Publications

February 2005 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Phase Zero: Introducing New Services at IDEO (A)

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Laura Feldman

Focuses on whether world-renowned product design firm IDEO's new customer service fits with the firm's strategic position and organization capabilities. Over the course of IDEO's 13-year history, an increasing share of revenues are a result of "Phase 0"... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Service Operations; Product Design; Infrastructure; Customer Focus and Relationships; Innovation and Invention; Service Industry; Boston; United States

Leadership Initiative - Leadership

with the MIT Sloan Fellows Program in Innovation and Global Leadership at MIT's Sloan School of Management. Karina Grazina Program Manager As the Program Manager of the Leadership Initiative (LI), Karina collaborates with the development of instructional materials, and... View Details

May 2023 (Revised June 2023)
Supplement

Novartis (B): Reimagining Medicine

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Claudio Feser, Karolin Frankenberger and David Redaschi

This case unfolds around the first-ever approved personalized cancer treatment, how Novartis wrapped it into a new business model design, and how Novartis scaled it. Novartis — one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world — is, among other ventures,... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Business Model; Production; Business Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry

May 1975 (Revised May 1982)
Case

Southwest Airlines (C)

Southwest Airlines, a small intrastate carrier, has just completed its first year of operations in June 1972 and management is debating what advertising and promotional strategy to adopt for the future. Southwest has successfully broken into a market dominated by two... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Air Transportation; Air Transportation Industry; United States

2025
Working Paper

The Extent and Drivers of Internal Agglomeration of U.S. Multi-Unit Firms

By: Juan Alcácer and Jasmina Chauvin

This paper examines the extent and determinants of internal agglomeration—the spatial clustering of establishments within firms. It introduces a novel methodology that benchmarks a firm’s spatial footprint against that of comparable stand-alone firms, yielding a... View Details

Keywords: Multi-unit Firms; Agglomeration; Spatial Organization; Economies Of Scope; Organizational Design; Diversification; Corporate Strategy; Business Units

Read Now

23 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 23, 2008

a question related to whether the poor should be helped by the government or if they should help themselves, while the measure of luck is the share of the oil industry in the state's economy multiplied by the price of oil. The correlation... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

July 2019
Case

Bjarke Ingels Group

By: Boris Groysberg and Aldo Sesia

Danish-born Bjarke Ingels is regarded as a giant in the field of architecture. He started his firm—the Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)—in 2005 in Copenhagen. Fourteen years later, the firm has additional offices in New York City, London, and Barcelona and employs over 500... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Design; Growth Management; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Talent and Talent Management; Urban Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Construction Industry; Construction Industry; Construction Industry; Denmark; Spain; United Kingdom; United States; New York (city, NY)

2023 Reunion Presentations - Alumni

streaming and esports, and more industry consolidation? Drawing on dozens of recent case studies, Professor Elberse walked participants through the likely future of the entertainment industry and outline the... View Details

17 Jan 2023
In Practice

8 Trends to Watch in 2023

As 2023 begins, businesses and employees face an uncertain economy and labor market, as the twin dilemmas of inflation and interest rates weigh on forecasts. Harvard Business School faculty share the top trends that they believe will shape the workplace and markets... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

January 2006 (Revised August 2006)
Case

Wikis at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein: (A)

In October 2005, Myrto Lazopoulou, head of user centered design at the investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW), contemplates how to spread the usage of wikis inside the company. As a "social software" like chats and blogs (both already in use at DrKW),... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Information Technology; Performance Productivity; Investment Banking; Applications and Software; Social and Collaborative Networks; Cooperation; Banking Industry; Banking Industry

September 2002 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Istituto Clinico Humanitas (A)

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer, Gary P. Pisano and Ning Tang

Istituto Clinico Humanitas is a newly built private hospital, south of Milan, Italy, that has attained unusual profitability while treating public system patients. The hospital was built and is managed by Techosp, a subsidiary of Techint, a global engineering and... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Management Systems; Infrastructure; Managerial Roles; Integration; Performance; Health Industry; Milan

November 1998 (Revised November 2001)
Case

BMW AG: The Digital Car Project (A)

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Ashok Nimgade

Describes how the German automotive firm BMW is trying to reduce its development time by half with the aid of computer-aided technologies. To leverage these technologies fully in the very competitive automotive industry, BMW is faced with the challenge of changing its... View Details

Keywords: Change; Competency and Skills; Management; Time Management; Product Positioning; Product Development; Business Processes; Performance; Problems and Challenges; Technology; Auto Industry

September 2014 (Revised July 2018)
Case

adidas Group: IT Multi-Sourcing

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Martin Wiener, Carol Saunders and Grandon Gill

This case describes the design and implementation of an IT-multi-sourcing strategy at a large global sportswear company, the adidas Group, which is headquartered in Germany. To help increase the benefits and reduce the risks of its sourcing arrangements, adidas... View Details

Keywords: IT Strategy; Outsourcing; Organizational Structure; Information Technology; Strategy; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; Germany

March 2000
Case

Aspect Medical Systems

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer and Naomi Atkins

Entrepreneur Nassib Chamoun has created an innovative anesthesiology device that monitors patients' consciousness levels during surgery. This case tracks how Chamoun and his executive team built the infrastructure of the company and actively managed the adoption... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Independent Innovation and Invention; Infrastructure; Product Design; Product Development; Problems and Challenges; Adoption; Competitive Strategy; Technology Industry