Publications

27 Jun 2019
Blog Post

Dance to the Music: How Noa Torok Found Her Dream Job at SoundCloud

Noa Torok, MBA 2019, came to HBS with a blank slate. “I arrived with zero expectations,” she says. “I had no idea what I wanted to do.” Her prior experience had shown her the opposite – what she did not want to do. After studying both law... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment / Media / Sports

05 Dec 2013
What Do You Think?

Is Walmart Defying Economic Gravity?

Summing Up When Does Friction Trump Scale in the Corporate Life Cycle? This month's column raised the issue of size limits on an organization's ability to compete In today's global economy. The specific case in point was Walmart and... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Retail

19 Feb 2016
Working Paper Summaries

‘Does 'What We Do' Make Us 'Who We Are'? Organizational Design and Identity Change at the Federal Bureau of Investigation

Keywords: by Ranjay Gulati, Ryan Raffaelli, and Jan Rivkin; Public Administration

Winter 2021
Article

Can Staggered Boards Improve Value? Causal Evidence from Massachusetts

By: Robert Daines, Shelley Xin Li and Charles C.Y. Wang

We study the effect of staggered boards (SBs) using a quasi-experiment: a 1990 law that imposed an SB on all Massachusetts-incorporated firms. The law led to an increase in Tobin's Q, investment in CAPEX and R&D, patents, higher-quality patented innovations, and... View Details

Keywords: Staggered Board; Entrenchment; Life-cycle; Tobin's Q; Innovation; Profitability; Investor Composition; Governing and Advisory Boards; Investment; Innovation and Invention; Institutional Investing; Value

SSRN

Find at Harvard

August 1977 (Revised November 1995)
Supplement

Process Engineering Proposal

By: John J. Gabarro

An "in-basket" decision-making exercise in case form, to be used with Nuclear Tube Assembly Room (A) (Condensed). The purpose is to pose students with several related problems which require immediate analysis arriving at some decisions and planning how to implement... View Details

Keywords: Conflict Management; Operations; Change Management; Engineering

November 2004
Case

Technology Commercialization at the Massachusetts General Hospital

The Department of Corporate Sponsored Research & Licensing (CSRL) at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) serves as the primary interface between the hospital and the private sector. Examines the range of issues related to the commercialization of MGH's... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Conflict of Interests; Commercialization; Higher Education; Health Care and Treatment; Education Industry; Health Industry; Massachusetts

July 2005
Background Note

Guth v. Loft: Synopsis

By: Lynn S. Paine and Christopher Bruner

Provides a brief overview of the Supreme Court of Delaware's opinion in the 1939 case of Guth v. Loft, a widely cited application of the "corporate opportunity doctrine." Explores the corporate law principles regulating when a corporate manager can or cannot take... View Details

Keywords: Courts and Trials; Lawfulness; Management; Opportunities

17 Jun 2015
News

Excellence Comes From Saying No

November 2008 (Revised May 2009)
Supplement

BMW's Project Switch (B): Importers vs. National Sales Companies

By: Das Narayandas, Kerry Herman and Laura Winig

BMW is faced with potential channel conflicts across several EU country markets. The case concludes the (A) case's exploration of BMW's approach to redesigning the channel in Greece. The case provides details on both headquarter and country head perspective on BMW's... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Business Headquarters; Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Conflict and Resolution; Auto Industry; European Union

14 Feb 2023
Cold Call Podcast

Does It Pay to Be a Whistleblower?

Keywords: Re: Jonas Heese; Banking

August 2008
Case

Sloan & Harrison: The Associate Challenge

By: Boris Groysberg and Eliot Sherman

The law firm, Sloan & Harrison, was confronting issues pertaining to morale and turnover among its associate ranks. Annual surveys of associates revealed increasing dissatisfaction, particularly with respect to partner communication, work-life balance, and mentorship.... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Employees; Human Resources; Leadership Development; Management Style; Performance; Work-Life Balance; Conflict Management; Legal Services Industry

In 2020, I created a series of 40 short videos with free advice on negotiationView Details

July 1993 (Revised October 2004)
Case

Aston-Blair, Inc.

By: John J. Gabarro

Describes the formation, selection, and experience of a task force with multidepartmental membership. The problems faced by the task force leader at the end of the case raise issues of who does the selection; the establishment of group norms, values, and goals; the... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Leadership; Problems and Challenges; Groups and Teams; Conflict Management

February 2019 (Revised July 2025)
Case

Theranos: Who Has Blood on Their Hands? (A)

By: Nien-hê Hsieh, Christina R. Wing, Emilie Fournier and Anna Resman

This case covers the rise and fall of Theranos, the company founded by Elizabeth Holmes in 2004 to revolutionize the blood testing industry by creating a device that could provide from a small finger prick the same results and accuracy as intravenous blood draws. As... View Details

Keywords: Health Testing and Trials; Corporate Accountability; Organizational Culture; Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Entrepreneurship; Lawsuits and Litigation

October 1996 (Revised January 1998)
Case

Sony Corporation: Car Navigation Systems

By: John A. Quelch

In the summer of 1996, Masao Morita, president of Sony Personal Mobile Communication Co., contemplated how to formulate its multinational marketing strategy for the fast-changing car navigation systems market. Morita needed to resolve the conflicting views within his... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Standards; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Conflict and Resolution; Auto Industry; Electronics Industry; Japan

January 2018 (Revised January 2020)
Case

People Analytics at McKinsey

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer and Olivia Hull

A private equity–backed fast food chain has hired McKinsey’s new People Analytics group to help it improve performance. As the final client workshop approaches, Associate Partner Alex DiLeonardo ponders the best way to present the team’s findings, especially those that... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Customer Relationship Management; Forecasting and Prediction; Cost Management; Human Resources; Employees; Recruitment; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Measurement and Metrics; Performance; Performance Capacity; Performance Efficiency; Performance Evaluation; Performance Improvement; Consulting Industry; Service Industry

May 2, 2014
Article

If You're Feeling Unappreciated, Give Someone Else Credit

By: Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer

Conflict in a family business can escalate quickly, but it's crucial to avoid it whenever possible. The article emphasizes recognizing the signs of escalating conflict and taking steps to prevent it. When disagreements arise, people often resort to legal action, which... View Details

Keywords: Conflict and Resolution; Family Business

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Research Summary

Negotiation

By: Deepak Malhotra

A large part of my work focuses on negotiation, dealmaking and conflict resolution. My latest book is Negotiating the Impossible: How to Break Deadlocks... View Details

May 1999 (Revised July 1999)
Background Note

Global Friction Among Information Infrastructures

By: George C. Lodge and Cate Reavis

Examines the conflicts in international communications that result from changing technologies and divergent country policies toward developing infrastructures. Examines a number of different national information infrastructures (NIIs). Points of friction, such as... View Details

Keywords: Conflict Management; Infrastructure; Communication Technology; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues