Publications

October 2010 (Revised January 2011)
Case

Toyota Recalls (A): Hitting the Skids

By: John A. Quelch, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Ryan Johnson

In the fall of 2009, Toyota Motor Corporation, once revered for its commitment to quality and reliability, faced a highly publicized series of recalls in the United States representing approximately a year's worth of sales in one of its most important markets. While... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Crisis Management; Brands and Branding; Quality; Public Opinion; Auto Industry; Japan; United States

2005
Class Lecture

Organizational Learning in the Face of Ambiguous Threats

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Michael A. Roberto and Richard M.J. Bohmer

Keywords: Learning; Risk and Uncertainty; Crisis Management; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Groups and Teams

October 1997 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Asda (A)

By: Michael Beer and James Weber

In the mid-1980s, Asda was one of the most successful retail companies in the United Kingdom. By 1991, the chain of 200 grocery stores had a lack of direction, a demoralized workforce, declining profits, rising debt, collapsing stock price, and was facing bankruptcy.... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Crisis Management; Management Teams; Business Strategy; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United Kingdom

10 Jul 2017
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: It’s a Bad Idea to Ban Customers From Recording Videos

Consumers delight in using smartphones to record their experiences and surroundings, but for businesses, such devices present tricky challenges. Suppose a customer encounters a hair in her food, a spill in an aisle, or a rude clerk. Historically, these problems were... View Details

Keywords: by Benjamin G. Edelman; Food & Beverage; Air Transportation; Retail; Service

January 2018 (Revised July 2019)
Case

Big Apple Circus: Time to Fold the Tent?

By: David G. Fubini and Matthew Wiger

By 2016, the Big Apple Circus has weathered many storms in its 38 seasons as one of the most well-known New York City nonprofits. Will Weiss, the executive director, has witnessed his share of chaos during four years at Big Apple. After a slight resurgence following... View Details

Keywords: Turnarounds; Bankruptcy; ＂Live Entertainment; Art; Crisis Management; Financial Crisis; Organizational Culture; Entertainment; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

26 Feb 2021
News

Latinx on Boards; High-Tech Reforestation

representation on private and public boards. “Our goal is to get 21 Latino placements on boards in 2021,” says Lulu Curiel (MBA 2010) , president of Ivy Advisors, who organized and hosted the webinars with Melissa Hart (MBA 2017), senior finance View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

October 1997
Case

John A. McCarthy, Jr.

By: Hugo Uyterhoeven, Todd M. Harris, A. Lanham Napier and John Sisson

Seven years after graduation, an MBA grad accepts the COO position in a company he's never heard of in an industry he knows nothing about. Moving up a vertical learning curve, he is involved in a crisis, and exposed to change and people management. He also must develop... View Details

Keywords: Management; Business or Company Management; Crisis Management; Leadership Development; Labor and Management Relations; Business Strategy; Management Teams

Web

Collections | Working Knowledge

Collections Featured Topics Managing the Business Essential insights on credit access, resilience, remote work, CEO tips, #MeToo lessons, and tech strategies for competitive leadership. Career and Workplace Get expert insights on... View Details

November 2003 (Revised June 2004)
Case

Samsung and Daewoo: Two Tales of One City

By fiscal year 2000, Samsung had pulled far ahead of other "chaebols," Korean conglomerates. For example, the market value of Samsung affiliates listed on the Korea Stock Exchange exceeded the sum of the market value of listed affiliates of second, third, and fourth... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Business Conglomerates; Corporate Strategy; Emerging Markets; Crisis Management; Electronics Industry; South Korea

17 Dec 2020
Research & Ideas

The 10 Most Popular Stories of 2020

Harvard Business School experts how the pandemic might change business practices. Here’s what they had to say. 7 Leadership Principles for Managing in the Time of Coronavirus Leaders managing their... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

22 Feb 2022
News

Addressing The Financial Security Gap

The pandemic has served as a wake-up call on many fronts, but to Anne Ackerley (MBA 1988), managing director and head of the Retirement Group at BlackRock, it has focused a particular spotlight on the retirement View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Gillespie

16 Jul 2024
Op-Ed

Corporate Boards Are Failing in Their No. 1 Duty

Boeing CEO has focused on short-term earnings, increasingly at the expense of franchise value and safety. Will the company’s new CEO have the courage to return Boeing to its former position as the world leader in aviation? Wells Fargo: Wells Fargo sailed through the... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

December 2018
Teaching Note

The Swedish Academy #MeToo Scandal and the Reputation of the Nobel Prize

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Mats Urde

A classroom guide to teaching the case, “The Swedish Academy #MeToo Scandal and the Reputation of the Nobel Prize” (HBS No. 5-919-410). A fictional case protagonist must present his evaluation to the Nobel Foundation of the scandal affecting one of the Nobel... View Details

Keywords: Nobel Prize; Swedish Academy; Scandal; Reputation; Brands and Branding; Crisis Management