Publications

June 1996 (Revised January 1999)
Case

XcelleNet, Inc. (A)

By: Stephen P. Bradley, Richard L. Nolan and James Leonard

XcelleNet, a $35 million system software company based in Atlanta, was founded in 1986 to address the computing needs of a class of remote and mobile users and data that were rarely connected to a network. Though the clear first mover and leader in the remote... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Opportunities; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Technology Networks; Computer Industry; Atlanta

Article

Total Quality Management and the Human Resource Professional: Applying the Baldrige Framework to Human Resources

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Christopher L. Hart

The still evolving discipline of total quality management (TQM) has left many human resource professionals confused about their role. The authors believe that the HR function personnel should spearhead company quality efforts, as well as assess the performance of their... View Details

Keywords: Quality; Management Practices and Processes; Human Resources

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October 2018
Case

Learning How to Honnold

By: Eugene F. Soltes, Sara Hess and Dutch Leonard

Alex Honnold is the world’s most accomplished free climber. To many, climbing sheer vertical faces of rock—like the famed El Capitan—without a rope is viewed as not simply risky but reckless. Honnold contrasts this sentiment by presenting his perspective on risk taking... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Goals and Objectives; Personal Development and Career; Perspective

July 1996 (Revised January 1997)
Case

Northwest Airlines: Brush with Bankruptcy (A)--November 1992

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Davis Dyer

Deals with Northwest's financial crisis between the fall of 1992 and the following spring. Northwest's leaders face the problem of how to meet an impending $600 million payment on the 1989 LBO loan when the airline had run out of cash. Concludes by outlining options... View Details

Keywords: Air Transportation; Restructuring; Leveraged Buyouts; Crisis Management; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Strategy; Financial Crisis; Air Transportation Industry; United States

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November 1989 (Revised November 1991)
Case

Transformation at Ford

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Richard Pascale

In 1980 Ford was near disaster. The company lost billions of dollars between 1980 and 1982. By 1988 the company had been transformed into one of the most successful corporations in the United States. Describes what happened and then examines how it happened. The major... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Success; Transformation; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; United States

March 2023 (Revised June 2023)
Case

Doing Business in Kigali, Rwanda

By: Andy Zelleke, A. Zelleke, Leonard A. Schlesinger, Leonard A. Schlesinger, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Wale Lawal

This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Rwanda. It highlights Rwanda's economic transformation in the decades leading up to 2023 in the context of its history, culture, and politics. The case gives an overview of some of the main... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Business and Government Relations; Technological Innovation; Foreign Direct Investment; Economic Growth; Transportation Industry; Tourism Industry; Rwanda

February 2023 (Revised June 2023)
Case

Doing Business in São Paulo, Brazil

By: Hise O. Gibson, Leonard A. Schlesinger, Ruth Costas and Pedro Levindo

The case uses the example of a large investment made by French retail group Carrefour in Brazil to discuss the opportunities and challenges of doing business in the country. It gives readers an overview of Brazil’s economic transformation since its colonial years until... View Details

Keywords: Business Cycles; Development Economics; Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Growth; Economic Sectors; Economy; Macroeconomics; Business History; Brazil; Latin America

June 2015 (Revised November 2016)
Case

HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A)

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Paras D. Bhayani

A review of the process utilized by the Obama administration to create the Health Care.gov exchange and the problems that resulted from the implementation effort. There is a B case that provides the follow on strategy and processes utilized to get the site up and... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change; Implementing Strategy; Implementation; Government Innovation; Health Care Industry; Health Care Reform; Health Care and Treatment; Government Administration; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Health Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States

June 2015 (Revised November 2016)
Supplement

HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (B)

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Paras D. Bhayani

A review of the process utilized by the Obama administration to create the Health Care.gov exchange and the problems that resulted from the implementation effort. This case provides the follow on strategy and processes utilized to get the site up and running after the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change; Implementing Strategy; Implementation; Government Innovation; Health Care Industry; Health Care Reform; Service Delivery; Internet and the Web; Health; Government and Politics; Information Technology Industry; Public Administration Industry; Health Industry; United States

September 2016 (Revised July 2017)
Case

Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (A)

By: Dorothy Leonard and Christopher Myers

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a federally funded research institution within NASA, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, has played a large role in many space and planetary explorations, particularly to the planet Mars. As a project-based... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Management; Employees; Experience and Expertise; Aerospace Industry; United States

May 1994 (Revised July 1995)
Case

Taco Bell--1994

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger

Taco Bell CEO, John Martin, boldly proclaims a growth goal of 200,000 points of access by the year 2000 (the company had approximately 3,600 in 1991). To realize such growth, Martin embraces a philosophy of continual change. The implications for Taco Bell are dramatic... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Food; Organizational Structure; Organizational Culture; Human Resources; Brands and Branding; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Goals and Objectives; Change Management; Expansion; Business Growth and Maturation; Communication; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

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23 Feb 2011
First Look

First Look: Feb. 23

PublicationsEngineers and the State in Modern China Author:William C. Kirby Publication:In Prospects for the Professions in China, edited by William P. Alford, William C. Kirby, and Kenneth Winston, 283-314. Routledge Studies in Civil... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 4

2012, Leonard uses the momentum to bring The Black List online as a database where unproduced screenplays can be reviewed and discovered by industry experts. Now in 2016, View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 Dec 2007
First Look

First Look: December 4, 2007

Working PapersThe "Fees Savings" Link, or Purchasing Fifty Pounds of Pasta Authors:Michael I. Norton and Leonard Lee Abstract Many consumers have had the experience of entering discount membership clubs to make a few... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

October 2009 (Revised July 2010)
Case

Roshan: Light at the end of the tunnel in Afghanistan

By: Herman B. Leonard and Qahir Dhanani

Roshan is a highly successful telecommunications company founded by the Aga Khan fund for economic development in Afghanistan during an ongoing civil conflict. Company leaders must now decide financial and market strategy for the next phase of development of the... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Financial Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; War; Telecommunications Industry; Afghanistan

March 2024 (Revised February 2025)
Case

Doing Business in São Paulo, Brazil

By: Laura Alfaro, Hise O. Gibson, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Pedro Levindo

The case gives readers an overview of key factors of doing business in Brazil, including Brazil’s economic transformation since its colonial years until 2023, when leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sworn in for his third term, after the most polarized... View Details

Keywords: Business Cycles; Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Growth; Economic Sectors; Economy; Macroeconomics; Business History; International Relations; Political Elections; Taxation; Consumer Behavior; Brazil; Latin America; Sao Paulo

June 1989
Background Note

Mastering the Art of Change: Managing Convergence and Upheaval

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Leonard A. Schlesinger

Outlines the differences between convergent change, which is a process of incremental innovation and continuous improvement, and divergent change, which involves revolutionary changes. Discusses how to manage each type of change and the consequences associated with... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Change