to the focus list of companies in which it was prepared to invest. Dedicated to promoting a sustainable world through its... View Details

Keywords: Sustainable Investing; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Governance; Private Equity; Public Equity; Financial Markets; Investment Return; Investment Activism; Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Institutional Investing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom; England; London

16 Feb 2004
Research & Ideas

Marketing Wine to the World

program, I had the opportunity to write a new case about Robert Mondavi. As I conducted the research for the case, I became more fascinated with the changes taking place in the industry globally, as well as the marked differences between the industry in the Old View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls; Consumer Products; Entertainment & Recreation; Food & Beverage

12 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

Facing the New World Order

developing world. That will require new efforts to strengthen and expand the global trading system. This may be the time, as we argue in our introduction, to really make a new WTO round begin. Because that would be a very important... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

24 Oct 2013
News

Engineering a More Secure World

Anthony Harris Photo courtesy of Anthony Harris by Francis Storrs On April 14, 2013, a sheriff's deputy pulled over a truck cruising down Interstate 55 in Mississippi. What started as a routine traffic stop became more serious when the deputy noticed scratches around... View Details

Keywords: Francis Storrs; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

14 Sep 2021
Blog Post

How to Support Your Employees’ Career Development

Kristen Fitzpatrick (MBA 2003), Managing Director, HBS Career & Professional Development, has been a leader in the career development field for 18 years and countless HBS students and alumni have benefited from her coaching and... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

September 1992 (Revised March 1998)
Case

Japan Confronts an Interdependent World

By: George C. Lodge

Traces the evolution of Japan's economic strategy from 1972 to 1992. Describes the collapse of the Japanese stock market in the spring of 1992, raising the question: Is this the end of Japan's miraculous growth? To help students consider that question, the case... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Financial Markets; Information Technology; System Shocks; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Crisis; Government and Politics; Growth and Development; Situation or Environment; Japan; United States

Find at Harvard

15 Jul 2012
News

Using research to solve real world problems

February 2021 (Revised September 2022)
Case

Marie Curie: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Shirley Sun

This case describes the rise of Marie Curie from a poor family in Poland to the pinnacle of scientific fame. The case describes how Curie, as a young woman interested in science, found a way to earn a doctorate at the Sorbonne and perform pathbreaking research on... View Details

Keywords: Legacy; Impact; Science; Research; Personal Characteristics; Mission and Purpose; Success; Work-Life Balance; Higher Education; Personal Development and Career

May 1983
Case

Brazil and the World Economy

By: Dennis J. Encarnation III and Richard H.K. Vietor

Keywords: Development Economics; Business and Government Relations; Banks and Banking; Brazil

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February 2021 (Revised October 2024)
Case

Muhammad Ali: Changing The World

By: Robert Simons and Max Saffer

This case describes the rise of Cassius Clay, who later called himself Muhammad Ali, from the poor streets of Louisville, Kentucky to international fame. The case describes how Ali won a gold medal in the Olympics, three heavyweight boxing titles, and became a role... View Details

Keywords: Sports; Mission and Purpose; Personal Characteristics; Religion; Work-Life Balance; Family and Family Relationships; Success; Power and Influence; Personal Development and Career; Sports Industry

01 Jan 2011
News

Investing in the Post-Recession World

Keywords: Sage Newman, Courtney Rickert, Ross D. Schaap

October 2004
Case

World Wide Licenses Ltd.: From Disney to Polaroid

World Wide Licenses (WWL) was a low-technology firm that licensed famous brands, which it then applied to timepieces, stationery, and back-to-school products. It transformed into a digital imaging company and landed worldwide rights to the Polaroid brand name. Explores... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership Development; Brands and Branding; Technology Adoption; Technological Innovation; Transformation