Publications

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February 2015 (Revised February 2016)
Case

CrossFit (A)

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Ali Huberlie and Christopher Payton

The case provides a sense of motivations of venture capital firms, the pivotal role that founders play, and explores the limits of founder-driven growth.
CrossFit (CF) describes the approach taken by its founder Greg Glassman in setting up one of the most... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Venture Capital; Strategy; Organizational Culture; Entrepreneurship; Franchise Ownership; Innovation and Invention; United States; North America

April 2009 (Revised August 2010)
Case

Buro Happold

By: Robert G. Eccles and Kerry Herman

Padraic Kelly became Managing Director (MD) of the engineering services firm Buro Happold in 1996. One of his first initiatives was "Aim for Growth," which was intended to help the firm grow beyond its current size where it was constrained by a structure of having each... View Details

Keywords: Training; Entrepreneurship; Leadership Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Skills; Organizational Culture; Programs

12 Oct 2016
Research & Ideas

Break the Rules of How Business is Done

Five Ways to Make Your Company More Innovative Becoming a Cognitive Referent: Market Creation and Cultural Strategy How Uber, Airbnb, and Etsy Attracted Their First 1,000 Customers View Details

Keywords: by Julia B. Austin

13 Dec 2004
Research & Ideas

How Leaders Create Winning Streaks

Presentation date: November 2, 2004 The following is a summary of the virtual seminar covering: The definition, levels, and cycles of confidence. How leaders prevent losing streaks and instill organizational confidence. The keys to building an organizational View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter & Walter Kiechel

01 Dec 2002
News

HBS Alumni Association Board of Directors: President's Report

addition, it will examine marketing strategies for existing programs and services and evaluate their effectiveness relative to the alumni audience they are targeting. The committee will serve as a resource to the School as the capital... View Details

20 Dec 2018
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Stories and Research Papers of 2018

moms are high achievers at work. Now it turns out they are happy, too. Amazon vs. Whole Foods: When Cultures Collide Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods seemed a Wall Street dream come true. But then Amazon's data-driven efficiency met... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

03 Feb 2003
What Do You Think?

Can Business Schools Teach the Craft of Getting Things Done?

practical to think so? Do the economics of education for management even permit it? What do you think? Original Article Strategy and implementation, two sides of the same coin, are often juxtaposed. How often have you heard someone say,... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

01 Aug 1998
News

A Roaring Success in the Windy City

that want to get ahead should focus on strategy. "Sound strategy involves tradeoffs," said Porter. "You must pick a different endpoint than your rivals." Dean Kim B. Clark introduced conference participants to the HBS intranet,... View Details

06 Oct 2003
What Do You Think?

Is “the Innovator’s Solution” to Sustained Corporate Growth an Unnatural Act?

spending your time on disruptive innovations!" M. P. Singh, a manager in the public sector, suggests, "Expecting corporate culture to tolerate or encourage radical change or innovation is like expecting a country to encourage... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

16 Jul 2024
Blog Post

Advancing Health Equity: Social Enterprise Summer Fellow Simona Stancov (MBA 2025)

are working around the world to develop skills and knowledge while having significant responsibility and high impact. What are you working on this summer? As an intern at the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), I am spending the summer working on Regional Malaria... View Details

02 Aug 2011
First Look

First Look: August 2

the practice of business strategy for 30 years. The problem lies instead in what strategic leaders are not trained to do. In caricature, Porter's view casts strategists as practitioner economists who expertly analyze and manage market... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Profile

Patrick Akl

appreciate the benefits of diversity,” says Patrick. “HBS attracts people from different cultures and backgrounds; its cases are truly global in scope and reach.” The case method also surfaces the best aspects of diversity. “Because... View Details

29 Jun 2009
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Leading Change

Sharpening Your Skills dives into the HBS Working Knowledge archives to bring together articles on ways to improve your business skills. Questions To Be Answered: How do I build my business in this environment? What should leaders communicate? My organization doesn't... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

June 2024 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Sequoia Capital

By: Jo Tango, Christina Wallace, Srimayi Mylavarapu and Johnson Elugbadebo

Sequoia Capital, a venture capital firm founded in 1972, quickly grew to become one of the most storied venture capital firms in the world. Fueled by a strong culture, Sequoia's investment track record included the names of some of the largest global successes.... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Restructuring; Corporate Strategy; Financial Services Industry

March–April 2012
Article

The Rise and Fall of Small Worlds: Exploring the Dynamics of Social Structure

By: Ranjay Gulati, Maxim Sytch and Adam Tatarynowicz

This paper explores the interplay between social structure and economic action by examining some of the evolutionary dynamics of an emergent network that coalesces into a small-world system. The study highlights the small-world system's evolutionary dynamics at both... View Details

Keywords: Culture; System; Relationships; Globalization; Industry Clusters; Information; Networks; Competitive Strategy; Computer Industry

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February 2008
Case

Cincom Systems, Inc.

By: Tom Nicholas and David Chen

Tom Nies, charismatic CEO of Cincom Systems, is considering a public offering of his software enterprise, but the 1987 stock market crash checks his plans. Nies reflects that capital for expansion will keep Cincom at the frontier of technological development in a... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Capital; Initial Public Offering; Organizational Culture; Going Public; Corporate Strategy; Information Technology Industry