Publications

January 2025
Case

Davivienda Bank's Upskilling and Reskilling Strategy in Colombia (Abridged)

By: Jorge Tamayo, Raffaella Sadun and Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago

Set in 2022, this abridged case examines the digital transformation strategy of Davivienda—a leading player in Colombia’s commercial banking sector and one of the companies belonging to Grupo Bolívar, a major Colombian conglomerate—and the bank’s upskilling and... View Details

April 1999
Case

Steve Perlman and WebTV (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Ron Fortgang

The dynamics of a linked series of internal and external negotiations involved in launching, growing, and selling a high-tech, Internet start-up are explored. Steve Perlman unfurled an impressive new technology, recruited a top technical and management team, secured... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Agreements and Arrangements; Negotiation Tactics; Alliances; Internet; Communications Industry

October 2014 (Revised September 2017)
Case

The National Football League and Brain Injuries

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Matthew G. Preble

The National Football League (NFL) was both the most popular spectator sport in the U.S. and a major economic entity, taking in roughly $10 billion a year in revenue. However through the early twenty-first century, an increased understanding of the long-term effects of... View Details

Keywords: Employee Safety; Safety; Employees; Sports; Health; Ethics; Sports Industry; United States

17 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

What the Stockdale Paradox Tells Us About Crisis Leadership

we asked 600 global CEOs across a variety of industries what concerns were keeping them awake at night. Their topics ranged widely, but a handful of overarching mental tasks emerged: Comprehend complex, rapidly changing circumstances... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

01 Dec 2022
News

December 2022 Alumni and Faculty Books and Podcasts

a lens of profound Christian faith―appropriately so since, in Auth’s view, much of Western art expresses humanity’s search for God. In this beautifully illustrated book, drawn largely from works on display at New York’s Metropolitan... View Details

January 2025
Case

Driving Efficiency and Sustainability at P&G China

By: Feng Zhu, Philip Kuai and Billy Chan

P&G China’s business had reached new heights thanks to the explosive growth of e-commerce in the country, but the rapidly increasing volume of shipments to customers had created operational and environmental challenges in terms of packaging waste, shipping damage, and... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Customer Value and Value Chain; Environmental Sustainability; E-commerce; Logistics; Product Design; Value Creation; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Supply Chain Management; Consumer Products Industry; China

July 2016 (Revised June 2019)
Case

Hamilton: An American Musical

By: Anita Elberse and Jennifer Schoppe

In July 2013, composer, writer, actor and rapper Lin-Manuel Miranda, director Tommy Kail, and producer Jeffrey Seller met to discuss how to launch Hamilton, a new musical based on the life of the first Treasury Secretary of the United States, Alexander Hamilton.... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment; Creative Industries; Performing Arts; (General) Management; Blockbusters; Non-profit; Theater Entertainment; Strategy; Risk Management; Nonprofit Organizations; Arts; Creativity; Product Launch; Product Development; Marketing; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

2003
Case

Capston-White's Document Management and Production Services

By: Vijay Govindarajan, Chris Trimble and Julie Lang

The development of multi-function devices that could copy, print, fax, and scan created a convergence in the markets for these devices. Copiers and printers had previously been purchased and managed in very different manners by large organizations. Facing an uncertain... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Service Delivery; Service Industry

Web

Strategy - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

product itself. “Smart, connected products” are expanding and transcending industry boundaries, disrupting value chains, altering industry structure, View Details

February 2002 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Chengwei Ventures and the hdt* Investment

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

Bo Feng, cofounder and principal in Chengwei Ventures, one of the first sovereign venture capital firms in China, is trying to decide on the proper business model for hdt, the product of a merger between two portfolio companies. This case discusses the best way for the... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Mergers and Acquisitions; Customer Relationship Management; Sovereign Finance; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Markets; Business Model; Financial Services Industry; China

March 1986 (Revised July 2000)
Case

Peter Browning and Continental White Cap (A)

Presents a new divisional vice president's entry into a well-established and still successful manufacturing organization which is nevertheless facing an impending competitive crisis. Demonstrates his challenge and his efforts, under pressure from corporate... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Crisis Management; Manufacturing Industry

January–February 2015
Article

Heroic Villains: Are Foreign Investors Problems or Solutions in the Ebola Crisis?

By: Debora L. Spar

For months, the news out of West Africa has been unrelentingly grim. As of early December, the devastating Ebola epidemic had infected a reported 17,942 people and killed 6,388, according to the World Health Organization (WHO); the actual toll, which would also account... View Details

Keywords: Ebola; Multinational Corporation; Epidemics; Foreign Investment; Extractive Industries; Multinational Firms and Management; Health Pandemics; Developing Countries and Economies; Government and Politics; Africa

Find at Harvard

01 Dec 2020
News

Tried and Tested

everything’s over in an hour. Zoë’s approach allows her to say the things that I can’t say, and vice versa. Does having this complement of approaches help fill out a fuller picture? ZC: It can be challenging to feel that way when our... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Scientific Research and Development Services

01 Nov 1999
Research & Ideas

John H. Patterson and the Sales Strategy of the National Cash Register Company, 1884 to 1922

all the benefits of the register, Patterson gave them scripts to memorize. The practice of writing out sales arguments was rare, but not as new as some of Patterson's biographers claim. Booksellers and other... View Details

Keywords: by Walter A. Friedman

June 1996
Case

Black Magic and the America's Cup: The Victory

Chronicles New Zealand's participation in successive America's Cup regattas, culminating in its decisive 1995 victory. Allows for discussion of how an organization from a small nation can beat the world's best in a technologically, organizationally, and managerially... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Sports; Business and Government Relations; Sports Industry; New Zealand

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December 2003 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Jamie Dimon and Bank One (B)

By: Paul W. Marshall and Todd H Thedinga

To distribute only after discussion of HBS case 9-804-107. Describes the decisions made by Jamie Dimon as the new CEO in July 2000 and summarizes the progress of his turnaround over the next three years. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Management Succession; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry

November 2012
Case

Bonnier: Digitalizing the Media Business

By: Lynda Applegate, Daniel Nylen, Jonny Holmstrom and Kalle Lyytinen

The case follows leading Scandinavian media company Bonnier as it establishes a designated R&D division for the first time. The case, in particular, focuses on its first flagship project, called Mag+, in which it creates a digital platform for publishing digital... View Details

Keywords: Media And Publishing; Media; Publishing Industry; Publishing Industry

February 2000
Background Note

Medicine, Incentive Compensation, and the Law

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer and Bruce L. Hall

Summarizes legal issues in structuring a health care incentive plan, such as tax laws and federal regulations. Draws from an interview conducted with a New England lawyer in October 1999. View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Compensation and Benefits; Law; Health Care and Treatment; Taxation; Laws and Statutes; Health Industry